Tascam FW-1884 - Manual (Page 12)

Page 12 of 35
Using the FW­1884 with Pro Tools
Pro Tools Free
This software is available as a free download from Digidesign. It records and plays back
up to eight tracks of audio and 48 tracks of MIDI, and has many of the plug­in and
editing power of the more high­end versions of Pro Tools. It uses Apple Sound Manager
on Mac OS 9 and Windows MME drivers. As of the time of this writing, Digidesign
hasn’t announced a Mac OS X version of the product.
The FW­1884 functions as a control surface in HUI emulation mode with Pro Tools Free.
Just add a “HUI” in the Pro Tools “Peripherals” window and you’ll have full transport,
editing and mixing control. Select Sound Manager (Mac OS 9) or MME (Windows) as
your audio system to get 2­channel input and output. You can also use the four­port MIDI
interface via OMS (Mac).
Pro Tools LE
Pro Tools LE is a version of Pro Tools that requires one of Digidesign’s interfaces to
function, you can’t use the FW­1884 as the audio interface for this software. However,
you could use the FW­1884’s mic preamps, line inputs and ADAT inputs, submixed to a
stereo signal, and record this digitally into Pro Tools using the FW­1884’s S/PDIF
output.
HUI emulation works with this software – all of the transport, editing and mixing
commands supported in other versions of Pro Tools work in LE. You can also use the
four­port MIDI interface via OMS (Mac).
Pro Tools TDM/ Pro Tools HD
The professional version of Pro Tools is called Pro Tools TDM. Currently at version 6.1,
this is the version that ships with their Mix and HD­series hardware. It offers 128 tracks
of playback at 192kHz, TDM plug­ins and many other features.
Like Pro Tools LE, this software requires the user to have Digidesign hardware to
function. Therefore, the FW­1884 can’t function as the audio interface for this Pro Tools
system. You can still use the FW­1884’s mic preamps, line inputs and ADAT inputs,
submixed internally to a stereo signal, and record this digitally into Pro Tools using the
FW­1884’s S/PDIF output.
You still get full HUI control surface functionality with the Fw­1884, from editing and
transport controls to mixing and automation control. You can also use the four­port MIDI
interface via OMS (Mac).