In the Pro Tools Expert 2017 Christmas Competition, we offered the chance of winning a one-year subscription For Pro Tools HD Standalone software worth $999, as one of 31 great prizes on offer worth over $16,000 in total. We can announce that Darrel Moen is the lucky winner. You can learn more about Darrel further down the article.

This month, enter The Pro Tools Expert 2017 Christmas Competition to be in with the chance of winning a one-year subscription For Pro Tools HD Standalone software worth $999.

What Is The Avid Pro Tools HD Standalone Software Subscription?

There are two ways to buy Pro Tools software...

• Buy a perpetual license, which will always work, and then take out an upgrade plan so you always have the latest version. 

• OR

• Buy a rental subscription plan which includes an upgrade plan which will only continue to work as long as you pay the rental subscription fee. 

What's Included?

• Software/plug-in installers and user guides

• 1 GB Collaboration Cloud Storage

• 2 GB high-quality loop library

• 60 Virtual Instruments & Effect Plug-ins

• 25 bonus plug-ins, including all Pro Series plug-ins, Space, Stompbox Emulations and Eleven

• ExpertPlus support through Avid Customer Care

There has been some discussions about the cost of the Pro Tools HD Standalone software at $2499 or to be able to rent it for $999 per year, so I thought it would be helpful to do some analysis over 3, and 5 years to see how the costs plan out.

A Comparison Of Rental With Perpetual & Upgrade Plan Over 3 Years

After 3 years it is still cheaper to rent the Pro Tools HD Software rather than buy a perpetual license with an ongoing upgrade plan saving $8.33 per month.

The breakeven point is around 4 years. After 5 years the scales tip the other way and it becomes cheaper to buy the perpetual license with an upgrade/support plan, as you save $15 per month.

But that isn't the only criteria.  Rental is good for shorter periods and with the rental option you do know exactly where you are and it is the same amount every month, with the Perpetual/upgrade plan option you have a larger outlay at the start - $2499 and then payments of $399 at the start of each subsequent year. But you can plan for either model and build those into your cashflow projections. 

Consider Cap-Ex or Op-Ex

For those bigger facilities managing budgets, you will know exactly where you stand. You can choose whether to fund it from capital expenditure with the perpetual route or operational expenditure with the rental subscription route.

For smaller, one person operations, going down the rental option means it is an operational expense and can be recharged to the client.

Why Get The Pro Tools HD Standalone Software?

The standalone version of Pro Tools HD introduced at v12.6 enables you to get all the advantages of the HSD software like surround and immersive audio track formats without having the expense of the Pro Tools HD hardware. As long as you have an interface with enough I/O for your needs then you are good to go.

Darrel Moen Wins One-year Subscription For Pro Tools HD Standalone Software

In the Pro Tools Expert 2017 Christmas Competition, we offered the chance to win one of 31 great prizes worth over $16,000 in total. Darrel Moen is the winner of a one-year subscription for Pro Tools HD Standalone software.

Like so many in this industry of sound, my career started in music.  First as a musician, then following several studio visits, I ventured to the other side of the glass and stayed.  Some years later, during voiceover work on a film, I had a moment of clarity and made the full time jump into post-production sound.  In spare time, I revisit my musical past by providing musical scores for the occasional short film.

Eventually I faced a decision of family or career...  I chose family, putting my immediate career on hold and turning to education.  As an instructor for many years now, I am enjoying it more today than ever before.  Continually developing a sound curriculum for our Film Production and Video Game Programs and assisting in the development of the Voiceover curriculum for our Acting Program at the "Toronto Film School" keeps me quite busy and current with both technology and technique.

While guiding students through their sound design, I mix 5-10 of their short films every 3 months and I'm pleased to report that the students' films continue to be selected and featured in short film festivals around the world.

This prize of a one-year subscription for Pro Tools HD Standalone software couldn't come at a better time for me.  Since October of last year, I have been busy renovating, upgrading and updating my studio.  In the final few weeks of the renovation I am now beginning the technical upgrade and update that will expand the current format of Stereo to Surround (5.1 & 7.1) with the flexibility to enter the world of ATMOS in the future.  Part of the planned upgrade was the change from AVID Pro Tools to Pro Tools HD.

So as you can see, the timing is priceless!

My gratitude to Mike Thornton, everyone at Pro Tools Expert and AVID for this wonderful Christmas gift is endless!

If you would like to win a prize like a one-year subscription for Pro Tools HD Standalone software then go over to our Win Page and see what prizes we have on offer.