OK, so how do things currently stand for the 'LE' crowd ?

[sunburst79]

I stopped being "LE" when PT9 came out. Best upgrade ever.

[Culhane]

Originally Posted by zakco

When Avid has to spend valuable resources making sure every POS, cheapo USB interface works with PT and offering support to these "Systems" that have no right to be in a serious recording environment, it is not helpful to the greater good of what should be a "pro" product IMO.

Not to mention how distracting all this bellyaching and whining is to their already limited support staff...

$299 is more than fair IMO.

Move on to Reaper already...

Well, first, I am a long registered user of a Digi/Avid 002R proprietary interface - not every possible cheapo USB interface. It is not a difficult matter to offer preferred pricing to such customers, and, indeed, could make good business sense. They can certainly limit or charge whatever they want for 'support' for whatever interface.

As far as support, I have been a minimal drain on support resources over many years, typically simply using this forum for questions, typically on new system builds.

'no right to be in a serious recording environment' talk about "Wow... just wow"
A lot of future stars probably have 'no right to be in a serious recording environment' according to you.

Musicians who love their music often make every effort to get their hands on the best possible equipment to make that music. Any company that understands musicians should understand that. Where does this 'no right' comes from? Need I pont our bank balance does not equal mucial talent, or 'worth'.

As noted in my original post, my upgrade price is $499, not $299, which relative to past upgrade pricing is a significant change not warranted for me. I don't have to 'move on the Reaper'. I will simply continue to use what I have. I don't really NEED the upgrade, though at a lower price, I might purchase it to 'keep current'. My point is not to 'bellyache', but to cast a vote, I believe in a reasonable way, as to my dissappointment that I won't be upgrading as I have in the past. It is feedback, along with other users in the interest of informing the company about at least some of its customer base. I would appreciate such feedback if I was a company. I think the company could be losing potential income from this pricing strategy.

[scottedog]

Originally Posted by Culhane

Well, first, I am a long registered user of a Digi/Avid 002R proprietary interface - not every possible cheapo USB interface. It is not a difficult matter to offer preferred pricing to such customers, and, indeed, could make good business sense. They can certainly limit or charge whatever they want for 'support' for whatever interface.

As far as support, I have been a minimal drain on support resources over many years, typically simply using this forum for questions, typically on new system builds.

'no right to be in a serious recording environment' talk about "Wow... just wow"
A lot of future stars probably have 'no right to be in a serious recording environment' according to you.

Musicians who love their music often make every effort to get their hands on the best possible equipment to make that music. Any company that understands musicians should understand that. Where does this 'no right' comes from? Need I pont our bank balance does not equal mucial talent, or 'worth'.

As noted in my original post, my upgrade price is $499, not $299, which relative to past upgrade pricing is a significant change not warranted for me. I don't have to 'move on the Reaper'. I will simply continue to use what I have. I don't really NEED the upgrade, though at a lower price, I might purchase it to 'keep current'. My point is not to 'bellyache', but to cast a vote, I believe in a reasonable way, as to my dissappointment that I won't be upgrading as I have in the past. It is feedback, along with other users in the interest of informing the company about at least some of its customer base. I would appreciate such feedback if I was a company. I think the company could be losing potential income from this pricing strategy.

Totally. +1

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Culhane

...I don't really NEED the upgrade, though at a lower price, I might purchase it to 'keep current'. My point is not to 'bellyache', but to cast a vote...

Exactly. Vote with your wallet. If you don't need the newer features, just stay put and make music. I'm happy with PT9, but will probably consider moving to PT11 (when introduced in the future) to take advantage of 64-bit OS and more usable memory. Truth be told, many great records were recorded with PTools 5 or even "lesser" gear. PT 10 does not write a song for you !!! My 2 cents.

[zakco]

Originally Posted by Culhane

A lot of future stars probably have 'no right to be in a serious recording environment' according to you.

Nice attempt to twist my words around there...well done!

I think it's pretty clear that's not what I was saying...

A "serious recording environment" is a great place for future stars. Hopefully when the downward spiral to the lowest common denominator reaches bottom, such places will still exist.

My comments about draining resources were not directed at you in particular, but rather a generalized rant about a trend that I don't think is good in the long run. Opening the platform to 3rd party interfaces is a double edged sword in some ways. Keeping compatibility limited to modern devices of a certain standard is a better way to maintain stability and keep resources focused where they matter most. This are some of the reasons why PT became the standard it did. Reliable, scalable, predictable, compatible...these all suffer when you try to appeal to everyone at once.

Musicians who love their music often make every effort to get their hands on the best possible equipment to make that music. Any company that understands musicians should understand that.

I know this won't be a popular opinion here, but in all honesty, I'd prefer if Avids' target market were audio professionals instead of musicians.

Z

[Culhane]

What I am really looking for here is simply an official response from Avid to the 'LE' clients on the pricing issue. I see there is one directed at the PT10 HD users, including, effectively, a price drop.
I put forward 2 specific questions: Is PT 9 upgrade still available ? ... NO ANSWER (also asked in other thread). That was what I came here looking for when I stumbled into the version 10 hotbed.
Any hope of any kind of price break for any of your LE customers ? NO answer, which I take as a "NO".

I got Zacko's opinion, I am just wondering if that is also Avid's opinion.
It would be good to know.

When it comes to a system upgrade, I will probably check out PT Native, with all relevant feedback at that point. But this upgrade pricing policy, including issues presented by the HD crowd, does raise concerns regarding future investment in a new PT system. I used to feel I could rely on ProTools more than I do now.

[Culhane]

Originally Posted by EGS

Exactly. Vote with your wallet. If you don't need the newer features, just stay put and make music. I'm happy with PT9, but will probably consider moving to PT11 (when introduced in the future) to take advantage of 64-bit OS and more usable memory. Truth be told, many great records were recorded with PTools 5 or even "lesser" gear. PT 10 does not write a song for you !!! My 2 cents.

I totally agree with you EGS, and that is my plan.
I hear good things about PT9 but I don't see that upgrade available any more.
But, yes, I have a working system for now.
Partly I am looking to the future, and concerned if the ProTools I used to rely on is still the best choice. Just tossing out a little 'feedback', for whatever it is worth. I appreciate the community on this forum.
I'm good.

[BobRogers]

PT10 has very little to do with LE customers. It is a good bye kiss to people with legacy HD hardware. This is very clearly a "skippable" upgrade for LE customers. Avid has signaled very clearly that a major 64bit upgrade is next. What is the best guess? A year? So I can't imagine an LE user buying PT10 and not expecting to upgrade to PT11. To decide whether to upgrade now you have to estimate the total amount you would pay for PT10 and PT11 vs the amount for just PT11. Then you have to decide if the additional cost is worth having the extra features for a year (?). For instance, I have PT9. So PT10 is $300. If PT11 is $300 for PT10 owners and $500 for PT9 or lower (the current deal) then I pay $600 for PT10 and PT11 vs. $500 for skipping PT10. $100 to use PT10 for a year. Of course, if there is no discount for PT10 users vs. PT9 users, then it's $300 (max).

So are the features of PT10 worth the extra bucks for a short term use? That's a personal decision. I'm leaning toward it. But I'm waiting until I get the CD I'm working on done. (Upgrading software in the middle of a project makes me nervous.)

[Jay_uk]

Originally Posted by BobRogers

PT10 has very little to do with LE customers. It is a good bye kiss to people with legacy HD hardware. This is very clearly a "skippable" upgrade for LE customers. Avid has signaled very clearly that a major 64bit upgrade is next. What is the best guess? A year? So I can't imagine an LE user buying PT10 and not expecting to upgrade to PT11. To decide whether to upgrade now you have to estimate the total amount you would pay for PT10 and PT11 vs the amount for just PT11. Then you have to decide if the additional cost is worth having the extra features for a year (?). For instance, I have PT9. So PT10 is $300. If PT11 is $300 for PT10 owners and $500 for PT9 or lower (the current deal) then I pay $600 for PT10 and PT11 vs. $500 for skipping PT10. $100 to use PT10 for a year. Of course, if there is no discount for PT10 users vs. PT9 users, then it's $300 (max).

So are the features of PT10 worth the extra bucks for a short term use? That's a personal decision. I'm leaning toward it. But I'm waiting until I get the CD I'm working on done. (Upgrading software in the middle of a project makes me nervous.)

My head hurts

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by scottedog

I stayed at v8 mainly because the 'upgrade' was definitely not worth the money.

Let's see: 48 more tracks, and delay compensation.
Curious as to what would have made PT9 "worth the money" to you?
Maybe a new car thrown in?