Pro Tools 2019 !

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by JFreak

VST plugin automation is not sample accurate and are drifting a little from bounce to bounce

You know, I'm inclined to believe this. Accuracy is one of the main reasons I prefer to do my mixing in PT. I had no idea it had to do with the VST platform though. Small moves with PT plugins seem to be much more accurate and responsive IMO so, yeah.

[jasonkalman]

Originally Posted by jscomposer

Do we know for sure they're overhauling the audio engine, or are we just assuming that because they're going to allow us to insert plugins during playback?

No we don't. No mention of CPU optimization at all. Adding more midi tracks does nothing if the inability to harness a CPUs full resources is not addressed and there is no mention of that at all. My guess is they did not address it and we will artificially run out of CPU power way before the software actually uses the maximum capability of the CPU. Right now on 2018.12 I can't use the 10 cores I have because the software isn't able to use the cores efficiently. I get CPU errors way before I actually run out of CPU power. So frustrating. This should be the #1 thing Avid addresses after OS compatibility.

Here is what Avid says about the new update:

https://www.avid.com/pro-tools-ultimate/whats-new


Pro Tools | Ultimate 2019—Coming Soon



Create and mix with 50% more voices

Pro Tools | Ultimate now enables you to work with up to 384 simultaneous voices/audio tracks (up from 256) with just the software alone. That’s 50% more voices! Plus, with Pro Tools | Ultimate Voice Packs (coming soon), you can add 128 more voices per pack—up to 768 total—to support the largest productions. Get more power to work alongside multiple Pro Tools | HDX systems, without being tethered to a studio or stage.


Double your MIDI track count

Pro Tools now supports 1,024 MIDI tracks (up from 512), giving you the freedom to create colossal, richly orchestrated pieces. With a larger palette of instruments and articulations at your disposal, you can spend more time creating and less time stressing on setup workarounds or having to forgo certain articulations. It’s ideal for film scoring and ardent sample library users, where MIDI tracks can quickly run up into the hundreds.

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Create more fluidly during playback

With the latest version of Pro Tools, you can now interact with and make updates to tracks and timeline selections during playback without interruption. Freely experiment with different effects, presets, loop points, and more as your music plays on, keeping you in your creative groove.


Name tracks faster

Pro Tools now lets you name new tracks as you create them, providing a new “Name” field in the New Track dialog. This makes it faster and easier to name multiple new tracks in one fell swoop. If you don’t immediately give a new track a name, Pro Tools will automatically create a default name for you, respective of the track type, making it easy to understand what it is if you forget to name one.

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Create with the latest Apple products

With support for macOS Mojave (10.14), you can now use Pro Tools on any Mac running Apple’s latest OS to boost your creative performance.

Get easy multiseat licensing

Need Pro Tools for a large post, broadcast, or media education facility? You can purchase a Pro Tools or Pro Tools | Ultimate Multiseat License, which includes the Avid Complete Plugin Bundle—plus HEAT, Pro Tools | MachineControl, and Pro Tools | DigiLink I/O License with all Pro Tools | Ultimate seats. This server-based PACE floating license not only makes administering licenses faster and easier, it reduces licensing complexity and eliminates the need for iLoks across your facility.

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[JFreak]

Originally Posted by jasonkalman

No mention of CPU optimization at all.

True. But if you think these are possible without CPU optimization you must work in the Marketing Department, no?

[jasonkalman]

Originally Posted by JFreak

True. But if you think these are possible without CPU optimization you must work in the Marketing Department, no?

Hahahah. I am no software engineer that is for sure. Maybe the marketing department would best fit my limited skillset. I do love your optimism though but adding more of something doesn't mean you increased the efficient use of it. What we need is better CPU efficiency per midi track. Let's take it even further. I'm looking for better CPU efficiency across the board, to include all Native Processing (compressors, EQs etc) and VI Plugins. If they did that with increased midi counts, then we are in business. I'm hoping the new update can harness the full resources of a powerful computer. If avid can make that happen then I would gladly work in their marketing department, because I would actually have something to proudly market.

[Justin1524]

Originally Posted by JFreak

VST will never happen, its automation is sub-par to RTAS and AAX
AU will never happen, it is nonexistent in Windows and PT is cross-platform

Wow - tell this to virtually every other DAW/Audio app out there for years and years - Studio One, Logic, Cubase, Adobe Audition. AAX Native vs. VST3 or AU - I see ZERO difference.

[jasonkalman]

Originally Posted by Justin1524

Wow - tell this to virtually every other DAW/Audio app out there for years and years - Studio One, Logic, Cubase, Adobe Audition. AAX Native vs. VST3 or AU - I see ZERO difference.

To add to the argument, Avid had the option to go VST and decided to instead go with their proprietary AAX format to increase profit. This really set Pro Tools back for HDX users since plug in companies, namely Waves wasn't going to turn a profit making a DSP solely for Pro Tools users. Back when Pro Tools was the only real DSP option out there (save for UAD), TDM made sense for Waves and both companies made tons of money off of that platform. If Avid had gone with VST instead, which Waves begged Avid to do, we would've gotten tons of pro DSP plugs. Waves could've sold the DSP version of VST to almost any PCIe or DSP dedicated Audio Interface customer. As it is, the HDX DSP plugin market has failed both the customer and Avid IMHO. Too late now. We can only hope Avid goes to the non-proprietary VST plugin format after HDX is retired.

As far as which version is better, sound wise or for automation, I can't tell a difference.

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by jasonkalman

Avid had the option to go VST and decided to instead go with their proprietary AAX format. This really set Pro Tools back for HDX users since plug in companies, namely Waves wasn't going to turn a profit making a DSP version of AAX. If Avid had gone with VST, which Waves begged Avid to do, we would've gotten tons of pro DSP plugs. As it is, the HDX DSP plugin market has failed the customer IMHO. Too late now. We can only hope Avid goes to the non-proprietary VST plugin format after HDX is retired.

Are there any other plugin companies that use DSP for their VST plugins?

Are the Waves and UA plugins VST inside their hardware when not running as AAX in Protools? Or are they proprietary format native to those hardware systems?

[JCBigler]

You know what? I'm being honest here, but Protools could include a billion MIDI tracks and it wouldn't matter to me in the least. I've been using Protools for the last 15 years and have never once done a project with any sort of MIDI tracks or instruments.

I work exclusively in audio, recording live bands, orchestras and musicians playing real instruments, and haven't had hardly any problems since PT11.

[jasonkalman]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

Are there any other plugin companies that use DSP for their VST plugins?

Are the Waves and UA plugins VST inside their hardware when not running as AAX in Protools? Or are they proprietary format native to those hardware systems?

I don't think any other plugin companies offer DSP for their VST plugs except for UA. Not sure I fully understand the second question. Waves creates DSP versions of their plugs called soundGrid, but they are also proprietary. Waves makes VST, AU and AAX versions of their plugs along with UAD that can run native in your DAW. There is a catch though, UAD can run on your host DAW but their plugins are so CPU intensive you have to have a UAD DSP host to run any significant number of them.

Not sure if I fully answered your questions.

[jasonkalman]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

You know what? I'm being honest here, but Protools could include a billion MIDI tracks and it wouldn't matter to me in the least. I've been using Protools for the last 15 years and have never once done a project with any sort of MIDI tracks or instruments.

I work exclusively in audio, recording live bands, orchestras and musicians playing real instruments, and haven't had hardly any problems since PT11.

Totally agree, but unfortunately most of us run some amount of midi tracks. Pro Tools was created and optimized to be a slave recording and audio editing software. It was never originally intended to be a Midi software. Over the years, PTs got better at Midi, much better, but they still significantly lag behind their competitors.

If you are in a studio setting with mostly outboard gear, which PTs was optimized for, and you only use PTs to record live instruments and run outboard gear, then you definitely don't need to worry about upgrading anytime soon. The ones that bitch about PTs (like me ) are the ones that use a lot of VIs. I love pro tools when I record live instruments, no DAW is better, but as soon as I layer on the VIs I run into trouble no matter how modern and fast the computer is. The problem lies with the software's inability to efficiently process VIs.

So yeah, anyone that doesn't use VIs should hardly ever have a gripe with Pro Tools (unless you want to update an OS that is not fully supported, but that is another topic altogether), it's flawless for processing straight audio with no perceptible latency and the editing features are the best out there. At least that is something most of us can agree on and why we still use PTs, hoping they improve the midi part. Allowing the ability to add more midi instances isn't the solution though. Making VIs run efficiently on a computers CPU is what Avid needs to add to PTs.