Recording - September 2013 - 53

With the release of Pro Tools 11, Avid
has finally reached the finish line in its
from-the-ground-up rewrite of Pro Tools.
Version 11 brings some slick new features
to the table, but the really big changes
are under the hood. The combination of a
new audio engine and a fully 64-bit
architecture promises to take Pro Tools to
a new level of power and efficiency,
though not without some growing pains.
The heart of the matter
Pro Tools’ DAE (Digidesign Audio
Engine), the code that handles the heavy
lifting of recording, playback, and processing, had fallen behind by modern
computer processing standards. The new
Avid Audio Engine (will that be the AAE?)
is a ground-up rewrite that provides significantly more power for those fundamental

Avid Pro Tools 11
tasks, which should allow Pro Tools users to
enjoy not only higher track counts and
greater processing power, for more complex arrangements, but also smoother
operation overall.
The new engine is coupled with a fully
64-bit architecture. Keep in mind, this has
nothing to do with sound quality—it’s a
more efficient computer processing
method (older versions were 32-bit). Not
only will this increase processing power,
but it also allows the DAW to address far
more than 4 GB of RAM, the limit with
older 32-bit software. This will be especially helpful for applications like MIDIheavy sessions with lots of virtual instruments, always a processing bottleneck in
older Pro Tools versions.
But 64-bit comes with a price. All
aspects of the workstation must operate at
64-bit, including plug-ins. Avid, of course,
is ready for this—its new AAX plug-in format, recently introduced, was designed
to be 64-bit capable. Effects and instruments ported over to 64-bit AAX will run
with much greater efficiency. However,
the AAX plugs that people have been running in Pro Tools 10 are actually still 32bit, and must be replaced with 64-bit versions to work in 11—and this includes
third-party plug-ins as well. This will
require some due diligence on Pro Tools
users’ parts—a visit to the Avid website
for compatibility info is definitely in order.
To ease that aspect of the transition, Pro
Tools 11 allows for a co-install/authorization of Pro Tools 10 (10.3.6), for sessions in progress that still rely on plug-ins

in the older 32-bit format. This is important to insure backward compatibility during the transition period.
Along with the new engine come other
improvements, like dynamic host processing (there’s a mouthful!). In previous versions, when a plug-in was instantiated, it
took up computer power even when it was
idle. Now, those resources are dynamically freed up whenever the plug-in has
nothing to process, letting them go where
they are needed—a welcome addition!
New goodies
Along with the under-the-hood improvements come some new features as well. The
best may be Offline Bouncing. Now a mix
(or track or stems) can be bounced in nonrealtime, way faster than the time it takes to
play through the entire session. In realworld situations, this is truly a godsend.
When monitoring live inputs or virtual
instruments, PT11 now implements a lowlatency buffer for those tracks that insures a
comfortable experience for the performer,
regardless of the session’s buffer setting.
Additional features include the ability to
see the controls for all Sends simultaneously
(not just two rows, as before), the ability to
record Automation while recording audio (a
real time-saver in some situations), and
improved search in the Workspace browser.
There are also improved metering
options, adding different scales and ballistics (Linear, RMS, VU, K-Scale) to the
standard sample-peak characteristic. But
note, this feature is only available in the
HD versions of PT11. And that gets us to

BY JOE ALBANO

the last topic, the different systems on
which you can run Pro Tools 11.
The Pro Tools family
Pro Tools 11 can be had in three versions.
First off, there is Pro Tools Express, a featurelimited version that’s bundled with Avid’s
Mbox and Fast Track USB interfaces. Then
there’s Pro Tools 11 ($699, upgrades start
at $299), ideal for music production, which
runs natively on your computer and supports
Avid and third-party interfaces. Finally,
there’s Pro Tools HD 11, which only comes
bundled with Avid’s high-end hardware;
you can get the less expensive Pro Tools|HD
Native PCIe card or Thunderbolt interface
for more track count and I/O than the native
version, or buy the DSP-enabled Pro
Tools|HDX PCIe hardware for enhanced
track counts, I/O, and extra DSP.
The feature set for the two HD versions
includes a number a features not in the
native software-only version, like surround
mixing, advanced video handling, and a
number of other (mostly post-productionrelated) options—check out the chart at
tinyurl.com/pt11versions for a full list.
Whichever version of Pro Tools 11 you
settle on, you can expect to enjoy the benefits of significantly more power and efficiency, something Pro Tools users have
been waiting on for a long time. Look for
a full review soon.
Joe Albano (albano@recordingmag.com)
is a recording engineer and audio educator
in New York. Learn more about his work at
www.rooftopproductions.com.
RECORDING September 2013

http://www.tinyurl.com/pt11versions http://www.rooftopproductions.com

Recording - September 2013

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