Comments on: Digidesign’s Mac Pro Tools, with 8-Core Support

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:00:40 +0000

Exactly my question. will LE setups be able to utilize quad core at least??.

By: Cem

Cem — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 23:47:30 +0000

I’m new, but a fast learner…

1) When is that Leopard update coming?

2) All I keep seeing is that 8-core is approved for HD systems… where is that LE support? or does LE just join the ride simultaneously?

By: Chris B

Chris B — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:57:58 +0000

Watch out for the version of OS X 10.4.9 that comes preloaded on the 8-Core… a lot of users are telling us they have problems until they install the combo updater from apple see Apple 8 core now Pro Tools approved

By: stiff

stiff — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:08:51 +0000

Peter, for sure… I made good music on trackers and I’m sure you can make good music on tape (an incredible amount of music proves that), what PTHD have offered so far that native has been unable to do is getting close to zero latency, even when the projects are taxed with loads of plug-ins. I hear the Symphony challenges this, and hey, that’s great! What will be interesting to see is what the next generation DSP cards can do.

What I wanted to point out with the G4 comparison was that while all this may seem very powerful now, in two years from now we’ll probably be using even more power demanding things.

But go native! I’m native 90% of the time myself so… ;)

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 14:02:37 +0000

Thanks for the benchmark links! And, yeah, this is clearly just the “official” support. I do notice in the barefeats blog, the 8-code doesn’t really beat the quad-core in real-world circumstances where there hasn’t been some specific multi-threading.

On the other hand, the quad-core is plenty, plenty fast, so not necessarily worth losing sleep over. :)

Stiff, I hear what you’re saying, and I agree those are sort of apples-to-oranges comparisons. At the same time, I think the answer to your question is, haven’t we been saying this since the G4 days — well, yes. And, in fact, since the G4 days (and earlier) plenty of people *have* been able to work on native systems. The comparisons may be unfair, and Pro Tools may offer something unique, but it’s also true that you can get projects done in each. You don’t *need* Digi’s DSP hardware. You also don’t necessarily *need* a computer, though, so … it comes down to what you want to work with.

That said, I’m still interested in what Digi may choose to do with the native end of the equation and their own tools.

By: bliss

bliss — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 12:27:33 +0000

Here’s a report comparing the Mac Pro 8 core and quad core: http://www.barefeats.com/octopro1.html

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 07:23:46 +0000

BTW: http://www.reaper.fm/images/8cores1.PNG
mmmmm

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 07:21:48 +0000

The question is, will it FULLY use 8 cores, or just TRY to use them..

By: stiff

stiff — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 07:19:17 +0000

Well… Digidesign have always tried to support all of the Mac computers on the market, which of course makes sense. There is a difference in processors and the DSP cards you use for Pro Tools HD though, it doesn’t matter how many or how fast computer processors you stuff into the Macs, they still can’t handle TDM processing.

Now, I’ll be the first one to say that the Pro Tools HD cards out there need an upgrade. You touch on the subject of Native vs DSP. For many, the Symphony system was a presentation of native killing DSP. I like the Symphony solution, have thought about getting it myself, but I think it’s naive to think that way. It challenges Pro Tools HD in terms of latency for instance and it’s used as a marketing tool for the MacPro, but isn’t it true that almost ever generation of Macs have been said to be so bad-ass we won’t need power? Certainly the same things being said about the MacPro today have been said about the G4.

The problem is that when people compare native to DSP, they compare the latest MacPro with a Symphony setups to Pro Tools HD that are, quite frankly, getting old. Believe me, HD works very good and is great to work with, but it’s an unfair comparison because of the age difference. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when Digidesign comes out with a new HD system, after all, we have already seen better DSP cards, like the Fairlight systems.

This is getting long, I think I’ll just grab my coffee now ;)

BTW, 8 cores, something new? Bah! Look at this! :)

http://www.protoolerblog.com/2007/03/06/native-overkill/

By: Beken One

Beken One — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 06:16:04 +0000

the ONLY thing bad about the windows version (at the moment) is when you write your projetcs at home, then take your External Drive to the studio, there running OSX….what that means is you drive will only act as A “Tranfer device”…cuz it MUST be formated with HFS+ in order for OSX to write to it.
I stopped using thw windows version because of that and having to have copys of copys…so annoying.
I use Linux, OSX and Windows and no longer feel the need to have to prove myself loyal to ANY company or software…….Im a musicain I use what gets the job done.
although I’am A little BIAS to Trackers :)