More Power to Create

Pro Tools 7 Software Optimizations Deliver Host-processing Performance Increases Up to 150%

Pro Tools 7 software boasts powerful RTAS plug-in performance improvements within the RTAS engine and the RTAS plug-in environment, allowing Pro Tools HD 7, Pro Tools LE 7, and Pro Tools M-Powered 7 software users to run significantly more RTAS processing and instrument plug-ins on multi-processor computers.

The RTAS engine in Pro Tools 7 software has been completely overhauled for load-balanced multi-processor support. This enables you to take advantage of every available host processor in your system to perform RTAS processing — delivering plug-in instance counts that scale with the number of processors in your computer. For example, you will see up to twice the number of RTAS plug-ins on dual-processor computers. Preliminary tests† with Digidesign's EQ III shows a performance increase of 98% with Pro Tools 7 software vs. Pro Tools 6.9.2 software.†† Digidesign's D-Verb plug-in also shows similar results, demonstrating a performance increase of 83%. Native Instruments Battery 2 showed a 60% performance increase with Pro Tools 7 software.

Thanks to the enhanced RTAS plug-in environment in Pro Tools 7 software, plug-in developers can create more efficient processing and instrument plug-ins — allowing Pro Tools users to enjoy more plug-in instances on multi-processor systems. When used in tandem with the enhanced multi-processor RTAS engine, select plug-ins will benefit significantly, delivering up to 150% more plug-in instances on dual-processor computers. For example, Arturia's CS-80V virtual synthesizer shows a performance increase of 125% with Pro Tools 7 software* vs. Pro Tools 6.9.2 software.** Way Out Ware's TimewARP 2600 virtual synthesizer also shows clear performance gains, demonstrating a performance increase of 114% over pre-Pro Tools 7 software. Digidesign's EQ III showed an impressive 151% performance increase with Pro Tools 7 software.


† Tests were performed using Pro Tools LE 7 software and a Digi 002 system running on a dual-core Pentium D 3.0 GHz, and a Power Mac G5 Dual 2.3 GHz
†† Tests were performed using a dual-core Pentium D 3.0 GHz system
* Tests were performed using optimized "beta RTAS plug-ins on a Power Mac G5 Dual 2.3 GHz system (two processors used)
** Tests were performed using non-optimized RTAS plug-ins on a Power Mac G5 Dual 2.3 GHz system (one processor used)

NOTE
Plug-in performance data was produced using systems and software mentioned above, using "beta" versions of optimized plug-ins. Results may vary based on your individual hardware and software configuration.

Final release testing of Pro Tools 7.0 has shown that there are some performance issues with certain RTAS plug-ins when used with single processor computers. Instance counts on OS X-based LE systems may show a small decrease with certain plug-ins; Windows XP-based LE systems may incur a small performance hit as well with these plug-ins. All plug-ins tested show significant instance count gains on dual-processor computers. Digidesign is actively looking at these issues and hopes to have a fix for this as soon as possible.