Avid has announced a series of new hardware and software solutions to enhance the quality and performance of its Pro Tools HD. The new HD Series hardware interfaces include the HD I/O, HD OMNI and HD MADI. On the software side, Avid now offers HEAT (Harmonically Enhanced Algorithm Technology), intended to add vintage analog sound to the Pro Tools mixer via a single global control and eliminating the task of managing plug-in changes across multiple tracks.
HD I/O, HD OMNI and HD MADI interfaces for Pro Tools HD enable customers to achieve the highest-quality audio with improvements to digital audio conversion quality, a variety of new configuration options and increased support for open digital standards like the MADI protocol. Features include advances in design, filtering and clocking and flexible digital connectivity. Additionally, Curv, a new soft-knee analog limiter in HD OMNI and HD I/O, reduces rerecording and editing time by tracking hotter signals when recording, preventing distortion when overloading inputs.
HD I/O helps achieve the highest-quality audio record and playback and offers three space-saving configurations: 16 x 16 analog, 16 x 16 digital and 8 x 8 x 8 analog and digital, in a 2RU interface.
The new HD OMNI integrates the functionality of numerous outboard components into a single unit for recording, mixing and monitoring. Features include state-of-the-art conversion, two world-class mic preamps, a full-featured surround monitor section and a 14 x 26-channel persistent mixer that functions even when the computer is off.
HD MADI is designed to speed production time for broadcast, live sound and post production by connecting Pro Tools HD systems to industry-standard MADI infrastructures without the need for a format converter. Built-in sample rate conversion allows an integrated workflow with multiple sample rates (upstream and downstream) in a 64-channel 1RU interface.
Designed in collaboration with digital/analog engineer Dave Hill of Crane Song, Avid’s new HEAT software option for Pro Tools HD systems is an innovation for mixers who value the warmth and sound qualities of tubes, tape machines and analog consoles in the software domain. HEAT users can add the analog warmth to every track in the Pro Tools mixer using a single, global control, dramatically enhancing sound quality and improving settings management.
