Buy Eleven rack w Pro Tools or Student version of Pro Tools 12 and rack separately?

[slowtrain]

I was wondering if I should buy the Eleven rack with a Pro Tools Perpetual license, or buy the rack separately and buy Pro Tools Student version. I've seen Eleven racks on Ebay without Pro Tools for $300, and Sweetwater has the Student version of Pro Tools 12 for $300. They also sell Eleven racks with Pro Tools perpetual licenses for $600.

What I need to know is; Does Avid still offer 4 years of free upgrades with the Student license? They were with PT 11, but I thought something on their site said that they were phasing that out. If I do come across a PT 11 license in the Eleven rack box, would I still get the 4 years of upgrades if they phased out free student upgrades with PT 12?

Is Pro Tools 11 still included with the Eleven rack? Sweetwater told me it was last month, but I just read a post that said PT 11 was no longer available as of the beginning of July. Could PT 11 be in the Eleven rack box still if it's old stock, or would they automatically upgrade it to 12 when I install it? My upcoming class uses PT 11.

Are the Eleven racks that come without any Pro Tools licenses legit, or some grey market stuff that will have no warranty?

Can I upgrade the student version to Pro Tools HD?

Any opinions on any of this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, -Jim

[Darryl Ramm]

The bundled "perpetual" license requires you pay $199/year for your rights to future upgrades. You are likely better off with a student version if you will remain a student for any significant time.

Avid no longer offers 4 year upgrades on student licenses, that changed years ago. You should read the Student License details or call your academic dealer.

I would suspect all Eleven Racks sold without a Pro Tools bundle are resold/"used" units although that may not have been true of some European sales. If you are not absolutely sure you are buying an unopened box an Avid Dealer then you may have no warranty. That authorized Avid dealer is the place to ask for clarification. Anything else, good luck... nobody here can guarantee what you end up with. But even if it did not include a full warranty a used/unbundled Eleven Rack is still a frequent bargain.. just make sure it works/buy from a reputable seller.

Nobody but Avid or an Authorized reseller can sell you a student license for anything, and they will only sell you Pro Tools 12 now.

You would get a Pro Tools 12 license with any new purchase, not a Pro Tools 11 license. The Pro Tools 12 license allows you to run Pro Tools 12 or 10. (it used to also include 11 but no loner does). You need to make sure that your system, especially OS version and plugins are compatible with Pro Tools 10 or 12. You could obtain a Pro Tools 11 license by purchasing a previously activated license (e.g. on an iLok). if all this is not kinda obvous to you you are almost certainly better off buying from an authored seller ( or authorized education seller).

[musicman691]

Something to add:
Buying an 11 Rack/PT combo from Sweetwater gets you PT (whatever version) but no disc is included in the box. You get registration cards for the 11 Rack and PT and an iLok2 but no PT disc. You'd have to download PT.

[slowtrain]

Thanks a lot for the input. I guess I'll get the student version. Does anyone know if I'll be able to upgrade to the regular version from the student license at some point? I tried to email Sweetwater and Avid about my questions on the student version months ago, but I never got a response from either of them.

[Barry Johns]

You can get an 11r used, for around 250.00.

You can also buy PT10/11 pretty cheap.

I have an MP version of PT8, that I will give you if you pay for the iLok transfer fee. You can use that to upgrade to PT10/12 for $199.00

[slowtrain]

Thanks a lot for the offer Barry. That's very generous. However, I've been browsing the forum, and I think I'm going to just buy the 11r that comes with Pro Tools. Someone posted that you're not supposed to sell the rack and software separately, and the rack is just as important to me as the software. I guess there's a way that you can do it, but I don't really want to try it. I haven't had any luck getting in touch with Avid, so I'm leaning towards doing it that way. Thanks again

[Amack]

As long as you are a qualified student, I believe that you can get the $199 Annual Upgrade and Support Plan for $99 (to stay current after the first year?) - http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PTUpSupST. If you buy an Eleven Rack from Sweetwater, they'll add their own "artist" preset rigs (doubling the number provided as standard).

Originally Posted by slowtrain

Thanks a lot for the offer Barry. That's very generous. However, I've been browsing the forum, and I think I'm going to just buy the 11r that comes with Pro Tools. Someone posted that you're not supposed to sell the rack and software separately, and the rack is just as important to me as the software. I guess there's a way that you can do it, but I don't really want to try it. I haven't had any luck getting in touch with Avid, so I'm leaning towards doing it that way. Thanks again

[slowtrain]

Thanks Amack, I hadn't thought of that. I'll probably be a qualified student for a long time according to the rules on the Avid site. Ironically, I don't think Berklee online is covered because it's a private vocational school, but I could be wrong.

[Barry Johns]

Originally Posted by slowtrain

Thanks a lot for the offer Barry. That's very generous. However, I've been browsing the forum, and I think I'm going to just buy the 11r that comes with Pro Tools. Someone posted that you're not supposed to sell the rack and software separately, and the rack is just as important to me as the software. I guess there's a way that you can do it, but I don't really want to try it. I haven't had any luck getting in touch with Avid, so I'm leaning towards doing it that way. Thanks again

You can do whatever you want with the 11r. Avid may prefer you don't, but it's not like you are breaking any laws. Yes, they may not provide support, that means nothing.

It's no different than buying a Mac, and then putting your own ram and hard drive to upgrade the computer verses paying Apple insane money for them to upgrade.

Be smart with your money.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Barry Johns

You can do whatever you want with the 11r. Avid may prefer you don't, but it's not like you are breaking any laws. Yes, they may not provide support, that means nothing.

It's no different than buying a Mac, and then putting your own ram and hard drive to upgrade the computer verses paying Apple insane money for them to upgrade.

Be smart with your money.

This has nothing to do with what he was talking about, which is unbundling the Pro Tools software. Which if anything violates the Pro Tools EULA. That is a license agreement (and maybe a contract depending on jurisdiction/interpretation). It has nothing to do with any other laws or the examples you gave of modifying hardware.