This month AVID, makers of the most ubiquitous studio recording software, Pro Tools, was sold to a Private Equity firm. I found this article about Private Equity very illuminating.
What can we expect? I think support will be slashed, subscription rates will be hiked, development will be cut…
What can you do?
Plan A:
We don’t update a hammer, or a guitar annually, but we have become used to (we were trained to?) updating our hardware and software regularly. While I have generally done that with my phone, I never did that with my recording computer and software. Everything until 2021, and including Bare Wood 2, was recorded on a Macintosh computer dating from 2003. The computer was running Pro Tools version 6.9.1, which was released in the fall of 2005. Very stable. So, I suggest using the perpetual version of the Pro Tools software and freezing your system. I use the perpetual version of PT (software version 23.6.0.110), running on my two year old MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip. That version of PT is finally running on Apple Silicon without Rosetta. All of my plugins are running natively as well. Mac OS 13.5.1 seems very stable. So this is where the laptop and the software will remain. Get out of the crazy updating cycle. A digital audio workstation is a tool, not something that needs to be changed constantly.
Plan B:
I also hear good things about Studio One.
Nice thing about “Plan A” is there is zero learning curve.
>Get out of the crazy updating cycle. A digital audio workstation is a tool, not something that needs to be changed constantly.
It’s interesting you mention this.
This summer I decided I was going to get off the crazy updating cycle for hardware. I have a 5 year old iPhone XS (max) and as I considered replacing it, I realised how much I dislike buying new hardware every 3 years. I have a work colleague who will swap the battery* for me and I’ll remain with the current hardware for as long as it remains functional. This upgrade cycle is crazy.
*(new battery from AAPL for $89)