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All Recording Arts students are required to purchase a laptop computer
and software package in the second year of enrollment, when they begin
attending A201. The computer and software will be used in classroom and
lab instruction, and for individual projects for the duration of the student's
studies.
We support both Macintosh and PC laptops, however if should be
noted that Macintosh computers are simpler to set up and maintain
and will be more compatible with our Pro Tools HD workstations. Indiana
University
has significant wireless coverage campuswide, so we
recommend that each computer
be
equipped
with a wireless card. Additionally, IU offers quite a bit of software
and hardware at reduced price through special agreement with manufacturers.
Check out
IUware online and the Computer
Buying Guide before you make any purchases.
Please contact us with any questions
regarding computer requirements
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Macintosh |
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Any
current Macbook or Macbook Pro
2 GB RAM recommended
While not necessary we recommend an 80 GB hard drive or larger.
Check the Digidesign support
website for the latest information.
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PC |
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Some chipsets and processors
are not compatible with Pro Tools. Check the Digidesign support
website for compatibility details and laptop recommendations.
If you already own a PC which you want to use, this will
probably be OK, though you may experience a reduced track
and plug-in
count if it is older or the chipset/processor is unsupported.
Both XP and Vista operating systems are supported as long
as the recommended configurations are used.
2 GB ram and an 80 GB drive are recommended. |
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Software |
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Any
Pro Tools Mbox or M-Powered with a portable interface
Please note that only the MBox 2 pro and certain M-Powered support
96 kHz sample rate. All others are 48k max.
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Firewire
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There are 2 components to a firewire drive, the
enclosure and hard drive. Below are the specifications for each
component.
Enclosure:
The enclosure must contain the Oxford 911, Oxford 912,
or Oxford 924 bridge chip set. Firewire 800 is supported
but
does not have any performance advantages over
Firewire 400 at this point. Any reputable manufacturer is acceptable, however
be aware that Pro Tools puts heavy stress on the drive
so make sure that the case is well cooled – at least one fan, and has a
good power supply. Granite
Digital, Avastore, and Wiebetech enclosures
have
proven to be reliable.
USB 2 and RAID enclosures are not supported by Pro Tools.
Hard Drive:
160 GB (minimum) ATA-100 or ATA-150 7200 rpm with an 8 MB cache. We have no specific
recommendations, but it is best to use drives from a reputable manufacturer such
as Seagate or Western Digital. CDW offers
a discount to IU students.
SATA Drives
Several manufacturers are now making firewire enclosures
for SATA drives. While these offer no performance advantage
over ATA drives, the industry is switching to the serial
interface as a standard, so an SATA enclosure may have a
longer lifespan.
Notes:
You may choose to purchase the enclosure and hard drive
together as one unit.This is acceptable, though the cost
is generally slightly higher than purchasing the items separately.
PC users please note: Pro Tools 7.3 now supports playback and recording on a
Mac formatted hard drive. The reverse is not possible so make sure that your
hard drive is HFS+ formatted (turn journaling off). |
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