Ultimate Price Increase...

[Chris August]

Just got an email saying the price of my perpetual annual upgrade is increasing from $399 to $499. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?

In the email they boast about all the new stuff Pro Tools has...inner circle rewards? No Thanks. Lite versions of plugins that anyone who owns Ultimate probably already has the full version of? No Thanks. You finally added midi plugins and you want a cookie? Also, they aren't even good. Sonic Drop content? Don't even sort of care.

I still have to make an "ADC" aux bus to send instrument tracks to because they can't figure out how to compensate those...but yes please give me subpar plugins like synthcell and increase my price.

Guess they are getting what they want...now I'm gonna switch to subscription. Pro Tools Studio...

[sw rec]

Yep, they actually announced that price increase much earlier this year. I for one need the extra features in Ultimate, so I will continue paying the annual “ransom,” as we call it around here. It is what it is.
Big question is….we pay for FOUR annual updates under the “support” plan, but we only got THREE. Do we get a break on the next RANSOM? (Not holding my breath, but had to ask.)

[massivekerry]

Originally Posted by Chris August

Just got an email saying the price of my perpetual annual upgrade is increasing from $399 to $499. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?

In the email they boast about all the new stuff Pro Tools has...inner circle rewards? No Thanks. Lite versions of plugins that anyone who owns Ultimate probably already has the full version of? No Thanks. You finally added midi plugins and you want a cookie? Also, they aren't even good. Sonic Drop content? Don't even sort of care.

I still have to make an "ADC" aux bus to send instrument tracks to because they can't figure out how to compensate those...but yes please give me subpar plugins like synthcell and increase my price.

Guess they are getting what they want...now I'm gonna switch to subscription. Pro Tools Studio...

I think it's pretty heinous as well. The only Ultimate feature I now seem to need is the Satellite feature, so I can sync NLA's VideoSync app (which I only need to use because of Avid). Otherwise, I'd prefer to downgrade to to Studio and get the price break. The "industry partners" "bonus" things is wasted bloatware for a long-time user who has or buys what they need (and which seems to be a trend across industries now - seriously Verizon I don't want to pay more to get a coupon for a streaming service I already have) I don't work in anything past Stereo. Ambisonics, ATMOS and most of the post-focused stuff is useless to me, and yet Ultimate is the only one they are raising the price on. Really bad year for it, as well. Despite any macro discussion about the economy, production seems down across the board.

[Pedro perez]

I left Pro Tools And Waves last year and never looked back. (user since 1999)

[Tweakhead]

Originally Posted by sw rec

Big question is….we pay for FOUR annual updates under the “support” plan, but we only got THREE. Do we get a break on the next RANSOM? (Not holding my breath, but had to ask.)

Will it be $100 off, or $125 ?
Or will the ransom period get extended by three months ?

[BScout]

Originally Posted by Pedro perez

I left Pro Tools And Waves last year and never looked back. (user since 1999)

Pretty sure being on this forum after "leaving" would be considered looking back.

[noiseboyuk]

Avid have made huge strides forward in the past couple of years in terms of customer relations and feedback. But I took the decision some time ago that I wouldn't be reliant on any of the freebies from the Inner Circle so I could just update as and when I need. Obviously that greatly reduces my outgoings.

For me 2024.10 was a pretty strong update, but nothing essential. I'm holding out for speech-to-text.

I think the huge price disparity between Studio and Ultimate is simply down to the knowledge that Ultimate customers are predominately professionals who are more likely to wear the high prices. The vast majority of users will find few-if-any restrictions in Studio that concern them.

[digiot]

To put it in perspective, you can buy a brand new Mbox Pro right now for $499 which comes with a Studio Perpetual license. Even if if I would never use the Mbox it’s a deal that’s hard to pass up on. Let my Ultimate license laps and just use Studio for now. Not sure if I would even miss any of the Ultimate features.
And this coming from a TDM/HD/Ultimate user since 1995

[digiot]

Started digging more and found some resale stores still selling perpetual reinstatement licenses for $499!! Now you can just let your license laps and see how long you can go without updating. Either way you can use the perpetual reinstatement licenses at any time. Worse case scenario is Avid releases the biggest bestest most extreme update a month from now and if your plan expired you use the perpetual reinstatement licenses, and you just gained an extra month

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Chris August

Just got an email saying the price of my perpetual annual upgrade is increasing from $399 to $499. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?

Everyone does.