New Computer and Interface

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Yes. I could probably figure it out on my own easy enough, but I've never done it before and rather than take a chance I do something I have to undo later, I'll just wait for some guidance.

Oh OK its super simple just like renaming any file or folder on your desk top or drive , and bullet proof
In the "Name" column ( left hand side of the the I/O matrix graph) you just put your cursor directly on the channel number and double click, and type in the new name hit return and done.

( sorry I don't have a screen shot of the insert tab and no system to boot up to take screen shot) , But I rename all the I/O tabs exactly the same way
Below you can see on my "Output" tab I have renamed the 3-4 channel as "3U" to reflect my IGS Tubecore "3U" Compressor and the M7 to reflect my Bricasti M7




Note in below screen shot from one of my session templates. The (darker purple track 3rd from right ) I not only have the insert renamed to reflect the actual hardware M7, but the in the case of this Aux track with the M7 inserted set up as a parallel reverb FX the bus that feeds it which becomes the I/O input name , and the track name itself, all show M7

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Oh OK its super simple...

Yes, it was quite easy. I'm all sorted now.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Yes, it was quite easy. I'm all sorted now.

Excellent,,, did you do that on the Input and Out tabs as well ?

Looking back to Feb 2011 , I will say even though it was expensive ( kinda like the collage education I never finished but more like a 1970's price ). The Advanced Music Production in Pro Tools --Masters Certification program, I took at Berklee College of Music advanced my overall Pro Tools knowledge skills and workflow more than the prior 5 years worth of trying to learn on my own.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Excellent,,, did you do that on the Input and Out tabs as well ?

No, those are still in their default settings.

Originally Posted by KevWind

Looking back to Feb 2011 , I will say even though it was expensive ( kinda like the collage education I never finished but more like a 1970's price ). The Advanced Music Production in Pro Tools --Masters Certification program, I took at Berklee College of Music advanced my overall Pro Tools knowledge skills and workflow more than the prior 5 years worth of trying to learn on my own.

In retrospect, it would have been smart for me to do that, but since the beginning I've had a friend guiding me who would give any PT instructor a run for his/her money. That's been a great help but it's also been a bit of a crutch since I really didn't have to commit myself to understanding all the setup stuff.

I totally see the value in taking a class. About 15-20 years ago I took an online Photoshop class. It was mostly conducted by email as websites weren't very sophisticated at the time. I learned a ton from that course and much of it was stuff I was never going to learn on my own. That said, I'm not sure I'm up to a PT class this late in the game.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by jim1960

No, those are still in their default settings.

It's all individual I just rename them all (to help me form getting confused) (Input,Output , Applicable Busses and Inserts )

Here is my '"Input tab" (in the A-1-2 the individual channels are labeled CHN A and CHN B to reflect how they are labeled on the Face Plate Of my A-Designs MP2 A pre amp ). Opps just realized I should rename the stereo A 1-2 to MP2A also (old guy syndrome )

[KevWind]

Spent most of yesterday and today downloading and installing software on the the new iMac.
I opted to keep the fresh install of Catalina 10.15.7 in place, and did not migrate from my old computer ( I will simply transfer the Pro Tools, Reason , Studio One, and Final Cut Pro, sessions and project files ).

This machine boots up faster to Catalina on this I mac and is indeed snappier and loads PT much quicker on this machine than my old one booted up and loaded Mojave and Pro Tools .

I decided I will keep my old 27" inch Apple Cinema Display and use it as a second display to the iMac. I will have to see how I like having the Mixer window open on one screen, and the Edit window open on the other

So far the iMac has been silent and I have not heard any fan noise But then I have also not been doing any editing or mixing or heavy processor use,,, so we will see

[KevWind]

Ok so still waiting for Avid Carbon interface to be delivered to my dealer then shipped to me with some new DB 25 cables and XLR fans

The Computer is up and running
This is when I first fired it up (it did come with the latest version of Catalina which is exactly what is specked for both Pro Tools 2020.11 and to run the new Carbon interface on



Here I am now going through the somewhat tedious process of Air Dropping all my Pro Tools , Studio One ,Reason , and Final Cut Pro X files from My old Mac Pro to the new iMac
I could get about $75 dollars worth of adaptors to connect the firewire 800 out on the Mac Pro, to the TB3 inputs on the iMac but this is a one time deal, and I am retired and have some time



Surprisingly after some quick research I was able to recalibrate the color on the old Display to get pretty close to default color the new 5k iMac display . Note in the photo there are some reflections happening in the Cinema (left) because it is angled slightly towards the big outside picture window





And here is the new upper rack box I just made which will house the new Interface

[KevWind]

Just installed the new 3 rd party RAM in my new iMac (purchased it with base 8 GB of Apple Memory) but went ahead and removed that and installed the 4 sticks of 32 GB from OWC. I was very pleased how easy it was no tools at all just
#1 unplug the power supply cord from the back of the iMac prototypical (IEC 320 C13/C14) audio power connector.
#2 place the iMac screen down on a flat surface with a soft towel to protect the screen
#3 open the RAM access door (little push button in power supply socket

#4 pull out factory RAM sticks push in new sticks
#5 push door back in place plug power back in done
Took all of maybe 3-5 minutes
Now maxed at 128 GB RAM and saved just a smidge over $2k

Now I am getting impatient for the new interface to arrive

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Now maxed at 128 GB RAM and saved just a smidge over $2k

Now I am getting impatient for the new interface to arrive

Nice! Apple's pricing on some components is quite odorous, particularly memory and SSDs. But it's good that we have ways around each of those expenses.

Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On Carbon and Blitzen!

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On Carbon and Blitzen!

Ha! cleaver

So I am getting the full complement of XLR's on the the two DB25's (8 input and 8 output XLR's) I have them coming in 3 ft lengths with 12" inches in the full outer rubber shielding and then 24" inches of the individual channel cables to XLR's or (XLR fans) as my dealer calls them. Then I will use split side velcro close, woven flex cable for the individual channel cables which can breakout through a slit in the velcro at the correct positions to go directly into the HW units

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by KevWind

So I am getting the full complement of XLR's on the the two DB25's (8 input and 8 output XLR's) I have them coming in 3 ft lengths with 12" inches in the full outer rubber shielding and then 24" inches of the individual channel cables to XLR's or (XLR fans) as my dealer calls them. Then I will use split side velcro close, woven flex cable for the individual channel cables which can breakout through a slit in the velcro at the correct positions to go directly into the HW units

DB25 cables are almost always the way to go. I think I have eight of them in my system these days. It helps keep the black spaghetti tangles to a minimum. But even with all those DB25 cables, the back of my rack is a scary sight.

[KevWind]

The adaptor for my 27 " Cinema Display (to go from mini display on the Cinema to TB3 input on iMac ), finally came yesterday... And I was pleased and amazed I plugged in the cable from the Cinema Display to the adaptor ,,the adaptor into my iMac powered it and shzam it worked. The only thing I had to do was go into system preferences > Display > uncheck the "Mirror Displays " box (to have them be in Extended mode) then go into the "Arrangement" Tab and make sure the main display (iMac) was on the right side (where it sits physically on my studio desk) so that I could simply drag the mixer window to the left monitor (Cinema)

So here is the edit window from PT on the iMac display and the mixer window on the Cinema



One interesting effect is in the Screen Saver mode the two screens show different movements of the same pattern I am assuming from being in Extended mode as opposed to Mirrored mode

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers

Thanks, Kev. That makes sense. While the pro platform is aging a bit it is based on the solid intel Xeon line and uses a different cooling system that renders the computer virtually silent for studio use.

JR

Having an iMac Pro, that is the reason I went for it. Better cooling system under heavy loads. I have yet to hear the fans kick in.

And Pro Tools can't even make this system break a sweat. Even in large audio post sessions with high tracks counts & video.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

Having an iMac Pro, that is the reason I went for it. Better cooling system under heavy loads. I have yet to hear the fans kick in.

And Pro Tools can't even make this system break a sweat. Even in large audio post sessions with high tracks counts & video.

Good to hear my sessions are pretty modest track count, plugin count Normally no more than 2 or 3 stereo guitar tracks, one or two instrument tracks and usually two vocal tracks and one reverb aux .

So am guessing/hoping that I won't be ramping up the fan.

[KevWind]

Avid Carbon interface scheduled to be delivered tomorrow Fed EX

Depending on my mood and level of ambition I may just try to shoot an unboxing and installation video. Unfortunately the DB 25 cables will probably be another week for delivery ,,, BUT I have enough XLR cables to get going in the mean time