Running one of the earliest Pro Tools setups on a Mac Quadra 700. 4 channels of CD Quality multitrack audio in 1991.

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SeaMoss97@reddit

Is it bad I have no clue what I'm looking at but love it haha

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

That Quadra 700, Digidesign 442 and Pro Tools card with software would have cost $15,000 in the 90s

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This is my thought process. Im building a system that would have been around $100k back in the 90s, for around $2k. It was the kind of thing I couldn't even imagine having as a teenager, and having it now actually gets me inspired like I was as a kid. Also, Im not a fan of how Logic has evolved since becoming an apple product.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

There’s something special about using the same tool set as the people you look up to.

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usernames_are_danger@reddit

Almost there...just one or two more parts and my battle station will be ready to share on this sub.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

You’re also building a Pro Tools rig?

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usernames_are_danger@reddit

Yup...not quite as old as yours, but a Mix/24 (Mix3) setup connected to an 888/24 on a maxed out 9600, including all of the modern bells and whistles -- BlueSCSI, ATA133/SATA, SD cards, SSD hard drives, etc. With an Emagic Audiowerk8 and Korg 1212 I/O also installed, I can use two, and sometimes all three sound cards simultaneously in DAWs like Emagic Logic and Opcode Studio Vision Pro. This allows me to run VST, TDM and MAS plugins together in one session. I can't wait to max out the RAM as my last upgrade, but it is already super fast.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

Massively impressive!! Please keep me posted on that build. I also have MIX and HD builds I’m working on.

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usernames_are_danger@reddit

Im actually building an HD system, too...lol

The 9600 is for OS 7 & 8 (black ADB dongle/Mix3), and I have a Quicksilver G4 Im using for OS 9 and 10.3 (white usb dongle/HD3). I also have a G4 mini at work (blue usb dongle) using an EMI 2|6.

I kinda went crazy and bought several lots of parts for the sake of saving, so I was able to build an extra Digital Audio G4 HD3 system, a Blue & White G3 Mix2 system, and a couple of "beige desktop" Mix Core systems that I probably need to get rid of, lol

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

I know how it goes trying to build these things. You definitely wind up buying more things than you planned

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usernames_are_danger@reddit

You have 6 different chassis you need to move? I may want one if youre looking to sell

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Velocityg4@reddit

Add some RAM and storage space. You’ll easily blow past that.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

I have a max of 68MB RAM on this thing. Charlie mentioned it was $4795 for their first 600MB HDD for their pro tools rig.

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Velocityg4@reddit

Oops, I was thinking of 89 prices. Forgot this was a 91 model.

Looking in Macworld for October 1991. That's super expensive for 600MB. They were selling for around $1500 to $2000 by October.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

I should mention it was a Digidesign HDD, which anything they sold was at a premium

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grunt56@reddit

Had Broken on earlier today. That guitar sound was so unique. Always reminds me of my teens, but I'm still a huge fan

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

Digidesign Turbosynth is the program Trent used to process most of the guitars and sounds on those albums. It would mangle sounds and save them as samples, which would later be played back on Akai samplers triggered by MIDI.

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FourthAge@reddit

I always wondered what was involved in the guitar tone. Was that also done live?

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

It would have been programmed in. Turbosynth was not a realtime process

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grunt56@reddit

There's an interview that I can't find (been looking since last night) where I remember Trent talking about being so happy with that sound and then after a few days thinking "fuck, I don't even remember exactly how I did it, and it's not realtime so how the fuck am I gonna do this live?!"

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tf1064@reddit

Your title is a little confusing. This photo is from today, right?

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wanderingjew@reddit

Hoping you read this, because I have a Q950, with a pair of 442s and the protools cards. The one thing I don't have are the cables that connect the 442s to the card.

Do you by any chance have a part number, or even a source to buy these cables?

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

Your fortunate that all you need is HPB50 SCSI cables in your instance. One of the few times Digidesign used off the shelf cables for something

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ErebusBat@reddit

I didn't know that! Super cool!

Also: NiN

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SeaMoss97@reddit

That's super cool actually. Love NIN

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etherdesign@reddit

Nice old samplers, they really have a great sound if you don't mind a little tedium.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

I spend more time trying to make soft samplers sound like hardware so it’s faster to use the hardware for me

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treangle@reddit

This part \^\^\^

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codycarreras@reddit

What other old Mac do you have there? I see the keyboard, or you just like that keyboard?

Boss setup though, that woulda been some hot shit back then.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

G4 MDD with a maxed out Pro Tools TDM MIX setup running Mac OS9, a Quicksilver running 2x TDM Mix Cards and SCSI for sampler editing.

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decktech@reddit

Holy shit, I haven’t heard Be There in 20 years. And of course I can’t find it anywhere now. What are the chances of getting a bounce? 😁

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

Posted a 24/44.1khz mix down of the song Be There (TDM MIX + Edition)

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decktech@reddit

my hero 🤩

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

I’ll see what I can do.

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codycarreras@reddit

Incredible system and setup. Excellent job man. I will be subscribing to your channel!

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Snowdeo720@reddit

That zip drive brings back some memories.

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LeadingApplication@reddit

Is the analog mixing board connected to a DAW and how would one connect it?

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

Yes. The Digidesign 442 has 4 XLR in and 4 XLR out. Many different ways to connect it to a 32 channel analog desk.

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85_Draken@reddit

Trent Reznor used a Macintosh Quadra on Nine Inch Nails's Broken and Fixed EPs (1992) and The Downward Spiral (1994).

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Gazdatronik@reddit

That looks like Opcode StudioVision

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

It is. Was commonly paired with Digidesign hardware, which the card is labeled “Pro Tools Audio Card”

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Gazdatronik@reddit

I figured those programs were friends. My Studio 4, or the mac, died a few years back. Since then I'm stuck using the trainwreck that is Cubase for midi sequencing.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

I used to like Cubase, but have moved away from it after using Studio Vision and Logic

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Gazdatronik@reddit

StudioVision was the perfect midi program. I will admit there are some cool tricks to Cubase what with importing various midi VST's that SV simply can't do, but out of the box, SV was 90% complete. Cubase doesn't even have a native arpeggiator.

It's funny, the Germans on the Cubase message board couldn't wrap their heads around the idea that I am using Cubase 10 just for midi sequencing. I still use a 2003 Dell Optiplex with Cool Edit Pro for the recording duties.

I miss the old days- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klul935Usvg&t=170s

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

To be fair I am using a maxed out TDM Mix rig as my fulltime “Pro Tools” rig using SV 4.5 and Logic 6.4 on OS9. It’s amazing loading up 64 channels of real time audio with almost no performance hit. Not even my m1 can claim that

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Gazdatronik@reddit

You pegging 64 channels, holy cow. My record is 28 with a Behringer D doing almost all the tracks. Cool Edit supposedly can do 128 tracks but I never needed that many at once. I just get it right with the Mackie 1202 in one pass, and layer over that if I need to. One thing that may be in my favor is that I only mix in 16 bit since I am a slave to proper gain staging, drummed into my skull by an old NBC(as in the TV network) guy who started his quest in 1972.

But yeah, good point, even though its all done in software it all comes together perfectly. Seems like we lost something when the computers got faster.

Maybe I should try and do 128 tracks to see if the old dell falls on its ass

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

The 64 channel rig is a 2003 G4 MDD with 4x SCSI drives. Your Dell should be up to the task

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Healthy_Article_2237@reddit

So what did it record to, the hard drive or was there tape? If the former would hard drives even be big enough to hold even a single CD resolution song? Seems like you'd need them to be at least several GB depending on how many different tracks you were recording.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

SCSI HDD. Charlie Clouser mentioned they would dump finished tracks to 2” tape for archival after they reached the limits on their machines.

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Healthy_Article_2237@reddit

So they’d record the channels at 16 bit 44khz then dump them to 2” analog? This is why I find it funny that people go crazy over collecting 90s vinyl as if it sounds better. It was CD res digital before it was analog. Some of that stuff, Pretty Hate Machine included, sounded so thin and low res. Great album but I wish it was all analog recording chain. I get that the samples were probably 16 bit at best and many probably less.

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DarkWaterDW@reddit (OP)

NINs 80s/90s sound was heavily defined by its cutting edge digital adoption before anyone else had that technology. Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly had a more analog sound at this time

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blissed_off@reddit

The sound of PHM had nothing to do with being digitally recorded, it was artist/engineer’s choice. Digital recording chains have been around since the 70s and have as much warmth and depth as the antique analog setups.

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Healthy_Article_2237@reddit

I don’t know, there’s a few early digital recordings I think would have been better all analog. At any rate, when I was into finding the best sounding copy of an album ever I mostly bought CDs for things that I knew were digital because spending the high dollars for those on vinyl wasn’t worth it.

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