[jasonkalman]

LDS,
thanks for your informative reply. For me anyway, it is important to learn what I can about what is going on behind the scenes that has crippled Avid from making Pro Tools the best software in the business. I truly believe it could be with the right people in charge. I am at a crossroads with whether to stay in the Avid ecosystem or get off it while the gear still has some value on the resale market.

I've often thought Avid should've purchased Waves and maybe even Universal Audio. But I'm not sure they could afford it. If they could pull it off financially, that would allow them to instantly dominate the audio software, hardware, plugin, home recording and Pro market. The negative to this would be less competition and steeper prices I imagine. Not to mention would they run these companies into the ground after acquiring them?

Thanks for the pictures also. From this I can infer that Avid is focusing their resources for the Pro market, which isn't a bad strategy since there aren't too many companies competing in this market. Reason is, the Pro market is shrinking by the day. The only saving grace is the audio arena that is producing music for TV and movies. I think that area is actually growing with all the content out there. Gone are the days of a few major broadcast networks making shows. Now you have Netflix, Amazon Prime, CBS and a whole growing host of online content service providers. This growing area will inevitably need pro audio for their shows, so perhaps Avid realizing this, is trying to tap into being the dominant player in that market. The sense I get is that most of the pros using Avid and making decent money are working TV shows and movies. Perhaps the home studio artist, like me needs to rethink which DAW and interface to stick with for the long haul.
Thanks again!
Jason