Pro Tools R.I.P.

[bonzerboy]

Everyone who I have talked with is looking into other options. I am talking the home guys . I don't know about the big boys but the littler guys and talk at local music store. Just make it simple, make it work, give us the features we want or it will be the nail in the coffin I feel. A lot of people are not happy. JUst my .02 cents. All i really know is pro tools but I am now considering other options. What are your thoughts people?

[KV626]

Originally Posted by bonzerboy

Everyone who I have talked with is looking into other options. I am talking the home guys . I don't know about the big boys but the littler guys and talk at local music store. Just make it simple, make it work, give us the features we want or it will be the nail in the coffin I feel. A lot of people are not happy. JUst my .02 cents. All i really know is pro tools but I am now considering other options. What are your thoughts people?

I see you're on Pro Tools 11...No hurry then, you have until december to decide. If PT12 delivers something that justify the upgrade throughout the year, then do it... In the meantime, PT11 will continue to work as before.

I'm using both DP and Pro Tools... DP9 will be released soon with more than a few new set of features. If there's no reason for me to get on the plan this year (that's certainly not now), if I can't get a $199 plan after december 2015, then I'lll simply say byebye to Pro Tools, but continue to use 11 if/when needed (which would suck because I love working with PT).

[Dave Modisette]

Same here. I saw PT 11 native as a bridge connecting Avid with the home studio market. Granted, we are small in size but this doesn't mean we aren't sophisticated. I have no need to track 64 inputs at a time because I don't have the space to do that sort of thing. In fact most of my 16 inputs are set up for various amps or instruments that keep mic'd up and ready to go so it would be bad business to spend thousands of dollars to become a "real" Pro Tools user.

Now I wait to see what my value to Avid really is.

[Stig Eliassen]

Originally Posted by bonzerboy

Everyone who I have talked with is looking into other options. I am talking the home guys . I don't know about the big boys but the littler guys and talk at local music store. Just make it simple, make it work, give us the features we want or it will be the nail in the coffin I feel. A lot of people are not happy. JUst my .02 cents. All i really know is pro tools but I am now considering other options. What are your thoughts people?

In terms of features added in PT 12, I'd have to agree that this release is disappointing. I hoped for more.

That said, I see reports from users around here that depend heavily on PT, and use it to make a living. To them, increased stability, faster loading, lower CPU usage, etc. is a huge deal, and very good news. Admittedly, I've never been one of those guys that has to have every feature on the planet available. PT 11 without bugs is more than enough for me.

Please don't let the Mod badge fool you. I've invested a lot in Avid, and that definitely entitles me to point fingers, IMO.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Avid brings to the table. A stable, bug-free DAW is the single most important thing to me. YMMV.

PS: I'm in the process of cloning my system drive, and will give 12 a whirl. Excited to experience how it feels.

[ArKay99]

I don't know about plain vanilla PT 11 or 12, but I had an HDX1 rig with an 8x8x8 I/O and PT 11 HD. I used 4 inputs max, but used the 8 AES I/O's for outboard digital and the other 4 analog I/O for analog. It served me very well. The main reason I went with HDX was for very low latency and the DSP plugs as a way to keep the cpu power down.

I do 4 to 5 albums a year, in house productions. Some solo, others with one other person. I've started experimenting with importing tracks from a few other people and it's all worked out well. My only problem with PT 11 HDX was -9171 and -9172, and the occasional -9173 errors which would stop takes cold. They were frequent and even happened with playback. They have been around since PT10HD. The workaround was to run buffer sizes at 512 or above, which would create noticeable latency on recorded overdubs and nullify the reason for HD in the first place for me. I was an 'early adopter' into HDX, getting in before 11 was released. Then they introduced 'the subscription model'.

I wouldn't even have minded that much by paying the $599 to get the next upgrade and have the 24/7 phone support option, which I would probably never use, but the policy of mandating I keep it current or lose my eligibility to upgrade was too punitive for me. There are many reasons to not want to go to the next upgrade. There are penalties for being on the 'bleeding edge' of technology, but sometimes due to factors beyond AVID's insight, say an OS incompatibility from the computer manufacturer, third party AAX incompatibilities, etc. makes upgrading the OS mandatory. Also, it takes a LOT of work and time to get a stable clean install of a new version and it compounds when you also have to upgrade the OS. It can take weeks, and most of the time I lag a few point releases behind so I can do my work. If I'm in the middle of a project I don't want to install the next point release or even an upgrade until I'm finished with it. Sure I can do it on a second disk and I do it that way, but I don't have the time to futz with all that while I'm working on a project. I went from 8LE to 10, skipping over 9 for example. AVID's current policy of not allowing the purchase of HD software without buying associated hardware if the support plan lapses put me in a very uncomfortable position. I decided to sell my AVID investments, AAX plugs, PT 11 HD HDX card and I/O to someone that wanted it. I was done with the drama of wondering what AVID was going to deem my worth to them was.

That's just me. I think I'm a typical medium grade project studio owner. I have about $25k invested and Pro Tools was a large part of that. After thinking about this for a bit I can see from a business point of view what AVID is doing. What they've done has looked good on the books for now. It seems they feel the project studios like myself weren't worth it to support. Sure we bought expensive hardware and software versions of their product line, but when compared to the large client oriented studios we're a fart in a hurricane. I feel they thought they had to 'cut the fat', which meant making a decision to let the one unit small operations fall by the wayside and concentrate on the guys with the deep pockets. As far as the 'little guys', the one with vanilla licenses, they could always subscribe or rent because they aren't as serious as the HD guys.

I've moved on. I'm using Studio One, I've purchased Logic, and am about to purchase Cubase. I have a vanilla 11 license I purchased at the end of last year for... $199 that I'll keep around in case I need to transfer an old session to my new DAW. That's just me.

Personally, I'm angry with the position I felt AVID put me in. I have used Pro Tools exclusively since 8LE. I have developed a very productive workflow with it throughout the years and I'm very comfortable with it and know it like the back of my hand. I didn't want to sell it, but felt AVID was leaving me little choice.

[JFreak]

New HD policy is not yet announced. You're talking standard PT here...

[Dannyd]

If you are on windows machine i would recommend you to try Cakewalk Sonar, they seems to being updating and adding new things to their soft every month.

You can also go to Cubase or try Bitwig. If you are fan of trying by yourself add try PreSonus Studio One and Motu Digital Performer.

But keep looking at avid, pt 12 is like adobe cc, when it come out near 0 improvements and it will start in a few months, maybe in a couple of months with 12.1 will be the real improvements.
If you look to Avid Media Composer 8.0=near no features, 8.1(about 3 moths latter)=start with features and now each 3 months(or near) they roll out new 8.x.x versions with features.

So keep calm and look what they made next months. :)

[justus1900]

I too have not been very Happy about this AVID Pro Tools 12 roll out but as I allways say? "If you are not using Pro Tools, You are using Amateur Tools"

[ArKay99]

Originally Posted by JFreak

New HD policy is not yet announced. You're talking standard PT here...

If you're responding to my post, I know what I'm talking about. It was my feelings and the reasoning behind my personal Pro Tools R.I.P. The policy not being announced yet was what pushed me over the edge.

[Becharax]

I am a happy Pro Tools 12 client ... I don't regret shedding any cents on this latest version !! Really Stable Release .. Just don't fill it with bugs Avid Guys ... I won't update any bug fix anymore ... This version simply ROCKS !! Get a decent Mac and start making music if you are serious about making music ..