Continuing on from my previous tip about starting a Pro Tools session with all plug-ins inactive, if you have ever had the situation where a Pro Tools session won’t start because Pro Tools can’t initialise the current playback device, you can launch Pro Tools straight into the Playback Engine window by holding the ’N’ key while launching Pro Tools.

Unlike things like wireless networks in OS X where you have the option of dragging the networks into your preferred order, the order in which available playback engines appear in the drop down menu in isn’t something I’m aware we have any control over. The HDX engine always appears at the top and the most common error I’m used to encountering in this area is people forgetting to power up their HD IO’s or 192’s and only realising later that they are using the built in audio hardware on their Mac as the next available option. 

This isn’t something I need to do often but it’s invaluable at those times that you do need it.