Question about where Avid is heading

[sw0mgt]

5 years ago, I bought into Digidesign because they sold a well-priced prosumer hardware+software pair: the 002r + PTLE.

However, the 002r (and 003) will no longer be supported after PT10. Since PT11 is probably going to be the big 64 bit release we're all waiting for, what are most 002r/003 users going to do?

The 003 isn't even advertised on the Avid main menu anymore. Considering the 002/003 forums are by far the most populated forums on the site, I'd bet these are the most popular of all Avid's offerings. So why are they doing away with them? And, why are they doing away with them without offering an in-house replacement? Is Avid doing-away with the middle-road consumers to focus on their extremely high-end HDX/Native systems?

For somebody with a 002r looking to expand, it's probably a good idea to wait and see what Pro Tools 11 brings?

[albee1952]

While the 002 will not be supported in PT11(which could be a year away), the 003 is likely to be supported(trust me...I'm a doctor). Having said that, since PT9 opened us up to a world full of interfaces, you have way more options than you think, including boxes from Focusrite, MOTU and RME. I still think that a used 003 is a decent choice(and avid hardware seems to have a slight edge in slick integration IMHO), but I know many users are having great results with the brands mentioned, and even the Mackie and Presonus mixers. I take a slightly different view as I think that HD/Native is the middle ground now(and a pricey one at that) for Avid, but look at the range of $1000 options out there, and remember that HD software runs with all of them, and gives you almost all of the HD or CPTK features(including per-track input only monitoring, which CPTK doesn't have).