24 thoughts on “Avid Updates Pro Tools Licensing, Pricing”

1. wtfing f… f

2. this and the recent Apogee release both have me scratching my head

3. Digidesign sounds so much better

4. I really, really hope that the subscription model doesn’t become the new standard. I’m already refusing to jump from Adobe CS6 to their cloud subscription. /smh

5. As I understand it, it essentially means that when you want to upgrade it’s going to be cheaper.

   As long as the software and processing are still on my computer, not the cloud, I’m fine with that.

6. Does this mean we need to figure an alternative to pro tools ??

7. ProTools 11 has been on my wish list for a while. With their horrible financial woes and lagging behind almost every other major DAW in features, more than ever I’m really considering not buying PT11

   1. unfortunately a lot of us would still be willing to bend over backwards for Avid as long as no other DAW can compete workflow wise

   2. Never really got this “PT lacks features” thing. There are certainly functions that could be better implemented however in terms of workflow Pro Tools are still the only game in town.

8. This is regrettable but unsurprising. They’ve been moving away from prosumer / consumer markets for a while – hence no upgrade from vanilla to HD like there was with the CPTK2 and the aggressive pricing (like they did with the upgrade to 10HD a couple of years back). If you’re a top flight studio or a post house, protools really is the only game in town, and you kind of have to upgrade once in a while. long term, i suspect they’ll go the adobe route and bring in an (expensive) subscription model, like they’re doing with media composer

9. relic software for relics

10. This phrase “Pro Tools is the only game in town” is a sad one. Whether it is true or not is another matter. It is certainly self-perpetuating.

    PT is considered to be an industry standard, and it works. A big studio can expect that clients will bring projects made in PT to be completed. For that matter, I expect Logic & PT to be available at any mix & mastering place.

    However for creative work, and for artists’ home studios, you don’t need to work in PT in the creative phase. You certainly can, but that’s where you can develop your own creative flow & work-style. When you are ready to mix, you render all your tracks & stems and bring your laptop to the studio. Any tweaks you need to make in the DAW session can be quickly re-rendered & uploaded. But for that matter, why would the mix hose HAVE to work in PT? They could work in whatever DAW they want, too.

    If a particular project was going to be collaborated on and passed around, it might make sense for all participants to work with the same DAW (be it PT, or LP or DP or Samplitude).

    PT has its strengths, and for a long time it was the king of hardware (since computers struggled to keep up with DSP demands). But you move to a subscription/cloud based service like Adobe and I bet it will go back to being the DAW of the “haves” and the “have-nots” will go back to our respective DAWs.

    1. ^This right here. At work I use a PT HDX system , and for some other tasks I use other stuff like Nuendo (wish it was a standard , this thing beats everything) Pyramix and Reaper.PT unfortunately is the only way to even consider working on a post job.For every job I do on the side , I use everything else but PT, because I work alone.
       The main issue is the industry , not Avid.These big post or music production studios or whatever, invested a lot of money into training and human resource based on PT. A sound re-recording mixer with >10 years experience isn’t going to favor something he doesn’t know right away.He’s a pro only on this software.
       That’s why he gets paid a very good salary or percentage of the job.
       Some colleagues went to a music writing camp to LA with some big names in the business.They all used their own stuff on a laptop and then sent tracks to PT for mix or master.That’s how everyone uses a big studio.It’s the expensive stuff that nobody has in their house , not even top100 producers.
       As a business it kinda makes sense to pay an annual fee for the software.I only wish we could rent the hardware as well.

11. “mix house ” (not hose)

    1. i agree. the “only game in town” comment i made probably needs qualification.

       back in the 90’s when i was a tape-op, the thing that marked out “the best” studios was that they had an ssl or neve board, studer analogue and sony digital multi-tracks. any engineer worth their salt knew flying faders / encore and the e/g/j/k software on the ssl and all the tape-ops knew how to line up studers and stripe sonys. same with protools now (and similarly with media composer in the video world). there are no custom key commands, no custom anything really apart from a few narrow preference options, and this is a *good* thing for interoperability. you can sit down at protools at any studio or post house anywhere in the world and know exactly what key does what, where the default paths for audio are, etc. etc.

       it may be that there are better daws (and in fact for the writing / creative process i’m certain of it) but for tracking large ensemble stuff with sub-milisecond latency, high i/o count, video ref, etc. there isn’t anything that works as well as protools, and if you’re a big studio. that’s what has to be on your mac.

       similarly in post. there’s an interesting review in the current issue of resolution of nuendo 6.5. the conclusion is basically “it’s brilliant, but everyone uses protools” (though they don’t actually say that – they say “resistance on the part of facilities”). if you’re a post-house in soho, not running protools for audio is borderline suicidal.

       1. There is certainly no question that Nuendo is a strong contender to Pro Tools in terms of post production, re-recording & pro music mixing. I know people will be pissed off with the “pro” but that is usually because they think that this implies that their music or work is considered less if it’s not done on PT, that’s not the case. Someone above commented that the phrase “only game in town” was sad. Me, nor I believe Swarmboy, used the phrase in a derogative sense against other DAWs or creative tools; however Pro Tools HD automation functionality and workflow (incl the layout of the shortcuts) coupled with its position in the industry makes it the only game in town in terms of commercial music and post work. Stop taking this fact as a threat or snide against your chosen tools or the quality of your work / music, it isn’t and will never be. Ableton Live et al are fantastic creative tools but they do not allow you to deliver through the production chain on a top commercial level.

          1. I meant to like your post, but half way reading through I thought it was about to turn into another derogatory anti-protools posts. Mixing is still the main reason (and for me at least) why I won’t stop using ProTools. The Avid hate is very much warranted though

12. I bought the ‘Academic’ version of Pro Tools about 14 months ago and got Pro Tools 10 and 11. Pro Tools 11 has become y my favourite DAW to mix and produce – but not to create 😉

    BUT, I have to say I hate Avid as a company!

    1. creation-wise its MIDI isn’t up to snuff, but its editing is 2nd to none IMO

13. They want you to upgrade now, at a discount, so they can get on board with the ‘subscription model’. It’s a total sham. Instead of letting you own your equipment, they want to keep charging you for it, forever. Just like Adobe has done to us in the graphics industry. And guess what – they’ll continue to make updates until everything else you own becomes incompatible and obsolete.

    I have a ten year old laptop running an old version of PropHead’s REASON, and it still works great. That’s the kind of value these companies want to kill. They want you on the hook with a relationship that is similar to what a crack hoe has with her pimp. NO LOVE. ALL NECESSITY.

    P.S. The future is NOT in cloud computing/data storage. Sounds like a dream, but with all the security breaches that have been happening on very large systems, I think anyone who trusts ‘the cloud’ is a fool.

14. Leave it to Avid to blow even a subscription software plan. You have Pro tools HD 8 or earlier, you are SOL. You do also realize that you can’t upgrade your software only from 10 or 11 to the HD version. You have to buy a interface from them to get it, Yet if you have the toolkit you can and still use your own interface and get the software upgrade. What? Your regular PT 11 software will still be crippled, track limits and no input monitoring!!!! I mean really no input monitoring!!!! Please please please AVID go away. Let your stock hit 1 a share. close your doors and let the market find a replacement. One will rise up, to much money out there for a company that can do things even 10% better to make.

15. PT is not the only game in town. MixBus by Harrison is a great Daw.

16. For someone like me, who needs a 100% rock-solid, no configuring/latency issues for my daily work, 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year, this is complete NONSENSE.

    I bought a new 11 system last year and FINALLY got it configured to where it has little to no problems, like my PT7 system was. I don’t need or want to upgrade every year, I only upgrade if a project warrants it. I also don’t want to deal with cloud ANYTHING ever as the nature of my work has me working on airplanes, in rural areas without internet, or undeveloped countries where there is no internet.

    If Avid goes subscription, this Pro Tools user since 1999 will jump ship, to what, I don’t know, but it certainly won’t be Reaper Nuendo or the other PC-fanboy-sponsored or freeware junk that has so many bugs and crashes. My job is too fast-paced to deal with crashes and bugs, and I haven’t seen anything out there that is rock-solid and works all the time like PT.

17. When you have 15 + studios the annual subscription doesn’t really work?
    Sticking with Nuendo just hope they don’t follow this extortion financial model.