Do yourself a favor, listen to Pro Tools Expert Russ Hughes PT 12 Review...

[8dB.co.uk]

In terms of actual features, apart from unlocking third party interfaces, the jumps from 7 to 8 to 9 to 10 were from a post point of view very minor. From a windows user POV, 11 was HUGE - finally us Windows users were released from Quicktime's strangle hold over our video IO options. I would also dispute the "worst ever release" claims. Here in Windows land, 11 has been silky smooth from 11.0.0 onwards. 12.0 is simply Avid laying the foundations. There is no point them putting the cloud collaboration features in until a) they've been tested properly and b) there are enough people signed up to the new subscription to make it worth while even switching on the servers. It's chicken and egg. I suggest that everyone here takes a chill pill, and remembers that for existing 11 users, they have until the end of the year to make a decision. Keep calm and carry on mixing. 11 is brilliant IMO, and the only DAW out there capable of being a flexible professional tool. One of my clients occasionally is contractually obliged to use a.n.other studio, which doesn't have ProTools. They always come back to me frustrated at how difficult the process is on other DAWs. The grass is always greener. Until you realise it's just mud painted green.

[Jon_Atkinson]

Originally Posted by Wall2Wall

I have 10+cptk and it will work forever and is not subject to forced yearly support plan.

Absolutely.

However, that rather assumes that your computer will work forever, and you're ok being stuck on a supported (i.e. probably Mountain Lion) OS.

Originally Posted by Wall2Wall

avid has yet to say what the policy is for lapse HD

There was something on their site about a month ago saying that if you stayed put then you would not be able to upgrade after the end of this year… I actually can't now find that info, but it seemed pretty clear when I read it… I'm in the same position as you, and basically made a decision to make an upgrade choice once it's clear what PT12 has to offer.

[amarqu1]

Originally Posted by 8dB.co.uk

12.0 is simply Avid laying the foundations.

I find it unreasonable to coerce existing customers to invest in a promise. I've never seen this sort of thing from a software company, and PT11 should be that foundation. This is almost like a forced Kickstarter campaign for Avid. Actually, if Avid hosted a Kickstarter campaign to incorporate specific features, they'd probably get great response.

[8dB.co.uk]

Originally Posted by amarqu1

I find it unreasonable to coerce existing customers to invest in a promise. I've never seen this sort of thing from a software company, and PT11 should be that foundation. This is almost like a forced Kickstarter campaign for Avid. Actually, if Avid hosted a Kickstarter campaign to incorporate specific features, they'd probably get great response.

You've obviously never purchased anything from Apple, AMS-Neve, Merging, Yamaha, the list is endless. Avid are by no means unique.

[Wall2Wall]

Originally Posted by Jon_Atkinson

Absolutely.

However, that rather assumes that your computer will work forever, and you're ok being stuck on a supported (i.e. probably Mountain Lion) OS.

There are major facilities still on 8 and 9. The infatuation with having the latest and greatest is what these companies prey on. IMO, there is nothing in 11/12 that I need. I use Logic for composition. My job has 11 because they went to HDX for the dub stages for a variety of reasons. One being higher track counts.

Originally Posted by Jon_Atkinson

There was something on their site about a month ago saying that if you stayed put then you would not be able to upgrade after the end of this year… I actually can't now find that info, but it seemed pretty clear when I read it… I'm in the same position as you, and basically made a decision to make an upgrade choice once it's clear what PT12 has to offer.

Avid has said many times the policy on HD/HD lapse has yet to be determined. It will be by year's end and they will give us enough time to make a decision.

[ArKay99]

Originally Posted by Wall2Wall

There are major facilities still on 8 and 9. The infatuation with having the latest and greatest is what these companies prey on. IMO, there is nothing in 11/12 that I need. I use Logic for composition. My job has 11 because they went to HDX for the dub stages for a variety of reasons. One being higher track counts.

And that's fine for major facilities. I wonder how many HDX systems are in smaller facilities and in house production facilities that may be more affected by the new policies.

Originally Posted by Wall2Wall

Avid has said many times the policy on HD/HD lapse has yet to be determined. It will be by year's end and they will give us enough time to make a decision.

Enough time to make a decision is different for each individual and situation.

[Dave Lang]

Originally Posted by amarqu1

Actually, if Avid hosted a Kickstarter campaign to incorporate specific features, they'd probably get great response.

Yes they would, but there's no way they will, in fact they'd probably be insulted by the suggestion.

[lexaudio]

Originally Posted by Justin1524

https://app.box.com/shared/static/l8...1oh4s6xwgm.mp3

Starts at about 26 minutes into it.

Russ Hughes:
"Bugger all (British for "nothing at all") I don't know. I've promised I won't Avid bash, but I'm finding it really hard not to say anything about this, because, let me just say it's the fastest version of Pro Tools I've ever un-installed from my machine in my life, it lasted less than an hour."

[Excerpts below condensed for clarity]

"It removed my Pro Tools 11. There's no track freeze. There's no collaboration. The store has the sum total of 1 plugin for sale. It is embarrassing, shameful, words fail me. If it was April the first, I'd understand. Don't waste your time, your money, your bandwidth, the **** of taking it off your machine and re-installing Pro Tools 11. I am speechless by this. I don't know what Avid wants us to say. Yeah. I don't want to say it. There is zero reason to update. It's a joke. Sorry. I don't even know if we should even bother."

Mike Thornton:
"I did assume the collaboration and track freeze would be there, that's incredibly disappointing that it's not there. That was the key feature. I have a perfectly working system, I'm carrying on with what I've got."

Thank you Russ for your honesty. It's why your site and podcasts keep me coming back again and again.

I posted an issue about my ilok going offline and restarting PT11 brought me to an activation screen, so I was right.
AVID is managing your ilok licenses now.

I think Russ said it best. Don't waste your time with this garbage release.

It is pointless and worthless.

Funny, Russ uninstalled PT12 in an hour and went back to PT11.

AVID should be ashamed of themselves and they should start apologizing.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by lexaudio

I posted an issue about my ilok going offline and restarting PT11 brought me to an activation screen, so I was right.
AVID is managing your ilok licenses now.

I think Russ said it best. Don't waste your time with this garbage release.

It is pointless and worthless.

Funny, Russ uninstalled PT12 in an hour and went back to PT11.

AVID should be ashamed of themselves and they should start apologizing.

Russ played it smart when he used his second iLok.
Avid will never apologize for this debacle. Best thing they could do is to pull what they're calling PT12 and re-release it as it truly is - PT11.4 (or .5) without need for any of us to spend a dime on it.

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Russ played it smart when he used his second iLok.
Avid will never apologize for this debacle. Best thing they could do is to pull what they're calling PT12 and re-release it as it truly is - PT11.4 (or .5) without need for any of us to spend a dime on it.

He also said that he paid for the subscription for 1 month.

He didn't really review it so much as said that there was nothing there TO review. And he questioned why Avid was even charging money for it.

This is going to be the new model:

Sure, dot updates and bug fixes are free of charge...but there's not going to be any more of those. Avid has proved that they are willing to roll out bug fixes and call them new versions, so they can charge for them. Done. End of story.

I hope all the good developers and technicians and product managers at Avid leave en mass and start their own company. This **** is redonculous.