Recording - January 2014 - 31

REC_01_14 new_ REC mag 04/05 12/12/13 7:54 AM Page 31

DAE engine. But with the new AAE
engine, Pro Tools now makes up for all
that in spades.
When the "Offline" option is enabled in
the Bounce dialog box, Pro Tools 11 will
silently create the new audio file at a speed
that is typically much faster than it would
take to play it through in real time. How
much faster will this be? That depends on
many factors-system resources, the number of tracks being bounced, the number of
plug-ins and the amount of DSP they use,
disk usage (streaming audio requirements),
etc.. On my test system, I tried bouncing an
entire session, and also some individual
soloed tracks. My torture test session
(above), which maxed out system resources,
bounced only slightly faster than realtime.
But more normal-sized sessions bounced
anywhere from 3 times to 9 times faster than
realtime playback-a worthy performance,
typical of what I've seen on this computer
with other DAWs that have this feature.

fader, pan, etc.) for not just two rows of
Sends (one in each bank of five sends), but
for as many Sends as you want, up to all
ten rows at once. This is a great convenience for sessions where you need to
have a more comprehensive overview of
various Send routings and settings. And if
you begin to run out of vertical space, you
can now hide the Channel Fader and
Meter when needed to make more room;
you'll still see a numerical readout of level.
Bypassing Insert effects now can be done
more easily, thanks to a set of new shortcuts.
In addition to previous options (like switching off all inserts in a row, etc.), inserts can
now be switched on and off on selected
tracks by categories-these are: all Inserts.
A-E only, F-J only, all EQs, all Dynamics, all
Reverbs, all Delays, all Modulation. This will
be very handy for comparison purposes,
and to get a sense of just how processed
your mix is becoming. Another nice mixer
addition, in the HD version only, is an extra

Fig. 4

As an added bonus, the HD versions of
Pro Tools 11 allow for bouncing several
sources, like different individual tracks or
busses, at once, to separate files (up to 16
simultaneous bounces of up to 8 tracks
each in one pass). This is good for quickly
printing tracks with effects, or rendering
multiple stems (all drums, all vocals, all fx,
etc) in a single pass, a great time-saver
when exporting or exchanging files.
Mix it up
Another area of Pro Tools 11 that sports
a number of nice enhancements is the
mixer-there are quite a few welcome
graphic improvements that should make
life easier. One option is the ability to display the expanded Send views in the
Channel Strip (where you can see the

gain reduction meter per track, to let you
see at a glance just how much compression
you're applying to your tracks.
Feed the meter
When it comes to Metering, Pro Tools 11
offers a comprehensive new set of options
for different scales and calibrations. Note,
however, that most of these are available
only with Pro Tools HD systems. The default
meter type in all versions of 11 is the
Sample-Peak meter, with a somewhat slower decay than in older versions (there is also
an option for "Classic" meter ballistics). The
rest of the new meter types are available
only in the HD versions of Pro Tools.
These new meter types include Linear
(sample peaks with a faster decay and
optional extended scale), RMS (average

levels, rather than peaks), VU (ballistics
like traditional analog mechanical VU
metering, preferred by many engineers,
plus a more modern version), and several
types of PPM (which falls somewhere
between peak and average response).
There is also an option for K-Metering (an
RMS scale with integrated peak indication), an emerging standard that provides
a good indication of actual loudness-
included are the three K-scales, -12, -14,
and -20 (K-scale metering is championed
by mastering engineer Bob Katz of Digital
Domain). With all these options, Pro Tools
HD users should be able to choose the
optimal metering for any type of session.
Other enhancements
Automation users get a nice bonus-the
ability to record Automation at the same
time you're recording audio. Previously,
as in most DAWs, this had to be done as
two passes-record the audio first, then
play it through again and record any
gain-riding or effect automation as needed. But in some situations (like live recording), it might be more productive to make
adjustments as the track is going down.
This is now possible, and, especially with
the use of a control surface, has the potential to be a really useful addition.
The Workspace window, Pro Tools' integrated file browser, has also been pumped
up quite a bit. The various browser categories have been integrated into a comprehensive single-pane view, and overall navigation is more straightforward. The management of the database itself is
improved-all Database information is now
kept in a single file, and searching promises
to be more efficient as well.
Wrap-up
All in all, Pro Tools 11 is a major step
into the 21st century for all users. While
owners of older Avid hardware and native
Toolbox users may feel the $$ pinch, once
that hurdle is passed, the benefits are
unquestionable. And while there may be a
period of adjustment with the transition to
an all-64-bit world, there's no doubt that
this upgrade has taken a big, and necessary, step in serving the needs of the Pro
Tools community.
Price: $699 and up
More from: Avid, www.avid.com
Joe Albano (albano@recordingmag.com)
is an engineer/producer, musician, and
educator living and working in New York
City. Learn more about his work at
www.rooftopproductions.com.
RECORDING January 2014

http://www.avid.com http://www.rooftopproductions.com

Recording - January 2014

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