#Avid hdx mac os x#

Pro Tools 10.1 currently runs only on Mac OS X Lion - there is no support for Snow Leopard and no support for Windows at the time of writing - and Avid mention that Pro Tools HD and HD Native systems have not been 'qualified” for use with this release. However, straight away, you can't help but get the impression that Pro Tools 10.1 is very much a version 1 software release for the HDX platform, since it has a more limited scope of compatibility when compared with the Pro Tools 10 software reviewed last month.

#Avid hdx update#

Notice how the meter for each DSP now shows how many instances of a plug-in are running on that chip.Īlthough announced at the same time as Pro Tools 10, HDX is, in fact, incompatible with the version 10.0.x software, requiring a special 10.1 update that can be downloaded from Avid's web site once your HDX hardware is registered. The System Usage window for a single-card HDX system running a light session.

The big question, of course, is whether or not HDX represents significant enough progress to keep existing users grazing in the Avid fold. Still, as companies like Apple have proved time and again, sometimes it's necessary to break with the past - no matter the potential inconvenience for existing users - in order to make significant progress.

#Avid hdx install#

And there's no mention of the older blue/silver interfaces in the HDX Install Guide, which is perhaps unsurprising since, as mentioned last month, Avid have already announced that Pro Tools 10 will be the last 'feature release” to support HD-era hardware. For example, where the original 192 I/O interfaces launched with HD at least offered 'Legacy Peripheral' ports, enabling Mix-era interfaces to be initially incorporated into the newer system, the latest HD I/O interfaces, launched by Avid in 2010, do not have such a provision. Given that there are so many HD users, one might have expected Avid to ensure a somewhat favonian transition to the newer platform, but this hasn't quite been the case. What's particularly noteworthy about the 10-year figure is that Pro Tools itself has only existed for about 20 years so HD represents half of the product's lifespan so far. Whereas Pro Tools Mix, the predecessor to HD, had been available for a mere four years before HD was launched, HD has now been on the shelves for about 10 years and presumably has a considerably larger user base as a consequence. It's perhaps interesting to consider that Avid - née Digidesign - have never before had to conduct a Pro Tools transition on the scale of HD to HDX. Pro Tools HDX, the long-anticipated successor to Pro Tools HD, was launched at last October's AES show and represents both a major change and a major step forward for the Pro Tools platform. When Avid were taxed to devise a name for the company's new Pro Tools DSP hardware, they did what any self-respecting company does these days: added an X.

What exactly does Avid's new DSP platform offer?Īvid's new Pro Tools HDX card has twice as many DSPs as previous-generation HD cards, offering five times the performance. The move from HD to HDX marks a leap into the unknown for high-end Pro Tools users.