It looks very interesting but I use both Sonar 8.5 and Pro Tools 8. My point here is the upgrade to me is rather high priced so for the moment I will do the upgrade in Sonar only $99.00. I'm glad they have uncoupled the hardware and I will continue using my M-Audio 1914 and 410. I would be willing to to $249.00 USD but no higher. I think they have kicked current users in the teeth. Current users have already had to spend to by the hardware and should be given a break considering what all the other DAW's already include. That;s my opinion and I.m sticking to it.
Wayne.

Thanks Russ. Very helpful indeed. Do you know whether PT 9 is 64 bit ? Can't find a reference to this yet in the Avid material. Working often with samples as I do, it is more than helpful to access max Ram on my Mac - and not be limited to 4Gb Ram as I understand 32 bit DAWs must be.

Best wishes

Tony

Thanks, Russ. I haven't had a chance to install yet. My brain is fried. Thanks for the review!

Thanks Russ,

Very exciting news all.
You sound a bit tired.

Now i wonder how that's possible?

;-)

What about bounce to disk?, is that still real-time? that's one of the major things tat driven me mad about protools, I don't understand why it has to mix down audio like that....great news about it being able to run without hardware purchase, i enjoy protools workflow for editing.

I think that charging Maudio users an extra $100 is a slap in the face . As some one who has used PT MP for 6+ years , bought several upgrades , 2 M audio interfaces , many RTAS only plugins and VI's, it doesn't sit well with me . As a consumer speaking for other consumers , the money I spent on MAudio hardware and PT software has gone to digidesign and to Avid (since both owned , own Maudio) . Why is it we should pay extra for the privilege to use the same software from the same company . I'm sure you have a convoluted reason Avid .
To me it seems like I was standing in one line at a Starbucks and so and so was standing in a second line . So and so and I both order a coffee (identical) and yet you charge him less . How is so and so's loyalty is any stronger then mine ?

Good for you . You finally released a version of your software that can now provide what every other DAW has provided for quite some time . I waited in your line for these changes while you took me through 3 numerals and several product cycles , never once jumping ship for the other DAW's . Now that I've finally arrived to the front of the line , i'd like to say thanks for over charging me AVID !

Russ, or anyone who knows. Can anyone comment on how this version of Pro Tools interacts with interfaces that have their own DSP mixers with near zero latency monitoring? Can you turn off the input monitoring in this version of Pro Tools and just use your DSP mixer? Also, how low were you able to go with the buffer settings? I won't be able to try until Sunday or Monday.

Spot on Russ, I think this is a great move from Avid, I had to begrudgingly sell my HD system earlier this year, and have managed very well with LE in the meantime, but this upgrade makes me quite pleased I was forced into that decision now !

This is a great deal for someone buying their first system. For the rest of us, is a big FU.

From Pro Tools 7 to 8, there were a number of value added features included, from an improved interface to plug-in instruments. If I recall, that was a $150 upgrade.

Now they want us to pay $250 for features that many of us have already paid for. I spent $300 for the music expansion toolkit so I could increase my track count to 64 tracks, as well as investing in mellowmuse software and the mp3 export option.

Now they're bundling all this as standard and I'm supposed to be thrilled that for an additional $250, I no longer have to use the hardware that they originally restricted me to?

There was no innovation or imagination invested into this "upgrade". They've finally gotten with the times and upgraded features that should have been standardized in PT8.

Since I already have the hardware, there isn't anything I see in PT9 that I can't accomplish running my current setup with PT8 and Reaper. In the meantime, I'll be saving my $$$ to see what Apple is doing with Logic in the near future.

As I use the three Spectrasonics plugins, NI Komplete 7, some East/West modules, and other cpu-intensive plugins, I am rather surprised at the tepid reaction to the absence of 64-bit addressing. I would love to take advantage of all the RAM in my machine to help push these plugins. To me this was huge, and instead of being excited, I am rather disappointed. I know I'm not the only one who uses plugins that tax the computer...

I sure am glad I own a Receptor...

Hey 'Carlton Washington'.....you read my mind man....took the words right out of my mouth!
Mp3 export option should have been standard not an extra.
I too have all the AIR plugins and can't wait to pay for them again!! ( I assume the Expansion pack is included in the update, if not apols.)
I also have Spectrasonics plugins and one blogger ( if I read correctly ) doubted PT9's ability to handle the RAM side of things; that's a BIG concern.
Record in Logic, mix in Protools...where have I heard that before?
Apologies if this post is a bit of a yap-yap session with no real technical substance to it .

I don't mean to be purposefully pedantic, but an iLok dongle is hardware and a requirement to run PT9.