With NAB kicking into full gear today, Avid has announced the latest version of its industry standard digital audio workstation with the launch of Pro Tools 11 alongside its first iOS compatible portable audio interfaces and much more.
Perhaps the biggest Apple related announcement for Avid today is the launch of its first two audio interfaces with direct support for iOS devices. There are many audio interfaces for iPad and iPhone (we’ve reviewed some), but this is the first time Avid is including a USB port and direct support for iPad with its high-quality I/O and Pro Tools software…
The two bus-powered interfaces, Fast Track Solo ($179), and Fast Track Duo ($299), both include a metal chassis, iPad support without adapters, two gain controls, level monitors with indicators, as well as the usual assortment of ins and outs. On the Solo you’ll get one mic preamp and 1/4-inch input, while the Duo offers two mic preamps and combo XLR/TRS inputs. You’ll get 2 RCA line outputs compared to 2 1/4-inch TRS outputs on the Fast Track Duo. You can find both now through Avid resellers bundled with Pro Tools Express and they will be available to purchase online “soon”. You can click the prodcut links above to find a reseller through Avid’s website.
As for Pro Tools 11, it appears to be largely a performance update, introducing a full redesigned audio engine, 64-bit architecture, and vastly enhanced metering and support for video workflows. There aren’t any innovative new stand out features included in this release, but Avid is catching up delivering many highly requested features like a super fast offline bounce, gain reduction on each channel for all dynamics plug-ins, 64-bit architecture, and dynamic host processing. Pro Tools 11 is coming sometime later in Q2 for $699 or upgrades starting at $299.
With Pro Tools 11 still at $700 and a rather underwhelming update, Apple certainly has a big opportunity to impress pros with the next version of the $199 Logic Pro Mac App Store app.
Avid shared a lot of other news today, including the launch of new creative tools such as Avid Media Composer 7, Avid Motion Graphics 2.5, and its latest video server, Avid AirSpeed 5000 2.5. It is also showing off an upcoming multi-platform content distribution platform called Avid Interplay Pulse.
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