Avid is changing the pricing of both the software upgrade plans and their hardware trade up deals in the new year. We present a summary of your options but especially for hardware trade ups we strongly recommend you talk to your Pro Tools Dealer before they close for Christmas.
Pro Tools Vanilla Upgrade Plan
Currently you can get a Pro Tools Upgrade plan without support or the bonus plug-ins for $99. From 1st January this price will go up to $299 for the first year. In subsequent years (as long as there is no break the Pro Tools upgrade plan will be $99 per year. If you want support and the bonus plug-ins they cost $99 per year. More information on the Avid Licensing page.
Pro Tools HD Upgrade & Support Plan
With Pro Tools HD you cannot get an upgrade plan without support. Currently you can get the Pro Tools HD upgrade and support plan for $599 for the first year. In subsequent years (as long as there is no break the Pro Tools upgrade plan will be $399 per year. More information on the Avid Licensing page.
Pro Tools HD Hardware Trade Up Deals
Because Avid will no longer be offering a trade up price on TDM DSP cards if you have a TDM HD2 system or bigger there are some savings to be made before the end of the year.
For example, if you own an HD3 system and you want to upgrade to an HDX1 system with a new 8x8x8 interface, if you upgrade before the end of 2015 you will save £1,400 or $2,000 over the trade up prices that will be offered in 2016
Talk To Your Dealer
As we said in the introduction especially for trade up deals, do talk to your Pro Tools dealer, they will know all the detailed options and will be able to put a package together which could save you even more than the published prices from Avid.
If you haven't got a dealer then we suggest you might want to talk to any one of the 3 dealers that support the Pro Tools Expert Community...
RSPE Audio Solutions (USA)
HHB/Scrub (UK)
Jigsaw24 (UK)