ProTools 8 - machine recommendations?

[wez]

i'm considering upgrading to PT8... like most upgrades i've waited until i've absolutely needed to do it, and among other things the increased track count has become a priority. have considered the music production toolkit but compared to the cost of upgrading to 8 it doesn't look like great value.

experience has shown that with each protools upgrade comes an increase in CPU demand, often turning a previously capable machine into a bit of a slug. i've only recently upgraded my machine, i'm perfectly happy with it and i'm a bit over the 6-monthly hardware shuffle... so who here is running PT8 LE, and on what machine, and what sort of performance are you getting? i'm on an original series G5 dual 2.0 machine, and hoping that it will suffice for a bit longer - any real world experiences with a similar machine and setup?

cheers, wez

[ChrisW]

I'm using PTLE 7.4 on a newish iMac 2.4Ghz with 4GB RAM.
It has good performance, more than I need right now.
The only reason I haven't gone PT8 is that some people have experienced problems with some music software on 8.
I think they have it sorted or about to have it sorted, but as I'm in the middle of something I'll wait.

[vanderlae]

I have just upgraded to Pro Tools 8 LE from Pro Tools 7.4. Several reasons for it, but the most pressing one was because I upgraded to a new iMac (3.06GHz/4GB) and discovered it needed the new version. Suited me, because like you, the track count of 8 was exactly what I needed.

I am loving PT8, the layout and improved functions are great.

I have been doing quite a lot of score (and/or composing/arranging strings etc on top of indie music) which means I need to be able to run multiple instances of orchestral software which is pretty draining on the CPU in itself, and which on my older machine slowed me down to a point where it wouldn't even playback! Last night I finished a piece which had almost 40 stereo tracks, most of them using giant CPU hogging plugins such as Waves SSL 4000 channels, comps, etc, and it seems that no matter what I throw at it, the machine handles it. I don't know if this has actually answered anything for you - I can't compare this directly with the performance of my old one because frankly my old one wasn't performing up to the standards I needed anyway! But this combo certainly is. I can do what I want, when I want and concentrate on the performance etc rather than problem solving and getting angry! I don't see a need to change anytime soon anyway.

Cheers
David

[wez]

thanks david... so you didn't use PT8 on your old machine? if you did, what was it? if i upgrade i need to hit the ground running, can't afford to lose any time doing the upgrade shuffle.

drowning in 60+ tracks at the moment... swore i'd never need a HD rig but not so sure now!

i am so keen to do my next project 100% on tape, just for a break.

[vanderlae]

No I didn't use PT8 on my old machine, but I did use 7.4 but here's where it gets tricky (and may actually come close to your scenario!)

Because my machine wasn't handling all that I was throwing at it, I had to borrow a mac running 2.4GHz and 2GB of memory, which I installed the 7.4 and all my orchestral and plugin software on. Did it perform? Yep! It handled it reasonably well, a couple of dribbling from the mouth here and there (the machine, not me!) whilst it thought about things but other than those few slow moments, it was reasonably good. Nice story, well told I know...but I mention this because whilst it wasn't PT8, I kicked it in the stomach enough with what I was throwing at it that I conclude if it can handle all this, then it would have handled PT8 just fine.

I wouldn't hesitate upgrading to PT8, you'll have to sooner or later anyway. Especially if you're upgrading your machine, too. You'll have no problems rest assured.

Tape? I've heard of those things... but yes!

David

[Damien]

i installed PT8 straight over my LD and HD installs (with the needed os upgrades)

LE is with a mini on a macbook, HD is on a pro.

both were seamless upgrades and both run much better mow than on pt7.xx...

the macbook runs significantly better...

[wez]

cheers guys, looks like i better get on it,

thanks!