Why is 12 three times more expensive for HD owners

[TimNielsen]

HD users may USE freeze, but once again, we paid $600 for the upgrade while standard users paid a fraction of that, and HD users have not gotten a single new thing that standards users have gotten for all that extra money.

It's a joke.

[simonchase]

Originally Posted by TimNielsen

HD users may USE freeze, but once again, we paid $600 for the upgrade while standard users paid a fraction of that, and HD users have not gotten a single new thing that standards users have gotten for all that extra money.

It's a joke.

Dude chill out, it's not like HD users also paid a huge upfront cost to AVID for hardware or anything. Oh wait.

Anyway, let's collaborate in the cloud.

[darbyclash34]

Originally Posted by simonchase

Dude chill out, it's not like HD users also paid a huge upfront cost to AVID for hardware or anything. Oh wait.

Anyway, let's collaborate in the cloud.

Best answer ever. You win.

So I guess that answers it then, since they're definitely not going to get TWO updates out by the end of the year. No new HD only features. I upgraded my vanilla 10 license to vanilla 12, but could not justify spending the money to upgrade my HD license. They add anything that matters, I'll upgrade it. Otherwise it'll just stay at 11.

Assuming of course that they don't wind up extending the $599 window for the upgrades, which if as few HD users are actually upgrading as seem to be here, they'll likely do. Who am I kidding, that would be good for HD customers, that's not gonna happen!

[michael c]

With all the flaming and complaining on these forums, whether justified or not, can someone officially from Avid please explain the reasoning for the extreme higher cost to HD owners to upgrade their license(s)? I know in my case, whether I feel your answer is valid or not, it will at least give me a sense of why you are charging your most loyal customers who have put out the most money for your software AND hardware an idea why they are being charged so much more. We have been loyal customers since 1998 and before that, owned an Audiomedia card...

It seems odd that we can't even 'downgrade' to vanilla PT12 and use our expensive Avid hardware, and if we upgrade this year to 12HD we will now never be able to sell our licenses? It all feels punitive.

If you can give us HD owners an official statement, I think I will at least feel you are being honest to your customer base. Once you reply, you can even lock the thread to avoid having to constantly reply to other related questions.

Thank you.

[DJ Hellfire]

Taken from Sweetwater:

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

Powerful HD-only Features
Avid has continued to deliver exclusive features that are geared toward their professional customers. Best of all, Avid’s Annual Upgrade and Support Plan for Pro Tools has made it possible to access the new features as soon as they’re released. No more waiting for the next software version!

Recent Developments in Pro Tools | HD:

Native HEAT for Pro Tools | HD Native
Metadata Inspector window
Satellite Link improvements
Manual tempo entry with Conductor enabled
Improved I/O Setup
Unlimited Bus paths
Automatic Upmix and Downmix of Output Buses to Output paths of different channel widths
Export Session Text for selected tracks only
Updated Avid Application Manager

Whether you choose Pro Tools | HD Native or HDX, you get access to pro-level features that aren’t available to Pro Tools users, including support for advanced S6 features like waveform views, breakpoint automation views, and higher-level automation features. In addition to that, you get exclusive plug-ins such as HEAT, advanced editing functions, superior delay compensation, expanded video implementation, and unprecedented connectivity and expandability. Also, while Pro Tools lets you mix in stereo, with HD you can mix in everything from mono to 7.1 surround sound.

[Bob Olhsson]

The cost is no more than HD's high-end pro audio competition.

[tattootroy]

Avid could flip the coin fast. one app and update price for all at $100.
Cut out the middle key man. do every thing in house like waves.
cheaper app and slightly cheeper hardware. they would make a killing off selling hardware.

[Josh Voyles]

Originally Posted by tattootroy

Cut out the middle key man. do every thing in house like waves.

What do you mean?

[michael c]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

The cost is no more than HD's high-end pro audio competition.

Bob-

I've only used PT the last 18 years and don't know the other software/daws. We paid 1,500.00 to upgrade to 10HD a few years ago. I didn't realize Nuendo, Cubase etc. charge that much to upgrade. I thought it was around 50.00 to 150.00?

Anyway, my question was WHY are we paying 599.00 vs the vanilla price AND also not able to sell our license and downgrade, and then not be able to use our expensive Avid interfaces. We would certainly take a huge financial loss to dump all our Avid equipment and buy new interfaces. I really just want to know why they've put HD owners in a box with no options other than to not upgrade anymore which is tough because of OS upgrades. I don't feel there have been any specific features developed for HD, which is certainly their right, so why the extra expense?

[Bob Olhsson]

Nuendo and Sequoia are right up there. CueBase is equivalent to vanilla. The change happened when PT started being able to run on other hardware.

The thing to do is freeze your system at current versions. That's what most major music studios do.