When will there be a 003 or Command 8 replacement?

[De93]

I'm only a hobbyist, recording mostly DI with a 003 and older 15" MacBook Pro Core Duo. I'm wanting to expand into a more functional and devoted home studio, and have been looking at grabbing a 27" iMac i7 and Command 8 control surface.

I've been reading through various topics and have seen multiple mentions of a 004 being released. I'm basically wondering if it's even worth the money to put into a Command 8, which has been out for some time, or if I should hang tight and see if there's going to be a 004 or updated control surface. I've also read some rumors about a new Mac Pro with rackmount chassis, which might influence me to hold back on the iMac as well.

Could anybody enlighten me about what information or rumors are floating around about 004, PT11, or if there's possibly a control surface in the works? It'd be irritating to purchase these product and have something better released in less than a year.

Sorry for the uninformed novice questions. I'm not a professional and don't keep up with this sort of business. I wasn't even aware of PT10 until I purchased PT9 last October and received an email to upgrade.

[nst7]

The Command 8 will not be supported past PT10, this is listed in the PT10 FAQ.

So I certainly wouldn't buy one brand new. If you find a great deal on a used one, that might not be so bad. Just be aware that PT10 is the last version to support it.

Same goes for the 003, but I think you already knew that.

It's hard to know right now what Avid's plans are for control surface products. I'm wondering if when they come out with a 004, it will just be a rackmount version, and maybe they will just develop the Euphonix stuff for control surfaces. This is just speculation, though.

[De93]

Thanks for the fast response. I'm going to wait for PT11 before getting a control surface, which will give me the option of putting that money towards a Mac Pro instead of iMac. I did read that the 003 wouldn't be supported, and plan to upgrade to the 004/workstation or 3rd party interface when necessary, but the 003 is plenty for me at the moment. Has there been any hints or speculation about when PT11 might be released?

[nst7]

The only hint is the fact that 10 came out a year after 9, so people are thinking that maybe they are on a yearly upgrade schedule now, which would imply that 11 will be out in about a year. Also, Avid has stated plainly that 10 is an interim version, mainly to support old interfaces for a little bit longer, and serve as a bridge to 11, which will be 64 bit.

Both of these things seem to imply that it will be sooner rather than later. But then they are also known to surprise us (in good ways and bad ways).

[De93]

Thanks again!

I'm probably going to be purchasing the computer this year, and waiting for further updates from Avid before delving into more hardware. If PT11 is going to be 64-bit, and the CPU an i7, would there be any complications with Lion, which is a 32-bit OS?

[nst7]

Lion is a 64 bit OS, as was Snow Leopard.