Mackie Spike/XD-2! Anyone Help Please!

[PrettyRecords]

Hi there, just picked up Tracktion 2 and 3 in a music store blow-out!
But having read some bad things about T3, I'm not sure which to install!
The T2 came with a unit called the Spike XD-2. But T3 came without it!

Can anyone shed some light on why the Spike-XD-2 was dropped when T3 came along? And indeed can the Spike-XD-2 be used with T3? (or was the Spike-XD-2 designed only to be used with T2 ?) I am kinda surprised the Spike-XD2 was discontinued, as I've read this unit was precisely the reason that Tracktion was so light on the host computer's CPU ( as the Spike-XD-2 was doing most of the processing "donkey work" thus making it light on the host's CPU ) So I'm kinda surprised that Mackie axed it for T3! The Spike-XD2 box states "it has an onboard SHARC processor" ( so it obviously is more than just a simple tool for getting signal into Tracktion ) It obviously does SOME sound processing work too! So why was it axed? And because T3 was not sold with the Spike-XD-2 unit, could it be the reason that T3 users often say that T3 is heavier on the CPU than T2 ? ( because obviously in T3 ALL 100% of the processing was done by tanking the hosts CPU rather than in T2, whereby processing was "shared" with the Spike-XD-2 unit. The Spike XD-2 unit seems to make good sense, especially if it helps reduce the workload on the host CPU, but I was wondering if it was such a good idea, why did Mackie kill it off for T3?
Can I use T3 with Spike-XD-2 ? ( or was the Spike XD-2 designed to run with T2 only? ) And anyone know just how much/what exactly the Spike-XD-2 did as far as processing goes? ( reverbs? for example? ) It just seems that the Spike-XD-2 was designed to partner with Tracktion, so why was it killed off for T3? And furthermore, what ARE you T3 folks using as an interface for T3? (eg; any small, great little USB powered units recommended?)Thank you! Tanya.

[hwhalen]

Yes you can use the Spike with T3.

The Spike unit does NOT do the processing for T2 or T3. The unit acts as a standard USB sound card.

It can be also be configured to use the onboard SHARC processor as an audio effects processor, offering gate/compression/eq.

Reverb is NOT performed by the Spike.

There are NO drivers for Vista or Windows 7. Not sure about Mac systems.

[jabe]

I've just got the Spike XD-2 working with 64-bit Windows 8.1.

In the Devices section of the Control Panel, there is a yellow icon indicating that drivers have not been installed for the XD-2. This doesn't seem to matter. In Tracktion 5 and 6, with Windows Audio selected (but NOT ASIO), it shows up as XD-2 Microphone and XD-2 Speakers. These two entries are also in the Devices list in the Control Panel.

I've installed the XD-2 software, but I'm not sure if it's having any effect. I have not installed the original XD-2 drivers.

I've recorded a few vocal tracks via a microphone and a few guitar tracks (with the guitar button pressed on the Spike).

I have not checked the MIDI yet. I used headphones, so haven't checked whether the speaker outputs work, though can't see why they wouldn't. There may be other things not working, but it's doing its job as an audio interface, so I'm pleased.