Russ, James and Dan chat through issues and highlights from the week's news as well as the usual Pro Tools tips, tricks and community questions answered.

Podcast Sponsor - Townsend Labs

This month’s sponsor is Townsend Labs, creator of the Sphere L22 3D microphone system. James and Dan talk about their experiences of using the Sphere microphone system.

Deals

• Pro Sound Effects Urban Ambisonics Bundle - Get 45% Off - Buy For $199 Reduced From $360 - Ambisonics sound effects are so versatile in multi channel production as they can be converted into formats like binaural, 5.1, and 7.1. This is a great opportunity to kick start your multi-channel sound effects library.
• Save 40% on an Annual licence or 15% on a monthly licence for Audiomovers LISTENTO plug-in - LISTENTO enables users to Stream Audio from Pro Tools to web browsers. LISTENTO are free plug-ins, however, a weekly, monthly or annual license is required to stream mixes to anyone with an internet connection. We have deals on both monthly and annual licences. £46 for an Annual licence, £6.50 for monthly. Don’t worry, the person receiving the stream doesn’t require a subscription, just a web browser and an internet connection.
• Also, don’t forget to check out the deals from our Partners, in the Partner Deals section on our Deals page.

Talking Points Kindly Sponsored By Universal Audio

Thinking about getting on board with UAD Plug-Ins? Well, now is the time! For a limited time, you can get a UAD OCTO Ultimate 5 Bundle from an authorised UA retailer.  The bundle includes your choice of PCIe, Satellite Thunderbolt, or Satellite USB DSP Accelerator and the Universal Audio, flagship collection, featuring 89 award-winning UAD Powered Plug-Ins including best-sellers from API, Neve, Manley, Fender, and many more. Also, the UA Dream Studio offer is still on. It has been extended until 30th September 2017.    

• DIY Home Studio Acoustic Treatment Panels - You Won't Believe What These Are Made Of
• When Does Old Equipment Become Vintage Or Obsolete Or Can It Remain Useful And Old?

Competitions

• Win 1 Of 5 Copies Of MasteringTheMix LEVELS & REFERENCE Bundle - We have teamed up with our friends at MasteringTheMix to offer the Pro Tools Expert Community a unique opportunity to win a bundle of two very powerful mixing and mastering plug-ins. This bundle does not exist, so cannot be purchased from the MasteringTheMix web store.
• Don’t forget to check out our win page, to discover more opportunities to win pro audio software and gear from our Partners, in the Partner Win section, on our Win page.

Community Feedback Kindly Sponsored by RSPE Audio Solutions

RSPE has teamed up with Metric Halo to offer two of their plugins, HaloVerb and Character. Even better news is that they have reduced the prices even further, so now you can get either of them for just $24 down from the normal price or $129 or get them both for $39 saving almost 90%
HaloVerb is based on the original HaloVerb hardware implementation for 2d-Expanded Metric Halo interfaces, the HaloVerb plugin expands on the algorithmic sound to give you more flexibility and control. 
Character is designed to let you add the distortion characteristics of classic analog circuits to your tracks.  The Metric Halo Flash Sale is available for purchase via electronic serial number until midnight (PDT) September 5, 2017, exclusively from RSPE Audio Solutions.

• Edgar Rothermich writes for us and has produced the ebook 'Pro Tools  First 12 - How it Works'. Regarding the question from Valendar Turner about the missing Preferences menu in Pro Tools First.  Edgar explains that Pro Tools First doesn't have any Preferences Menu, so there is nothing wrong with the Valendar's installation and system. It is one of a number of features found in Pro Tools that are not included in Pro Tools First which as well as Advanced Preferences include the Score Editor, Video Playback, and Timecode Ruler.  However, Pro Tools First still has its own Preferences file in the Library folder, that you can trash if you run into any issues with the app. We also have a dedicated page on all matters Pro Tools First which includes a number of articles written for us by Edgar and more details on his Pro Tools First book.

This Week’s Featured Pro Tools Expert Interview

In this interview, Technical Editor James Ivey talks to Bryn Wildish of Audient about the 24 channel Audient ASP 8024 Heritage Edition console.  James has had his Audient desk installed for 6 months now and in that time he has figured out most of the range of functionality of the console, however, there were some features that needed a little clarification on. Bryn was on hand to answer those questions and come up with some interesting workflow enhancements to help James work faster and smarter.  

Questions From The Community

• James Linton has 2 Avid HD I/O's and he liked James’ review of the Orion 32 HD. He asks “Do you think it's worth it to get the Orion and sell my Avid HD I/O's? Also, does the Orion have drivers that will allow my computer to use that device? I mean computer audio for iTunes etc.. If possible can you tell me the pros and cons of making a change like the one I am considering. Thanks for all you do!!"
• Christian Hansson has been given the responsibility for managing to get the song start with right tempo and keeping right "bpm" during their upcoming shows. He asks "We will run about 20 songs. I have tried to find answers online, but I find it hard to figure out this. I'm running Mac, and have Pro Tools 11, Logic 10.3 and Ableton Live9. How should I handle this?"
  • Check out James’ video about using Pro Tools for live playback
• Khavel X has read that there is interface like RME that has problems with HD versions of Pro Tools and would like to know if the native version would be better? He has problems with changing samples within the Pro Tools session, it’s not synchronising with the Playback Engine and asks to reboot Pro Tools to change the sample rate. Is there any way to unlock my Pro Tools HD to use it without HD? 

Source Connect Now

As you may know, we are spread out around the UK & Europe when we record the podcast. In the past, we have used a variety of internet based solutions so we could hear each other.  We have settled on Source Connect Now which gives us ISDN equivalent quality audio using a Chrome browser, no software to install. You can get a free account from Source Elements.

Find Of The Week

• Russ - Friedland Libra+ D911S Wireless Chime and Button with 200m range
• James - Neve 33609. OMG It’s amazing.  
• Dan - Helix Native, I didn’t expect much but was pleasantly surprised

Listen on to the Pro Tools Expert Podcast on iTunes