PCI Expansion Chassis Requirements

With Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools|HD Accel Systems with Pro Tools 6.4 for Mac OS X

Compatibility Summary for PCI Expansion Chassis on Supported Power Mac G5 and G4 Models
Click on links for additional details, including model serial number required and performance guides.

Up to 7 HD cards can be used in a single ProTools|HD system

  • 1 HD Core card, any combination of HD Accel and/or HD Process cards
    • For proper operation, card order MUST be: HD Core card, all HD Accel cards, then remaining HD Process cards
    • DigiTest will NOT reflect the actual card order. System Usage window in Pro Tools will reflect the proper card order.
  • Although 7 cards may be installed, only 4 HD cards are addressable when using 176 or 192 kHz sample rates, regardless of whether an expansion chassis is used or not

The following Expansion Chassis are officially qualified for use with Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools|HD Accel systems with Pro Tools 6.4 for Mac OS X:

7 Slot, 64-Bit Chassis

  • Digidesign 7 Slot 64-bit 33MHz Expansion Chassis
  • Magma 7 Slot 64-bit 33MHz Expansion Chassis — model P7R464 (current), P7R464-D1 9 (discontinued) and P7R464C1.5-D1 (discontinued)

Note that maximum Pro Tools|HD Accel track count in a chassis can only be achieved by using the Digidesign or Magma 64bit/33mHz expansion chassis.

Special offers from MAGMA for owners of Magma and Digidesign/Magma expansion chassis:

Maximum Qualified Track Counts with HD Accel Systems with Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and Pro Tools 6.4:

Sample Rate (kHz)
48
96
192
Track/Voice Count (with G4 Dual 1.25 GHz*)
192
96
36
Track/Voice Count (with G5)
192
96
24

Note: Set DAE buffer size to 4 for 192 tracks@48kHz sample rate

*Slower G4 models may have lower track/voice counts

Expansion Chassis Slot Order

For more information about expansion chassis setup and card order configurations, please see the Expanded Systems Guide.pdf installed on your hard drive during Pro Tools installation. Also available in the Technical Document Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website, or download here:

7 Slot, 32-Bit Chassis

  • Digidesign Pro Tools Expansion Chassis, 7 Slot 32-bit model (discontinued)
  • SBS (Bit3) 7 Slot Expansion Chassis — model DD007-R

Maximum Qualified Track Counts with HD Accel Card Systems:

Sample Rate (kHz)
48
96
192
Track/Voice Count (with G4 Dual 1.25 GHz*)
128
64
16
Track/Voice Count (with G5 1.8 & 2.0 GHz)
128
64
16
Track/Voice Count (with G5 1.6 GHz)
112
56
16

*Slower G4 models may have lower track/voice counts

Expansion Chassis Slot Order

For more information about expansion chassis setup and card order configurations, please see the Expanded Systems Guide.pdf installed on your hard drive during Pro Tools installation. Also available in the Technical Document Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website, or download here:

13 Slot, 32-Bit Chassis

  • Digidesign Pro Tools Expansion Chassis, 13 Slot
    Compatible models: S/N begins with NB0600100C or higher
    Incompatible models: S/N = NB055300B1 or lower
  • Magma 13 Slot Expansion Chassis — model P13R-D1 and P13RC1.5-D1

Note: 13 Slot Chassis support a total of up to 10 Digidesign cards. A maximum of 7 HD cards (HD Core, HD Accel, or HD Process) can be used in single ProTools|HD system.

Maximum Qualified Track Counts with HD Accel Card Systems:

Sample Rate (kHz)
48
96
192
Track/Voice Count
128
64
16

Expansion Chassis Slot Order

For more information about expansion chassis setup and card order configurations, please see the Expanded Systems Guide.pdf installed on your hard drive during Pro Tools installation. Also available in the Technical Document Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website, or download here:

Not Supported With Pro Tools 6.4

AVoption|XL

AVoption|XL is not supported in Pro Tools 6.4. AVoption|XL users on Mac OS X 10.3 should use Pro Tools 6.2.3. For more information on supported PCI expansion chassis and slot order when using AVoption|XL, see the following page:

Not Tested With Pro Tools 6.4

CardBus PCI Expansion Chassis

G4 PowerBook CardBus configurations have not been tested with the Pro Tools 6.4 release. Por Tools 6.7 adds support for CardBus chassis with HD systems. For limited cardbus support for Pro Tools 6.2 and 6.2.3, see the following page:

Digidesign Compatibility Documents Index