Turtlerock Forum

Hey brains trust,

We're thinking of going down the HDX path fairly soon but just need some clarification on what the hell Avid has been doing with their licensing & price structuring recently.
Details of hopeful setup below:
3x Lynx aurora 16 I/O's
1x HDX card
HD 11 or 12
Mac Pro 3,1

From that setup I can already tell that a 3,1 Mac Pro won't cut it due to old CPU architecture? If we're using 3rd party interfaces from HDX card via digilink cables does this then mean we need to buy the new digilink I/O license? Info here:
http://www.avid.com/licenses/pro-tools- ... io-license

I know this ebay link is expired but buying something like that would mean I have a full HD12 licence, forever, no extra payment UNLESS i wanted ExpertPlus support (meh) and upgrades? Is avid now restricting free upgrades to people using HD12.6 and above?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Tools-HD12- ... true&rt=nc

There's a 1001 questions there but trying to gather exact info off the avid website is like getting blood from a stone.

Dave

hi dave
can answer some question:

3.1 mac -
not necessarily a problem actually. and because you are going HDX not native, you are putting the processing onto the card, so the older computer may not matter so much

digilink i/o -
NO you dont need anything in this regard for your auroras. they "present" to PT as an expanded 192. PT doesnt see them as third party.

12 perpetual licence -
here i am as vague as you.. i really dont know exactly the situation here. like you say the website is unclear. im still on my perpetual 11 licences so am yet to fight that battle.

HDX or HD Native+any digilink enabled interface (ie auroras, apogee, avid)+12.6 onward require a digilink license. Versions 12.5 and below don't need it. Yes, you need to pony up for it, unless you purchase a new a new Avid interface (which includes it). So in summary, with your system, it would depend on what version you want to run. If you connect the Auroras some other way than with digilink (eg firewire) you will not need it. It doesn't matter that they present as a 192 or not. Even an Avid 192 interface needs digilink to run with 12.6

12.6 will not allow you to select the HDX/HD Native playback engine without it on your ilok, even though you have a PT-HD license.

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_U ... icense-for

oh and even newer way to stiff you!
i wasnt aware they had changed that from 12.5
man they make it hard!

Yep, it's a bit rough. Even if you own an Avid HD device. Problem is, there is no way to differentiate between them all. At least you only need one per seat....

i just had to up to 12.65 because my boot drive died and i couldn't get on to anything other then sierra

and hex doesn't work on sierra unless you have 12.6
so i had to pay a lapsed plan update fee and get 12.6 ( $1350)

they will get you in the end

avid pure evil geniuses ,

#batteredwifesyndrome

Sorry, it's a no go, a mate just got caught out by this.

A 2008 Mac Pro (Mac Pro 3,1) is limited to 10.11.x
Same as the 2009 Mac Pro (Mac Pro 4,1)

The current version of Pro Tools requires 10.12.x
This means a minimum Mac Pro 5,1 AKA 2010 Mac Pro or later.

(Technically the requirements are for a 2012 Mac Pro, but a 2010 is 99% the same thing - only the CPU was slightly upgraded).

If it was me (and I have done this), I'd pick up a cheap 5,1 plan on using it for about 2-3 years, and also plan on purchasing the new new 2018/2019 Mac Pro (Mac Pro 7,1).

Sorry!

S>

Simon "Smash" Ashby
Filmy Tech Guy for various places.

Not being a mac user, take this with a grain of salt. I believe you can upgrade the firmware in some of the older machines to allow them to run as a 5,1 machine? Obviously not sanctioned by Apple, but I know they have done this in certain high profile post facilities with no worries. Couple this with a CPU tray upgrade, and you are good to go for the correct OS, and PT - at least for a little longer anyway. The are some caveats with actually installing the correct drivers for video cards, but again, a little googling should be your friend.

http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html

It works on the 4,1 (2009 Mac Pro) but I think not on the 3,1 (2008 Mac Pro).

AFAIK, the 2006/2007 are pretty similar, the 2008 stands alone, the 2009,2010 are similar, the 2012 is exactly the same as the 2010, and the 2013 (6,1) will stand alone also.

Going on history, the 7,1 (2018/2019) *should* be very close to the 8,1 (2019/2020)

Simon "Smash" Ashby
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