DigiDesign Mbox 2 Pro Page 84 Getting Started Manual Download

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DIGIDESIGN

2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard

Daly City, CA 94014-3886 USA

Tel: 650.731.6300

Fax: 650.731.6399

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

(USA)

Tel: 650.731.6100

Fax: 650.731.6384

PRODUCT INFORMATION

(USA)

Tel: 800.333.2137

INTERNATIONAL OFFICES

Visit the Digidesign website
for contact information

www.digidesign.com

Summary of Contents for Mbox 2 Pro

Page 1: ...Getting Started Mbox 2 Pro Version 7 4 ...

Page 2: ...dards regulating interference and EMC FCC Part 15 Class B EN 55022 Class B EN 55204 Class B AS NZS 3548 Class B CISPR 22 Class B Radio and Television Interference This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY We Digidesign 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard Suite 200 Daly City CA 94014 USA t...

Page 3: ...Compliance Digidesign is authorized to apply the CE Conformité Europénne mark on this compliant equipment thereby declaring conformity to EMC Directive 89 336 EEC and Low Voltage Directive 73 23 EEC Safety Statement This equipment has been tested to comply with USA and Canadian safety certification in accordance with the specifications of UL Standards UL60065 7th IEC 60065 7th and Canadian CAN CSA...

Page 4: ... consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet 10 Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs convenience receptacles and the point where they exit from the apparatus 11 Only use attachments accessories specified by the manufacturer 12 Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time 13 Refer all servicing to qua...

Page 5: ...6 About www digidesign com 7 Chapter 3 Installing Pro Tools on Windows 9 Installation Overview 9 Connecting Mbox 2 Pro and Installing Pro Tools LE 9 Launching Pro Tools LE 11 Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc 11 Uninstalling Pro Tools LE 12 Chapter 4 Installing Pro Tools on Mac 13 Installation Overview 13 Installing Pro Tools LE 13 Connecting Mbox 2 Pro to the Computer 14 Launchi...

Page 6: ...Headphones 35 Connecting a Sound System 36 Connecting Audio Inputs 37 Connecting a Microphone 38 Connecting Instruments to the Mbox 2 Pro 40 MIDI Connections 43 Word Clock 44 Using a Footswitch 45 Chapter 8 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE 47 Recording a Pro Tools Session 47 Importing Audio from a CD 49 Creating an Audio CD from a Pro Tools Session 50 Recording MIDI in a Pro Tools Session 52 Appendi...

Page 7: ...rmats and Drive Types 63 Formatting an Audio Drive 64 Partitioning Drives 65 Defragmenting an Audio Drive 66 Using Mac Drives on Windows Systems 67 Hard Disk Storage Space 68 Appendix D Troubleshooting 69 Backing Up Your Work 69 Common Issues 70 Performance Factors 70 Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support 71 Index 73 ...

Page 8: ...Mbox 2 Pro Getting Started x ...

Page 9: ...our Pro Tools System 4 Making Studio Connections on page 35 Mac Installation Overview Mac OS X Systems Only Installation of Pro Tools LE for Mbox 2 Pro on a Mac includes the following steps 1 Connecting Mbox 2 Pro to the Computer on page 14 2 Installing Pro Tools LE on page 13 3 Launching Pro Tools LE on page 14 4 Configuring your system for improved perfor mance See Chapter 5 Configuring Your Pro...

Page 10: ...Mbox 2 Pro Getting Started 2 ...

Page 11: ... covering installa tion configuration and common tasks for your Pro Tools system Firewire connector cable six pin 1394 Power supply Digidesign Registration Information Card Mbox 2 Pro Features The Mbox 2 Pro provides the following Audio Inputs and Outputs Mbox 2 Pro lets your Pro Tools LE sessions uti lize up to six discrete channels of input and up to eight discrete channels of output using the f...

Page 12: ...e recording Pro Tools LE Capabilities Pro Tools LE on Windows or Mac provides the following capabilities with Mbox 2 Pro Playback of up to 32 mono or 16 stereo digital audio tracks or a combination of playing back and recording up to 32 mono or 16 stereo digital audio tracks depend ing on your computer s capabilities Up to 128 audio tracks with 32 voiceable tracks maximum 128 Auxiliary Input track...

Page 13: ... one or more Digide sign qualified drives For a list of Digidesign qualified hard drives visit the Digidesign website www digidesign com If you are using an ATA IDE or FireWire hard drive initialize your drive with Windows Disk Management Windows or the Disk Utility ap plication included with Apple System software Mac Avoid Recording to the System Drive Recording to your system drive is not recom ...

Page 14: ...rtcuts lists keyboard and Right click shortcuts for Pro Tools These guides and other guides are installed on your startup drive during installation To view or print PDF guides you can use Adobe Reader or Apple Preview Mac only Conventions Used in This Guide Digidesign guides use the following conven tions to indicate menu choices and key com mands The following symbols are used to highlight im por...

Page 15: ...the Compatibility documents for system requirements search the online An swerbase join the worldwide Pro Tools commu nity 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 ...

Page 16: ...Mbox 2 Pro Getting Started 8 ...

Page 17: ...es For details on Administrator privi leges refer to your Windows documentation 2 Connect one end of the included Firewire ca ble to one of the Firewire ports on Mbox 2 Pro 3 Connect the other end of the cable to any available Firewire 6 pin 1394 port on your computer Wait for the Found New Hardware Wizard dialog to appear and leave it open Do not click Next If the Wizard begins to install drivers...

Page 18: ...mplete click Finish Installing QuickTime 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 Win dows XP is available as a free download from the Apple website www apple com To install QuickTime 1 Visit www apple com and go to the Quick Time page 2 Download the QuickTime installer applica tion to your computer 3 Doubl...

Page 19: ...authorization code is located on the inside front cover of this guide Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc The Pro Tools Installer disc provides additional software for your system including audio driv ers for playing other audio applications through your Digidesign hardware and a Pro Tools demo session Windows Audio Drivers The Mbox 2 Pro ASIO Driver and DirectSound Window System A...

Page 20: ...nstall location and click Install 5 When installation is complete click OK Uninstalling Pro Tools LE If you need to uninstall Pro Tools software from your computer you can use Windows com mands for uninstalling programs To uninstall Pro Tools from your computer Windows Vista 1 Choose Start Control Panel 2 Under Programs click Uninstall a program 3 Select Pro Tools 4 Click Uninstall 5 Follow the on...

Page 21: ...details Installing Pro Tools LE After the Apple System software settings are con figured you are ready to install Pro Tools LE To install Pro Tools LE on Mac OS X 1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra tor for the account where you want to install Pro Tools For details on Administrator privi leges in Mac OS X refer to your Apple Mac OS X documentation 2 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer di...

Page 22: ...ox 2 Pro to your computer To connect Mbox 2 Pro to your computer 1 Connect the small end of the included Firewire cable to the FireWire port on Mbox 2 Pro 2 With your computer on connect the other end of the cable to any available FireWire port on your computer Launching Pro Tools LE When launching Pro Tools LE the first time you are prompted to enter an authorization code to validate your softwar...

Page 23: ...Pro Tools Demo Session The Pro Tools Installer disc includes a separate demo session installer You can use this session to verify that your system is working The demo session for Pro Tool LE is named Fil tered Dreams To install the demo session 1 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc into your DVD drive 2 From your DVD drive locate and open the Ad ditional Files LE Demo Session Installer folder 3...

Page 24: ...lick Close Uninstalling Pro Tools If you need to uninstall Pro Tools software from your computer use the Uninstaller application To remove Pro Tools from your computer 1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra tor for the account where Pro Tools is installed 2 Go to Applications Digidesign Pro Tools Pro Tools Utilities and double click the Uninstall Pro Tools file 3 Click Continue to proceed ...

Page 25: ...Turn on any external hard drives Wait ap proximately ten seconds for them to spin up to speed 3 Turn on any control surfaces such as Com mand 8 4 Turn on any MIDI interfaces MIDI devices or synchronization peripherals 5 Turn on your computer 6 Launch Pro Tools or any third party audio or MIDI applications Shut down your Pro Tools system in this order 1 Quit Pro Tools and any other running applica ...

Page 26: ...ting can also be used to manage monitoring latency Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings reduce monitoring latency and are useful when you are recording live input Higher Hardware Buffer Size settings allow for more audio processing and effects and are use ful when you are mixing and using more RTAS plug ins To change the Hardware Buffer Size 1 Choose Setup Playback Engine 2 From the H W Buffer Size...

Page 27: ...e the best re sults For example to improve screen re sponse in a medium sized session using a moderate number of RTAS plug ins try reduc ing the number of RTAS plug ins but keep the CPU Usage Limit set to its maximum on a sin gle processor system To set the number of RTAS Processors 1 Choose Setup Playback Engine 2 From the RTAS Processors pop up menu select the number of available processors you ...

Page 28: ...ppression when you need to ensure the highest possible audio qual ity such as for a final mix There are two RTAS Engine options Ignore Errors During Playback Record When en abled Pro Tools continues to play and record even if the RTAS processing requirements ex ceed the selected CPU Usage Limit This can re sult in pops and clicks in the audio but does not stop the transport Minimize Additional I O...

Page 29: ...ialog 3 Click OK If Pro Tools needs more system memory for the DAE Playback Buffer it will prompt you to re start your computer Cache Size The Cache Size determines the amount of mem ory DAE allocates to pre buffer audio for play back and looping when using Elastic Audio The optimum Cache Size for most sessions is Normal A Cache Size setting of Minimum reduces the amount of system memory used for ...

Page 30: ...in Streaming Buffer Size settings higher than 250 msec Level 2 improve the audio qual ity of sample playback but they also decrease the amount of memory available for other sys tem tasks such as RTAS processing To change the Plug in Streaming Buffer Size 1 Choose Setup Playback Engine 2 From the Plug in Streaming Buffer Size pop up menu select a buffer size 3 Click OK Optimizing the Plug in Stream...

Page 31: ...l device This setting will synchro nize Pro Tools to that digital device Word Clock Use this setting to clock Pro Tools LE to a Word clock source connected to the Mbox 2 Pro Word Clock In port To select the Clock Source 1 Choose Setup Hardware 2 Choose the clock source from the Clock Source pop up menu 3 Click OK Configuring I O Setup Using the I O Setup dialog you can label Pro Tools LE input out...

Page 32: ...ore your system configuration and settings if you encounter any problems Optimizing a Windows System for Pro Tools Windows XP Only Before configuring your computer make sure you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac count where you want to install Pro Tools For details on Administrator privileges refer to your Windows documentation Required Optimizations To ensure optimum performance with P...

Page 33: ... Windows Power Management Windows XP 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 Disabling ClearType Font Smoothing When using Pro Tools the Effects Clear Type setting must be disabled To disable ClearType font smoot...

Page 34: ...work 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 Manage 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...

Page 35: ...performance has not changed run msconfig and return your computer Startup Selection back to Normal Startup load all device drives and services Alternatively try disabling Startup items and non essential processes indi vidually Optimizing a Mac System for Pro Tools Mac Only To ensure optimum performance with Pro Tools LE configure your computer before using Pro Tools software Before configuring you...

Page 36: ...ure uses the same key commands Pro Tools uses to start recording Command Spacebar and to record online Command Option Spacebar If you want to retain use of these key commands in Pro Tools these shortcuts must be disabled To disable the Spotlight keyboard shortcut 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Spotlight 2 Deselect Spotlight menu keyboard shortcut and Spotlight window key...

Page 37: ...t Pro Tools clock source When unlit this LED in dicates Internal clock MIDI Activity LED This LED lights to indicate Mbox 2 Pro is receiv ing or sending MIDI Figure 1 Mbox 2 Pro front panel Gain Power Ext Clock LED Source selector LED Input 1 Headphone Outputs Monitor Level Pad Peak LED Gain Source selector Input 2 Pad Peak LED DI Mic 2 LEDs 48V Switch and LED MIDI Activity LED A and B Headphones ...

Page 38: ... The Monitor knob adjusts the output level of the Mon Out ports In Pro Tools this will be the signal routed to Analog outputs 1 2 48V Switch and LED Phantom power is activated by the switch la beled 48V on the front panel of Mbox 2 Pro The LED when lit indicates that 48V phantom power is active on both Mic Line inputs These inputs provide phantom power for micro phones that require it to operate A...

Page 39: ...ther the Mic XLR and Line TRS inputs or DI inputs for each channel The DI and Mic LEDs indicate the current source input The Aux In Source select switch selects the Aux Line inputs or Phono inputs For more information see Connecting Audio Inputs on page 37 Peak LEDs Input 1 2 and the Aux Input have Peak LEDs that also function as signal meters They light green at 60 dBFS yellow at 6 dBFS and red a...

Page 40: ...ter or using an external power supply in cluded with your system 4 Pin FireWire Cable Mbox 2 Pro includes a 6 pin to 6 pin FireWire cable Some Windows laptops include a 4 pin FireWire port To use Mbox 2 Pro with these computers a 4 pin to 6 pin cable is required Purchase this cable model CS625 through your authorized Digidesign dealer or online through the DigiStore www digidesign com MIDI I O The...

Page 41: ...wo conductor phono RCA connectors that utilize a full 24 bit two channel digital data stream The Sony Phillips Digital Interface Format S PDIF is used in many professional and con sumer CD recorders and DAT recorders To avoid RF interference use 75 ohm coaxial cable for S PDIF transfers and keep the cable length to a maximum of 10 meters In use the S PDIF input channels are available in addition t...

Page 42: ...e front panel the input signal is adjusted by the Gain control for each channel and the source Mic Line or DI is chosen using the Source selectors Source 2 is at the far left when looking at the back panel and Source 1 is to its right The back panel inputs for Source 1 and Source 2 are lo cated such that they are directly in line with their associated input controls on the front panel This lets yo...

Page 43: ...put Whenever a discrete cue mix is required for overdubbing Headphone B output can be switched to monitor output chan nels 3 4 To connect headphones for mix monitoring Connect headphones with a 1 4 inch stereo connector or adapter to the Headphone A jack To connect headphones for selectable monitoring Connect headphones with a 1 4 inch stereo connector or adapter to the Headphone B jack To monitor...

Page 44: ...puts 1 4 can be connected to any de vice that has analog inputs Use these four bal anced 1 4 inch TRS outputs to feed analog de vices such as headphone amps or cue systems for discrete headphone mixes samplers or a secondary recorder Line Out 5 6 Line Out 5 6 provides an additional pair of ana log output channels Use this unbalanced 1 4 inch stereo connector to supply two channels of analog output...

Page 45: ...In section on the back panel pro vides combination jacks that accept XLR or TRS connectors for Inputs 1 and 2 XLR For XLR microphone cables Line For 1 4 inch Tip Ring Sleeve TRS cables from keyboards mixers and other line sources DI 1 and DI 2 Input 1 and 2 also provide a front panel DI in put DI For 1 4 inch Tip Sleeve cables from guitar bass microphones or similar sources Aux In Aux In connector...

Page 46: ...ei ther by a battery in the microphone or through an audio interface such as Mbox 2 Pro that can supply power through the microphone cable Most condenser microphones such as an AKG C3000 require phantom power to operate Dy namic microphones such as a Shure SM57 do not require phantom power to operate but are not harmed by it The Mbox 2 Pro can only supply power through a microphone cable with XLR ...

Page 47: ...e Mbox 2 Pro This switch sends 48V to both XLR mic inputs The 48V LED on the front of the Mbox 2 Pro will light when phantom power is being supplied 4 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro turn the Monitor control to the desired level 5 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro carefully turn the Input 1 Gain control to the right to increase the input level of your microphone signal 6 If the incoming signal is too ...

Page 48: ...ents and other equipment DI Input Front Panel Instruments such as elec tric guitar or electric bass that usually have a lower level of output than line level instruments use the front panel DI Direct Inject input Line Inputs Back Panel Line level devices in cluding electronic audio sources such as mixers samplers keyboards turntables and synthesiz ers use the back panel Line input Aux In Back Pane...

Page 49: ... Pro turn the Monitor control to the desired level 4 Set your instrument s volume to its optimal level For example the optimal level for most keyboards is between 80 and 100 of maxi mum volume 5 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro carefully turn the Gain control to the right to increase the in put level of your keyboard To use Aux In 3 4 Line inputs 1 Plug your keyboard mixer or other line level device...

Page 50: ...er you plan to use S PDIF input on Mbox 2 Pro In order to record or listen to a digital device connected to the Mbox 2 Pro S PDIF In connec tor you must do the following to configure the Pro Tools Clock Source To enable the S PDIF inputs on Mbox 2 Pro 1 Make sure your have connected the external digital device to the correct Mbox 2 Pro S PDIF connector In and Out 2 Make sure the external device is...

Page 51: ...box 2 Pro 2 Connect the MIDI IN of your MIDI device or controller to the MIDI OUT port on the back of Mbox 2 Pro Selecting any other Clock Source Internal or Word Clock disables S PDIF input S PDIF output remains available Only USB MIDI interfaces are compatible with Pro Tools systems for Mac OS X Mo dem to serial port adapters and serial MIDI devices are not supported MIDI connections to Mbox 2 P...

Page 52: ...clock master or as a slave to Word clock sup plied by an external device Pro Tools LE as Word Clock Master Mbox 2 Pro Word clock output is always active letting Pro Tools supply Word clock to any con nected devices that support standard Word clock To use Pro Tools LE as Word clock master 1 Make sure all connections are correct between Mbox 2 Pro and your external devices 2 Configure all external d...

Page 53: ...Clock Using a Footswitch The footswitch connector on Mbox 2 Pro lets you use a footswitch pedal to control either playback start stop or recording punch in out Both QuickPunch audio punch in and punch out and MIDI punch in and punch out record ing are supported The footswitch connector is designed specifi cally for instantaneous momentary on off pedals with a 1 4 inch TS connector Continu ous on c...

Page 54: ...Mbox 2 Pro Getting Started 46 ...

Page 55: ...n pa rameters as needed or leave them at their de fault settings For details on New Session settings see the Pro Tools Reference Guide For the most complete information on using Pro Tools see the Pro Tools Reference Guide You can view an electronic PDF version of the Reference Guide by choosing it from the Pro Tools Help menu This chapter uses analog inputs in its exam ples of common tasks To reco...

Page 56: ...pping To record an audio track 1 Click the track s Record Enable button Creating a new Stereo audio track A mono instrument uses one input on the Mbox 2 Pro and a stereo instrument uses two Creating a stereo track in Pro Tools will not make a mono instrument into a ste reo instrument If a mono instrument is re corded on a stereo track one of the sides of the stereo track will show no signal Routin...

Page 57: ...cord Enable button is lit click on it to take it out of Record mode 2 Click Play in the Transport window or press the Spacebar to start playback 3 Click Stop in the Transport window or press the Spacebar to stop playback Importing Audio from a CD To import audio from a compact disc 1 Put the source CD into your computer s CD DVD drive 2 In Pro Tools open the Workspace browser by choosing Window Wo...

Page 58: ... combine all your audible tracks into a single master audio file After the new audio file has been bounced to disk you can burn it to a CD If you are bouncing to 16 bit CD resolution you should use a dither plug in on the main out put For details see the Pro Tools Reference Guide To bounce audio to disk 1 After you have finished recording and mixing a session in Pro Tools select the length of the ...

Page 59: ...ey should be saved 10 Click Save Pro Tools begins bouncing to disk Pro Tools bounces are done in real time so you hear audio playback of your mix during the bounce process though you cannot adjust it Burning a CD After the bounce is completed you will have an audio file that is ready for burning onto a CD Quit Pro Tools and launch any common CD burning application to burn your bounced mix to CD Bo...

Page 60: ...an Instrument track and configure it for recording 1 Choose Setup MIDI Input Devices and make sure your input device is selected in the MIDI In put Enable window and click OK 2 Choose Track New and specify 1 Mono In strument Track then click Create 3 Select View Mix Window Instruments to dis play the MIDI controls for the Instrument track 4 At the top of the Instrument track in the Mix window clic...

Page 61: ... audio interface for monitoring in Pro Tools click the Input selector of the Instrument track and choose the corresponding audio input This step is not necessary if you are using an instru ment plug in 7 In the Mix Window click the track s Record Enable button to enable the Instrument track for MIDI recording 8 Make sure Options MIDI Thru is selected Inserting an instrument plug in on an Instrumen...

Page 62: ...window or press the Spacebar to begin recording 5 Play your MIDI controller or input device 6 When you have finished recording click Stop in the Transport window or press the Spacebar The newly recorded MIDI data appears as a MIDI region on the track in the Edit window as well as in the Region List To play back recorded MIDI data 1 Click the track s Record Enable button to take the Instrument trac...

Page 63: ...atch names for your external MIDI devices Entire MIDI Studio Setup configurations created within MSS can be imported and exported MIDI Studio Setup Window The MIDI Studio Setup window is organized into three sections Interface controls are at the top of the window All the currently defined in struments are displayed in the Instrument Name list on the left side of the window A de tailed view of MID...

Page 64: ...dio 2 Click Create 3 In the Instrument Name field type the name of your instrument and press Enter 4 Set a manufacturer and model for the new de vice from the corresponding pop up menus If the Manufacturer and Model pop up menus do not provide a name for your particular device choose None 5 From the Input pop up menu choose the in put port on your MIDI interface that is con nected to the MIDI Out ...

Page 65: ...he Instrument Name field Send Channels The Send Channels grid sets the send channels for the MIDI device specified in the Instrument Name field Receive Channels The Receive Channels grid sets the receive chan nels for the MIDI device specified in the Instru ment Name field MIDI Patch Name Support Pro Tools supports XML Extensible Markup Language for storing and importing patch names for your exter...

Page 66: ...nk pop up menu appears in the upper left hand corner of the win dow Once patch names have been imported into Pro Tools they are available for that MIDI de vice in all sessions To clear patch names In the Patch Select dialog click the Clear but ton and click Done Patch Select button Edit window Patch Select button Mix window Patch Select dialog Patch Select button Patch Select button Change button ...

Page 67: ...IDI Setup located in Ap plications Utilities or In Pro Tools choose Setup MIDI MIDI Studio 2 Click MIDI Devices AMS scans your system for connected MIDI interfaces If your MIDI in terface is properly connected it appears in the window with each of its ports numbered 3 For any MIDI devices connected to the MIDI interface click Add Device A new external de vice icon with the default MIDI keyboard im...

Page 68: ...w device from the corresponding pop up menus If the Manufacturer and Model pop up menus do not provide a name for your particular de vice you can type a name Making MIDI input and output connections To remove a connection select the cable and press Delete To delete all connections click Clear Cables External Device Icon Naming a new MIDI device For Manufacturer and Model names AMS refers to one or...

Page 69: ... 4 Click the device image The window expands to show images for various MIDI devices such as keyboards modules interfaces and mixers Select an icon for your device 5 Click OK The device names you enter appear as MIDI in put and output choices in Pro Tools Enabling MIDI channels Selecting a device icon To use your own custom icons you can place TIFF image files in Library Audio MIDI Devices Generic...

Page 70: ...atch Select dialog click the Change button 5 In the Open dialog navigate to Library Au dio MIDI Patch Names Digidesign name of manufacturer and select the MIDI Patch Name file midnam for the MIDI device 6 Click Open The Patch Select dialog is populated with patch names and the Patch Name Bank pop up menu appears in the upper left hand corner of the win dow Once patch names have been imported into ...

Page 71: ... rate density of edits and the use of crossfades and other processes such as Beat Detective in a session For complete hard drive requirements see the Digidesign website www digidesign com SCSI Hard Drives 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 mother board For complete info...

Page 72: ...e volume Choose a file system For optimum perfor mance audio drives should be formatted as NTFS Select Perform a quick format Make sure Enable file and folder compres sion is not selected Set the Allocation unit size to Default Click OK 5 If the volume is Unallocated do the follow ing In the Disk Management window right click the hard drive you will use for audio and choose New Partition In the Ne...

Page 73: ...are actually faster on partitioned drives assuming that reads and writes are per formed on a single partition since the heads only have to seek within the partition bound aries rather than the whole capacity of the drive Smaller partitions perform faster than larger par titions but this comes at the expense of contig uous storage space When you partition a drive you will need to find the compromis...

Page 74: ...nt record passes Increased fragmentation increases the chance of disk errors which can interfere with playback of audio and result in performance errors Optimizing Defragmenting Drives To prevent fragmentation you can optimize your drive which rearranges your files into a contiguous format Most optimizing software lets you run a check on a drive to find out the percentage of fragmentation If your ...

Page 75: ...directly from a Mac formatted HFS drive connected to a Windows system This functionality requires that all Mac session and audio files be stored on Mac formatted drives During Pro Tools installation make sure to se lect the Mac HFS Disk Support option This op tion lets your Pro Tools system read write record and play back using Mac formatted HFS disks Formatting and Maintaining HFS Drives To forma...

Page 76: ...he required disk space for certain track numbers and track lengths to help you estimate your hard disk usage Table 4 Required hard drive space for audio tracks 44 1 kHz and 48 kHz sessions shown Number of Tracks and Length 16 bit at 44 1 kHz 16 bit at 48 kHz 24 bit at 44 1 kHz 24 bit at 48 kHz 1 mono track 1 minute 5 MB 5 5 MB 7 5 MB 8 2 MB 1 stereo track or two mono tracks 5 minutes 50 MB 55 MB 7...

Page 77: ...he best way to back up an entire session is to use the Save Copy In command This command lets you save the session file and all of its associ ated files to a new location Backing Up Your System Configuration After configuring your system and Pro Tools you should save an image of your system drive using a backup utility such as Norton Ghost Windows or Bombich Carbon Copy Cloner Mac By doing this yo...

Page 78: ... Not Recognized Problem When you launch Pro Tools it does not recog nize an audio interface or a connected audio in terface is not available Possible Solutions Turn off your computer and check to be sure your cables are properly and securely connected to your computer and to your audio interface Verify that your Hardware Setup dialog set tings are correct Performance Factors There are several cond...

Page 79: ...s installed in the Digidesign folder when you install Pro Tools Answerbase is also available on the Digidesign website www digidesign com Website www digidesign com This is your your best online source for information to help you get the most out of your Pro Tools system Gather Important Information Digidesign wants to help you resolve problems as quickly and efficiently as possible If you have th...

Page 80: ...e latest compatibility information on the Digidesign website www digidesign com Other Software If you are using other audio or video applica tions refer to the manufacturer s documenta tion for operational details Make note of any other software that was run ning when a problem occurred Diagnostic Information Note any DAE errors or other error codes you en counter Additonally note the ability to r...

Page 81: ...Playback Buffer Size 21 Dashboard shortcut Mac disabling 28 drive formatting Mac 65 Windows 64 drive maintenance 63 drive requirements 5 E Energy Saver Mac turning off 28 Ext Clock LED 29 F FireWire cable types 32 FireWire requirements 63 footswitch 33 45 G gain headphones 30 input 31 H hard drives drive formats 63 FireWire requirements 63 formatting 64 65 formatting Mac 65 IDE ATA requirements 64...

Page 82: ...ows 55 N network connections 70 O optimizing hard drives 66 outputs digital 33 Monitor outputs 33 P partitioning hard drives 65 Patch Select dialog Macintosh 62 Windows 58 peak indicators 31 phantom power 39 indicator 30 when to use 30 38 Playback Engine RTAS Processors setting 19 Plug in Streaming Buffer 22 Plug in Streaming Buffer Size 22 plug ins RTAS Processors setting 19 power management sett...

Page 83: ...sabling 28 Startup items Windows disabling 27 system optimization Mac 27 required optimizations Windows 24 shutting down 17 starting up 17 System Memory Allocation 21 system optimization Windows 24 26 system settings Cache Size 21 Clock Source 23 CPU Usage Limit 19 DAE Playback Buffer Size 21 Hardware Buffer Size 18 I O Setup 23 Plug in Streaming Buffer 22 Plug in Streaming Buffer Size 22 Sample R...

Page 84: ...City CA 94014 3886 USA Tel 650 731 6300 Fax 650 731 6399 TECHNICAL SUPPORT USA Tel 650 731 6100 Fax 650 731 6384 PRODUCT INFORMATION USA Tel 800 333 2137 INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Visit the Digidesign website for contact information www digidesign com ...

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