[Larry Mal]

I decided against it. I was thinking this would be the Pro Tools that would end my miserable experience with M-Powered 8 (and before that 7). I like that I can now use it as a standalone- you know, like normal software- but I thought I would wait for version 10 since it was said to be 64 bit.

Which, of course, it isn't.

So the next thing that seemed like a great feature was the RAM caching. But it turns out you don't get that with anything except the HD series or with the Toolkit. Well, I'm never spending two thousand dollars on a Toolkit that basically only adds functionality that I already have in my other DAWs, the RAM caching and some other things.

I had given some thought to moving to HD Native, but it's very expensive, I have doubts about the PCIe platform and am not going to be paying Avid one thousand dollars to update to Pro Tools 11. And another thousand for 12? Give me a break.

The remaining things in Pro Tools 10 are skippable... the channel strip is something I don't need, the clip gain is nice but I already have it in other DAWs anyway. Plus the prospect of having to upgrade all my plug ins at my expense- and I'm not suggesting that software makers give it to me for free- isn't anything I am looking forward to.

I'm also not going to give Avid any money for Pro Tools until they get a grip. This is me voting with my wallet. I don't like the way they are selling Pro Tools and I'm not going to support their industry.

So, that's why I'm not moving to Pro Tools 10. I guess if I get some work that requires me to have it then I will, or if I need to get my skills up in Tools for some reason. But five hundred dollars is too much for an upgrade anyway.

People keep telling Avid what they expect, and Avid keeps turning a deaf ear. I don't know what they will respond to except lost sales and further erosion in the marketplace.