Pro Tools 9

We said it was coming, and here it is!....

It's got everything we hoped for:

• Use any Core Audio or ASIO interface
• Up to 96 or 192 simultaneous tracks
• Up to 128 instrument tracks
• Up to 512 MIDI tracks
• 256 internal busses
• Up to 160 Aux tracks
• Automatic Delay Compensation
• Multitrack Beat Detective
• Digibase Pro
• Built-in OMF/AAF/MXF file interchange support
• The new Complete Production Toolkit gives you the rest of the previously HD only features, including 7.1 surround mixing, and VCA faders

OK, the downside is:

• You need an iLok (fair enough, as you no longer need AVID hardware)
• It's expensive (£505 from new, £210 for upgrade, and it's a staggering £1679.95 for the Complete Production Toolkit)
• That's it

As LSS is a Pro Tools Sponsored Training Centre, we'll be trying this out asap, so I'll be back with a review pretty soon (it ships on November the 19th).

In the mean time, head to AVID for more details.

"Pro Tools 9" > read the full post

New MBox range officially announced

As we predicted, the new range of MBoxes are out, with a few interesting features....

The MBox Mini doesn't seem like any huge leap,

but the MBox is now offering 96kHz sampling rates, the same soft-clip limiter found in the HD interfaces, a built in guitar tuner, and a "multi' button (we were wondering what that was going to be with the earlier leaked screen shots, but it can be assigned to any Pro Tools control (e.g. tap tempo, play/start etc.) ).

A built-in reverb will make input monitoring easier too.

The MBox Pro supports up to 192kHz sampling rates (though Pro Tools LE only goes up to 96kHz - a sign of things to come? Rumours have already started of more Pro Tools announcements coming in November, and a 004 in January).

Head to Avid's site for a few more details, but to be honest, there's not much more there yet.

"New MBox range officially announced" > read the full post

MBox 3 is on the way!

We'd seen the signs that this was coming, but with a little bit of sleuthing, I've found it!

Read on for pictures....

Very sleek and black, so it'll match the new line of HD systems we saw recently, with instrument inputs on the front, and a huge volume pot.

What's quite interesting is what looks like soft limiting on the inputs.

Price is looking to be around $550, but we'll know more after the release date.

"MBox 3 is on the way!" > read the full post

Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx - now official!

Good news everybody!

AVID (owners of Digidesign, who make Pro Tools) have come to an agreement with LOUD (parent company of Mackie) about running Pro Tools on Mackie hardware.

This means you can now run Pro Tools LE on the Onyx 820i, 1220i, 1620i and 1640i mixers - with official support.

We'd looked at this ages ago, but this was before the official licensing agreement.

Check out the Mackie news site to read the announcement

"Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx - now official!" > read the full post

Eleven Rack is here

And, as we suspected, it's a bit pricier than first rumored......

At £787, it's still pretty cool for an audio interface + amp emulator + pro tools though. Check out vids of it in action here, or head straight to Digital Village for UK prices and specs

"Eleven Rack is here" > read the full post

Pro Tools on Snow Leopard

In what must be the fastest ever turnaround from Digidesign (10.5 support took ages - Leopard was released in October 2007, and compatibility with Pro Tools arrived in June 2008), there's a pre-release of 10.0.3 now out......

The bad news is, they're dropped support for Power PC Macs and the original MBox, as well as a few other bits and pieces. (Whether our old MBox will be usable with the update remains to be seen - unsupported doesn't always seem to mean doesn't work in Digidesign land)

For the adventurous amongst you (and those who've just bought a new Mac so don't have 10.5), head here to check it out.

Go on, you first..... let me know how it turns out....

"Pro Tools on Snow Leopard" > read the full post

Digidesign Eleven Rack - Only $165!

After Digidesign's Change Your Game teaser announcement, one of the more inquisitive Gearslutz forum members did a little googling, and found this rather (and amazingly priced) promising listing....

Schilke Eleven Rack Guitar Multi Effects Processor.

To quote:

Digidesign Eleven Rack Guitar Multi Effects Processor

Digidesign's Eleven Rack is a revolutionary guitar recording system designed to solve the challenges guitarists face in the studio. Eleven Rack uses a unique tone cloning design and one-of-a-kind, custom-designed True-Z input to re-create the experience of playing through a mic'd amp. By combining studio-standard Pro Tools software with a DSP-accelerated high-resolution interface, Eleven Rack puts professional recording into the hands of every guitar player. Whether you're tracking in the studio or playing on stage, this rackmountable multi-effects processor delivers fresh, mind-blowing, hyper-realistic guitar amp and effects tones that will inspire your best performances.



Digidesign Eleven Rack in the Studio



Eleven Rack combines studio-standard Pro Tools software with a high-resolution, dual DSP-powered audio interface, so you'll never have to worry about latency when recording, thanks to its built-in amp/effects tones, nor will your computer have to carry the processing burden. Additionally, Eleven Rack takes re-amping to the next level by recording both dry and processed guitar signals simultaneously, allowing you to re-amplify later without patching a single cable. Digidesign even found a way to embed the Eleven Rack amp and effects settings into the audio tracks you record, enabling you to automatically recall those settings from your audio files on any Pro Tools system with the Eleven Rack.


Obviously no pics yet, but check out the full specs here,

"Digidesign Eleven Rack - Only $165!" > read the full post

Pro Tools Vocal Studio, Recording Studio and Key Studio

No sign of this on the Digidesign or Avid website yet, but word is that a new, cut down version of Pro Tools is on its way, at a very reasonable $99 (converts £60, but probably around £100 by the time it gets here)...

It's coming in three varieties: Vocal Studio (with USB condenser mic) for $99, Recording Studio (with Fast track audio interface) for $129, and Key Studio (with 49 key MIDI controller/interface) for $99.

It won't be fully featured (limited to 16 tracks for a start), but at that price, definitely worth a closer look once it hit the shops in mid September

"Pro Tools Vocal Studio, Recording Studio and Key Studio" > read the full post

Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx

So, the unimaginable has happened. You can now use a non-Digidesign or M-Audio interface with Pro Tools (M-Powered).

Rumors have been floating around about this for a little while now, but the official announcement has now arrived from Mackie - their new Onyx desks work with Logic, SONAR, Cubase, Ableton Live, and last of all, Pro Tools.

This is not just HUI control, or ADAT connection to an existing interface. So, what's the downside?

Well, it won't work yet - the small print says that the driver will be released with details how to use it with Pro Tools M-Powered 8 in the coming weeks. (So it might not be that straightforward to set up?). Also, if you read carefully, it says it is qualified by Mackie to use with Pro Tools M-Powered 8. So Digidesign have not agreed to this. What's to stop the next update crippling the Onyx?

On the bright side, it looks like a pretty nice piece of equipment (though I've not forgiven Mackie for the atrocity that was the dXb), and if it does work as advertised, it's pretty tempting. My advice? Hold off for now, see what Digidesign do first.

"Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx" > read the full post

Pro Tools Massive Pack 8 released

Digidesign have released their new Massive Pack 8 (£780) and Massive Pack Pro 8 (£2115) plug-in bundles for Pro Tools HD....

Each comes with a set of 11 plug-ins:

• Abbey Road/Chandler Limited TG Mastering Pack — Emulates EMI TG12410 console EQ and filter

• Brainworx bx_boom! — Enhances kick drum sounds through attenuation and boost

• Brainworx bx_control — Offers quality listening controls, with M/S matrix and stereo width control

• Brainworx bx_hybrid — Provides world-class mixing and mastering EQ

• McDSP FutzBox — Offers a collection of creative EQ, distortion, and filter effects

• Softube FET Compressor — Emulates the most famous solid-state compressor

• Sonnox Inflator — Produces louder mixes with warmth and character

• SPL EQ Rangers Vol. 1 — Provides three distinct EQ plug-ins for complete sonic control

• SPL Transient Designer — Versatile mixing tool shapes dynamic response

• TC Electronic VSS3 Stereo Source Reverb — Ported from the legendary System 6000

• URS N4 Series — 6-band parametric EQ re-creates that vintage British sound

and you choose 12 more from the following:

• Classic Compressors Bundle — Offers emulations of five renown compressors/limiters

• Cosmonaut Voice™ — Unique vocal processor creates special effects

• DINR™ — Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction helps silence noise

• Eleven™ — Produces hyper-realistic tones of the world’s most coveted vintage guitar amps

• Impact® — Provides console-style mix bus compression

• JOEMEEK Bundle — Includes emulations of the VC5 Meequalizer and SC2 Compressor

• Moogerfooger® Bundle — Four audio effects and vintage synths re-create the Moog sound

• Pultec Bundle — Includes emulations of three Pultec analog EQs

• Reel Tape™ Suite — Offers a set of three analog tape emulation and effects plug-ins

• Slightly Rude Compressor™ — Custom compressor helps un-digitize sounds

• TL Drum Rehab™ — Drum sound replacement and enhancement tool optimizes drum tracks

• TL EveryPhase™ — Produces classic analog phaser sounds and effects

• TL Space™ TDM — Delivers the ultimate convolution reverb for music and post

• Tel-Ray® Variable Delay — Provides unique, space-age echo and delay effects

• Voce® Bundle — Includes effects emulations of the rotating speaker and B-3 organ vibrato

• X-Form® — Natural-sounding time- and pitch-stretching tool

The only difference between the two, is that the Pro version comes with an HD/Accel card.

"Pro Tools Massive Pack 8 released" > read the full post

Plug-in Delay Compensation in Pro Tools LE

One of the advantages of a Pro Tools HD system, is the ability to turn on plugin delay compensation. With LE, you have to do everything manually: Command-click on the Audio Volume Indicator, and use a Time Adjuster insert.....

The Mellowmuse Auto Time Adjuster measures latency by performing a "ping" - (a short pulse) on all paths with the plugin inserted, and automatically adds the appropriate delay.

An advantage this has even over an HD system, is that the ATA works on hardware inserts too. At $49, it won't break the bank either. Check out their website for video of the ATA in action.

"Plug-in Delay Compensation in Pro Tools LE" > read the full post

Pimp Your Digi002 / Digi003

There are these guys in Chicago that apparently can open your Digidesign interface, change a few bits, tweak a few others, and make it sound better than a 192 I/O converter (which by the way costs about ten times more than a digi003).
It sounds hard to believe but if you check this website, well, apparently there is a lot of good people with good ears supporting them.
So I must admit we're thinking about it, with our Digi 003. The only problem is shipping it there.

"Pimp Your Digi002 / Digi003" > read the full post