Bundled subscription

[Righty27]

I have a perpetual licence which I recently renewed and I'm looking at maybe picking up a Pro Tools Duet interface (basically an Apogee Duet 2) which comes bundled with a 12-month subscription worth £299.

(i) Does anyone know if Avid would exchange this e.g. for 3 years of Annual Upgrade Plan, which I think is normally £99, and how I might go about this? I raised a pre-sales support case but received a confused response:

'... the interface is not swappable to a Subscription plan. If you are referring to the hardware exchange program, you might need to contact an authorized reseller who had this kind of promo'

This would be useful as it would make it attractive to existing users, as well as those new to Pro Tools ... which brings me to a second question:

(ii) I convinced a Logic-using musician/composer friend to give the Pro Tools trial a go (alongside his current Sibelius trial) assuming that he could use the new iLok cloud and get going straight away ... but it looks like a physical iLok is still required - surely this would be an obvious use case for the new cloud licensing?

Thanks!

[Dan IceWood]

simple answer is NO, they won't exchange hardware for software subscription.

[Righty27]

Apologies Dan - that’s not what I’m asking, although that is what Avid support incorrectly understood.

I would keep the hardware (interface) but have no need for the £299-value 1 year subscription that is designed for someone without a perpetual licence and thus an Annual Upgrade Plan @ £99 so it would be an exchange of ine type of subscription plan for a different one.

[Righty27]

... has anyone any experience of swapping one licence type for another (bumping before this goes into page 2)? Maybe a mod could check with Avid? :)

[Righty27]

Really hate to bump this again but it already took a while to get any response from Avid support, they didn't answer the main point of the question and they've yet to respond to my reply.

Seriously difficult to work out how to contact Avid with a pre-sales question - can't imagine this helped them sell these interfaces (I also have an Eleven Rack BTW) or feels particularly welcoming to new/prospective users.

I see that DigiTechSupt often comes to the rescue with unanswered tickets - maybe he/she will drop in?! :)

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by Righty27

Really hate to bump this again but it already took a while to get any response from Avid support, they didn't answer the main point of the question and they've yet to respond to my reply.

Seriously difficult to work out how to contact Avid with a pre-sales question - can't imagine this helped them sell these interfaces (I also have an Eleven Rack BTW) or feels particularly welcoming to new/prospective users.

I see that DigiTechSupt often comes to the rescue with unanswered tickets - maybe he/she will drop in?! :)

No. They won't exchange the bundled subscription for an annual upgrade. They just won't, it's not going to happen.

[BScout]

The point of those bundled licenses is to get you on the program and get you in the subscription/renewal process.

There is no bonus for "conversion". Sell the license to someone else if you can and use the money to buy more years of support. They aren't going to convert a license. If they wanted to make that possible, they would make it obvious.

I don't know what you find:

can't imagine this helped them sell these interfaces (I also have an Eleven Rack BTW) or feels particularly welcoming to new/prospective users.

These are entry level products and "new/prospective users" would need a license. That's kind of the point of bundling. As for pre-sales questions, ask your dealer. Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean it isn't an answer.

Also, if you don't know, the Duet and Quartet are dead products from Avid. End of life dates set. No more. If you really want to go this way, look for the Apogee version. Whoever the dealer is must know the Pro Tools Duet/Quartet are dead products too.

[Righty27]

Thanks JC + BScout.

I'd already done a bit of 'research' and it appears that the licence can't be sold as it's assigned to one's account when registering the hardware + associated software (Pro Tools I/O Control app; essentially a re-badged version of Apogee's Maestro).

I appreciate the target market + marketing aspects - FYI, I only arrived at this as an alternative to the Apogee Groove headphone DAC/amp in order to better drive some new HD650s (+ existing DT770s) ... and my dealer had availability of this deprecated Duet bundle at a discounted price, so I thought of using it alongside my Mac ... and with the bonus of a couple of nice pres that I could leave a mic permanently connected to at my desk. The licence swap for a few years of AUP would make it a no-brainer value compared to the Groove.

I also asked Avid about the supposed 2021 end-of-life date and why they had not noted High Sierra compatibility ... and they didn't respond to this either. Also, I'm coaxing a musician/composer friend towards Pro Tools/Sibelius and he's also struggling for some answers ... thus my sentiment about Avid's pre-sales support - BTW, he would be an obvious buyer of the year's subscription if it could be sold!

Oh well :)