Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

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kslight
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Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by kslight » Sat Jun 29, 2019 11:53 am

Surprised no one is commenting on the latest drama from Avid... or is no one here on a perpetual or subscription plan?

I've been on the perpetual plan, so I can keep on a modern version of Mac OS (and maintain compatibility with other software I use). While initially they brought some good features over to Vanilla PT that seemed worth the relatively minor update cost ($79/year bought on sale), 2018 and 2019 Avid has not been very active in even fixing bugs...it took until late May to get the first 2019 update (Mojave compatibility, which I have not updated quite that far anyway)...though still lingering CPU spike bugs that are untouched. Shortly after Avid announced they are changing the pricing plans...you can see details on their site for your specific plan, but the one that matters to me is that the perpetual Vanilla plan is going from $99 to $199 per year. The alternative being to forfeit your perpetual license (that's a negative from me) and switch to the subscription price model.

I suspect ultimately Avid wants to do away with the perpetual license entirely. Though they are currently offering the $99/year renewal rate until July 1, I am reluctant to give them any more money, expecting that 2019/2020 will be more of the same, best case scenario...just lock my Pro Tools where its at right now and never update again. My plan doesn't lapse until March 2020 anyway, so if any exciting updates come down the pipes by then I am covered. Also I expect my classic cheese grater Mac Pro is going to be cut off from Apple software updates sooner than later, so paying for software updates that my computer won't be able to run seems silly.

The best plan for me seems to take this opportunity to just lock my software in at its current state, until I am ready for a new computer. And at that point, assess what the most appropriate DAW for me will be. Though I generally don't require studio compatibility, most of the time my DAW is at home, I have been using Pro Tools for about 15 years and as such am pretty efficient in it. Still, across the pasture, the latest Studio One looks pretty mature/most similar to my current workflow. Or Cubase. I would consider Logic except I don't know if my next computer will come from Apple either.

What are y'all's plans? Anyone using Studio One?

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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by Magnetic Services » Sat Jun 29, 2019 12:51 pm

Reaper 'till I die (or upgrade to Nuendo for post-production/game audio features). But honestly, any other DAW is a great option!

I think Avid's been using their "industry standard" status to milk subscriptions out of people too scared to switch for a long time. Plenty of top-tier pros use other DAWs with great success, to the point where I don't think Pro Tools even is the standard any more. The only reasons I can think of to use it would be A) if you're running a commercial facility and your clients count on you having PT, or B) you're part of a big team that's already using PT and need to be able to share sessions. The more people switch, the weaker Avid's monopoloy gets.

Sorry if that comes off harsh, I just get real worked up about subscription-based software :?

kslight
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by kslight » Sat Jun 29, 2019 1:10 pm

Not too harsh at all, I’m not feeling any need for Avid love st the moment. In my own bubble though I’ve never known anyone to seriously use anything besides Pro Tools or Logic. But I’ve got no idea what the real market share looks like these days.

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Nick Sevilla
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by Nick Sevilla » Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:12 pm

I still have no clue what they want to do.

Their announcement is so fucking confusing.

I have 4 TDM licenses, two of which are "upgradeable". And one PT 12 perpetual, which I do keep updated.

At some point, after I buy a new Mac Pro, I will decide if I update one of the TDM licenses.

Usually, they fuck us, and then apologize, and allow us to update later on anyways. Because most customers always tell them to piss off
when they change their billing practices. They need us WAY MORE than we need them these days.

If they tell me off, Nuendo it is, or Reaper, and keeping the PT 12 and the older TDM just to open older projects and other studios things. But I will mix on another platform from then on.
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by digitaldrummer » Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:21 am

I bought 2 years to add to my annual subscription - so I put off any decisions until Sept 2021... and then I hope Avid does decide what they are doing and makes it more clear. My guess is that at that point we will all be sticking with with the latest version we have (no upgrades), or turning in our perpetual licenses and getting the subscription. they will probably increase the perpetual maintenance fee to $300, $400, $500... a year to ensure everyone that wants updates switches over.

I personally do not like the subscription-based plans (Slate Digital is heavily pushing this too but I have the perpetual licenses I want at this point and don't need "everything"). I was not really happy about the whole PT11/12 "pay $99 every year for upgrades and support" but succumbed to it because PT11 had so many issues. and now that I've paid a bunch of years to Avid I feel like I have a stable system right now. Did I gain anything over just buying an upgrade? Probably not, in fact I had to endure "updates" in between that were not always good, but had I jumped to a new version i don't know if I would have gotten a stable one anyway, so I think its about the same. and along the way there are a couple nice features that I use regularly so at least I'm getting something more out of it.

anyway, subscription-based software is here to stay, at least until some new way to feed the profit machines comes along.
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kslight
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by kslight » Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:27 am

I thought by continuing to pay for updates I would eventually get a real stable DAW if nothing else, yes PT11 sucked, but I hardly feel like 2018/2019 has seen any improvement at all over 12. I know I’m not the only one that sees daily cpu errors...which I do not get in other programs...doesn’t matter what my buffer is at/etc...I’m not doing anything crazy and have more than enough cpu power... Sure these errors aren’t usually showstopping (though probably get a pinwheel total lock up out of pro tools every couple days) but going to other DAWs shows that i really have no reason to tolerate it. It seems apparent to me that Pro Tools is the least stable program i own and the only reason I need it is because of compatibility and familiarity.

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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by digitaldrummer » Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:14 am

I'm running on Windows so might be different - although to be honest i too get strange instabilities all the time and have learned to work around most of them if i can. that's really what software teaches us today. how to workaround shit. most of the time I'm not really sure if it is Pro Tools, my UAD drivers, or a plugin (and many times it's one of the Slate plugins, but I like the sound...) . most recently I'll open a session and it just closes PT. Even happened the other day with 2019.6. No messages. just boom. closed. I can re-open PT and the session and then it works fine. So yeah, I'm not really happy, but I work around it like I'm sure almost everyone does. And even with all the problems I still feel like its easier and faster than tape. :D
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by kslight » Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:35 pm

digitaldrummer wrote:
Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:14 am
I'm running on Windows so might be different - although to be honest i too get strange instabilities all the time and have learned to work around most of them if i can. that's really what software teaches us today. how to workaround shit. most of the time I'm not really sure if it is Pro Tools, my UAD drivers, or a plugin (and many times it's one of the Slate plugins, but I like the sound...) . most recently I'll open a session and it just closes PT. Even happened the other day with 2019.6. No messages. just boom. closed. I can re-open PT and the session and then it works fine. So yeah, I'm not really happy, but I work around it like I'm sure almost everyone does. And even with all the problems I still feel like its easier and faster than tape. :D
Yeah I haven’t used Windows and Pro Tools together in a long time so I have no idea how that all works these days (though I just bought my wife a windows 10 laptop so may try it out), but man several months ago I was getting some weird gnarly stuff, like pro tools would just fail to launch sessions with no explanation...which was real aggravating because I was working on a movie.

I can live with it as it is right now, those kind of glitches stopped, but I feel like my pains would go away if I starting easing up to another DAW.

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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by crow » Mon Jul 01, 2019 4:20 pm

+1000 for switching to REAPER. Not only is it awesome, super-customizable software, but just as importantly, it is owned by the same small number of people who do the coding. It's a small company who really cares about their customers. In a world full of ruthless software behemoth companies trying to squeeze every penny out of us, I take immense satisfaction in knowing that the REAPER folks are friendly, smart folks who are very conscientious about preserving stability and backwards compatibility and listening to their customers' needs. Such a breath of fresh air.

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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by vvv » Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:45 pm

I also like Reaper, use it for basic mastering and format conversion.

I do all else in CEP 2.1, tho', so mebbe ignore me.
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by Nick Sevilla » Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:32 pm

crow wrote:
Mon Jul 01, 2019 4:20 pm
+1000 for switching to REAPER. Not only is it awesome, super-customizable software, but just as importantly, it is owned by the same small number of people who do the coding. It's a small company who really cares about their customers. In a world full of ruthless software behemoth companies trying to squeeze every penny out of us, I take immense satisfaction in knowing that the REAPER folks are friendly, smart folks who are very conscientious about preserving stability and backwards compatibility and listening to their customers' needs. Such a breath of fresh air.
That was eMagic Logic Pro, for many years. Apple made it "mainstream", but never fixed some of the issues it had since forever.

Let us hope no large company ever buys Reaper out from the coders.
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

Magnetic Services
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by Magnetic Services » Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:53 pm

While we're on the subject of Reaper and how awesome it is, go purchase a license right now if you haven't already!

kslight
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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by kslight » Tue Jul 02, 2019 5:30 am

I downloaded Reaper to use as a recorder for a live show on my old laptop after Avid took my PT9 license away when upgrading to 11...I remember it being a little weird to use and couldn’t get into it. But that was probably 8 or 9 years ago so maybe worth another shot.

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Re: Pro Tools Updated Renewal Pricing

Post by crow » Wed Jul 03, 2019 8:41 am

I first tried it out then too, and I remember initially being weirded out by the lack of mouse-tool switching and and the takes system (which improved shortly after I switched). Having tried out several DAWs prior to that, I found the acclimation curve to be rewarding, since every time I learned how REAPER implements certain functionalities, I would think "aha! That makes sense! Why don't all the DAWs do it this way?" And sheesh, if not, you can customize the vast majority of functions!

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