Avid Pro Tools 101 Buying Guide

Pro Tools displaced traditional, tape-based studios within a few years of its release in 1991, becoming the de facto industry-standard music production solution by the turn of the millennium. And it’s no wonder; Pro Tools covers every stage of the creative process from the initial inspiration all the way through the final mix and distribution. Its Sketches feature offers a fast, nonlinear way to work up ideas by using loops, MIDI, and audio while its world-renowned editing and mixing tools deliver the same pro-level results you’ve heard on countless hit songs. Indeed, Pro Tools has been the driving force behind nearly every top music release, movie, and TV show for the past three decades. It’s this ubiquity that makes the Pro Tools session format the music industry’s universal language, certifying compatibility with pro studios all around the world.

Creating music with Pro Tools is incredibly easy and intuitive, owing to its substantial collection of virtual instruments, loops, samples, and MIDI tools. The recording process is just as straightforward, thanks to seamless punching and looping, automated playlist tracking, and more — all captured in crystal-clear 32-bit float/192kHz sound quality. Pro Tools pairs seamlessly with any audio interface, or you can use one of Avid’s rock-solid hardware solutions to achieve near-zero latency and industry-proven performance.

When it comes to editing, Pro Tools is unrivaled, enabling you to shape, repair, chop, cut, or tweak your audio and MIDI in myriad ways. Pro Tools’ Elastic Audio allows you to fix timing, beat-match audio, and correct off-pitch notes with ease, and you get lock-tight ARA 2 integration with Melodyne, iZotope RX, Sound Radix Auto-Align, and Synchro Arts RePitch, Revoice, and VocAlign. Pro Tools also includes a bevy of real-time MIDI properties and MIDI effects plug-ins, plus you can convert audio to MIDI — and vice versa — with a mere drag-and-drop gesture.

There are many reasons why more professionals mix in Pro Tools than in any other DAW. For starters, it comes with a massive cache of outstanding effects plug-ins, which includes spot-on re-creations of legendary analog studio gear, plus you get monthly Sonic Drop content and Inner Circle rewards with additional plug-ins, sounds, and more.

Avid’s audio interfaces leverage premium sound quality, scalable I/O, and state-of-the-art DSP to supply you with near-zero latency, flexible routing, and ultra-precise synchronization for your entire studio — even for large-scale post-production facilities. Furthermore, Avid’s control surfaces provide a hands-on, console-style workflow that seasoned pros will find familiar and newer engineers will find eminently inspiring. Pro Tools Studio and Pro Tools Ultimate flaunt fully integrated Dolby Atmos mixing and rendering while AvidPlay gives you a direct line to Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, TikTok, Amazon Music, and other top streaming services.

Pro Tools Software

Pro Tools software is available in three flavors: Pro Tools Artist, Pro Tools Studio, and Pro Tools Ultimate. Pro Tools Artist gives you everything you need to start making music with Pro Tools. It’s easy to use, and, best of all, the skills you learn by using Pro Tools Artist transfer to every level of Pro Tools software. Pro Tools Studio is a great way for serious artists, producers, and engineers to get their hands on the industry-standard music recording and production software. Pro Tools Studio is a top choice for home studios and professionals alike. Pro Tools Ultimate brings to the table the complete tool set professional studios, mastering houses, and video production suites rely on. Pro Tools Ultimate includes every feature; the only limit is your hardware’s processing capability. Check out our Pro Tools comparison chart as well to see which plan fits your needs!

You can purchase Pro Tools software on a monthly or annual subscription, or you can buy the software outright with a Perpetual License. There is also a range of upgrade paths available. Not sure where you should start? Never fear; Sweetwater’s Pro Tools Upgrade Finder makes it easy to get your hands on the right version for your individual needs.

Pro Tools Upgrade Chart – InSync

Pro Tools Audio Interfaces

While Pro Tools software works seamlessly with third-party audio interfaces, combining it with Avid’s audio interfaces yields a tightly integrated production system with best-in-class audio conversion, ample I/O, built-in DSP acceleration, and effortless scalability. With an Avid interface at the center of your workflow, you’ll benefit from pristine sound with near-zero latency and ultra-flexible routing, enabling you to mix and monitor up to thousands of tracks all while keeping your entire studio in perfect sync.

The smallest of Avid’s offerings is Mbox Studio. This 21-in/22-out desktop audio interface is perfect for home studios, giving you everything you need to handle beats, podcasts, livestreams, and even full bands. It provides enough I/O for your instruments, microphones, and studio gear. You get dedicated Pro Tools controls, Bluetooth connectivity, and best-in-class, low-latency monitoring with built-in effects.

Pro Tools | Carbon leverages Avid’s Hybrid Engine to bring you real-time, hardware-accelerated AAX DSP plug-ins and low-latency performance while also giving you the option to run plug-ins via your computer’s native processing. The included Pro Tools Ultimate software provides the complete tool set plus extra plug-ins, loops, and sounds. You also get premium conversion, precision clocking, ample I/O, and Ethernet connectivity.

Pro Tools | Carbon Pre expands your Pro Tools | Carbon interface’s I/O with eight remote-controllable preamps. Need more? You can add up to two Carbon Pre interfaces for up to 24 mic-pre inputs — that makes 41 inputs and 50 outputs for your entire system!

Pro Tools | MTRX is the most flexible interface to meet your unique workflow needs from I/O to monitoring to Native or DSP. Both Pro Tools | MTRX Studio and Pro Tools | MTRX II boast integrated monitoring and a robust speaker-calibration system that supports everything from stereo to 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos. MTRX Studio houses expansive I/O while MTRX II gives you eight modular I/O slots to fit your exact analog or digital connectivity requirements. Need HDX performance, reliability, and sample-accurate frame-edge video alignment? No problem. Connect any MTRX interface to HDX via DigiLink. Need Native connectivity? Also not a problem. Get the Thunderbolt 3 option card for either MTRX Studio or MTRX II. Need both? Go for it. Leverage the power of HDX and Native with different audio applications on your workstation.

Pro Tools | HDX

When nothing but the best music production system will do, it’s time to step up to Pro Tools | HDX. What exactly sets a Pro Tools | HDX system apart from any other DAW on the market? You can take a close look at each major part of Pro Tools | HDX — its fantastic DSP processing and the phenomenal hardware interfaces and control surfaces that can revolutionize the way you make music — but those are only parts of the bigger picture. When you’re on the clock with big-name artists, crafting the sound for a major motion picture or locked into a production schedule that doesn’t include time for troubleshooting, you can rely on Pro Tools | HDX every time.

One of the true advantages of Pro Tools | HDX is its unrivaled digital signal processing system. There’s just nothing else out there that competes with the blazing-fast speed and epic power of Pro Tools | HDX’s onboard DSP. Each Pro Tools | HDX card comes loaded with formidable coprocessors, effectively adding the processing power of several additional computers to your system. This allows you to run a large number of incredible plug-ins, even in high-sampling-rate sessions. What’s more, the Pro Tools | HDX mix engine is also handled by DSP, delivering the lowest latency available. When your reputation’s on the line, you can trust Pro Tools | HDX to track massive sessions, even through plug-ins, without a hiccup.

When you’re in a professional environment, you need the best tools for the job. With Pro Tools | HDX, you get a system whose interfaces, drivers, and software were built and tested from the ground up to work together, providing you with an incredibly powerful, reliable recording solution that continues to be the choice of industry professionals everywhere. With Pro Tools | HDX, you’ll have more than enough production power to tackle any pro-level job that comes your way!

Pro Tools Control Surfaces

Whether you make music or create sound for picture, Avid S1, Avid S4, and Avid Dock give you unmatched hands-on control of Pro Tools and other audio and video software, enabling you to record, edit, and mix dramatically faster and more intuitively than using a keyboard and mouse alone. Powered by EUCON technology, which delivers the most tightly integrated hardware/software workflows in the industry, you get deep and precise control of your tracks, sends, plug-in settings, automation, VCAs, and more with a choice of control surfaces for every need and budget. All of Avid’s control surfaces allow for flexible configurations to meet your needs, so you can spend more time creating and less time clicking.

Pro Tools: A Whole New World of Music Creation

The amazing thing about Pro Tools is that it allows a bedroom musician to record, mix, and produce their music with the same tools that professional studios use. With Pro Tools, you can produce your projects from beginning to end at home, or you can record basic tracks at home and track your drums and vocals in a professional studio. You can record at home then send your projects to a professional engineer for mixing. In fact, you can team up with other musicians, producers, engineers, and mixers anywhere in the world right from Pro Tools! When you invest in Pro Tools, you open yourself up to an entirely new world of music creation and collaboration!
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