What is the hot news this year from Digidesign? The new Pro Tools|24 MIX core and Pro Tools|24 MIX PLUS, 24 bit hardware systems, that’s what’s hot. How much improvement can they come up with, you ask? Well, plenty, I answer.

The heart of the new Pro Tools|24 MIX system is one new card that contains enough DSP power to allow 32 tracks with 16 channels of I/O. I said ONE card. On that single card are 6 of the new 56301 Motorola DSP chips. With the new DSPs and DSP sharing software, you can get up to four times more Plug-ins per DSP. If this card came with a little red cape, it would be leaping tall buildings in a single bound. (Honk if you get it.) If you need more DSP power, or more I/O, just add one more card, and you have 64 tracks with 32 channels of I/O, and more DSP power than two d24 cards with two DSP farms. That is 64 voices. You can have 86 tracks playing if some of them share a voice, and there can be 120 tracks on screen in a session. I use the extra tracks to store extra vocal tracks, or tracks that I have comped pieces from and may want to go back later and get something else. Some of my sessions have 105 tracks of stuff, but I only listen to 25 to 30 of them.

What first comes to mind is that you no longer need a 6 slot Mac or expansion chassis if you want to do some serious Pro Tools work. (Especially since Apple no longer makes a six slot box, and the price of what’s left of the used 9600 Macs is starting to escalate.) What second comes to mind is the fact that these cards will work with Windows NT. Yup, you can now have Pro Tools 64 track systems on a PC. The audio files and session documents open under either platform. Can I say "Cool" now?

Operation

I have a Pro Tools 24 bit system based on two d24 cards ( to give me 64 tracks) and two DSP farms. I wanted to stay away from an expansion chassis just so I could be more portable, at the expense of DSP power. I pulled out my four cards and installed the MIX PLUS pair of cards in my Mac 9600/350. I powered up, started Pro Tools, and went to work. Pro Tools booted up faster, every operation went smoother, and DSP plug-ins loaded instantly. From Pro Tools launch to audio playback was faster than opening a document in Microsoft Word. (Well, I did have a little bit of extra time to wash my car while Word was loading.) With 12 DSP chips at my disposal, I was able to have EQ on every track, headphone submixes, and reverb up to my neck. With a quick check of the Allocator program I found that the DSP usage was just at high-speed cruise, with plenty left over for a de-esser or a couple of limiters.

Software Enhancements

There are some enhancements in Pro Tools 4.3 software also. First, of course, is the support for the new hardware. New DigiRack EQ and Dynamic Plug-ins are included with 4.3. The EQ II features improved high-shelf and low-shelf filters and soft clipping for extreme gain situations. The Dynamics II Plug-ins include separate Limiter, Compressor, Expander and Gate modules. Each Plug-in contains response curve graphics display and side-chain/ key inputs for external control of Plug-in parameters. The new DigiRack plug-ins are totally new algorithms and stand up sonically to the Drawmer and Focusrite plug-ins, and they are free. In addition, all of the Digidesign plug-ins that are sold separately (D-Verb, DINR, DPP-1, D-Fi, Maxim, D-fx, etc.) have been upgraded.

Version 4.3 supports AIFC (AIFF Compressed) file formats for compatibility with Avid Media Composer. Muting of DAC outputs on 888/24 I/O automatically to keep idle noise down when tons of tracks are being fed to an analog console is now supported. In conjunction with the USD interface, GPI outputs can be fired based on Pro Tools fader position. The USD can now plug in to the digi serial port on the d24 card or 24 MIX card, which frees up both Mac serial ports for MIDI or printers. Track arming directly from Pro Tools is supported with Digidesign’s Machine Control option.

There is one more software addition that I saved for last. Smart Tool. No, it has nothing to do with the Presidency. The Smart Tool has been added to the edit window. It combines the functions of the Selector, Grabber and Trimmer tool depending on where you move the cursor in the edit window. No more mousing back and forth to change tools during intense editing sessions. The Smart Tool also allows you to create fades and crossfades with one mouse click. Can I say "Cool" again?

Upgrade Coolness

This may be the first time that you can upgrade your system a little at a time. The new 24 MIX and 24 MIX PLUS systems are backward compatible with the d24 system that came out a year ago. You can mix and match d24 cards, DSP Farms, and new MIX Farms any way you want. If you have a system with one d24 card and one DSP Farm, then the addition of one MIX Farm card will give you 32 more tracks, 16 more I/O and 6 of the new fast, shareable DSP chips. You can actually get two reverbs running at the same time on a single DSP chip. If you get the new 24 MIX PLUS systems (2 cards, 12 DSPs) you can still use your old DSP Farms for additional DSP power.

Is there a downside? Well, the only thing that you have to watch out for is Plug-In compatibility. As you read this, all of the Plug-in manufacturers are upgrading their Plug-ins to utilize the new DSP sharing capabilities of the MIX Farm. Until all of the upgrades are available, I would hang on to an old DSP Farm so that my old Plug-ins will work. The DSP Manager will automatically put old Plug-ins out to pasture in the old Farms. All of the Digidesign DigiRack Plug-ins have been upgraded, and Focusrite upgrades are included on the 4.3 CD-ROM.
I almost forgot. The 24 MIX and 24 MIX PLUS systems come with the TC|WORKS MegaReverb Plug-in (they told me to say "for a limited time".)

Conclusion

For those of you who are budget minded and torn between a new pair of high heels for your wife, or a Pro Tools upgrade (this is a tough one), keep in mind that Digidesign is offering a great trade-up discount, even if you still have the old Pro Tools III Nu-bus system. When you go to your local friendly Pro Tools dealer, tell them Roger Nichols sent you. If he doesn’t throw you out of the store, he may even give you a Gear Slut discount.