Pro Tools 9 signals fundamental, user-friendly change at Avid

Broadcast Engineering by Jack Kontney

The open-source structure of Pro Tools 9 signals a new, user-friendly business model at Avid.
In the course of a demonstration of Pro Tools 9, along with Avid’s new hardware boxes, I had the opportunity to speak with several key members of the company’s Pro Tools marketing team. Avid Pro Tools strategist Bobby Lombardi and pro audio segment marketing manager Tony Cariddi discussed the ways in which the company’s new hardware and software reflect a distinct change in the company’s business model.

The particulars of Pro Tools 9 and the new HD Series hardware interfaces have been public for some time now. The new hardware boxes for Pro Tools HD provides significant improvements in AD/DA conversion and preamps and offer significantly better support for open standards like MADI. The big news with Pro Tools 9 is the platform’s move to enable software-only operation, support for third-party (non-Avid) audio interfaces and support for the EuCon Ethernet protocol to expand control surface options to include Avid Artist Series computer controllers and Pro Series consoles (formerly under the Euphonix brand). It also features significantly more channels.

According to Bobby Lombardi, these changes in product architecture are a reflection of a new approach adopted on a corporate level by Avid.

“It was about two years ago that the company decided to make a dramatic change in the way we approach the market,” he said. “Everything is keyed around really listening to our customers, to really get close to them, find out the pain points and solve them.” read more...