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Pro Tools 10 with Complete Toolkit 2

Pro Tools 9.0.3 to Pro Tools 10, MacPro 2.8 GHz Quad-Core with 10GB RAM
Sure I was upset at the announcement of Pro Tools 10. It hadn’t even been a year since the release of PT9. I bit the bullet and upgraded anyway. I can understand some concerns such as compatibility and the nuances that come with a studio’s DAW and workflow until recently were mostly negative. I fearlessly, without backing up, upgraded. To my surprise the upgrade was painless. It was easy like a CS update. All my 3rd party plug-ins had no issues(Waves, Serato, Sony Oxford, Slate Digital VCC, Trigger, Tonelux). All my settings from PT9 were intact.
My previous sessions opened correctly and sounded good. I was pleased to find the Input Monitor button made available. That was only on HD systems before. Latency has been vastly improved. I was using 256 samples H/W Buffer and could not hear any. Once I tracked, I began to edit. I felt right at home with the gain adjustment from the “clip”(previously “region”). Being able to set”handles” for AudioSuite processing is also a time saver. You can now process and crossfade with out having to see that annoying warning, buh-bye. I used to process more area than I needed. Then I would Trim the region/clip back to the intended section and cross fade. Every second counts.

System 5 EQ is a great channel strip. I’ll usually boost a shelf gradually from 4k up to see how the highs do. The sound was transparent and smooth. Dynamics section is usable but not what I would call “vibey”. The gate gives Metric Halo’s Channel Strip a run for it’s money.

Behind the scenes Pro Tools just feels faster and leaner. Delay Compensation has been extended by 4X(16,383 samples@ 48k), making CPU intensive plug-ins like de-noising, easier to set up and not worry about hand aligning regions, oops, I mean clips.

Most non- Pro Tool users can probably say,”oh, my DAW has had that for awhile now.” like the Channel Strip and the Clip gain feature. That’s ok. I’ve been using Pro Tools for a long time and as a professional still see it as one of the most reliable platforms for digital recording. But by all means, don’t let me stop you. We will use the best equipment we have at hand at the time.

Avid just brought PT9 users closer to HD.

Highlights:

Possible Audio Tracks(48k)- 768

Possible Aux Inputs- 512

In-application web browsers for AVID account, support et al.

New import and export features

New Control surface/worksurface features

Storage and dick performance enhanced

Avid Interoperability- AAF, OMF

Change session settings in the Session Set Up window

Want More Specs

Pro Tools 10

Avid’s Pro Tools 9

1 Reply

So, 7 weeks into Pro Tools 9 with the Complete Production Tool Kit 2 and I’m loving it. I was using PT8 LE with the DV Toolkit 2 my workflow was as streamlined as I could get it, but ADC(automatic delay compensation) was always the biggest issue. I’m using the DIGI 002R with the Black Lion Audio Signature Mod. So really, the limits were in the software.

In brief, Pro Tools LE seemed always restrained to maintain a distinct separation from ProTools HD. Pro Tools HD’s power came from their dedicated DSP processing cards. Now that computers have achieved higher processing power, users have more options. There are plugins that only work on HD and as great as they might be, this upgrade is totally worth it. LE ceases to exist and non-HD users can achieve a better product. You can check out AVID for more details.

ADC is now available in PT9. As soon as I opened an existing session, I heard a difference. I work on both HD and LE systems and had found that although achievable, it always took a little longer in LE to get the sound just right. PT9 now has the space and clarity that helps make better decisions in the mix; inevitably increasing workflow. I then took a session(24bit/48k) with 24 tracks and copied in triplicate to make 72 tracks. All the tracks had at least 3 plugins and there were 3 (DSP hog) Mach Five Plugins. The session ran smooth as CPU usage read 32%.

I never really ran out of tracks in my previous system. Now I don’t even have to worry. Their audio record(simultaneous) track input count has jumped from 18 to 32. You can connect a third party Firewire interface to your computer and add more inputs. The playback track count has also increased to 192 from 64. That’s really nice!

These 2 upgrades alone have made PT9 and option for studios reluctant to go to Pro Tools because of limitations that are not an issue in other DAW(Digital Audio Workstation) like Cubase, Reaper, Logic, Digital Performer, et al. The ability to use a third party interface or none at all has re-invigorated this old Pro Tools fan. It might not be HD but I run mine like it is.

Thanks for listening!