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AVID Pro Tools: Casting A Long Shadow Many Stand In
April 26, 2022

AVID Pro Tools: Casting A Long Shadow Many Stand In

Jim Lopardo | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Avid Pro Tools

Avid Pro Tools is the only DAW I use. I use it daily for audio recording, mixing, and mastering at The Production Studios of Sandbox Music Group. I also use it to produce programming for WDNF-Philly.com, an internet radio station focused on local, regional, national, and global indie artists in that order. Whether archiving vinyl LPs for posterity or broadcast on VINYLLY!!!, or producing a post-punk band, Avid Pro Tools is the only choice. While it may not be as suited for beat production as say, Reaper, Avid Pro Tools is the industry standard for audio production, and rightly so. Proficiency with Pro Tools almost assures you can step up to any analog console and in short order know where to begin. Stability is crucial. Much of the criticism of Pro Tools encountered online centers on perceived instability, but in most cases, any instability originates in inadequate system hardware, or OS-triggered issues when users upgrade their OS before AVID certified compatibility.
  • Highly-customizable, application and UI (performance, function and appearance).
  • Wide audio format compatibility; Ease of integrating audio of different formats, sample rates; equal ease of exporting.
  • Broadest hardware compatibility. The ability to tweak performance parameters extends hardware's useful life.
  • Virtual instrument interfaces are clunky and non-intuitive.
  • Rename/Move session functions should programmatically update subfolder labels.
  • Better, more targeted in-app access/help to the myriad of shortcuts, and scripts already present in PT.
  • Stability
  • Continually updated and currant compatibility
  • UI and Performance customization
  • POSITIVE: Even with the 2022 Price Increase ($299/yr) - One billable hour more than covers my software expense. I could drop Slate and Waves and still have all the tools I need to continue producing.
  • POSITIVE: "PRO TOOLS POWERED" carries more industry weight than "Reaper Powered" or "We Use Logic."
  • NEGATIVE: I am continually tempted to upgrade my hardware to take full advantage of Pro Tools including Atmos, etc.
Originally a PC user, my first music program was "Personal Composer" in 1988. I moved to Cakewalk in the late 90s, which became Sonar. Sonar was a very good DAW and I was happy with its performance and functionality. It was, essentially, as close to Pro Tools for PC as you could get. However I had long planned to make the move to Apple, and the standard for Apple and audio production is Avid Pro Tools.

Do you think Avid Pro Tools delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Avid Pro Tools's feature set?

Yes

Did Avid Pro Tools live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Avid Pro Tools go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Avid Pro Tools again?

Yes

COMMON, EFFECTIVE USE: I produce three weekly shows for WDNF-Philly, two I host. I have a "WDNF BROADCAST" session with a track each containing one show's theme (repeated so it is always "playing"; one track for the voiceover; and track(s) for the content. I draw from a variety of sources and formats, import the tracks, place them in that show's content track; then record the voiceover for each show. I mute the show I am not working on, then drop the volume on the theme track when the content is playing. I then have the option of exporting two complete shows in any format I need.

LESS EFFECTIVE: As a producer I often work with songwriters and performers with little audio technical skill. In the early stages, when exchanging song ideas, most often I get Garageband or LMMS projects. Integration "downstream" is difficult. The same with working with beats. That said - that is not Pro Tools primary task, so to me it is minor.