You would think that Avid have put a gun to buyer's heads and told them that they must buy Pro Tools 9 or they get it! I have checked, not with official Avid sources to be fair, but from what I can tell Avid are not forcing anyone to buy anything and are not using threats of violence.

I wrote recently that a new trend has developed which seemed to be confined to Apple product releases, but now it has extended into a more general habit. If you think it's cool to be the negative person when a new product is released, it isn't, it's fast becoming a cliche.

It was bound to happen, Avid release Pro Tools 9 and before the ink can dry on the press release there are Twitter feeds with lines like; 

• 'rubbish, what a rip-off'
• 'Pro Tools 9.0 gives me nothing new'
• 'It doesn't work with my Commodore 64 - what the f*ck Avid, what about me?'
• 'Why are you not supporting Windows 95?'

And the stream continues... the trouble with Twitter is anyone, however sane, interesting, or drunk can send their latest missive out into the wide world.

The general concerns from the Pro Tools community were;

• No ADC in LE - Fixed
• Avid hardware is needed to run Pro Tools - Fixed
• I want to use the hardware I choose LE or HD - Fixed
• MP3 should be free - Fixed
• Track expansion should be free - Fixed
• OMF should be free - Fixed

So I don't think anyone can accuse Avid of not listening. They may not have listened to your individual concerns, but that's not the same thing and an entirely unrealistic expectation. I'd like my MacBook Pro to be gold and for the screen to be square, but it ain't likely to happen in my lifetime.

I think some people are confused; if you want Avid to write software just for you, then you need to buy the company not just the software.

If you think I'm some kind of Avid fan-boy, then I suggest you read this blog in some detail, we've perhaps been the largest public critic of some of Avid's decisions, but credit where credit is due.

If you think I'm an LE user and don't understand the plight of HD owners who invested in HD, then wrong again - in March this year I invested £15,000 (about $24,000) in brand new HD3 systems.

Do I think Avid or Pro Tools are perfect? Of course not. Do I think there are some questions to be answered about Pro Tools 9? Yes and we are asking them. Do I think that users should be free to express genuine concerns? Yes again, the blog has done a lot to make sure that genuine user concerns are addressed - for example with the Structure bug fix issue.

So contrary to the rumours, if you don't buy Pro Tools 9 no one is going to kill you.

If you don't like it or need it then don't buy it!

We've been getting questions in from those wanting to move to Pro Tools 9, but who are confused about some of the aspects such as the $99 amnesty deal and the MPTK rumour.

We thought we would collate them all, send them over to Avid and then post all the answers in one place. If you have a question that you can't find the answer to either here, at Avid.com or on the DUC AFTER YOU HAVE CHECKED - then post them here and we will get them answered.

Thanks.

We've created a new Pro Tools 9 desktop wallpaper in 3 different sizes, 1920x1080, 1280x720 and 1024x768.

They are FREE so click here to get your Pro Tools 9 desktop wallpaper.

Focusrite are one of the first to explicitly throw their hat into the new Pro Tools 9 world, with RTAS MixControl.

In their own word; 'In 2000, Digidesign chose Focusrite as their hardware partner to deliver what was to become the most successful Pro Tools interface ever - the original Mbox.

Now, with the introduction of Pro Tools 9, Focusrite interfaces are once again the best choice for Pro Tools users.

Our unique RTAS MixControl plug-in will bring the flexible monitoring of Saffire MixControl, right inside the Pro Tools 9 environment.

At Focusrite, we believe that sound quality is everything. That's why every interface we make combines our award- winning mic pres with best-in-class digital conversion and clocking to ensure you capture your sound - entirely.

Combining an uncompromised sound philosophy with our unique Pro Tools integration, Focusrite's Saffire Range is the best choice of interface for Pro Tools 9.

A full list of approved Focusrite devices are here

Russ shows how workflows can be speeded up using the new track creation feature on Pro Tools 9.

• Watch it here

If you are using Liquid Mix on a Mac with Pro Tools 9 and are having crashes on load then you need to update your Liquid Mix software to Liquid Mix 2.3.16 this will solve the problem.

It is now a sheer joy to use Liquid Mix with Pro Tools with ADC, no more messing around with figuring out the delay compensation.

Liquid Mix downloads are here

Not quite, but I think we can all agree that if the CEO of Avid, Gary Greenfield walked on water this AES, it would be in keeping with other recent Avid related announcements.

First the launch of Pro Tools 9.0 answering the prayers of every aspiring native DAW owner on Thursday. Then today the news from Universal HQ, that UAD and Avid are to work together on future RTAS development, ticking the professional studio users box. Avid are well and truly on a roll.

Of course there will be the doubting Thomas' out there wanting to poke their fingers into the proverbial wound of Avid's past failures, and their current product deficiencies. Add to this that Avid still have some financial magic to perform, it takes more than a couple of strategic announcements to raise someone from the dead. However, what it does show is that those who said that Avid was a goner in the audio world, may well have to find another body to circle over.

Yes there are still some shortcomings in product, for example Avid's insistence to hold on to RTAS (and the UAD announcement tells us that) and not open up Pro Tools to AU and VST is one such thing. However this week we have seen some landmark changes for Avid, most of all in their own business model. What a lot of the doubters fail to appreciate about Avid making Pro Tools stand-alone, is for Avid, as big as Apple announcing that you can run any OS you like on a Mac and Apple just selling you the computer. 

They say that a week in politics is a long time, but in a matter of days (almost hours) Avid have shown how much can happen to take them from an almost dead stop in the audio cool stakes, to having some series momentum. I doubt they are having the same problem selling 9.0 as they have had selling 8.0.

All I can say is watch this space. I doubt that Avid will announce an end to war, famine and poverty at AES 2010, my guess is that they will save that until next year!

Remember this cryptic post on the blog a few weeks ago? Well today Universal Audio becomes RTAS Plug-In developer for Avid Pro Tools, it has been announced today. Which should now help Pro Tools users make sense of the HD Native platform.

In a move designed to expand the power and flexibility of its popular UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform, Universal Audio (UA) today announced that it is an Avid® RTAS® developer, and that the UAD-2 platform is now compatible with Avid’s family of Pro Tools® music creation and audio production solutions.

"Pro Tools has been the hands-down industry leader in audio production for more than a decade," commented Universal Audio Inc founder and Chairman Bill Putnam Jr. "We’re extremely pleased to have reached an agreement in which UAD plug-ins will integrate with a full range of Pro Tools software and hardware systems, including the newly announced version of Pro Tools, as well as Pro Tools|HD Native."

Click to read more ...

If your not quite sure what differences there are between Pro Tools 8 and 9 at the basic level then use this handy comparison chart to give you at a glance features.

Feature	Pro Tools LE 8	Pro Tools 9
Supported Tracks
Voices (simultaneous audio playback)	48 (mono or stereo)	96 (mono or stereo)
Audio record (simultaneous)	18	32
Instrument	32	64
MIDI	256	512
Aux tracks	128	160
Busses	32	256
Video	1	1
Audio Production
Automatic Delay Compensation (ADC)
Beat Detective (multitrack)	Single track only
AAF/OMF/MXF file interchange	Paid option
Core Audio/ASIO support (up to 32 channels)
MP3 export	Paid option
Plug-in support	RTAS/AudioSuite	RTAS/AudioSuite
Destructive Record
QuickPunch
Audio Post
Time Code Ruler	Paid option
Variable stereo pan depths

* Complete Production Toolkit 2 is a purchasable option for Pro Tools 9 software.

 ** Pro Tools HD 9 software is available only as an upgrade or as part of a new Pro Tools|HD or Pro Tools|HD Native core system purchase, but can also be used as standalone software.

A more comprehensive version of this can be found here

The first issue on Mac which is being reported by several users is Pro Tools 9.0 Mac not starting up and reporting this error just before completing the start up process;

'could not initialize current playback device'

The current fix is to trash;

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.audio.AggregateDevices.plist

This should then allow you to run Pro Tools. More to follow as soon as we have news.

Russ gets his hands on Avid Pro Tools 9 and gives his review of the new key features and his impressions.

Check out the reference guide in PDF format here and see all the new feature, improvements and settings in Pro Tools 9.

You can read it on site or click to download it in PDF format.

Last night Avid announced Pro Tools 9 at an AES press launch. The would-be Keynote was not quite Steve Jobs or Apple for presentation, but what it lacked in Apple flair and slickness it certainly made up for in content (note to Avid - have your presenters watch some Apple keynotes). Special mention goes to the Avid PR team who were on fire, I had my briefing documents at 4:00pm PST on the dot as promised. They had also been in email contact with me for most of that day, making sure we had what we needed for the live debate.

We hosted a live event on the blog where hundreds of Pro Tools fans eagerly waited for the news and then debated. It was like watching children at Christmas waiting for Santa. Did he arrive? He certainly did! There was an almost childlike joy as the words were said 'no more hardware', 'ADC' and 'more tracks' and became the audio equivalent of 'Playstation 3' and 'iPod'.

Click to read more ...

If you missed the live event you can watch it here

Is here

Click to read more ...

AVID) today announced Pro Tools® version 9—a groundbreaking evolution of the industry’s most popular music creation and audio production solution. Leveraging a next-generation architecture, version 9 of Pro Tools offers customers the unprecedented choice to work with Avid audio interfaces, third-party audio interfaces, or no hardware at all when using the built-in audio capabilities of a Mac or PC. This first-ever software-only option for Pro Tools delivers customers the most open, flexible and feature rich version in history, while also providing top professional features customers have requested. Also, new support for the Avid EUCON™ open Ethernet protocol now enables customers to expand control surface options to include Avid’s Artist Series and Pro Series audio consoles and controllers (formerly known as Euphonix® consoles and controllers).

Pro Tools customers—from the aspiring enthusiast to the professional—can now create sophisticated, great sounding mixes, whether they’re at home, on the road, or working in a large facility using an open, flexible workflow for enhanced collaboration and creativity.

Click to read more ...

At 4:00pm PST Avid will be hosting a special AES Press Event. The blog will be there and will be giving you the news as a live feed as it happens. Get instant news and the chance to comment as it happens. Sign up to the reminder and be part of this event.

NOW ENDED

We got a hands on a copy of the new Native Instruments The Mouth.

Find out what we think.

More info here

TC Electronics have today announced further discounts on both Powercore and TDM plug-ins, fuelling further speculation about an imminent Pro Tools 9 announcement.

In the words of TC Electronics;

Click to read more ...