Hugh, I agree with you.
I think PT is using the RAM of the machine much more effectively. They are probably buffering and storing the audio recording in RAM and then writing to the drive at a pace that the relevant media can handle. I’m surprised Steinberg aren’t doing the same thing, considering the amount of RAM we have available these days.
I’m not sure how secure the process is though. Perhaps you should look at Nuendo Live. It’s not expensive and from what I can gather is the most secure way for critical live recording. Even if there is a crash all of recorded audio up that point is secure.
Cheers,
Robin