D8B and Pro Tools Transport Control

[soundmanford]

Hey guy's quick question. To better help you guys understand what I am trying to accomplish here is our setup and how it works.

We are a hybrid studio with both pro tools and tape machines. We treat our daw as a tape machine and mix on the console, then bounce back to a 2 track in the daw. We upgraded from a HDR24/96 and want to use pro tools like we did that machine. So we run 24 tracks into the board from pro tools and then 2 back in and use the 8 buss outs to feed the Otari 5050 when we want that tape feel. What I am having a problem with is getting pro tools and the console to play nicely on the transport side. It would be nice to be able to play pause ff rw and rec ready tracks through the board. I am not wanting a full blown midi control surface hear just the transport. Our interface is a profire 2626. Logic plays nicely, PT no so much. It would be amazing to sync the two up so the automation would work. Any ideas? Also the console is running v3.XX When we upgraded to v5.1 our mic pres on the board didn't work. Apparently the previous owner had upgraded the Mic pres to some very sweet API pre's and had to mod the OS code for them to work. Long story short we are stuck with our current os v3 so the HUI mode which sucks any ways is out of the question. D8b bridge is out of the question to because we want to keep our API pres. Any help is greatly appreciated. I am hoping that we don't have to sell and go to a control 24 or other type controller.

thanks guys

[FrankH]

Sorry, I can't help you with setting up transport on ProTools (which version, BTW?) as I know nothing of theire MTC/MMC implementation. Any help from their manual? Particularly on the subject of MMC?

It's this that got me curious:

Apparently the previous owner had upgraded the Mic pres to some very sweet API pre's and had to mod the OS code for them to work.

I have heard of some owners bumping the Mic Pre chips. Plausible but extremely difficult to do. But altering the code? That sounds like sounds like bullshit to me. The reason I say this is because the analog mic pres themselves are not under any digital control by themselves on the CODEC board. The DAC's they feed are. Doing a mic pre Chipectomy® alone doesn't require any kind of code change....which brings me to the next point.

I'm having a hard time believing that some 3rd party mic pre upgrade guy received access to de-compile and recompile Mackie's proprietary OS to mod (what I'm guessing) each channel's input DAC behaviors (including the possibility of replacing the input DACs).

Do you have any idea who did the mic pre mods? I'd love to know what they did to the code. I'm sorry 5.1 won't work, but I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around the explanation.

[soundmanford]

Seeing that I did not do the work I can't tell you how the mod was done or what technique was done. All I know is we were told by him and his house tech that 5.1 would not work with the new mic input section. That's what I know. I have two d8b's and can tell you this one does sound better than my first one. Seeing that I have less than $200 in it I could care less how they modded it. When we got it the CPU power supply was bad, thus is why we paid so little for it. If I didn't have my stock d8b to compare to I would call bs on the mod too, but this board has a unique sound about it.

[FrankH]

I didn't mean that you were BS'ing...not at all. It sounded like the guy that sold it to you was. It had that Used Car smell to it.

OK...it sounds different. I'll take your word on that. What I really would like to see is a photo of the modded board(s). It's a group of 3 stacked parallel to the jackfield in the rear.

What are the chances of me convincing you to snap a couple of pics? Yes, PITA...and understandable if you can't.

Still....it's the (seller's) claim of modding the code that I really find curious (and somewhat dubious). As I said, the mic pres are analog circuits that feed the DAC. Nothing in the code communicates directly with any of the mic pre components on the mic pre board. Modding or changing them shouldn't require a code change at all.

[soundmanford]

Pics would be impossible to get. The desk is sitting in a custom production desk. Moving it means a few hours of tearing down and putting back together. The only reason I could see a code or patch on the OS would be if the A/D's were changed as well? But even then why go through the trouble, just go in the adat cards with some external pres. Like I said the price I paid, it doesn't matter if its unmolested or modded.

[FrankH]

Pics would be impossible to get. The desk is sitting in a custom production desk

Impossible? No...but I get it. It's a PITA.

Yes, a code change would suggest that the ADA's were replaced. But with what? And as I suggested earlier, doing a code rewrite sounds dubious to me. That would require having access to the source code....something that is extremely unlikely to have been given out to a 3rd party mod company.

If you ever have need to open the unit for routine maintenance (like loose ribbon cables, replacing a dead fader...etc) would you mind snapping a few pics and posting them? I (and I'm sure a few others who haunt this board) would be mighty curious to see what was done.

[anyhorizon]

I don't think swapping out the ADAs or pre-amp chips would require a change of code but one thing's for sure, it would have been a bitch of a job given the surface mount razz-a-ma-tazz.

Peter

[FrankH]

Actually, considering the size of an API 990 form factor mic pre board. I am curious as to how they stood it off on the mic pre board without banging into the DCA board. There aint much room between those two and those API's are populated with discreet vertical wire mount components.

ADA's aside, the cost of 12 API pre's can run anywhere from $600 to $2400. Considering the under $200 pricetag soundmanford shelled out for it and the coding issue, you may understand why I'm curious to see a few photos of this mod.

[anyhorizon]

There's no mod, Frank.

Peter

[doktor1360]

Yes, a code change would suggest that the ADA's were replaced. But with what? And as I suggested earlier, doing a code rewrite sounds dubious to me. That would require having access to the source code....something that is extremely unlikely to have been given out to a 3rd party mod company.

Ain't that a damn shame; you'd think that SOMEONE in that company would realize that open sourcing that OS just might extend that product with little to NO effort on Mackie's behalf - give it life of it's own. I'd personally LOVE to have a look at that code, as I'm sure it's essentially just a 'licensed' Windoze kernel with Mackie's proprietary API function exports. Saves the trouble of a rewrite like the Boyz engineering the D8Bridge...

Oh well... I reckon it's OK to 'Dream On'...