Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools HD - 7.2 Getting Started

Getting Started

Pro Tools|HD

Version 7.2

®

Copyright

©2006 Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc.
All rights reserved. This guide may not be duplicated in whole
or in part without the written consent of Digidesign.

96 I/O, 96i I/O, 192 I/O, 888|24 I/O, 882|20 I/O, 1622 I/O,
24-Bit ADAT Bridge I/O, Avid, Digidesign, MultiShell,
Pro Tools|HD, and Pro Tools are either trademarks or
registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the US and
other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the
property of their respective owners.

Product features, specifications, system requirements, and
availability are subject to change without notice.

PN 9106-55473-00 REV A 08/06

contents

Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools|HD

Pro Tools|HD Systems

Included with Pro Tools|HD Systems

Pro Tools HD Capabilities

Pro Tools Hardware Overview

System Requirements

Digidesign Registration

About the Pro Tools Guides

About www.digidesign.com

Chapter 2. Windows Installation

Installation Overview

Configuring Your Computer

Windows System Optimization

Installing Pro Tools Hardware

Installing Pro Tools HD Software

Optional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc

Removing Pro Tools

Chapter 3. Mac Installation

Installation Overview

Mac System Optimization

Installing Pro Tools Hardware

Installing Pro Tools HD Software

Optional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc

Removing Pro Tools

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Contents

iii

Chapter 4. Launching and Configuring Pro Tools

Checking the System

Launching Pro Tools

Configuring Pro Tools

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Chapter 5. Connecting Your Studio

Setting Up Your Studio

Example Studio Setup with a Mixing Console

Example Studio Setup without a Mixing Console

Connecting Equipment with Digital Audio Ins and Outs

Connecting Effects Units

Connecting MIDI Devices

Connecting SMPTE Synchronization Devices

Connecting Ethernet Control Surfaces

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Appendix A. Connecting SCSI Drives

SCSI Requirements

Connecting SCSI Drives

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Appendix B. Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance

Avoid Recording to the System Drive

Formatting an Audio Drive

Partitioning Drives

Defragmenting an Audio Drive

Using Mac Drives on Windows Systems

Hard Disk Storage Space

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Appendix C. Configuring MIDI Studio Setup (Windows Only)

MIDI Studio Setup

MIDI Patch Name Support

Appendix D. Configuring AMS (Mac OS X Only)

Audio MIDI Setup

MIDI Patch Name Support

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide

iv

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Appendix E. DSP-Induced Delays in Mixing

Introduction to DSP-Induced Delay

Automatically Compensating for Delays

Manually Compensating for Delays

Delay Factors

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Appendix F. TDM Mixing and DSP Usage

Benefits of TDM II

DSP Allocation

DSP Usage and Mixer Plug-Ins

DSP Usage with TDM Plug-Ins

Appendix G. Troubleshooting

Backing Up Your Work

Common Issues

Using DigiTest as a Diagnostic Tool

Performance Factors

Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support

Index

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Contents

v

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide

vi

chapter 1

Welcome to Pro Tools|HD

Welcome to Pro Tools|HD®. Pro Tools|HD audio
cards and interfaces bring high-definition digi­tal audio recording, editing, signal processing,
mixing, and I/O capabilities to Pro Tools.

This guide covers installation and configuration
of Pro Tools|HD hardware and Pro Tools® soft­ware on Windows and Mac platforms.

Pro Tools|HD Systems

Pro Tools 7.2 software supports the following
systems:

Pro Tools|HD (for PCIe) Systems

(Mac Only)

Pro Tools|HD (for PCIe) systems are available in
the following configurations:

Pro Tools|HD 1 (for PCIe)

• Accel Core (for PCIe) card

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel (for PCIe)

• Accel Core (for PCIe) card

• HD Accel (for PCIe) card

Pro Tools|HD (for PCI) Systems

(Windows and Mac)

Pro Tools|HD (for PCI) systems are available in
the following configurations:

Pro Tools|HD 1 (for PCI)

• HD Core (for PCI) card

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel (for PCI)

• HD Core (for PCI) card

• HD Accel (for PCI) card

Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel (for PCI)

• HD Core (for PCI) card

• (2) HD Accel (for PCI) cards

Pro Tools 7.2 also supports earlier
Pro Tools|HD 2 (for PCI) and Pro Tools|HD 3
(for PCI) systems. These systems shipped with
HD Process cards instead of HD Accel cards

Pro Tools HD supports more than three HD
cards in certain system configurations. For
more information, see the Expanded Sys­tems Guide.

Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel (for PCIe)

• Accel Core (for PCIe) card

• (2) HD Accel (for PCIe) cards

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools|HD

1

Included with Pro Tools|HD Systems

All Pro Tools|HD systems include the following:

• Pro Tools|HD card(s)

• Pro Tools HD software

• DigiLink cable (to connect the primary
card to an audio interface)

• Multi-card systems include TDM FlexCa­bles to connect the cards to each other

Audio Recording and Playback Capabilities

Pro Tools|HD 1 (for PCIe and PCI)

Pro Tools|HD 1 systems provide recording and
playback of 24-bit or 16-bit audio files with the
following track counts:

• Up to 96 tracks at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz

• Up to 48 tracks at 88.2 kHz or 96 kHz

• Up to 12 tracks at 176.4 kHz or 192 kHz

All Pro Tools|HD systems also require at least
one Digidesign audio interface (sold separately).
See “Audio Interfaces” on page 5.

Pro Tools HD Capabilities

Pro Tools HD 7.2 on Windows or Mac provides
the following capabilities:

• Up to a total of 256 audio tracks,
160 Auxiliary Input tracks, 64 Master Fader
tracks, 128 VCA Master tracks, 256 MIDI
tracks, 128 Instrument tracks, and 64 video
tracks per session

• 16-bit or 24-bit audio resolution, at sample
rates up to 192 kHz

• Non-destructive, random-access editing
and mix automation

• Audio processing with up to 5 TDM or
RTAS plug-ins per track, depending on your
computer’s capabilities

• Up to 5 hardware inserts per track

• Up to 10 sends per track

• Up to 128 internal busses for routing and
mixing

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel and HD 3 Accel
(for PCIe and PCI)

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel and HD 3 Accel systems
provide recording and playback of 24-bit or
16-bit audio files with the following track
counts:

• Up to 192 tracks at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz

• Up to 96 tracks at 88.2 kHz or 96 kHz

• Up to 36 tracks at 176.4 kHz or 192 kHz

Non-HD Accel Systems
(for PCI)

Pro Tools|HD 2 and HD 3 systems (original
Pro Tools|HD systems with no HD Accel cards)
provide recording and playback of 24-bit or
16-bit audio files with the following track
counts:

• Up to 128 tracks at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz

• Up to 64 tracks at 88.2 kHz or 96 kHz

• Up to 24 tracks at 176.4 kHz or 192 kHz

The number of simultaneous tracks of audio re­cording or playback depends on the type of
Pro Tools|HD system.

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide

2

Pro Tools Hardware Overview

This section describes each hardware compo­nent of a Pro Tools|HD system. The number of
Pro Tools|HD cards in your system will differ de­pending on your system configuration.

Pro Tools|HD (for PCIe) Hardware

Accel Core (for PCIe) Card

All Pro Tools|HD (for PCIe) systems include an

Accel Core (for PCIe)

The Accel Core (for PCIe) card provides up to 96
tracks of direct-to-disk recording and playback,
as well as DSP power for mixing and plug-in pro­cessing. The Accel Core (for PCIe) card supports
up to 24-bit and up to 192 kHz sessions.

DigiLink

DigiSerial

Accel Core (for PCIe) card

DigiLink Port

cludes a single DigiLink port for connecting up
to 32 channels of audio input and output to
your Pro Tools|HD system.

card.

The Accel Core (for PCIe) card in-

HD Accel (for PCIe) Card

The

HD Accel (for PCIe)

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel (for PCIe) and
Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel (for PCIe) systems. The
HD Accel (for PCIe) card is an expansion card,
and requires the presence of at least one Accel
Core (for PCIe) card.

The HD Accel (for PCIe) card provides addi­tional channels of direct-to-disk recording and
playback, as well as additional DSP power for
mixing and plug-in processing. The HD Accel
(for PCIe) card supports sessions up to 24-bit
and up to 192 kHz.

DigiLink

HD Accel (for PCIe) card

DigiLink Port

cludes a single DigiLink port for connecting up
to 32 channels of audio input and output to
your Pro Tools|HD system.

DigiSerial Port

cel (for PCIe) card does not offer any functional­ity.

The HD Accel (for PCIe) card in-

The DigiSerial port on the HD Ac-

card is included in

DigiSerial Port

Accel Core (for PCIe) card is for connecting a
Digidesign SYNC I/O. This connector is an 8-pin
mini-DIN.

The DigiSerial port on the

The DigiSerial port on an Accel Core
(for PCIe) card does not support Machine­Control connections.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools|HD

3

Pro Tools|HD (for PCI) Hardware

HD Accel (for PCI) Card

HD Core (for PCI) Card

All Pro Tools|HD (for PCI) systems include an
HD Core (for PCI) card.

The HD Core (for PCI) card provides up to 96
tracks of direct-to-disk recording and playback,
as well as DSP power for mixing and plug-in pro­cessing. The HD Core (for PCI) card supports up
to 24-bit and up to 192 kHz sessions.

DigiLink

DigiSerial

HD Core (for PCI) card

DigiLink Port The HD Core (for PCI) card in­cludes a single DigiLink port for connecting up
to 32 channels of audio input and output to
your Pro Tools|HD system.

DigiSerial Port The DigiSerial port on the HD
Core (for PCI) card is for connecting a Digide­sign SYNC I/O. This connector is an 8-pin mini­DIN.

The DigiSerial port on an HD Core (for PCI)
card does not support MachineControl con­nections.

The HD Accel (for PCI) card is included in
Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel (for PCI) and
Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel (for PCI) systems. The
HD Accel (for PCI) card is an expansion card,
and requires the presence of at least one
HD Core (for PCI) card.

The HD Accel (for PCI) card provides additional
tracks of direct-to-disk recording and playback,
as well as additional DSP power for mixing and
plug-in processing. The HD Accel (for PCI) card
supports sessions up to 24-bit and up to
192 kHz.

DigiLink

HD Accel (for PCI) card

DigiLink Port The HD Accel (for PCI) card in­cludes a single DigiLink port for connecting up
to 32 channels of audio input and output to
your Pro Tools|HD system.

DigiSerial Port The DigiSerial port on the HD Ac­cel (for PCI) card does not offer any functional­ity.

If your HD Core (for PCI) card has two
DigiSerial ports, use the DigiSerial port clos­est to the DigiLink connector.

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide4

TDM FlexCable

Audio Interfaces

The TDM FlexCable is used to connect a pair of
cards in your Pro Tools system so they can share
data along the TDM bus. One FlexCable comes
with each expansion card.

The TDM FlexCable is a flexible printed
circuit board with delicate traces. Do not
overbend, twist, or pinch the cable. Doing
so may cause unpredictable behavior in
Pro Tools as well as harm to your system.

TDM FlexCable

To record and play audio you must have at least
one of the following Digidesign audio inter­faces:

192 I/O Audio Interface

• Supports sample rates up to 192 kHz. (At least
one 192 I/O™ or 192 Digital I/O must be con­nected to your Pro Tools|HD system for
192 kHz recording, processing, and playback.)

• Supports both analog and digital connec­tions, including AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TDIF, and
ADAT Optical:

• Digital (Digital I/O Card): 8 channels, DB­25 (AES/EBU and TDIF), or one pair of
Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors. Ex­pandable up to 16 channels digital I/O
with the addition of the 192 Digital expan­sion card.

• Analog: 8 channels, DB-25 (balanced) con­nectors, inputs selectable between +4 dBu
or –10 dBV, outputs +4 dBu only. Expand­able up to 16 analog inputs or 16 outputs
using an optional 192 AD or 192 DA ex­pansion card, respectively.

• Digital (Enclosure): 2 channels, XLR
(AES/EBU) connectors; 2 channels RCA
(S/PDIF) connectors.

• Optical (Enclosure): 8 channels, one pair of
Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors (swit­chable to 2 channels, S/PDIF).

• Loop Sync In and Out for connecting
Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals

• External Clock In and Out receive or send 1x
Word clock (configurable to 256x for Legacy
support, see “Optional Legacy I/O Audio In­terfaces” on page 7).

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools|HD 5

192 Digital I/O Audio Interface

• Supports sample rates up to 192 kHz. (At least
one 192 I/O or 192 Digital I/O must be con­nected to your Pro Tools|HD system for
192 kHz recording, processing, and playback.)

• Supports digital connections, including
AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TDIF, and ADAT Optical:

• Digital (2 Digital I/O Cards): 16 channels,
DB-25 (AES/EBU and TDIF), or two pairs of
Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors.

• Digital (Enclosure): 2 channels, XLR
(AES/EBU) connectors; 2 channels RCA
(S/PDIF) connectors.

• Optical (Enclosure): 8 channels, one pair of
Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors (se­lectable to 2 channels, S/PDIF).

• Loop Sync In and Out for connecting
Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals

• External Clock In and Out receive or send 1x
Word clock (configurable to 256x for Legacy
support, see “Optional Legacy I/O Audio In­terfaces” on page 7).

96 I/O Audio Interface

• Supports sample rates up to 96 kHz.

• Supports analog and digital connections, in­cluding AES/EBU, S/PDIF, and ADAT optical:

• Analog: 8 channels, 1/4-inch TRS (bal­anced or unbalanced) connectors, +4 dBu
or –10 dBV

• Digital: 2 channels, XLR (AES/EBU) con­nectors; 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connec­tors

• Optical: 8 channels, one pair of Lightpipe
(ADAT Optical) connectors (switchable to 2
channels, S/PDIF)

• External Clock In and Out receive or send
1x Word clock (configurable to 256x for
Legacy support, see “Optional Legacy I/O
Audio Interfaces” on page 7)

96i I/O Audio Interface

• Supports sample rates up to 96 kHz

• 16 discrete channels of input, and 2 channels
of output, with 4-segment LED meters on
each channel. Audio inputs and outputs in­clude:

• 16 channels of 24-bit, 96-kHz capable ana­log input, with adjustable input sensitivity

• 2 channels of 24-bit, 96-kHz capable ana­log output, with selectable operating level

• 2 channels of 24-bit, 96 kHz-capable digital
S/PDIF RCA input and output

• Loop Sync In and Out for connecting
Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals

• External Clock In and Out receive or send 1x
Word clock

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide6

Optional Legacy I/O Audio Interfaces

For additional input and output channels, older
Digidesign audio interfaces (or Legacy I/Os) can
be connected to the 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, or
96 I/O™ (the 96i I/O™ does not support Legacy
interfaces). The following supported legacy in­terfaces can only be used with 44.1 kHz or
48 kHz sessions:

System Requirements

Pro Tools|HD system hardware and supported
audio interfaces can be used with a Digidesign­qualified Windows or Mac computer running
Pro Tools HD software.

For complete system requirements, visit the
Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com).

888|24 I/O Audio Interface

• Analog: 8 channels, XLR (balanced or unbal­anced) connectors, selectable between +4 dBu
or –10 dBV

• Digital: 8 channels, XLR (AES/EBU) connec­tors; 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connectors

882|20 I/O Audio Interface

• Analog: 8 channels, 1/4-inch TRS (balanced or
unbalanced) connectors, selectable between
+4 dBu and –10 dBV

• Digital: 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connectors

1622 I/O Audio Interface

• Analog: 16 input channels and 2 output chan­nels, 1/4-inch TRS (balanced or unbalanced)
connectors. Inputs are selectable from +4 dBu
to –10 dBV line levels and higher in 2 dB gain
steps; outputs are selectable between +4 dBu
or –10 dBV.

• Digital: 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connectors.

Digidesign 24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O

• Optical: 16 channels, a pair of Lightpipe
(ADAT) connectors.

• Analog output: 2 channels, 1/4-inch TRS (bal­anced) connectors, selectable between +4 dBu
and –10 dBV.

• Digital: 2 channels, XLR (AES/EBU); 2 chan­nels RCA (S/PDIF) connectors.

Compatibility Information

Digidesign can only assure compatibility and
provide support for hardware and software it
has tested and approved.

For a list of Digidesign-qualified computers, op­erating systems, hard drives, and third-party de­vices, refer to the Digidesign Web site
(www.digidesign.com).

MIDI Requirements

USB MIDI interfaces work effectively with
Pro Tools systems on Windows or Mac. Serial
MIDI interfaces are supported on Windows sys­tems only.

Only USB MIDI interfaces are compatible
with Pro Tools systems on Mac OS X.
Modem-to-serial port adapters and serial
MIDI devices are not supported.

For a list of supported adapters, refer to the
Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com).

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools|HD 7

Hard Drive Requirements

SCSI Hard Drives

For optimal audio recording and playback, all
Pro Tools|HD systems require one or more Digi­design-qualified drives.

For general hard drive maintenance and
configuration information, see Appendix B,
“Hard Drive Configuration and Mainte­nance.”

Avoid Recording to the System Drive

Recording to your system drive is not recom­mended. Recording and playback on a system
drive may result in lower track counts and fewer
plug-ins.

Digidesign does not recommend recording
to a system drive. Record to a system drive
only when necessary.

Drive Formats

Windows Windows XP systems should use drives
formatted as NTFS or FAT32 (NTFS preferred).

Mac Mac systems should use drives formatted
with HFS or HFS+ file system only.

Digidesign recommends qualified SCSI hard
drives and a qualified SCSI host bus adapter
(HBA) card or (on Windows systems) a qualified
built-in SCSI HBA connector on the mother­board.

For more information, see Appendix A,
“Connecting SCSI Drives.”

For complete information on track count and
the supported number and configuration of
SCSI drives, refer to the Digidesign Web site
(www.digidesign.com).

FireWire Hard Drives

Digidesign recommends qualified FireWire
drives and (on Windows systems) a qualified
FireWire host adapter.

For complete information on track count and
the supported number and configuration of
FireWire drives, refer to the Digidesign Web site
(www.digidesign.com).

IDE/ATA/SATA Hard Drives

The UNIX File System (UFS) is not sup­ported with Pro Tools on Mac OS X.

Hard drive performance depends on factors in­cluding system configuration, number of tracks,
session sample rate, density of edits, and the use
of crossfades and other processes such as Beat
Detective in a session.

For complete hard drive requirements, refer to
the Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com).

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide8

A qualified internal IDE/ATA/SATA drive may be
used as a dedicated audio drive.

For complete information on track count with
internal drives, refer to the Digidesign Web site
(www.digidesign.com).

IDE/ATA/SATA hard drives provide limited
track count performance and are not sup­ported when an Expansion Chassis is used.
For more information regarding Expansion
Chassis operating procedures, see the
Pro Tools Expanded Systems Guide.

Digidesign Registration

Review the enclosed Registration Information
Card and follow the instructions on it to quickly
register your purchase online. Registering your
purchase is the only way you can be eligible to
receive complimentary technical support and
future upgrade offers. It is one of the most im­portant steps you can take as a new user.

Conventions Used in This Guide

Digidesign guides use the following conven­tions to indicate menu choices and key com­mands:

:

Convention Action

File > Save Choose Save from the File

menu

Control+N Hold down the Control key

and press the N key

About the Pro Tools Guides

In addition to the printed guides included with
your system, PDF versions of the Pro Tools
guides are installed automatically with
Pro Tools. The main guides (such as the Refer­ence Guide and the Menus Guide) are accessible
from the Pro Tools Help menu. To view or print
the PDF guides, you can use Adobe Reader or Ap­ple Preview.

Control-click Hold down the Control key

and click the mouse button

Right-click Click with the right mouse

button

The following symbols are used to highlight im­portant information:

User Tips are helpful hints for getting the
most from your system.

Important Notices include information that
could affect your data or the performance of
your system.

Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or
mouse shortcuts.

Cross References point to related sections in
this guide and other Digidesign guides.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools|HD 9

About www.digidesign.com

The Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com)
is your best source for information to help you
get the most out of your Pro Tools system. The
following are just a few of the services and fea­tures available.

Registration Register your purchase online. See
the enclosed registration form for instructions.

Support Contact Digidesign Technical Support
or Customer Service; download software up­dates and the latest online documentation; find
the latest system requirements; search the on­line Answerbase; join the worldwide Pro Tools
community on the Digidesign User Conference.

Training and Education Become a certified
Pro Tools Operator or Expert; study on your
own using courses available online, or find out
how you can learn in a classroom setting at a
certified Pro Tools Training Center.

Products and Developers Learn about Digidesign
products; download demo software; learn about
our Development Partners and their plug-ins,
applications, and hardware.

News and Events Get the latest news from Digi­design; sign up for a Pro Tools demo.

To learn more about these and other resources
available from Digidesign, visit the Digidesign
Web site (www.digidesign.com).

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide10

chapter 2

Windows Installation

This chapter contains information for Windows
systems only. If you are installing Pro Tools on a
Mac computer, see Chapter 3, “Mac Installa­tion.”

Before installing this version of Pro Tools,
refer to the Read Me information included
on the Pro Tools Installer disc.

Installation Overview

Installation of a Pro Tools|HD system on a Win­dows computer includes the following steps:

1 “Configuring Your Computer” on page 11.

2 “Windows System Optimization” on page 13.

3 “Installing Pro Tools Hardware” on page 17.

4 “Installing Pro Tools HD Software” on

page 23.

5 “Connecting Audio Interfaces” on page 19.

Configuring Your Computer

To ensure optimum performance with
Pro Tools|HD, configure your computer before
installing Pro Tools hardware and software.

Before you make any changes to your com­puter’s system settings, make a backup copy
of your registry (where many of these essen­tial settings are stored). By doing so, you
will be able to restore your system’s original
settings if problems arise. Consider using a
disk recovery utility such as Norton Ghost
for additional security. See your
Windows XP documentation for details.

Configuring the System BIOS

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) parameters
vary depending on the make and model of the
computer. Refer to the documentation that
came with your computer for details.

6 “Launching and Configuring Pro Tools” on

page 41.

7 “Connecting Your Studio” on page 57.

The names and options that appear in your
computer’s system BIOS may differ slightly from
those described in this section.

If your computer does not have the BIOS
configuration options included in this sec­tion, or if you do not feel comfortable
changing system BIOS parameters, consult
a Windows system administrator, computer
dealer, or manufacturer for assistance.

Chapter 2: Windows Installation 11

To modify your computer’s system BIOS:

1 Start or restart the computer.

2 While the computer is starting up, enter BIOS

Setup by pressing the appropriate key (usually
indicated in the startup message) on the com­puter keyboard. The F1, F2, or the Delete keys
are commonly used.

3 In the appropriate page of the BIOS Setup, dis-

able PCI Parity. If the PCI Parity option isn’t
available on your computer, skip this step.

4 If you will be using SCSI drives or devices, and

your computer is equipped with built-in SCSI
hardware, enable SCSI support. SCSI support pa­rameters are typically found on the Devices &
I/O Options page of the BIOS setup utility. If you
do not have built-in SCSI hardware and are us­ing a SCSI host bus adapter (HBA) card instead,
you do not need to enable SCSI support.

5 Disable Power Management, if present.

6 Enable PCI Dynamic Bursting, if present.

7 Save the new BIOS settings.

Modifying the Computer’s SCSI BIOS

To modify your computer’s SCSI BIOS:

1 Start or restart the computer.

2 While the computer is starting up, when the

text message regarding the SCSI BIOS appears,
press the key combination listed on the screen
to enter the SCSI BIOS setup utility.

3 Refer to your SCSI host bus adapter card doc-

umentation to set the following parameters:

• For each SCSI ID and SCSI channel con­nected to your audio drives, set the Maxi­mum Sync Transfer Rate parameter to
20 MB/sec for the ATTO EPCI-DC, or to Ul­tra 160 for Ultra 160 cards.

• If you are using an ATTO host bus adapter
card, change the PCI Burst Size to 128 Bytes
and the Burst Length Selection Timeout to
16 ms (UL3D only).

4 Save the new SCSI BIOS settings.

5 Exit SCSI BIOS setup and restart the computer.

8 Exit BIOS setup and restart the computer.

Configuring the SCSI BIOS

If you are using SCSI drives or devices, you must
modify the settings of your built-in SCSI hard­ware or SCSI host bus adapter card. This allows
SCSI hard drives and devices to work properly
with Pro Tools. This procedure varies on differ­ent computers. Refer to the documentation that
came with your computer.

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide12

Updating the ATTO SCSI BIOS

(ATTO SCSI HBA Cards Only)

If you are using an ATTO SCSI HBA card, you
may need to update its SCSI BIOS. When start­ing your computer, you will see the version
number of the currently installed ATTO SCSI
BIOS. If it is not version 1.68 or higher, you
must update the SCSI BIOS.

The following procedure uses a floppy disk
as a DOS boot disk. You can use another
type of bootable media if available.

To update the BIOS on the ATTO SCSI card:

1 Insert a PC-formatted floppy disk in your

floppy drive (this needs to be a DOS boot disk).

2 Copy the DOS folder from the ATTO folder on

the Pro Tools Installer disc to the floppy disk.

3 Shut down the computer.

4 Disconnect any hard drives connected to the

SCSI card.

5 Start the computer with the floppy disk in the

floppy drive.

6 From within DOS, change directory to the

DOS/UTILITY folder and run flash.bat.

7 When prompted with the Update MAC, PC

Setup Program message, type Y for Yes and press
Enter.

Installing the ATTO SCSI Driver

The full name of the ATTO driver is:

■ ATTO ExpressPCI

To install the ATTO SCSI driver:

1 Start or restart the computer.

2 Insert the Pro Tools Installer disc in your

CD/DVD drive.

3 In the Additional Files\ATTO\Driver 1.68

folder, locate and click Setup.exe.

4 Follow the on-screen instructions to update

the driver on your SCSI Host Bus Adapter.

5 When Setup is finished, restart the computer.

The SCSI BIOS update may take a few
minutes.Do not interrupt this process or
your system may be damaged.

For more information, see the flash.txt in
the DOS/UTILITY folder.

8 When updating is finished, remove the floppy

disk and restart the computer.

Installing SCSI Drivers

For Pro Tools to run at maximum efficiency
with SCSI Host Bus Adapters and SCSI drives, in­stall a Digidesign approved SCSI driver.

For a list of Digidesign approved computers
and supported SCSI driver versions, refer to
to the Digidesign Web site
(www.digidesign.com).

Windows System Optimization

Before configuring your computer, make sure
you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac­count where you want to install Pro Tools. For
details on Administrator privileges, refer to your
Windows documentation.

Required Optimizations

To ensure optimum performance with
Pro Tools, configure the following settings be­fore you install Pro Tools software.

When you are finished changing Windows
system settings, restart your computer.

Chapter 2: Windows Installation 13

Enabling DMA

Enabling your computer's DMA (Direct Memory
Access) frees up CPU bandwidth so the com­puter can do other Pro Tools tasks.

In most cases the DMA option will already be set
correctly, as Windows XP detects and activates
DMA mode by default.

To enable DMA for any IDE hard drives:

1 Choose Start > Control Panel.

2 In Classic View, double-click System.

3 Click the Hardware tab.

4 Under Device Manager, choose Device Man-

ager.

5 In the Device Manager window, double-click

IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, then double-click
the Primary IDE Channel for your IDE hard
drive.

6 Click the Advanced Settings tab.

To configure Windows Power Management:

1 Choose Start > Control Panel.

2 Double-click Power Options.

3 Click the Power Schemes tab.

4 From the Power Schemes pop-up menu, select

Always On.

5 Click OK.

This sets System Standby, System Hibernate,
and “Turn off hard disks” to Never.

On AMD processors, be sure to check and
disable Cool N’Quiet in the System BIOS (in
the Cool & Quiet Configuration section).
Refer to the manufacturer’s documentation
for instructions on disabling this power op­tion, if necessary.

Disabling ClearType Font Smoothing

When using Pro Tools, the Effects “Clear Type”
setting must be disabled.

7 For each device, set the Transfer Mode to

“DMA if available,” and click OK.

8 Repeat steps 5–7 for any additional IDE Chan-

nels.

9 Close the Computer Management window.

Disabling System Standby and Power Management

When using Pro Tools, the Windows System
Standby power scheme must be set to Always
On. This helps prevent long record or playback
passes from stopping due to system resources
powering down.

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide14

To disable ClearType font smoothing:

1 Choose Start > Control Panel.

2 Double-click Display.

3 Click the Appearance tab.

4 Click Effects.

5 Deselect “Use the following method to

smooth edges of screen fonts.”

6 Click OK to save your settings and close the

Effects dialog.

7 Click OK.

8 Restart the computer.

Recommended Optimizations

Optional Optimizations

Pro Tools can also be affected by other software
and hardware drivers installed on your com­puter. It is recommended (but not required) that
you do the following:

• Avoid running any unneeded programs at
the same time as Pro Tools.

• Turn off any software utilities that run in
the background, such as Windows Messen­ger, calendars, and disk maintenance pro­grams.

• Turn off any nonessential USB devices
while running Pro Tools.

• If your video display card supports it, en­able Bus Mastering in the manufacturer’s
Control Panel. Refer to the manufacturer’s
instructions for details.

• If your computer is connected to a net­work, make sure that all mapped network
drives are available. If necessary, unmap
any network drives that are not available.

Re-enabling Hyper-Threading

Pro Tools 7 takes advantage of the added pro­cessing power of computers that have multiple
processors, or that feature multi-core processing
or hyper-threading, for RTAS processing.

If you disabled Hyper-Threading to run a previ­ous version of Pro Tools, re-enabling Hyper­Threading will allow your system to use this fea­ture.

Refer to your computer’s documentation for
steps on how to enter the computer’s BIOS
and disable Hyper-Threading.

With Hyper-Threading enabled, certain
RTAS Processors settings in Pro Tools may
cause a decrease in performance. See “Dis­abling Hyper-Threading” on page 16.

The following system optimizations may help
Pro Tools perform better on some systems. It is
recommended that you only try these optimiza­tions if necessary, as they may disable or ad­versely affect the functionality of other pro­grams on your system.

Disabling Network Cards

If applicable, disable any networking cards
(other than a FireWire card that you might use
to connect an external drive to your system).

To disable a network card:

1 Right-click My Computer and choose Man-

age.

2 Under System Tools, select Device Manager.

3 In the Device Manager window, double-click

Network adapters, then double-click the Net­work Adapter card you want to disable.

4 Under the General tab, choose “Do not use

this device (disable)” from the Device Usage
pop-up menu, and click OK.

5 Close the Computer Management window.

Adjusting Processor Scheduling

To Adjust Processor Scheduling Performance:

1 Choose Start > Control Panel.

2 In Classic View, double-click System.

3 Click the Advanced tab.

4 Under the Performance section, click the Set-

tings button.

5 In the Performance Options window, click the

Advanced tab.

Chapter 2: Windows Installation 15

6 Under the Processor scheduling section, select

the Background Services option.

7 Under the Memory Usage section, select the

System cache option.

8 Click OK to close the Performance Options

window.

9 Click OK to close the System Properties win-

dow.

10 Restart the computer for the changes to take

effect.

Disabling Hyper-Threading

Pro Tools 7 takes advantage of the added pro­cessing power of computers that have multiple
processors, or that feature multi-core processing
or Hyper-Threading, for RTAS processing.

However, if you set the number of processors
available for RTAS processing to 1 (in the
Pro Tools Playback Engine dialog), some com­puters with hyperthreading capability may ex­perience decreased performance.

If this occurs, you can increase the number of
RTAS processors in the Playback Engine dialog,
or you can disable hyper-threading on the com­puter.

Refer to your computer’s documentation for
steps on how to enter the computer’s BIOS
and disable Hyper-Threading.

Disabling System Startup Items

The fewer items in use by your computer, the
more resources are available for Pro Tools. Some
startup applications may be consuming unnec­essary CPU resources, and should be turned off.

If you disable any of the following startup items,
do so carefully:

• Portable media serial number (required for
applications that utilize a copy protection
key)

• Plug and play

• Event log

• Cryptographic services

• DHCP Client, TCP/IP Net BIOS, and other
networking-related items (unless the com­puter has no network or internet connec­tion, in which case these items can be
disabled)

To disable System Startup Items:

1 From the Start menu, choose Run.

2 Type “msconfig” and click OK. The System

Configuration Utility opens.

3 Under the General tab, choose Selective Star-

tup.

4 Deselect Load Startup Items and click OK.

5 Click Restart to restart the computer.

6 After restarting, the computer displays a Sys-

tem Configuration message. Check to see if
Pro Tools performance has increased before you
deselect the “Don't show this message again”
option. If performance has not changed, run
“msconfig” and return your computer Selective
Startup back to Normal Startup. Alternatively,
try disabling Startup items and non-essential
processes individually.

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide16

Installing Pro Tools Hardware

Disabling Driver Signing Warnings

Before you install Pro Tools|HD cards, tempo­rarily disable the Driver Signing warning option.
This expedites and automates much of the in­stallation process. If you do not temporarily dis­able this option, warning messages (that you are
installing an unsigned driver) will appear for
each DSP chip detected during software installa­tion.

To disable the warning option:

1 Choose Start > Control Panel.

2 Double-click System.

3 Click the Hardware tab in the System Control

Panel.

4 Click the Driver Signing button.

5 Select “Ignore—Install the software anyway

and don’t ask for my approval.”

6 Click OK to close the Driver Signing Options

window.

7 Click OK to close the System Properties win-

dow.

8 Turn the computer off.

9 Proceed to “Installing Pro Tools|HD Cards” on

page 17.

Installing Pro Tools|HD Cards

This section shows how to install Pro Tools|HD
cards into a Windows computer. To install cards
into an expansion chassis, see the Expanded Sys-
tems Guide.

To install Pro Tools cards:

1 Turn off your computer and any peripherals.

Leave your computer’s power cable plugged in
so the computer is grounded.

2 Disconnect all cables attached to the com-

puter (such as hard drives, displays, USB and
FireWire devices) except for the power cable.

3 Open the computer case.

4 Remove the metal access port cover behind

the slot you want to use by removing the screw
and sliding the cover out from the access port.

Before handling any card, discharge static
electricity from your clothes or body by
touching a grounded metal surface, such as
the power supply case inside your computer.

5 Install the HD Core card in the first PCI slot.

6 If you are installing additional Pro Tools cards

(or other cards), skip to the next step. If you
have no additional cards to install, do the fol­lowing:

• Secure the card in place with the slot access
port screw you removed earlier.

• Close the computer case.

• Skip to “Connecting Audio Interfaces” on
page 19.

Chapter 2: Windows Installation 17

7 Install the first HD Accel card (if any) in the

second PCI slot.

8 Install any remaining HD Accel cards in the

remaining consecutive PCI slots.

9 Install any HD Process cards in the remaining

consecutive PCI slots (64-bit or 32-bit).

10 If you are installing a SCSI host bus adapter

(HBA) card, install it in the highest-numbered
remaining slot.

11 Check to be sure that your cards are installed

in the proper order for your system, starting
with the lowest numeric slot:

• Display card for your computer monitor

• HD Core card

• HD Accel cards

• HD Process cards

• SCSI host bus adapter (HBA) card

12 Secure each card in place with the slot access

port screws you removed earlier.

Connecting Pro Tools|HD Cards

In systems that include more than one card, you
must connect all the Pro Tools|HD cards to each
other with TDM FlexCables.

Each Pro Tools|HD card has two ports along the
top of the card, labeled Port A and Port B. The
FlexCable has two connectors, also labeled
Port A and Port B, to ensure proper connection.
Data communication across multiple cards is
achieved by connecting Port B of the first card
to Port A of the next card with a TDM FlexCable.

The first FlexCable always goes from Port B
on the core card to Port A on the first
expansion card, as described in the follow­ing steps.

To connect Pro Tools|HD cards:

1 Shape the FlexCable before installing it on the

card by holding the cable with its printed side
facing you, and moving the Port B portion of
the cable straight towards you and inwards, as
shown below. Do not bend the cable more than
you need to, as you may damage the traces in
the cable.

Preparing TDM FlexCable for installation

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide18

2 Slide the FlexCable into the notch of the first

card, so that the Port B connector of the FlexCa­ble can be aligned with Port B of the first card;
and the Port A connector of the FlexCable can
be aligned with Port A of the second card, as
shown below.

Inserting TDM FlexCable

3 Connect the Port A connector of the FlexCa-

ble to Port A on the second card. Push gently but
firmly until the cable is fully connected to the
card. Attach the other end of the FlexCable (la­beled Port B) to Port B on the first card.

Top view of two cards connected with TDM FlexCable

4 Verify the connection. Make sure the FlexCa-

ble ports seat flat against the sockets on the
cards, and are firmly attached.

5 For systems with more than two cards, con-

nect each additional card to its preceding card.
Use FlexCables to connect card pairs together, as
described above, until all cards are connected.
(Each HD Accel or HD Process card is packaged
with a FlexCable.)

Connecting Audio Interfaces

Each Pro Tools|HD audio interface supplies up
to 16 channels of input and output to your sys­tem. Audio interfaces are connected directly to
Pro Tools|HD cards, or through the Expansion
ports on other Pro Tools|HD interfaces.

Each Pro Tools|HD card supports up to 32 chan­nels. To get a full 32 channels of I/O from one
card, you can connect, or daisy-chain, a second
16-channel Pro Tools|HD I/O to the first
Pro Tools|HD I/O that is connected directly to
the Pro Tools|HD card.

Pro Tools|HD supports up to a maximum of ten
192 I/Os, 192 Digital I/Os, or 96 I/Os. Up to five
96i I/Os can be used simultaneously.

For examples of connecting multiple I/Os, see
Figure 1 and Figure 2 on page 21.

Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces need room at
their sides to maintain proper air flow for
cooling. Do not block the sides of the unit or
disconnect the internal fan. If the units are
rack-mounted in a case, remove the case
lids or doors before operating the system.
Failure to do so can result in the units over­heating very quickly, which can perma­nently damage sensitive components.

Legacy audio interfaces can also be connected to
Pro Tools|HD interfaces. See “Connecting an
Additional 16 Channels of Audio with Legacy
Audio Interfaces” on page 22.

6 Close the computer case.

7 Proceed to “Connecting Audio Interfaces” on

page 19.

Chapter 2: Windows Installation 19

To connect Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces:

1 If you are using a single 192 I/O,

192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, or 96i I/O, connect its
Primary Port to the HD Core card with the Dig­iLink cable provided with the card. You must at­tach at least one 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O,
96 I/O, or 96i I/O to your system in order for
Pro Tools to launch.

If you have at least one 192 I/O or
192 Digital I/O in your system configura­tion, it must be connected to the HD Core
card as the primary interface.

2 Connect additional Pro Tools|HD audio inter-

faces to subsequent Digidesign audio cards, or
daisy-chain the interfaces (by connecting the
Primary Port of the secondary interface to the
Expansion Port of the primary interface).

If you are connecting both 192 I/O (or
192 Digital I/O) and 96 I/O audio interfaces to
your system, connect the 192 I/O (or
192 Digital I/O) to your HD Core card, followed
by any additional 192 I/O (or 192 Digital I/O)
interfaces connected to subsequent cards. Then
connect 96 I/O interfaces to subsequent cards,
or to other interfaces, then connect 96i I/O in­terfaces.

Connecting Loop Sync

If you are using two or more Pro Tools|HD audio
interfaces or a SYNC I/O peripheral, Loop Sync
must be connected to maintain proper clock
among the devices.

To make Loop Sync connections:

1 Connect the Loop Sync Out of each interface

to the Loop Sync In of the next interface with
the BNC cables included in your I/O packaging.

2 Connect the Loop Sync Out of the last inter-

face to the Loop Sync In of the primary interface
or SYNC I/O peripheral.

Connecting Legacy Audio Interfaces

If you are connecting a Digidesign Legacy audio
interface, continue with “Connecting an Addi­tional 16 Channels of Audio with Legacy Audio
Interfaces” on page 22.

The 96i I/O does not support Legacy I/O.

You can also connect a single Pro Tools|HD in­terface to each Pro Tools|HD card in your system
using the provided DigiLink cables. (However,
there is no advantage to this configuration over
daisy-chaining interfaces.)

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide20

12-foot DigiLink cable

HD Core or

Accel Core card

18-inch DigiLink cable

Figure 1. Two 96 I/Os (32-channel system)

18-inch DigiLink cable

Loop Sync cables

Loop Sync cables

12-foot DigiLink cable

Loop Sync cables

HD Core or

Accel Core card

TDM FlexCable

12-foot DigiLink cable

Figure 2. Three 96 I/Os (48-channel system)

HD Accel card

or HD Process card

Chapter 2: Windows Installation 21

Connecting an Additional 16 Channels of Audio with Legacy Audio Interfaces

Each 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, and 96 I/O can
support 16 channels of audio to and from Digi­design Legacy I/Os. (The 96i I/O does not sup­port Legacy I/O.) Legacy I/Os include the
888|24 I/O™, 882|20 I/O™, 1622 I/O™, and the
24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O™.

3 To properly clock the Legacy audio interface,

connect the Ext. Clock output port on the
Pro Tools|HD I/O to the Slave Clock IN on the
Legacy audio interface. The Legacy audio inter­face will switch to Slave mode once the proper
clock is outputting from the Pro Tools|HD I/O.
Always use the Ext. Clock Out port of the same
I/O to which the Legacy audio interface is at­tached.

The original 888 I/O and 882 I/O interfaces
are not supported with Pro Tools|HD.

To connect Digidesign Legacy audio interfaces:

1 Connect the “MIX card” end of the peripheral

cable that came with your Legacy audio inter­face (60-pin side) to the Legacy Port on the pri­mary Pro Tools|HD audio interface. Connect the
other end to the Computer Port on the Legacy
audio interface.

2 Do one of the following:

• Connect any additional Legacy audio inter­faces in the same manner, to Pro Tools|HD
audio interfaces connected directly to HD
cards.

– or –

• If you are using a Y cable (Legacy 16-chan­nel peripheral cable adapter), connect this
to the Legacy port first, then connect the
audio interface peripheral cables to Port A
and Port B of the Y cable.

“A” to first
Legacy I/O

“B” to second
Legacy I/O

To Legacy Por t on
Pro Tools|HD audio interface

If you are using the Y cable to connect multiple
MIX audio interfaces, you must also connect the
Slave Clock Out of the first Legacy interface to
the Slave Clock In of the second Legacy inter­face with the provided BNC cable. You cannot
clock more than two MIX audio interfaces from
a single Pro Tools|HD audio interface. If you
have a third MIX audio interface, supply its
256x clock from the Pro Tools|HD I/O to which
its 60-pin cable is attached (either your second
audio interface, or directly to an HD Accel or
HD Process card).

To ensure the proper functioning of Legacy
audio interfaces (such as an 888|24 I/O or
882|20 I/O), launch Pro Tools and initial­ize the Legacy audio interfaces in the Hard­ware Setup dialog before turning them on
(See “Configuring Legacy Audio Interfaces”
on page 54). Then quit Pro Tools and shut
down your computer. When relaunching
your Pro Tools system, turn on your Legacy
audio interfaces first and allow them to
finish booting before turning on your
Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces, and then
your computer.

Optional 16-channel peripheral cable adapter

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide22

Before you turn on and configure your Leg­acy audio interfaces, turn down the volume
of output devices. Very loud digital noise
may be emitted before the Legacy audio
interface is initialized.

Installing Pro Tools HD Software

After your Pro Tools|HD hardware is installed
and connected, you are ready to install
Pro Tools software.

To install Pro Tools HD software:

1 Start Windows, logging in with Administrator

privileges. For details on Administrator privi­leges, refer to your Windows documentation.

2 Wait for the Found New Hardware Wizard di-

alog to appear and leave it open: Do not click
Next.

3 Insert the Pro Tools Installer disc in your

CD/DVD drive. Locate and open the Pro Tools
Installer folder, and double-click the Setup icon.

4 Click Next to begin installation.

5 Follow the on-screen instructions to proceed

with installation.

6 Select the install location. For maximum reli-

ability, install Pro Tools on your startup drive.
Click Next.

7 Select the Pro Tools application for installa-

tion. You can also select from a list of optional
items to install along with Pro Tools. See “Op­tional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc”
on page 24.

8 Click Next.

9 Select your work environment. This loads an

initial set of Pro Tools Preferences that include
some of the more popular settings for post pro­duction, audio, or audio with MIDI.

Preference settings can be customized at any
time in Pro Tools. See the

ence Guide

10 Click Next.

11 Select whether to install the Surround Mixer

for more information.

Pro Tools Refer-

plug-in. This plug-in is required for mixing,
mastering, and monitoring in surround.

• Select “Yes – Monitor in Pro Tools Film For­mat” if your monitoring is configured for
Film Format surround.

• Select “Yes – Monitor in ProControl (DTS
Format)” if you are using a ProControl ded­icated controller.

• Select “No – Stereo mixing only” if your
monitoring is configured for Stereo.

AFL/PFL Solo modes require the Surround
Mixer plug-in. See the Pro Tools Reference
Guide for more information.

12 Click Next.

13 Click Install.

14 When installation is complete, click Finish.

Windows will display several messages
during installation that can be ignored,
including multiple “Found New Hardware”
dialogs and “A Problem Occurred During
Hardware Installation.”

Chapter 2: Windows Installation 23

Installing QuickTime

Digidesign WaveDriver

QuickTime is required for Pro Tools if you plan
to include movie files, or import MP3 or MP4
(AAC) files in your sessions. QuickTime for Win­dows XP is available as a free download from the
Apple Web site.

To install QuickTime:

1 Visit www.apple.com and download the

QuickTime for Windows installer application to
your computer.

2 Double-click the QuickTime installer applica-

tion and follow the on-screen installation in­structions.

3 Restart your computer.

If you turned off Driver Signing Warning on
your computer, be sure to enable it once
Pro Tools hardware and software have been
installed.

Optional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc

Your Pro Tools Installer disc includes several
software options that are available from the
Pro Tools installer.

Digidesign ASIO Driver

The Digidesign WaveDriver is a single-client,
multichannel sound driver that allows third­party audio programs that support the
WaveDriver MME (Multimedia Extensions)
standard to play back through Digidesign hard­ware.

For detailed information on configuring the
Digidesign WaveDriver, see the Digidesign
Windows Audio Drivers Guide.

Avid Video Engine

The Avid Video Engine is required to use
Pro Tools with Avid video peripherals such as
the Avid Mojo or the Digidesign AVoption|V10.

DigiTranslator

DigiTranslator™ is a software option for
Pro Tools that lets you convert and exchange
OMF and AAF sequences and MXF files directly
in the Pro Tools application. This option is pur­chased separately.

MachineControl

Digidesign MachineControl™ is a software op­tion that lets you control external audio/video
devices from Pro Tools using serial 9-pin proto­cols. This option is purchased separately.

The Digidesign ASIO (Audio Sound Input Out­put) Driver is a single-client multichannel
sound driver that allows third-party audio pro­grams that support the ASIO standard to record
and play back through Digidesign hardware.

For detailed information on configuring the
Digidesign ASIO Driver, see the Digidesign
Windows Audio Drivers Guide.

Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide24

MIDI I/O Driver

The MIDI I/O Driver is required if you are using
the Digidesign MIDI I/O.

MP3 Export Option

The MP3 Export Option lets you export MP3
files from Pro Tools. This option is purchased
separately.