After just three months from the release of Pro Tools 12, Avid is making good on their promise for more updates delivered at faster speeds with low cost. Pro Tools 12.1 comes roaring in with delicious new features that will have long-time users salivating and those without upgrade plans straining to get a peek at the program to find out what's so interesting.
What's New in the Toolbox?
Starting with the least audacious upgrades, 12.1 comes with stability improvements to everything from bounce and delay compensation to satellite workflows. Programs that aren't reliable tend to be ignored by the pros, so we love the effort they're putting in to keep your work alive.
If you have a love for the sound of analog mixing, the HEAT add-on for the Pro Tools | HD Native is going to be your new best friend. You can use it to digitally mimic the warmth and feel of an analog system without the cost of physically possessing one.
Finally, we get to the place where size matters. The number of audio tracks has been boosted up to 128, and you can run 512 instrument channels at once. That's enough wiggle room to create your own digital symphonic orchestra.
Do the Pros like the Pro Tools?
When you name yourself after the leaders in your field, you can sound like an overzealous toupee that is endlessly not bragging about your capabilities. Fortunately for Pro Tools, the industry has benefited immensely from the feature and been utilized by some household names. Kanye West, Dr. Dre, and Pharell - three of the most well-known and successful hip hop producers and songwriters - all use Pro Tools for their musical process. Other notable users include Danger Mouse, Timbaland, and pop producer phenom Max Martin.
Lessons from History
The ability to work on multiple tracks with a complete, immense feature set in any musical production tool have carried Avid Pro Tools to the top of the charts in its own way. Pro Tools blends seamlessly with film production, provides multitrack editing for streamlined workflows, meticulous software and hardware design for the best performance, and nearly immaculate customer support. Whether you have Pro Tools 12 or are purchasing the full product, you can upgrade to 12.1 and receive a free year of upgrades. We'd like it if the patches were free, but the price is more than worth it for the quality.
