[AxeDye]

it sucks because until 11 starts shipping we really don't know what is going to happen. When I bought 9 as a student license I was also looking at other DAW's to replace Pro Tools. Not because of price but because I really felt Avid was behind on the feature set, mainly 64 bit. I saw the student license was not only 50% off but it also featured the 4 years of free upgrades. When I saw that I realized the odds of Pro Tools becoming 64-bit within 4 years was pretty high, still a gamble but high. I was happy because I could stick to the DAW I love and not have to worry about the 64-bit issue for at least 4 years.

As for the original question, I'm willing to bet there will not be a student pricing to get to HD 11 from CPTK+10 with a sudent license. I also wouldn't be surprised if more and more HD features get into Pro Tools with each new version. Also don't be surprised if Avid turned around due to lack of sales and releases a CPTK3 with a cheaper upgrade price if you have CPTK2. I'm hoping Avid will just eventually add an upgrade path to HD 11 whether you have CPTK or not. I don't need it now but maybe down the line for like $1500 i'd invest in it. I have no interest in Avid HD hardware.

I currently have Studio One v2.5 but that's because I switched back to Windows recently and had to replace Logic for my instrumental production. I found Studio One filled that void best. I prefer Pro Tools for audio recording and mixing.