We reached out to Sonnet to try and understand the back story behind this statement and they told us the specific issue is that Avid HDX cards are NOT currently compatible with Thunderbolt 3 in multi-slot Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion chassis and for Pro Tools users this applies to the Sonnet Echo Express III-R and III-D as well as the Magma EBT3 chassis. “Thunderbolt 3 multi-slot chassis are not supported at this time unless using Sonnet's Echo Express III-D or III-R with a Sonnet Thunderbolt 2 Upgrade Card.”

As a general rule deviate from them at your peril.Īvid state in their Mac Pro Tools System Requirements compatibility document that… Essentially make sure you check the Avid compatibility documents before you buy any hardware or look at upgrading software. Let’s get straight to the nub of the problem.

The Current Problem With Pro Tools HDX Cards and Thunderbolt 3 Following the release of Apple Thunderbolt 3 computers like the Mac Mini 2018 and the iMac Pro, we have seen some confusion about which thunderbolt expansion chassis you can use with a Thunderbolt equipped Apple computer and so we thought it would be helpful to put together a guide especially as the transition to Thunderbolt 3 has muddied the waters in this area.

Macbook pro 2015 thunderbolt