like a couple of people have mentioned, the message you are getting refers to you needing the digi 001 in out box and card, or the m box or something else in the digi line to support the software you have downloaded.
This is because of one thing. Pro Tools works on what's known as T.D.M files. They have done this because the only hard ware that works with T.D.M files is digi design, or other affiliates of digi design, so it means you have to by their hardware in order to run their software.
It's a scandelous money making scheme obviousley, Pro Tools and digi fail to realise how much more sales they would get if it was a V.S.T based system.
What does all this mean to you??? Well it means you can't go out and by yourself an interface like an echo audio layla, or an M audio Delta 10/10 or some other equally high end brand of card that is equally as good as the ones digi produce because Pro Tools won't except those cards when you're installing it all. I think in some instances there are some cards other than digi that work, but not many.
The other main area where it is a problem is use of third party plug ins.
Due to Pro Tools being a T.D.M based system it basically narrows your options of plug ins to use to almost zero, as the biggest selling format for 90% of the plug ins available is in the V.S.T format. That's what the V.S.T part of cubase V.S.T is referring to. It means it supports V.S.T files, which is very good because there are litterally thousands of very well made plug ins made available to you at your finger tips.
As good as the Pro Tools system is, I am so glad I researched all this and ended up opting for Nuendo.
I was told about Nuendo by a friend, he said check it out. People are saying it's better than Pro Tools. I agree, it's fucking awesome. It's made by Steinberg, the makers of Cubase.
My advice is go to
www.audioforums.com and do a lot of research. 4 months ago all this was double dutch to me, and now I know quite a bit about it all just from researching.
My personal advice is to get something like Nuendo or Cubase, find yourself an interface that will suport either program. You can find this out by looking up particular interface companies web sites. They will list what software programs are compatible with their hardware.
I reccommend running win 98 lite as an operating system, for this reason.
It's the most commonly used O.S in most percentages of Digital Audio Workstations, it's very stable. Most software companies, basically all of them are supported for win 98. Where I personally think win 98 has advantages is that say win XP, a lot of the most common software companies, the programmes they produce seem to clash with win xp a lot. This is something I saw pop up a lot on Audio Forums. Plus, XP is way bigger than win 98. And it's not cause it's better, it's just full of pretty shit and crap you don't need which takes up more of your computers memory which could be more valuably spent on going towards processing the audio you are recording more effeciently and cleanly.
I'd go Win 98 lite, keep your O.S as bare as you can.
Also stay away from Via Chip sets. They aren't a good idea.
You can't go wrong with all genuine Intel components basically. That's what seems to have the best reputation when you're talking about Digital Audio Workstations. But it is a little more expensive.
There are plenty of other companies that make perfectly fine Mother boards and C.P.U'S for use in digital audio workstation applications, it's just an issue of researching and making positive that everything is going to work in harmony with one another.
Hope I've been of some help
