Native IO
Think about the 003R and all other 19-inch interfaces from ten years ago, the biggest limitation for users who wanted to track bands but weren’t in the market for an HD/HDX system was the native IO limit in Pro Tools, the track count has always been Steadily rising, but only recently did the IO limit reach 16. Moving to 32 really helps, 16 is usually not enough. However, with the mid-tier Pro Tools Studio 2022.4 offering 64 native IO, all but the largest tracking jobs are well within the capabilities of a not-so-distant Pro Tools LE system with 16 inputs.
Ultimate features only
Looking at the evolution of Pro Tools over the past 10 years, much of what I’m emphasizing here involves getting more powerful. More processing power, more tracks, more I/O. However, I suspect what will be more surprising to 2012 users is the fact that Pro Tools Studio (the equivalent of Pro Tools LE or Pro Tools M-Powered in previous years) looks to all intents and purposes just like Pro Tools HD.
In 2012, the only way to get Pro Tools HD functionality without purchasing a Pro Tools hardware system was to purchase the now-defunct Complete Production Toolkit. Today, Pro Tools Studio features surround sound capabilities, VCA, and advanced automation capabilities. All the software features that I might have missed in 2012 when moving from HD to native systems are now available. These are the things that surprised me in 2012!
Of course, there is a negative side. Pro Tools is sold differently in 2012, which is controversial to many. However, subscription dogma aside, you can now get a powerful version of Pro Tools for less than $300 over 3 years!
Of course, there are also some features we seem to have been waiting for. For example, if you told me there were still no binders in the 2022 cutlist, I would spit out my coffee.
What do you think? If you got a sneak preview of Pro Tools 2022.4 in 2012, would you be happy or disappointed?
