A couple of clues in the Avid PT11 promo video

[Righty27]

Cheers Nigel - kind of you ... just checked and 9pm ET is too late for me (another hour ahead if you)! Will have to watch the re-run tomorrow :)

You've answered my track freeze question already ... so, apart from questioning if disk cache is included (non-HD) and if my i5 iMac will work (if so, I'll be ordering some RAM in advance), some idea of Avid's own plans for remaining non-AAX plugins (like Smack LE, TL Space, etc.) would help users make plans.

In fact, if developers would cooperate, Avid could publish a timetable of planned upgrades ... that's really more of a suggestion than a question! Thanks!

Edit - + just noticed on below link that the Eleven Rack UI is not available in PT11 ... quite a big deal unless they deliver an alternative before then:

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/c...m-Requirements

[DAWgEAR]

Originally Posted by nst7

On a completely different note, the second thing I saw in the video, for just a few seconds, was they were running Superior Drummer in PT11.

We know that Superior Drummer is not yet AAX, yet here they were running it. So this was obviously a beta version, but what that means is that Superior Drummer AAX is pretty far along and should be right about ready for release, and will come sooner rather than later. Cool!

I too perked up when I saw that. Hopes held high that Toontrack and many others will be AAX-ready by the time PT11 ships.

[Righty27]

Having just flicked through last night's Q&A, I'll answer some of my questions:

* Disk cache remains HD-only ... shame as this would be a really advantageous feature particularly suited to music/non-HD users who can no longer upgrade via CPTK + differentiator vis competing products (unlike e.g the metering upgrades which suit the Typical HD user more) ... would be the perfect solution for laptop users and could pick up on the uncertainty surrounding the future of Logic

* Hardware compatibility - appears to be somewhat 'open' with Avid still testing and hoping to support as many PT10 systems as possible

* Many partners were mentioned but I didn't catch any dates + nothing on the not-yet-AAX Avid plugins

[Righty27]

Talking to myself now ... considering typical users' hardware setups:

* How likely is 'disk cache' to influence a user's decision to use HD?

* Could 'disk cache' influence a decision to switch to PT (non-HD) from e.g. Cubase, Logic, etc.?

With the prevalence of internal SSDs and fast Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 external drives (+ notwithstanding RAM-disk workarounds for similar functionality) + wider 64-bit improvements, how long will 'disk cache' be perceived as a useful feature for non-HD users (with HD guys surely going for DSP acceleration, high track counts, etc. ... laptop guys would benefit from not having to carry around an external drive + an interface - remember, no CPTK upgrade path)?

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by Righty27

Talking to myself now ... considering typical users' hardware setups:

* How likely is 'disk cache' to influence a user's decision to use HD?

* Could 'disk cache' influence a decision to switch to PT (non-HD) from e.g. Cubase, Logic, etc.?

With the prevalence of internal SSDs and fast Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 external drives (+ notwithstanding RAM-disk workarounds for similar functionality) + wider 64-bit improvements, how long will 'disk cache' be perceived as a useful feature for non-HD users (with HD guys surely going for DSP acceleration, high track counts, etc. ... laptop guys would benefit from not having to carry around an external drive + an interface - remember, no CPTK upgrade path)?

luv the performance SSDs offer but they cannot compare to the thru-put on the memory bus...disk cache wins hands-down

[Righty27]

Originally Posted by mykhal c

luv the performance SSDs offer but they cannot compare to the thru-put on the memory bus...disk cache wins hands-down

:) ... just to reinforce why I suspected it would be important (having not used it myself) - thanks!

A few of us had hoped that they were going to include this for non-HD systems, and with CPTK being EOL'd, I guess our hopes went up.

It is a bit of a missed opportunity, I think ... obviously Avid need to determine the best balance of features vs price + an attractive upgrade path but I don't see anyone going for a hardware-dependent HD rig (which you either need or you don't) just to get disk cache ... but PT11 with disk cache (+ bounce/freeze enhancements, 64-bit advantages for VIs, etc.) for musicians with laptops or simpler home setups would become increasingly attractive to e.g. Logic users, possibly justifying the higher price, regular upgrade costs and short-term AAX issues?!

Avid have basically made the lower product less competitive than it needs to be by only including this functionality higher up the value chain, where it may (on my unqualified reasoning ... + I would like it!) make little difference to the purchasing decision for HD users.

Oh well! I recall some decent new functionality being added in a previous PT 'dot' release, so one never knows!

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Righty27

* How likely is 'disk cache' to influence a user's decision to use HD?
* Could 'disk cache' influence a decision to switch to PT (non-HD) from e.g. Cubase, Logic, etc.?

Don't know how likely, but as I've been using the Disk Cache feature for so long I can surely say that it is a game changer regarding how the audio/video files are stored anywhere. Without that feature you basically cannot use any network storage, and every local storage device you have must perform very well. Disk Cache changes all that. You can just load your timeline into memory and stream from there.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Righty27

Oh well! I recall some decent new functionality being added in a previous PT 'dot' release, so one never knows!

One never knows, that's for sure.

Regarding dot releases, I remember that HEAT was added to 8.1 but probably mainly because 8.0 was planned to be the end of the line for PPC.

Before that, dot releases were more major.
* 7.4 was all about Elastic Audio
* 7.3 was all about Universal Binaries
* 7.2 was all about VCA's
* 7.1 ... well ... I don't actually remember, because it was LE release
* 6.7 introduced MIDI improvements
* 6.4 introduced Automatic Delay Compensation

These are the ones that I remember. But since Avid dropped PPC, things have been simpler. There was PT9 that opened PT for 3rd party interfaces, and PT10 which introduced AAX. And now PT11 which is 64-bit.

I would see things going like this:
- Major versions introduce new features
- Dot releases are periodic maintenance releases
- Dot-Dot releases are bug fixes, which used to be "CS" releases.

Or something like that.

[Righty27]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Don't know how likely, but as I've been using the Disk Cache feature for so long I can surely say that it is a game changer regarding how the audio/video files are stored anywhere. Without that feature you basically cannot use any network storage, and every local storage device you have must perform very well. Disk Cache changes all that. You can just load your timeline into memory and stream from there.

I hadn't even considered the possibility of using 'slower' network drives e.g. a NAS in a home environment! I guess the frustration is that it makes sense for hardware-dependent HD to get access to 'pro' features, but disk cache leverages the power available in modern Macs/PCs to enhance performance as well as making possible 'self-contained'/portable PT rigs (not sure if 'supported' but I guess using a Macbook's system drive with disk cache would deliver excellent performance compared to any system using external drives)?!

[Righty27]

Originally Posted by Righty27

* Hardware compatibility - appears to be somewhat 'open' with Avid still testing and hoping to support as many PT10 systems as possible

Looks like the initial position on i7 requirement has already been updated - iMac i5 now supported:

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/c...pple-Computers