So Pro tools is what now?

[joesackic]

Hi I have been out of the audio scene for a while now. Switched careers, went into the service, moved away from family/friends/bands etc.

I am finally in a semi normal living environment and I have my stuff in one place. I would like to update my Pro tools as I have some free time and noticed it's 64 bit now. I'm still on version 9.

I thought it would be straight forward 9 to 12 and done but all this new support stuff and subscriptions and plans are just perplexing. I had tried to educate myself but I still don't understand.

I would like to go 9 to 12 vanilla as cheap and possible and I have no need for any support contracts etc, can it be done? I saw on Sweetwater there is upgrades for $99.00 that don't mention the subscription plans but the details were vague.

If not what am I looking at for an option/price? I read the bit about if the plan lapses Avid will hang you upside down and shake all your money out of your pockets. No worries though I wont be affected as I don't require updates etc, I just want a 64 bit DAW.

Any help appreciated, Thanks in advance!

[jabelardo]

99 is only for 11 to 12. I have also just upgraded from 9 to 12 and it is 199

[nigelpry]

The $199 gets you an 'upgrade and support plan'.

When you renew in a year's time, you'll have a choice to just buy the 'upgrade plan' for $99, or another 'upgrade and support plan' for $199. You'll know after the first year whether you think the support element is something you need.

Bear in mind that you need to plan to renew every year, because if you don't your license will become frozen at the version it was on when the plan expired. You'd have to buy a completely new full license if at some point in the future you wanted to get current again.

Subscriptions are something completely different to the 'upgrade plan' and the 'upgrade and support plan'.

Subscriptions = RENTING. Anytime you stop subscribing, Pro Tools stops working. There are monthly and annual subscription plans.

Your existing license is now known as a perpetual license, meaning you own it in perpetuity (i.e forever), and any upgrade you buy for it will continue to work for as long as you can fire up a computer capable of running the versions that the license unlocks.

That's the key difference, subscriptons get you licenses that expire, 'upgrade plans' and 'upgrade and support plans' get you licenses that work forever, but which may become frozen at a specific version if you stop renewing those plans in the future.

[joesackic]

Hmm... I knew I would have to pay extra if my license lapsed but I'm not into this frozen forever business, that sounds like I would have to buy the software over again at a later date.

I have a copy of Studio One 2 I can upgrade for $150.00 sounds like that might be a better solution for now and I look at Pro tools again some time in the future if things change.

nigelpry thanks for clarifying, the differences, it's changed a lot since I last upgraded!

[nigelpry]

Originally Posted by joesackic

Hmm... I knew I would have to pay extra if my license lapsed but I'm not into this frozen forever business, that sounds like I would have to buy the software over again at a later date.

I have a copy of Studio One 2 I can upgrade for $150.00 sounds like that might be a better solution for now and I look at Pro tools again some time in the future if things change.

nigelpry thanks for clarifying, the differences, it's changed a lot since I last upgraded!

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE LAST THREE PARAGRAPHS OF THIS POST!

The frozen forever business, as you call it, has been the subject if much traffic here on the DUC, as you can imagine! The only fans of it, apart from Avid, appeared to be those for whom the money isn't an issue, because they can write it off against taxes.

There was a massive outcry relating to HD, which you can't buy without spending thousands on new Avid hardware. Avid eventually relented and came up with a scheme that would allow you to buy back in, unfreezing your license, for a penalty fee.

Very importantly for you and other users of PT standard, Avid has now relented on the freezing business for this version of Pro Tools too. Actually, I went back to the upgrade licensing page to quote you the prices for HD upgrades just to round off this post, and I realise that I have misled you, because the change in policy has now been implemented for PT standard as well.

If you don't sign up to a support plan by the end of 2015, or if you don't renew the support plan next year, there is a penalty fee of $999 for HD, or $299 for standard, to get a support plan, which unfreezes the license. You then go back to paying standard pricing for future renewals.

This is a massive, and very welcome, about face by Avid, compared to the original 'frozen forever' policy, though, of course, not as welcome as abandoning the policy altogether would have been. But now, on balance, we have a good arrangement, as the cost of the upgrade plan, if you choose not to buy the support plan as well, is only $99 per year for PT standard, which, averaged out over the typical lifespan of a 'version' makes it no more expensive than previous full upgrade prices once every couple of years or so.

All we need now is for Avid to cave in and split the HD plan into upgrade and support elements that you can buy separately too, and most people will be happy I think. The final tweak I'd hope for would be for HD people who do not have HD hardware to only have to buy a standard plan if they do not need the extra support.