Upgrade from PT 8

[PTPerson]

Howdy,

I have an HDX system with 2018.4... going great, love it.

I also have a TDM system running V 8.0.

I would like to update that license to V9.. how do I go about this?

My 2018 version was not part of an upgrade from v8.

Cheers,
Stefan.

[Darryl Ramm]

There are no ways to do this except buy a used license from somebody.

Why go to 9 HD and not a more capable 10 HD?

[PTPerson]

Yep 10 would be great... I just thought upgrading my v8 license would be an easier step.

Either way, it looks like I'm stoofed.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by PTPerson

Yep 10 would be great... I just thought upgrading my v8 license would be an easier step.

Either way, it looks like I'm stoofed.

Huh? You have lots of choices. Go buy a used 10 HD license or buy a new Perpetual Pro Tools Ultimate License... which also gives you a Pro Tools 10 HD license, and would also let you run 2018 Ultimate software native on your non-HD/TDM rig. So you have cheap and more expensive/flexible options. Or hell just toss the TDM hardware, do you really need it? Lots of options you just need to make a decision. Besides needing it for TDM hardware do you need HD/Ultimate software features? If not that makes abandoning TDM easier.

[PTPerson]

Yes I need the TDM hardware, obviously.. otherwise I wouldn't bother.

I'm well aware of buying licenses... the whole point of my post was to check if my 8.0 license was upgradable.

[Southsidemusic]

Sorry to say that PT8 isn’t possible to upgrade as Darryl said.

The upgrade options starts at PT9.


I seen quite a few PT9HD licenses with combo so you get HD9/HD10 for around 400-500 USD perpetual.

Best of Luck and hope you find a good option that suits you

[Darryl Ramm]

Uh Chris no I gave correct info.

“Upgrade options”: there are no upgrade options from what he has... PT8HD does not qualify for any Avid upgrade.

“buy used license options”: You can purchase a used license for PT9 HD... but why bother... go pick up a used license for PT 10HD. Who cares if that has a 9HD bundle or not. If on TDM I would focus on getting on 10HD.

The PT8HD license is effectively worthless and does not help here... which I think is the root of his question. But just buying a used HD 10 license is not too expensive.

And you can find a used HD9 license, transfer that license, and then upgrade to the latest bundled license through Avid, likely not worth the hassle, including ongoing annual charges.

If this is a one man shop, there is already a 10 HD license in the combo license for the HDX system if it has a perpetual license...and that could just be used on the PT 10HD system, just with the inconvenience of swapping iLoks.

[Southsidemusic]

Just bad wording from me. I mean that sorry it isn’t upgradable as Darryl said but I see it can be read like you gave the wrong info

I will fix it now!

[[email protected]]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Huh? You have lots of choices. Go buy a used 10 HD license or buy a new Perpetual Pro Tools Ultimate License... which also gives you a Pro Tools 10 HD license, and would also let you run 2018 Ultimate software native on your non-HD/TDM rig. So you have cheap and more expensive/flexible options. Or hell just toss the TDM hardware, do you really need it? Lots of options you just need to make a decision. Besides needing it for TDM hardware do you need HD/Ultimate software features? If not that makes abandoning TDM easier.

How does buying a used PT 10 License work in 2025? I want to upgrade my shadow box machine from 7LE and my main box will run PT Artist. I figure, buy License, you are talking, ILok transfer? If so, do you have any recommendations on a safe place to start?

[Darryl Ramm]

You can do whatever you want, but I'd only go with an iLok transfer. At times there seems to be all sorts of scammers trying to sell the iLok with NFR or EDU software on it or just sell you an empty iLok. eBay seems a frequent sewer.

You might be able to find Pro Tools 10 or you might buy a later version that includes the 10 in the license bundle (you can't separate the bundle). There will be a lot of licenses like that which are transferable by default. Otherwise it's not your problem, the seller knows from ILM if their license is transferable. Ask to see a ILM screenshot, they can obscure a few digits in anything identifiable etc if they want, but you want enough to be comfortable stuff looks real.

First place I'd ask is on buy & sell here and only deal with somebody who has some time/posts on DUC.

Look around and get an idea of past sale prices that look real and be ready to offer that it's not worth wasting time haggling on these prices. And if it's too good to be true or the seller is willing to negotiate down a lot it's likely a scam.

Are you really sure this is worth all the hassle? Why not put Artist on both boxes and just move the iLok dongle between them? Especially with Windows PCs hopefully you can arrange to upgrade them and Windows to run Artist.