PT TDM in an ITB mix room (your opinions)

Shane Michael Rose · Post by **Shane Michael Rose** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:45 am

so i am aproaching the closing of my commercial studio (www.themilkhouse.com)

i will be opening a private (as in i am the only engineer who will work this room) mix room.

i need to run protools as well as DP (the milkhouse only had DP, so i have years of DP sessions)

i am considering a protools TDM/ mix plus system.

does anyone here run this in an ITB room?
is plug in latency compensation a big deal for you?
are you runnin a VST or AU wrapper? i would like to run stillwell plugins (love them!)

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:07 pm

I wouldn't build my business around an outdated, unsupported system like "mix plus".

RedCrownStudios · Post by **RedCrownStudios** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:21 pm

Agreed.

I have seem too many posts here from people who bought a mix plus because they are now cheap only to regret it.

If I were you and wanted to run PT, I'd get a digi002 rack or something and a quad core computer.

Mix plus is only 16 bit, newer digi stuff if 24.

I got a quad pc with 2 deltas and PT M-powered and couldn't be happier. After I upgraded from a single cpu pc to a quad I was like "HD who?" because I was able to run hundreds of dverbs etc without even taxing my system.

Sorry to hear about your studio. I am edging towards closing too, at least as a full time facility.

But, I also believe in miracles.

Cheers and good luck!

Shane Michael Rose · Post by **Shane Michael Rose** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:48 pm

LE is totally out of the question. track count limitations like that are just not happening.

i wasn't aware that mix+ systems were only 16 bit. yet 888's run at 24?

in terms of structuring my business around an outdated system... thats a strange justification for not going legacy, but something i will consider.

with my updated DP rig (which works very well, but it would be akward to always be transfering files back and forth between DP and PT) i am never able to get tech support anyway.

my situation is one where i am no longer concerned with having the "best" of software or something like that, but something that is very stable and works well. i sold almost all of my outboard this week. my board will be going at the end of october. its a huge shift, but sometimes the scariest option is what allows for the most creative results.

RoyMatthews · Post by **RoyMatthews** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:13 pm

A MixPlus system can be 24bit. I have a Mixplus system at home and I love it. It's pretty powerful.
The biggest problem I could see is getting plugins. I was lucky to get a used system that had everything I needed installed. I think it would be a pain to have to track down older plugins to install.
I think I spent about $2500-$3000 total for and expansion chassis, a 1622 interface (which is fine for ITB), the computer, monitor, 4 or 5 farm cards, + the software. I'd like to get a clock for it and some 888s but other than that I'm happy. Plus it's extremely stable.
The trick is finding someone selling the best setup.

Shane Michael Rose · Post by **Shane Michael Rose** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:32 pm

thanks roy. what OS are you running? do you run other DAWS on that machine?

RoyMatthews · Post by **RoyMatthews** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:28 pm

Mac 9.2.2 (!). I don't run any other audio stuff on it. I don't know if a VST wrapper would work with it either.

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:36 pm

I'll say it again.
An ITB Mix room needs to have up to date supported software.

djimbe · Post by **djimbe** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:47 pm

roscoenyc wrote:I'll say it again.
An ITB Mix room needs to have up to date supported software.

I gotta agree.

You know, I run a super old Mix+ (24 bit 888's) on a OS 9.2.xx system on a dedicated machine. It's always been real stable, and I'm not really set up with dough for, or the need, to change it. But we're NOT primarily a mix room. Most of our business is tracking; clients leave with data files, not bring them in. Our mix sessions happen on a console with outboard, and mostly with stuff that's been tracked in our space.

A person who's working with someone else's data, recorded in who knows what format, for all digital mixing? I think that person wants modern, up to date hardware/software.

allbaldo · Post by **allbaldo** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:58 pm

I'm running 2 Mix3 systems.. one at home, and one at my studio, and they've been fantastic for years. The 888/24 doesn't sound too hot, but is usable. There are still very usable plugins available, but reverbs are few and far between if you're using OSX. I finally got an 002 so I could work with higher sampling rates. I use it to convert to 44.1, which is fine for me, and I can use a few of the features of PT7 if I need to. I avoid the ADC issue, buy using the same plugins on each channel of an instrument... meaning anything I'm inserting on the kick, I'm inserting on every other drum channel, even if it's in bypass. The cards are cheap, so building up a powerful enough system to do that with is pretty doable nowdays. I'm hoping to get a Lynx Aurora 16, and run it into the AES inputs on the 888's so I have better conversion, then when I finally do make the jump to HD, I'll have a convertor to start with. This system has been rock solid for years, and unless clients are really gear snobs, good work can be done on these systems. I'd love to have the bells and whistles of PT7 in the future, but this system works, and keeps me alive. Love it.

Shane Michael Rose · Post by **Shane Michael Rose** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:50 pm

yeah its looking really tempting. i have a friend who is selling a yamaha 02rV which would work really well for a controller as well as a monitor controller. (i have a tascam m520 in my current room)

anyone have a shootout of 02r converters vs 888's? i know they are both ancient, but i am still interested.

the latency plugin thing is a little bit of a hastle, but if it becomes a bother, i will be running DP also, so i could always shoot everything over to DP for final mix.

VelvetoneStudios · Post by **VelvetoneStudios** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:55 pm

I disagree with one point.....If you're running in OS9 with a mix+ you can get a disc with every plugin ever supported from anywhere. (Not that I'm condoning piracy!) The Lexiverb plug didn't seem to follow all of the uprades and I used to LOVE that!
Agree with the main point.....you need to run a supported, up to date format unless you're only working on your own stuff. The Digi002 rack can track 12 sources at a time if you're clever enough, and the Ebay price for one of those is reasonable.(A trusted friend swears that he can track 14 inputs on a Digi 002. I've seen the sessions cut live in a NYC club with 14 tracks, but he won't tell me how he does it!)

Shane Michael Rose · Post by **Shane Michael Rose** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:59 pm

yeah i dont care about tracking at all. i may build out the back of the room with a vocal iso in case i want ot do guitars or redo vocals or something like that.

i have a couple of mboxes (long stories...) and an updated version of PT. i will be running the last version of OSX that 6.4.1 will allow.

RoyMatthews · Post by **RoyMatthews** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:04 pm

VelvetoneStudios wrote:(A trusted friend swears that he can track 14 inputs on a Digi 002. I've seen the sessions cut live in a NYC club with 14 tracks, but he won't tell me how he does it!)

Can't you use 8 analog ins and 8 ADAT ins with a 002 for 16 ins?
As far as it being unsupported, it really hasn't been an issue. Either I've tracked stuff myself or people have sent me consolidated wavs. No one has asked me to do something that I can't do (yet). Maybe one day it will fail forever but I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it and surely moreso than if I purchased a 002 and paid for software/computer upgrades. When it lets me down I'll move on but right now it's rock solid.

allbaldo · Post by **allbaldo** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:40 am

shaneoconnor wrote:i will be running the last version of OSX that 6.4.1 will allow.

10.3.4 was the last that was supported, though I know many people run it on 10.3.9. If I were going to mix only, I'd be more likely to go with the Mix stuff over the 002. More bussing, etc.

I've stuck with 10.3.4, and it's been solid for me.

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PT TDM in an ITB mix room (your opinions)

PT TDM in an ITB mix room (your opinions)

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