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Pro Tools: 32 or 64 tracks?

“I thought that my Pro Tools TDM system was capable of 64 tracks. Why is it that as soon as I get over 30 tracks or so it gives me an error saying that I can’t add any more tracks?”

Today’s answer provided by Sweetwater Sales Engineer, Nika Aldrich.

One of the philosophies behind Pro Tools TDM is that it has a finite number of tracks it can work with as limited by the hardware you have. The hardware takes care of the audio so the computer doesn’t have to, which takes a load off of your computer and keeps performance consistent within its operating parameters (performance in other areas doesn’t degrade when you add tracks).

Pro Tools uses a “voicearchitecture for its tracks. It’s similar to a keyboard, in that it has a limited number of “voices” or “polyphony” (tracks) that it can play at a time. It can use dynamic voice allocation, or operate with strict “fixed” voices that you assign on the mix window or the edit window. The default setup is as a 32-voice (track) system. This configuration uses only one of the six DSP chips on your Mix card to manage the 32 tracks of audio. However you can set it to use two chips for track management, which will give you 64 available voices (tracks). Your system is probably set up for 32 voices right now.

To change this, go under the “setup” menu to “playback engine.” On the left you’ll see how you select to use two chips to give you 64 tracks of playback.

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