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  #1  
Old 07-07-2016, 07:42 AM
Drunk Thirsty Cowboy's Avatar
Drunk Thirsty Cowboy Drunk Thirsty Cowboy is offline
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Default Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

Hello everyone, I have been recording off and on for about 12 or 13 years. 10 of that has been with some type of DAW. First it was Cubase, then for the last several years it has been Logic Pro. Currently I have Logic Pro X and for the most part I am satisfied with it.

Recently, I just finished some time in the studio, creating and recording 6 new songs. Of course I had the studio mix and master the songs but I also asked for the raw tracks for me to keep. Just in case I wanted to tinker with them some in the future. Mainly just to practice mixing and mastering.

As everyone well knows, especially on this forum, Pro Tools is the industry standard and so that is what the studio used. Therefore if I'm going to work with these tracks, I need Pro Tools. Another thing is that I read in Recording Mag a few issues back is that AVID is licensing Pro Tools 12 by the month. I figured these two reasons were a good enough excuse for me to make the switch to Pro Tools.

First thing I did was order an iLok2 and it is supposed to be here tomorrow. I then went to the AVID website and noticed that they have a 30 day Free Trial for Pro Tools. So I have 3 questions:

1) Is the 30 day free trial the full version of Pro Tools with all of the bells and whistles? I don't really want to waste my time on a watered down version.

2) Should I even bother with the 30 day trial version if I am very sure I am going to get the monthly subscription? I mean 30 dollars is 30 dollars but is it worth it to save that 30 dollars?

3) Can I go ahead and download the software BEFORE I have the dongle in hand, or do I need the dongle to download the software? I would like to go ahead and download it today so it will be downloaded and ready when the dongle arrives tomorrow but from what I read I'm not sure.

Any response and help would be greatly appreciated.

For some reason my system specs aren't showing up yet but they are:

Processor - 2.6 Ghz Intel i5
Memory - 8GB 1600 Mhz DDR3
Graphics - Intel Iris 1536MB
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  #2  
Old 07-07-2016, 10:35 AM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

You will have to have an iLok account first before downloading the software.

What OSX version are you running? Your profile doesn't say; for that matter no matter what you put in your profile won't show here. An i5 cpu might well be an issue with PT as it really likes to see an i7. What do you have as a system hard drive? Hopefully not a Fusion drive although I don't think Mini's came with one.
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  #3  
Old 07-07-2016, 11:06 AM
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Drunk Thirsty Cowboy Drunk Thirsty Cowboy is offline
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

El Capitan

The latest, version.

I just know that I update it every time suggested.

And no, it doesn't have a Fusion Drive.
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Last edited by Drunk Thirsty Cowboy; 07-07-2016 at 01:19 PM.
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Old 07-07-2016, 01:54 PM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

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Originally Posted by Drunk Thirsty Cowboy View Post
El Capitan

The latest, version.

I just know that I update it every time suggested.

And no, it doesn't have a Fusion Drive.
If a system is working you shouldn't be doing updates. OSX could come break something in PT and you'd be in trouble; Avid doesn't exactly make timely updates to PT when there's a new version of an operating system. Adding on to that I'm not sure if the 30 day trial is the latest evrsion of PT12.

As to the 30 day free trial I'm not sure of what exactly is possible with it but I think it may be crippled. If you really want a good shot at what PT can do then go for the monthly subscription. That way if you find out you don't get along with it you're not out a ton of money.
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  #5  
Old 07-07-2016, 02:01 PM
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Drunk Thirsty Cowboy Drunk Thirsty Cowboy is offline
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman691 View Post
If a system is working you shouldn't be doing updates. OSX could come break something in PT and you'd be in trouble; Avid doesn't exactly make timely updates to PT when there's a new version of an operating system. Adding on to that I'm not sure if the 30 day trial is the latest evrsion of PT12.

As to the 30 day free trial I'm not sure of what exactly is possible with it but I think it may be crippled. If you really want a good shot at what PT can do then go for the monthly subscription. That way if you find out you don't get along with it you're not out a ton of money.
I gotcha. Once I install the program I won't do anymore updates.

Also very soon I am planning to upgrade to an iMac with these specs:

4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory, configurable up to 32GB
1TB Fusion Drive1
AMD Radeon R9 M390 with 2GB video memory


Someone suggested I might need to stay away from Fusion HDs but it doesn't seem I have a choice.
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Processor - 2.6 Ghz Intel i5
Memory - 8GB 1600 Mhz DDR3
Graphics - Intel Iris 1536MB
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  #6  
Old 07-07-2016, 02:09 PM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drunk Thirsty Cowboy View Post
I gotcha. Once I install the program I won't do anymore updates.

Also very soon I am planning to upgrade to an iMac with these specs:

4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory, configurable up to 32GB
1TB Fusion Drive1
AMD Radeon R9 M390 with 2GB video memory


Someone suggested I might need to stay away from Fusion HDs but it doesn't seem I have a choice.
You DO have a choice for system drive. What specific iMac are you looking at - the 27 inch one? You can get a Fusion drive, 256 gig, 512 gig or 1 TB ssd/flash drive. The 27 inch one also has user installable ram - never buy Apple ram.

Don't forget to budget for a separate drive for sessions and another for samples if you use sample-based vi's.
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  #7  
Old 07-07-2016, 02:14 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

The only Pro Tools trial is Pro Tools 11. It is a fully featured product for one month. To try Pro Tools 12 you need to subscribe for a month.

You can download stuff in any order, you can't actually use Pro Tools until you have a physical iLok.

Why the hell are you going for a Fusion drive? DUC is full of warnings about those, I'm not going to repeat any of them here yet again. And why don't you "have any choice"? Get the largest internal Apple SSD drive you can afford. Currently 1TB. That PCIe SSD is fast enough that most folks can run OS X, sessions and samples from there, negating much of the need for external drives (as long as 1TB is enough total space). If you cannot get that wherever you are shopping then custom configure new iMacs on Apple's web site and buy there.

I would not buy any current Mac with Thunderbolt 3 product line refreshes that have to happen some time, hopefully soon.

If you are buying a new Mac get 16GB or more memory, or upgrade to that.
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  #8  
Old 07-07-2016, 02:14 PM
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Drunk Thirsty Cowboy Drunk Thirsty Cowboy is offline
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman691 View Post
You DO have a choice for system drive. What specific iMac are you looking at - the 27 inch one? You can get a Fusion drive, 256 gig, 512 gig or 1 TB ssd/flash drive. The 27 inch one also has user installable ram - never buy Apple ram.

Don't forget to budget for a separate drive for sessions and another for samples if you use sample-based vi's.


Ok, let me clarify my last statement.

It doesn't seem I have a REASONABLE choice.


And yes I have numerous external drives. That being said I've heard that pulling data from an external while recording to that same external can lag the session, is there any truth to that?
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Processor - 2.6 Ghz Intel i5
Memory - 8GB 1600 Mhz DDR3
Graphics - Intel Iris 1536MB
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  #9  
Old 07-07-2016, 02:21 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drunk Thirsty Cowboy View Post
Ok, let me clarify my last statement.

It doesn't seem I have a REASONABLE choice.
The choice is between buying crap that will very likely cause problems (Fusion) or buying some of the better, fastest, and fully vendor supported M.2 form factor PCIe/NVMe SSD storage in the market. You are comparing a lump of coal and a diamond. Yes Apple charges a premium for their SSD storage, but this is a case where its worth paying it. If you don't want to pay the Apple tax then buy a PC. I wish Apple would not sell Fusion at all, but for low-end price conscious consumer uses it works. But that is not a Pro Tools user, last time I looked most folks here care about trying to get their system to run well with really good performance.
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  #10  
Old 07-07-2016, 02:28 PM
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Drunk Thirsty Cowboy Drunk Thirsty Cowboy is offline
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Default Re: Pro Tools Free Trial, Monthly Subscription, and iLok2

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
The only Pro Tools trial is Pro Tools 11. It is a fully featured product for one month. To try Pro Tools 12 you need to subscribe for a month.

You can download stuff in any order, you can't actually use Pro Tools until you have a physical iLok.

Why the hell are you going for a Fusion drive? DUC is full of warnings about those, I'm not going to repeat any of them here yet again. And why don't you "have any choice"? Get the largest internal Apple SSD drive you can afford. Currently 1TB. That PCIe SSD is fast enough that most folks can run OS X, sessions and samples from there, negating much of the need for external drives (as long as 1TB is enough total space). If you cannot get that wherever you are shopping then custom configure new iMacs on Apple's web site and buy there.

I would not buy any current Mac with Thunderbolt 3 product line refreshes that have to happen some time, hopefully soon.

If you are buying a new Mac get 16GB or more memory, or upgrade to that.

I'm new Darryl, that's why I'm asking the questions. What is "DUC"?

I'm just going by what is available on the Apple website. Of course there are options, just ones that I think are reasonable.

Should I just get the smallest Flash Drive and rely on externals to hold just about everything I do?
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Processor - 2.6 Ghz Intel i5
Memory - 8GB 1600 Mhz DDR3
Graphics - Intel Iris 1536MB
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