Avid Will You Ever Learn? 

I stopped paying for my support plan this summer. First of all it was over $200 a year to stay current and aside from the update where we got double the track count for the standard version there weren’t any really great new features that moved me, but aside from that, I actually needed support for an issue I had with ProTools and got zero help. Why the hell am I paying for support and can’t get any????? I have Logic Pro also and haven’t paid for an update in years. I also have Ableton Suite which isn’t the cheapest Daw but it has great features and it works flawlessly with my Push 2, but I don’t feel like I’m being held hostage for support that I couldn’t even get when I needed it.

You hit on the nail on with this video. The greatest thing a company can do is listen to their consumers. I use to love Avid, but the subscription model was it for me, along with pricing. I use Logic and haven’t regretted it.

IMO- Reaper is CRUSHING IT! Also, since I have Reaper, I have had about 80 'micro upgrades' over the last three years.

Having to worry about paying $199.99 a year just to be “up to date and have support” really has always been a massive bummer for perpetual license users. Thanks Barry

Oh man, you speak to my soul. I also had to leave ProTools a few years ago for all of the above reasons - after decades! It's so good to hear myself confirmed here once again. The price policy and the fact that the software was constantly incompatible with something made me take this difficult step. Have been with Studio One ever since and love it - haven't regretted it for a second! Thanks.

Short answer: no Long answer: nope

The lagging behind that you are talking about has been going on for over 20 years. I can't tell you how many times we would be sitting at a new feature presentation going "DP and Logic have been doing that for years". Back in that era, Pro Tools was last on the scene with track freeze, last on the scene with offline bounce, last on the scene with instrument tracks, track count limitations, IO limitations, VCAs, you name it.

Hi Barry. Thanks for yet another great video. I would argue that Avid is a leader; a leader in offering product that result in a diminishing return to scale, a leader in demonstrating they seem to be tone deaf to their loyal customer base, and seemingly a leader in having some of the most ridiculous pricing structures in the industry. After having used Steinberg's Cubase / Nuendo for over 20 years, I purchased Pro Tools because I'd allowed myself to believe a lot of the hype associated with using Pro Tools ( Industry Standard, Great DAW, etc.). I was sorely disappointed and simply cannot understand how their business practices allows them to remain competitive. I am astonished that after paying $579 for the perpetual license, the support is email only and they require an additional $199 per year to maintain email support and product updates. Steinberg's Cubase 12 Pro cost the exact same amount and comes with phone and email support, continuous upgrades for that version, and future major release versions upgrades will be available for a nominal fee; not to mention that I have rarely needed to use their support. Today's Ultimate Subscription is priced at a whopping $599 per year !!! Just think of it, at that price it'll cost users $5,990.00 over 10 years, $2,995.00 over 5 years. I know of no other DAW in that pricing stratosphere. From what I can see, it appears that their pricing model for their software and hardware and their investment into innovating Pro Tools is at odds with other comparable and arguably better options in the marketplace. For those remaining loyal to Pro Tools, I wish them all the best and I am not seeking to diminish their allegiance to Pro Tools or their opinions preferencing Avid products. I'm on Nuendo these days and for me' I'll not look to Avid again for consideration when adding to my studio.

Gradually passing from Pro Tools to Studio One in the last 2 years. Loving it.

Nuendo look good 👍🏼

I jumped off the Pro Tools train several years ago. There’s just too many options out there in my opinion that are not only cheaper but better in a lot of ways. I agree with you 100%.

Two weeks ago I signed up for the Pro Tools Ultimate trial. Installation was a bit of a "maze", but "ok". I liked the DAW, but nothing special I could see. Here's where the story changes direction...I decided to not continue with a subscription. Uninstallers didn't work well, so I had to manually find and delete GB's of system files, plugins, etc. Customer service was non-existent. Forums not merely unhelpful, but borderline abusive. Even the Pro Tools reddit sub...abusive in response to an utterly benign help request post. WTF!? I'm sticking with Studio One (solid, supportive community), but my experience with the Logic community = great. Reaper community == really awesome. Cubase = great. Just sharing.

I noticed what you say like 8 years ago when I switched to Reaper, never looked back.

Reaper all the way for a Windows user. Got away from Avid in 2018. After a tedious DAW relearning I was so relieved. Still love it! It just works. Literally. Never crashed a single time and does what's promised.

Reaper is brilliant. Try it for free and watch Kenny Goia's videos 👍🏼

Cubase is the King of DAWs.

Avid will never learn. I bought Logic for $199 about 5 years ago and we've had free (and good) updates ever since. Why would I ever rent a DAW?

I switched to Studio One. I enjoy it a lot.

Perfectly, said, Barry. I cannot believe how oblivious they look compared to all their competitors. Its such a bad look when EVERYONE is up to date with the support of Apple Silicon and the "gold standard" of the industry feels YEARS behind and is literally always playing catch-up. ooof.

I dropped ProTools, went with Reaper, I won’t look back. It doesn’t make sense for me to spend $1,000 year for functionality that I can get for free. It just doesn’t make sense. Curious about Logic Pro X, but free is free.

Like yourself, I used Pro Tools for 2 decades...most of my professional career. This all changed last year, when iLok issues kicked me out, mid session. I lost my recent save and missed an important deadline. That was the last straw. I was on a subscription with no support account. Avid wouldn't even allow for me cancel, and locked me in, until that year was up. I had to cut them off from the bank. Switched to Studio One, which has been a fantastic DAW. Even the subscription is only $15/month. Definitely frustrating, picking up and learning a new DAW, especially with all that muscle memory. Subbed! 😁

I've said this before, I'm so happy I sold everything Avid after Pro Tools 12 was released. I sold everything including ALL of my "Avid Only" plugins. I used Pro Tools as a secondary DAW. I've always used Cubase Pro since version 1 (the SX days) There's just too much drama associated with them and the price is what scared me away. I don't believe in subscriptions ....on and off again... No thank you. I voted with my wallet and I am sure others have done the same. Great video Barry... Keep up the great work!

I've been using Pro Tools since version 9,upgraded to 12, the dark theme is great for me since I have a vision problem and was absolutely confused about the installation process. I originally ordered it from Sweetwater, they remoted into my pc, installed it over two days before it was working properly. Long story short, after I paid (not subscription) three months later they charged my credit card. After I received the notification of charge, I replaced my credit card without allowing anyone to charge me. I'm scared I'll never move away, as you said in the video. I use Studio One, Reaper, Digital Performer, Notion for music notation.

I still use PT 12 out of convince. But when years ago, I was looking for video editor, I didn't care about "industry standards", I just tried few, and ended up liking DaVinci resolve. I guess this thought sums up this perfectly, listeners don't care whether you are producing in PT, FL, Cubase or on SSL console, it is irrelevant to them as long as it sounds right.

I’ve got until November 26 to decide if I want to yet again pay almost 300 CND to keep this thing “current”. Last year I did in hopes that after one entire year M1 support would be released. I have used protools since 2003 but after 20 years of supporting them I’m seriously considering walking away. I’ve got Cubase 12 and have I am now comfortable enough to use it for real.

Great points. I'm a music production and engineering student in a music college, and all of the studios run HD systems. Most young students, who are often already experienced producers and sometimes even engineers, enter without ever having used Pro Tools. You will learn it because you have to use it and because the college wants to put students in an established commercial industry, where PT is still the "recording studio" standard. Most young students who are working on contemporary and commercially succesful music genres though stay away from it for as much as they can. Most functions that were unique to PT have already been ported to other softwares, but the intuitiveness and workflow of Logic, Ableton, FL, and most other modern DAWs has definitely not inspired Avid. And nobody is asking them to give away the uniqueness and flexibility of their customization and setup functions but just the fact that you need keyboard shortcuts to do anything on PT and that everything is two more mouse clicks further away than the competition is absurd. The lack of proper plugin optimization, pricing, silicon support, and ilok dongle restriction, do not help. The majority of the faculty's career grew parallel to Avid's success in the recording studio industry, so they are rightfully very tied and integrated to it. Some professors are aware of the issues, and call it Slow Tools, but most are too deep into their workflow to realize that telling a student that to operate your instrument professionally you need a keyboard with numeric keypad cannot be the only viable option in 2022, when music goes through a laptop through the entire process, wether you are sitting on the couch with headphones or you're hooked up to a multichannel AD/DA in a commercial studio.

Pro Tools used to be iPhone now it’s Blackberry. Cubase, Studio One or Reaper are the way to go. All 3 run circles around Slow Tools.

I didn’t renew this year. Love pro tools but done with it.

Thanks for the advice,it make sense.This is important for someone like me how is about to embark on this journey to making music at home. With so many interfaces, and so many daws to choose from. Very helpful thank you.

UAD Luna is the future. Analog summing with Neve and API makes a massive difference and sounds like you’re working on a console with natural saturation. Less plugins to be used.

Thanks once again Barry. You have warned us about these developments with Avid. It must have hurt to go through this experience with Avid, taking into consideration all the money you spend on their products. I started producing music on Cubase sx a long time ago, moved to Nuendo then moved to Pro Tools (only perpetual, no subscription for me). I have been using PT so long that it is a little bit scary to think that I would have to move to another DAW at a moment in time. But taking the developments at Avid into consideration, it is even more scary to continue to use PT at certain moment. If I have to switch, I will probably go back to Cubase or Nuendo. I have tried a lot of other DAW’s but prefer Steinberg. For live tracking, I may continue to use Logic pro because it works so good on my M1 MBP, no dongle is needed and I can track for hours on battery. I hope to see a change at Avid.

Spot on Berry. I have pushed for Pro Tools to be a course we teach at Eora Tafe in Australia. How ever it is getting g harder to keep up aith the constant bad decisions. My students mean everything to me and my credibility with them is paramount. With the high cost and unreasonable changes and pricing. I feel I will loose them or we will have to focus in another DAW. We teach the students to use a few different Daws now how ever we are trying to push Pro Tools as the front of it all. How can we continue. I can't even update my subscription with good concious knowing that it's over price and getting worse by the day. Avis please don't end up being like Reasin Studios and becoming a dormant DAW. I am now just using the old versions Pro tools 8 fro tracking and Autimation and Pro tools 2021 for teaching. And soon not at all. Two year plan is to exit from Avid all together. I am really sad about it. ThNks Berry for speaking out and allowing us too as well.

Gotta agree. I dropped PT exactly 1 year after they started their subscription plan. Literally every other major DAW has caught up. Some of them already were ahead. The cool thing is that today....there's no a clear winner to recommend. That's a better situation than everybody picking PT by default. Congratulations, Avid, you managed to lose your perpetual silver medal.

Avid has become tainted by corporate greed. I feel bad for those that still stick around. I have PT 12 and stopped there. I Use Logic Pro X. $199 pay once and you’re all set. And the upgrades are free. Use your extra $ on plugins you love.

I could tell this guy was a sound designer based on the sound quality of the video, So crisp

Avid hasn't realised its no longer the 90's

After a 10 year break I'm getting back into recording. I have been evaluating DAWs for a couple of months. Barry is dead on right about AVID. They can't make up their minds. I like protools but AVID blows. Just getting the evaluation software off my machine was a pain in the ass. It does not help that I despise subscription services. If you are new to this game or getting back to it like me... Take Barry's advice and steer clear of AVID. There are so many other choices at better price points..I decided on Logic because I just got a MacBook Pro M1 and they seem to fit well. Thanks Barry!

Dude I am using a avid carbon with my iz radar ,16 Adat in and out to my radar ,gives me the ability to bring back 24 outputs back to my console, what is old is new again ,love it.

Wow! Thanks for this one. Thought I was alone in this struggle, I've paid my thousands of euros for Ultimate and update plans, only to find myself getting kicked out in the cold and just throwed out of the train. No way to get back on again. Then subscription only, over 100 a month including VAT. (Btw, to only give subscription prices before VAT is cheeky too). So I have had 4 different trials on Cubase, one for every fkoff from Avid. But since having a DCommand which I love, I have kept PT so far. But I loved your rant, right on the money! So will write a feedback letter to Avid this week, which they probably won't read or take notice of, and go and look for another DAW. Keep up the goodwork and thanks again!🤘☀️

had to respond...I'm not defending Avid, but their slow updates have been going on FOR YEARS. It seemed to get worse when Avid bought Emagic (Logic). So they are in direct competition with Avid. If you are an approved Developer (WWDC etc)...you are going to get pre-release (Beta) software to test your updates with etc. It would seem, once 10.x.x comes out or now 11.x.x comes out...Avid rushes to perform/test updates....but once they are ready to push an update here comes Apple with 11.x.y. so they are constantly chasing their tails. I don't know if other developers are in the same boat, but clearly Apple gets approved Developers the content they need to develop updates within reasonable time frames. As far as the subscription model and pricing...the PLETHORA of complains stand for themselves. Thanks for all you do Barry.

Excellent vid Barry, I’m also a long time ProTools user. I agree with everything you said, but it seems like Avid is listening! For now anyway.

Great video and I totally agree with you. I too used PT for decades and decided to jump ship and purchase Logic Pro. It's a shame that Avid does not care and value its vast consumer base and understand that WE DON'T NEED THEM! If Avid ever decides to give a turkey again and re vamps itself into the "Industry leader" spotlight, I may consider returning. Otherwise, I can still make a living without them.

I just updated my plan a month ago and I paid $300. From my perspective that's a reasonable number to have an updated Pro Tools Ultimate system. It allows me to open session files for 20 YEARS ago, and restore them to today. I was a Logic user before I was Pro Tools... you couldn't pay me to switch to another DAW.

You're right B. I love Studio One. Hey Avid Perpetual means it's yours. Yes or no. Make sure we can use what we've paid for on our Mac or PC upgraded or not. I am sure you spent our money. Right? Thanks B for all you do to help.

I agree 10,000% I was so excited to purchase Pro Tools in 2017...I was just developing my home studio after retiring and going back to school for Music Production. After finishing school I was looking to update my software on a new Mac and I noticed it only offered me a monthly subscription. I couldn't see myself paying a monthly fee after I had paid as much as I did just to have Pro Tools at home. So I moved on to Studio One. Also, I know several folks that were considering Pro Tools but chose either Studio One, FL Studios, or Logic because of Avids approach to the services!

One word…Logic

Agree 1000% with this. I’ve gone a bit back and forth on it, but ultimately I am moving away from Pro Tools to Logic for my studio.

Great arguments as usual. The one that really sticks for me is career goals and aspirations. If someone wants to be a home studio person their entire career, then use whatever you want. But if you have aspirations to work in or along side those in major studios you at least need to know Pro Tools and have access to a copy. I’ve seen a few people get burned by not using Pro Tools when it comes time they get bigger opportunities. Of course there are ways around it, but it’s not seamless and you end up loosing money because you have to do a lot of things just to transfer your work in the required ways. Just a thought for anyone with bigger aspirations than working at home for themselves.

Listen to yourself. They took allot of your time, and money in exchange for heartache. Just use a daw that flows with you. No other DAW has people so upset. Nobody has ever changed the station, because the artist didn’t record with protools. I always wondered how such trashware got that status anyway. It was always buggy, and crashy. It’s a new era, and what matters is the recording.

I too went down the Nuendo road and don't regret it one bit. Pro Tools pricing is stupid and so what that it's easy to do audio editing? It's the everything else I like about Nuendo.

Spitting truth as usual

Users borded of Pro Tools should give Reaper a try. It's inexpensive -- but not cheap ! -- (60$ for non commercial licence for two full versions), powerful, stable, light on CPU, flexible, versatile and customizable to will !

Logic Pro X. Payed once 5 years or so ago… and now it just updates… the end.

Sad but true. With PT11 HDX/AAX once the subscription started I took my 2010 MacPro system off line, about 2018. My system runs like a top. I am going to be up sh.t creek with PT when my 2010 MacPro dies. I am sure I will need to spring for a new digital console, DAW platform, maybe. The main pain is going to be interfacing with a 24 channel analog Tonelux console.

I have been complaining about Avid since they were known as Digidesign and they released Pro Tools 6.7. That was the first in-line update that we had to pay for. We weren't going from 6 to 7 yet, just the next update within 6. They wanted $75 for that update back in 2004 if I remember correctly. That was nearly 20 years ago. We've been dealing with horrible decision making from the higher-ups at Digidesign and now Avid for a long time and have dealt with it in an effort to simply continue working without having to learn a new DAW - which is an arduous task. I despise having my focus torn away from the creative process to do updates, let alone the learning of a new system. But so be it. In the coming days I'll be digging into Luna and Logic for various projects and simply just to get out of the Avid Pro Tools ecosystem. I don't think a company could be run in a worse manner if someone tried but Avid has succeeded here. Their leadership is utter trash. We pay out the nose for bug fixes and minimal updates. Word has it if you pull apart the code for Pro Tools it really isn't all that different than what we have been using since the switch to 6. 5 to 6 was a big modernization of the program. It was exciting. Since 6 fell in our laps it's been par for the course year in and year out. We complain about Avid all the time and still hand over our money because we want to continue working. The time has probably come to speak with our wallets and not give them any more of our cash. Avid needs to bring something good to the table with good-faith guarantees about FAIR pricing or suffer the wrath of consumer cancellation. At the end of the day they should just sell to someone that is interested in making Pro Tools a strong brand again. Avid can rot.

So i think the most important thing is to use what works best for you and your work flow. I been using fl studio doing full music production and vocals all on one session and it only cost me $300 with life time upgrades so work smarter.

If I was stuck on an island and can only keep one DAW. I will keep Logic. Logic does everything well. But Cubase is rock solid and so is Studio One. The sad part of Avid is they use to be the leader of the pack without a doubt. I remember learning Avid and Protools back in 1998 and thinking how innovative these tools are. However these days are gone.

None of these problems with Reaper.

Everything you said was spot on.

Nuendo's got some ATMOS and 5.1 DOLBY surround mixing and post-production features that are the main thing differentiating it from Cubase. There are users who need Nuendo, but it sounds like you could have easily used either Cubase or Nuendo. I'm a happy Cubase 12 Pro user.

for 6 timer siden I sold my PT rig back in 2008/9. My last PT was ver 9xx. Not because of the program it self. I love it, and would not mind going back. But I dont want to deal with their business model, and shitty support. I saw the writing on the wall long time before I desided to quit pt. Soo . I really dont think I will be going back anytime soon. I've been on Studio One since 2012. And Nuendo since 2008. I stil use pt in the studios that use this platform.

spot on!

My problem is I am neck deep in the platform with an HD native card, 3 192 blue boxes for my recording and mixing of my drum tracks that has been rock solid for years and years. The good news is I quit upgrading a while back and just sitting on a mac with High sierra and my old PT perpetual HD license. At some point getting a mac with High sierra that is compatible will become a problem and at that point I guess I will fire sale my rig and go with something else like you did. Just not quite there yet.

I love Ableton Live. And alot of people are beginning to use it. One time fee....

Thanks so much for this. I have earned my living in Pro Tools for 20 years. Music is only a portion of what I do. My bread and butter has primarily been SFX production for games and post. I agree that if music is one’s primary focus then other DAWs offer way better features and pricing. However I work with picture and I have yet to use any other app that works with picture as efficiently and effectively as Pro Tools. I own Logic, Harrison MixBus, Reaper plus a few others (I use Reason as it was first intended as a synth and sampler app. The DAW capabilities are like a toy to me- but I digress) and started working digitally in Cubase back in VST 3.5 and used Logic when it was still eMagic on PC. I have a “perpetual” Ultimate license and begrudgingly pay the annual $399 “support” ransom as a cost of doing business and to stay current. I built my first PT rig from cheap to me HD cards and 2nd hand IO. At that time I purchased Pro Tools 7 for $200. I could call Digi on the phone for whatever extremely rare necessity when putting that first system together. When v8 was released I happily paid $250 for that upgrade. Since removing the hardware dependency things have gotten terribly out of hand. But the the thing is I work so much faster in PT that learning another DAW for games and post is time prohibitive. $399 is a fraction of what I can earn in a year and Avid are aware of this and count on it. I did let my plan lapse when reinstatements were readily available and let it go for longer than the cost of yearly support until the balance was in my favor so of course they removed reinstatements. Avid have no care for how they treat their user base. If all I did was make music I would have no issue changing course to prove a point but I have a mortgage and expenses to pay. Again Avid know this but do not care. I feel like I am stuck. I am encouraged that someone high up their food chain reached out to you as a result of your critical videos. Perhaps more of us should do the same. If I felt I had any clout in that area I would do the same. It is a great product but Avid treat their users beyond poorly. Thanks for posting. Please keep it up!

Good for you man. Tell them to shove their subscription model.

Love Love Love 👉REAPER 👈

I use multiple DAWs, no question, but I just saw Hans Zimmer using Cubase in a Bond 007 Music Doco on Netflix! So, there you go ...

Having used both PT and MC back in the day, I saw the writing on the wall when they hired a venture capital CEO, Louis Hernandez, to run the company. I thought they were grooming the company for sale. But they definitely weren't keeping up with other vendors. I do like Studio One and use it as my backup to Logic. Mad respect for Steinberg and MOTU, which my film composer friends swear by. Because I use both audio and video, I find Logic/Final Cut rock solid. And the price, community, Mac integration make it a no brainer for me. For compatibility I still keep an old copy of PT/MC running on an old Mac in the corner. That's basically how I feel about Avid. An old company in the corner...

I think it was totally planned: people already upset about pricing and subscription (before renaming and price increase), then they do the massive price increase to insane amounts, people really lose it, then they come back down after a couple months at insane pricing, now most people are like 'yes we won, they heard us!!!' all the while NOW happy paying the previously high price that they complained about 🙄

i agree !

They have to be competitive or they’ll die. I own almost all the major DAWS and I can tell you all of them will work depending on what you click with.

Studio One Is The Way 2 Go i was With Pro Tools since Pro Tools 5 its insane to keep paying for Something paid to own

Left protools long ago as my main daw. Still use it occasionally for jobs that require arriving with a PT session. I also used studio one for a few years until the upgrade path for basic features got too expensive. Still didnt have surround support on studio one last time I checked. It just isnt quite there for professional use cases. Especially for film or tv work. Ive settled on reaper. I know people get tired of reaper fans, but it really is the most flexible daw. I haven’t come across anything it cant do yet. The look of it doesnt bother me, but the skin is entirely customizable. I can always put whatever console emulation plugin I want to make it do “analog summing”. Just like luna.

Wise words @BarryJohns. Avid are not a stable company; I'm amazed they're still in business. How can you trust them with a reliable, stable pricing structure, upgrades, releases or support when it all changes so often? I don't have a dog in this fight, because I never felt that Pro Tools was better or worth the investment, as opposed to Steinberg, despite being constantly told I've got to get it because it's "industry standard". It's really great that it doesn't feel like you're screeching at me through the screen, like a lot of your past stuff. I gave up watching you because I couldn't stand the screechy and shouty vibe although I like your channel and what you have to say. It's very hard to watch this video though, because the camera keeps going in and out of focus.

I'm currently Avid Pro Tools Studio active users. upgraded from 12.5 perpetual license. Pro Tools pricing is crazy. If they stop selling reinstatement plans, I will switch to another DAW. I won't upgrade my pro tools for at 6/7 years.

After using Pro Tools for about 9 years I recently switched to Cubase and am loving how much smoother it is, so much more included with the DAW in terms of features and plugins, commitment to improvement and a way more reasonable pricing structure. Loved my time with Pro Tools, but can't justify the cost or subscription model, slow compatibility and updates. So glad I jumped ship!

I’m never going back to AVID Pro Tools!!! Explanation: I’ve lost confidence and don’t want to wake up to a higher price or subscription model change forcefully and even more lost access to my DAW on the middle of a session, there’s more but that’s enough!

Thank you, Barry - and for Avid, it is certainly just about money, as they want to copy Adobe but will never succeed in while their products are certainly not market leaders anymore.

PT is still the best game in town for a pro studio… I came up on cubase sx-10..5 and I’ve made records on logic but PT with HDX is rock solid with a ton of out board and summing mixers 96ch I/O Dante and digilink.

currently i run my last circle on pro tools. ive already paid so i can use it until ma 2023. but 2 months ago i changed to reaper (after 13 years of pt) bye bye

With what you've owned, you should be on the extremely valued customer list. The fact that they don't listen to even you speaks volumes. Ha, I threw an external drive joke in there;).

Enjoy your videos, Barry. Thanks! In fact, your series on outboard gear sparked my interest and led me to get myself a Warm Audio WA-2A and enjoying it very much. It does something nice that my plug-ins can't quite duplicate. Ahh, but to the subject at hand. I've been a longtime Digital Performer user. Don't know if you ever tried it, but there is a demo and even though it doesn't get a lot of buzz, it's a very good DAW and is very similar in many ways to Pro Tools. Speaking of which, I bought a perpetual license for PT Studio back in October of 2021 "second hand" from a guy who was given a copy as a gift. It was legit and it's all registered to me now. I got it "just in case" I ever needed to transfer projects, etc. Figured it would be nice to have on hand. I just renewed the perpetual license last month... never thinking they would not have an Apple Silicon native version out yet! Crazy. I have heard it IS in beta though. I own Cubase, Pro Tools, Logic and Digital Performer. DP is still my favorite. I was going to make Pro Tools sort of my 2nd in line backup DAW, but not so sure now. Avid really needs to get off the subscription kick, or at least make it affordable. They have a long history, going back to Digidesign days, of crippling their software so they could charge a premium for features that pretty much came standard in other DAWs. They're going to have to re-evaluate their business model before they become the MySpace of DAWs. :)

You are a pro. Thank you for your assessment

Awful management of the company turned AVID into AVOID.

Left PT completely when Ableton introduced its comp feature. The editing in PT is good, but not worth the headache.

The new mbox studio is dope af. The Bluetooth in. And Bluetooth out is incredible. Way way way overdue in audio interfaces. Curios if I can pair more than 1 AirPods to the output Bluetooth. That be really sick. Prob use it in logic though lol. Might sake the Apollo for the mbox studio I’m just a hobby studio guy these days It offers a lot I don’t own UA plugins so I’m not that tied down to a Apollo. What’s your thoughts Barry ? Granted UA Apollo vs mbox studio converters r prob not on same level all though avid says there the carbon pre amps idk. You think Bluetooth in and out will come to other interfaces also ?

Honestly the value for ProTools Ultimate is not there. You cannot depend on any updates, bug fixes, or even the movement to the M1. Avid knows the move to the M1 system will put the final dagger into their DSP cards so they are slow-crawling it. IMO ProTools Ultimate should be the same price as their annual plan used to be...$399.00 per year. At that price you can at least keep it in your arsenal for when clients demand it. Anything more expensive and you are just letting Avid play with your money for nothing in return.

Just purchase as many perpetual reinstatement licenses you can afford and best solution to Avids shenanigans

One word... Audacity.

Been using PT since v.6. I’m migrating to Ableton or Studio One this spring. I’m fed up w PT and their utter lack of concern for their loyal base. Going to be very difficult for me to switch hundreds of sessions but I plan to get a new computer with a new DAW. Will keep my PT12 perpetual on my old Mac just in case. Thanks for the wild ride, PT. Psgfy

Sad but true

Studio One!

Love protools editing but do not like Avid business practices. I am in a situation where I need more IO. Just a few extra preamps to track bigger drum kits. If i lightpipe into a 16x16 i lose channels. So i am stuck buying another interface and more preamps instead of just getting something I can adat in. Much higher cost. Thinking about ditching all of it and switching.

I stopped using Pro Tools when I realized that I have 4 USB audio interfaces from Avid that they no longer support. I also have audio interfaces from RME and Presonus that are still supported even though they are same aged as the unsuported Avid interfaces. Makes no sense to pay premium price for audio interfaces that will be discontinued after just a few years. Looking back now that they forced subscription model, I made the right choice moving over to Studio One and Reaper.

Funny how no one talks about motu DP which is the grandaddy of daws. Rock solid and easy to use and motu has always had good free support out of Boston. Been using performer since 1886. 🤗🤗

Well, these days you have to be a masochist to stay with Pro-Tools, I never fall in Avid money sucking business, I stay with Studio One Pro and Reaper, sane with Apple computers, closed system, can't upgrade no more and very expensive on top of that but hey, one is the industry standard and the other a fashion statement.

I was forced to upgrade to the subscription version of PT last month because, like a dummy, I upgraded my OS on my Mac in the middle of an album (don't recommend that) and I just missed a week of recording because the subscription is showing up as expired, even though I have plenty of money in the bank to process a $9.99 monthly charge. Sweetwater is trying to help, but it's a Holiday and that time is lost. All this to say, I'm not seriously looking at moving to LUNA. All my friends recommend Logic and Ableton and I know they're great, but I loathe the way they look and I can't get over it. I need the aesthetics that UA is bringing to the table with LUNA, and as a 15+ year PT user, LUNA is very easy to understand. I'd love to hear any feedback anyone has about LUNA if they'd like to share.

The annual fee for perpetual license holder is just sooo stupid. I LOVE ProTools, been using it for almost 15 years, but HATE Avid.

Please do an interview with the CEO!!! 😂