Pro Tools Carbon - Everything You Need To Know
Pro Tools Carbon (or to be precise Pro Tools|Carbon) is the new interface from Avid who have announced AND released it on the same day. Pro Tools Carbon is a new hardware product, which is potentially their most significant hardware product in years and ironically it's a return to what put Pro Tools into the majority of pro music studios in the first place. We have the details.
Pro Tools Carbon is the first audio interface Avid has designed in house since the Avid HD IO and Avid HD Omni a decade ago. Avid has offered branded hardware since but this has been produced in partnership with other companies such as DAD and Apogee. Whereas, Pro Tools Carbon is an all in-house design and manufacture. When paired with the new 2020.11 release of Pro Tools it offers some very interesting new features which have very quickly become second nature and absolutely indispensable for me. So what is Pro Tools Carbon and who is it for?
What Is Pro Tools Carbon?
It is a 1U hardware interface is a 25/34 interface with 8 mic preamps with some very appealing features under the hood.
Who Is Pro Tools Carbon For?
Pro Tools Carbon is for tracking music. It’s designed for the serious musician or studio owner who wants to be able to track a typical band in stereo using Pro Tools and without having to think about latency.
Hybrid DSP And Native - The Big Deal About Pro Tools Carbon
Up until this point, Pro Tools systems have been native, or they have been DSP systems. It’s easy to forget that when Pro Tools HD was created latency was a big problem for those wanting to record audio. However the cost of entry for Pro Tools DSP powered systems has been costly and for some quite complicated, that is compared to a single interface solution.
Native Pro Tools is fundamentally the same as any other native DAW, but with Pro Tools as a front end which for many is a huge advantage, the hardware required to run it is cheap but it suffers the same disadvantage as any other native DAW - Latency.
If you have a powerful computer and you use it wisely you can work very effectively using native processing but Pro Tools HDX, while expensive, makes latency go away. You no longer have to think about it, and for music users, this is it’s biggest advantage. Pro Tools Carbon offers a hybrid, one box solution and is the new way to get HDX performance without buying HDX.
Native To HDX - Too Expensive For Most
The problem has always been that from native Pro Tools, using an all in one rack mounting interface from a 3rd party suitable for tracking a band. Moving up to an HDX system is a big jump in cost and one not many people are prepared to take. The costs and complexity of an HDX system are quite a way from a typical premium interface with 8 mic preamps and expansion options via ADAT, the kind of rig a project studio or a band who were serious about recording might have. It is these people for whom Pro Tools Carbon is perfect.
Enter Pro Tools Carbon…
Pro Tools Carbon sits between Native and HDX. It is a self-contained tracking and mixing solution, which is suitable for tracking the majority of bands live, without having to think about latency. For example:
Tracking a four-piece band with 12 mics on the kit?
Need miking options on two guitars and bass and monitoring through amp modelling as well as the mics on the cabs?
Also, want to track vocals and BVs with room left to experiment with ambient mics down the corridor, and all at the same time?
No problem.
Mix latency-free, independent foldback mixes from the Pro Tools mixer for all four musicians?
Again not a problem.
Punch in the whole band for spot fixes without any latency-related headaches or the realisation that your careful low buffer for low latency while tracking, high buffer for lots of plug-ins strategy falls down when you need to re-track the vocal during mixdown?
With Pro Tools Carbon all of that goes away and you have HDX-like, near-zero latency without the expense or complexity of an HDX system.
I didn’t say it was cheap, I said it was cheaper than HDX. Pro Tools Carbon costs $3999. Considering some comparable interfaces cost between $2.5K and $4K then the proposition, even before you look in detail at the offer when combined with the software, the question is… would you pay $1500 to make latency go away? To just not have to consider it again while tracking?
There will be plenty of people who will be prepared to accept the compromises involved in making a Native DAW work for tracking but for those who want to use Pro Tools and forget about latency the price of entry just fell significantly. That is the point of Pro Tools Carbon. It would be easy to think that this is Avid’s answer to interfaces such as the UAD Apollo, Apogee Ensemble, or Antelope interfaces - but that is comparing apples with oranges. Let me explain...
Pro Tools Hybrid Engine
So how does Pro Tools Carbon differ from HDX or host-based Pro Tools?
Pro Tools Carbon is a hybrid DSP/native system, which uses DSP where it makes sense to use DSP and native processing where it makes sense to use native. You might think that as HDX can use native processing we already have that but the crucial difference is where the option to choose resides.
In HDX the Pro Tools mixer runs in DSP and using native processing involves using some of the available voices to move from DSP to Native and back again. This is an inefficient use of resources and is why when running an HDX system it is a good idea to use as many DSP plug-ins as possible and think carefully about when and where to use Native plugins.
Pro Tools Carbon has a Hybrid Mixer. It runs natively, like the mixer in a host-based system, but mixer channels can be switched to DSP mode on a per-track basis. When switched to DSP mode, sub-millisecond levels of latency become available. Just like HDX, tracking through AAX DSP plug-ins is available on DSP enabled tracks but rather than switching between DSP and Native on a per-plugin basis, as in HDX, in this hybrid environment the whole track including plugins, sends and output path gets switched and Native plugins get swapped for their DSP equivalent seamlessly. Where a DSP version of a plugin isn’t available the Native plugin is bypassed to preserve the low latency on the path. Of course this precludes the use of DSP mode when tracking with Instruments because Virtual Instruments use native processing.
If you are a Pro Tools HDX user and like the look of the Hybrid Engine Avid uses with Pro Tools Carbon, then we understand that Avid is planning to introduce the Hybrid Engine to HDX Systems as part of a paid-for option.
Using DSP Mode With Pro Tools Carbon
The mechanism for managing this hybrid engine in Pro Tools is via the addition of a single button above the pan pots. This DSP Mode button, which has a lightning bolt symbol on it, lights green when enabled and moves that track from the Native mixer to the built-in DSP.
To maintain the low latency performance of this change, all the insert slots change to DSP only, indicated by a green colour change. Where possible Native plugins change to DSP versions or get bypassed and tracks downstream of tracks in DSP mode - the rest of the audio path, both via the track output or sends gets put into DSP mode too.
This “implied” DSP mode (i,e. tracks operating in DSP mode, which haven’t been explicitly toggled to DSP mode but have to be moved from native to DSP to preserve the low latency path) is more correctly called “automatic DSP Mode”. Tracks in this mode are indicated by a DSP Mode button which is dark green.
Built-in DSP in Pro Tools Carbon
So how much DSP does Pro Tools Carbon give access to? Where a single HDX card has 18 chips, Pro Tools Carbon has 8. The processing has been chosen to be appropriate to the size of the interface in that it is possible to track every input and output without latency and to track through a healthy amount of DSP plugins while you are doing it. Of course, it is easy enough to max out the finite amount of DSP and in this hybrid system, there isn’t the option of picking and choosing between DSP and Native plugins on the same track, or even the same path. However, as an experiment, I built a session to see how far I could get in a realistic tracking session before I ran out of resources.
In the session above I have built a DSP-only tracking template using every input with foldback for 4 mixes all with talkback. EQ and compression on every track, 2 reverbs, a bus compressor and safety limiters on the headphones and talkback.
A great tip is to save your talkback and cue mix masters in a track preset for quick creation in sessions. Everything is running in DSP and it is only when I started to add instances of Eleven that I ran out of road. Eleven is particularly heavy on DSP and while I was intending to create 4 instances, I could only create 3.
That being said I can work around this because the two instances of Revibe I am using don’t need to be running in DSP, the latency incurred would just manifest itself as a little extra pre-delay and reverb is also greedy on DSP resources. In this case by Command-clicking on the DSP mode buttons on the reverb returns it is possible to put those tracks into “DSP Mode Safe”, manually excluding them from the automatic switching of tracks downstream of DSP enabled tracks. For reverb returns, this is best practice. However, for parallel compression or similar, this approach wouldn’t work.
Setting up Pro Tools Carbon
Pro Tools Carbon uses AVB. To set up Pro Tools Carbon to work with Pro Tools you’ll need a qualifying Mac, AVB isn’t supported by all Macs but a good rule of thumb is that any Mac with a Thunderbolt connection should be suitable, not because Pro Tools Carbon needs Thunderbolt, it doesn’t, its just a good marker to show the computer is new enough to support AVB over Ethernet. For definitive info on compatibility, as ever, check the Avid website compatibility pages as not every AVB capable Mac is qualified.
In Audio MIDI Setup you can find the Pro Tools Carbon hardware in the Network Device browser. There isn’t much to do but be aware that the Pro Tools Carbon will show up as two devices: Pro Tools Carbon: I/O and Pro Tools Carbon: Reserved for Pro Tools. This is normal and happens because unlike Pro Tools HDX, Pro Tools Carbon plays nice with system sounds because Pro Tools Carbon shows as two network audio devices, the two sets of streams are summed in Pro Tools Carbon so it can be used for Pro Tools and for system audio. There isn’t a Loopback facility, which is a pity, but at least you can run system audio through the same hardware as Pro Tools.
What is the Pro Tools Carbon hardware?
Pro Tools Carbon is an all in one system. At present only a single Pro Tools Carbon unit can be used in a system. Avid hasn’t hinted that they will support more than one unit in the future but they haven’t said they won’t either. It contains DSP similar to an HDX card, which is discussed later, but physically it’s a 1U interface similar in appearance to the MTRX Studio. It is Mac only at present because it connects to the host computer via AVB. The host Mac needs to be running macOS 10.15.7 to support Pro Tools Carbon and Avid have worked closely with Apple on the AVB implementation. Pro Tools Carbon is currently macOS only because the Windows OS doesn’t easily support AVB.
Why AVB?
To connect with AVB instead of Thunderbolt might seem an odd choice but the decision is driven by a desire to future-proof Pro Tools Carbon from the inevitable march of progress in computer data connectivity. While connectors come and go from computers the ethernet port seems likely to be around for a long time, although on some laptops this has to be via adaptors. The current MacBook Pros work with Pro Tools Carbon via a Thunderbolt 3 to Ethernet adaptor.
One other thing to be aware of is that if you are using an Ethernet port to connect to Pro Tools Carbon via AVB you will have to use a different port for other Ethernet duties such as Eucon or connecting to a network.
The choice of AVB might surprise some but Avid have been using AVB in their line of live systems like the S6L for years. Unlike Dante, it offers deterministic rather than best-effort delivery.
Stereo Only - No Surround
The Pro Tools Carbon hardware itself is stereo only and supports 24 inputs at 48KHz” 25 including talkback. Which also changes the maximum number of inputs at other sample rates:
48 kHz - 25 inputs
96 kHz - 17 inputs
192 kHz - 13 inputs.
This is provided via 8 mic preamps, 2 instrument inputs, 8 line inputs via TRS or D-sub, 16 ADAT inputs and a built-in talkback mic. On the output side, there are a pair of monitor outs on TRS, 8 line outs on D-sub, 16 ADAT outputs and 4 stereo headphone outputs. All of which adds up to 34 outputs and it all works with the Native version of Pro Tools, even though there are 2 more outputs than the 32 I/O limit for Pro Tools Native.
While Pro Tools Carbon has enough I/O to support surround monitoring, the monitor control section does not yet support it. Although it could be used in a stereo post-production environment, Pro Tools Carbon does not support frame edge syncing, which may be required when working to picture.
Clocking And Word Clock
Conversion and clocking is top quality. Apparently, Avid put a lot of work into making sure that this in-house design is comparable quality to the recent collaborations with DAD. The back panel carries word clock on BNCs if you need it, and the internal clock is via a JetPLL, so jitter performance will be first-rate. Unless you were hooking up ADAT preamps which couldn’t accept external clock I would expect the Pro Tools Carbon to be the master clock in most environments.
Supports Up To 192KHz
Pro Tools Carbon supports sample rates up to 96KHz by default. It does support sample rates up to 192KHz but in order to see that as an option you need to change the AVB configuration. In Audio MIDI Setup right click on the Pro Tools Carbon Engine, choose Configure Device which opens another app. Then highlight Pro Tools Carbon and change your config. The reason for not having this available at all times is that this configuration will use more CPU resources so it is recommended to only enable it if you actually need 192k. The ADAT connections can be run in SMUX for sample rates higher than 48KHz. This will halve the available inputs and outputs so, for example, the maximum available inputs would drop from 24 to 16 (not including the talkback mic input).
There is also no other digital IO available or Dante or even a way to expand further using AVB.
Pro Tools Carbon Has 25 Inputs
On the input side, we have 24 inputs, 25 if you count the talkback mic, as the choice for the analogue inputs is an either/or choice between Mic/Line/Instrument on inputs 1&2 and Mic/Line for inputs 3-8. The Mic inputs are all rear-mounted combi XLR/TRS connectors but thankfully the provision of the same 8 analogue ins on D-sub means that a mic and a line source can be left connected at the same time, though not used at the same time.
No Need For Control Software - All Driven From The Front Panel
The unit is easy to drive from the front panel with two rotary encoders, the left one controlling inputs, the right one controlling outputs and illuminated buttons which, via a well-chosen use of colour, in a similar way to the MTRX Studio, keep the user informed as to what is going on.
You can interrogate the unit from the front panel and there is no global status view. If you have phantom enabled on an input you won’t be able to tell unless you select that input and check. Inputs can be cycled through and selected by pressing the left-hand encoder. The currently selected input is indicated on the 8 front panel input meters by the number above the relevant meter turning green. Once selected the input can be adjusted for gain, phantom power, polarity invert, and impedance where applicable.
Variable Input Impedance
There is variable impedance provided on the instrument inputs with 5 different colour-coded settings which can be cycled through by pressing the Z button, which changes colour to indicate the current impedance. There’s 1M ohm (white/default), 230k ohm (cyan), 90k ohm (blue), 72k ohm (violet), and 32k ohm (fuchsia) and the rear panel 5-8 mic inputs have 3 different settings that are colour coded and switchable from the Pro Tools Carbon front panel. These are 5k ohm (white/default), 50k ohm (cyan), and 1k ohm (fuchsia).
34 Outputs
There are 34 outputs available in total. The two TRS monitor outputs are independent of the other 8 line outs available on the D-sub. The generous provision of 4 stereo headphone outputs which can, but don’t have to, mirror the main outputs, and the 2 ADAT outs accounting for the rest.
There are some nice touches in here including the auto-sensing headphone sockets so when pushing the right-hand encoder to cycle through the colour coded headphone outputs you don’t have to cycle through outputs which aren’t in use, they are skipped. The same system is used on the instrument inputs, where cycling through the available inputs on inputs 1 or 2 only Mic and Line are available unless there is a jack connected to the Instrument input.
In the Hardware window of Pro Tools 2020.11, any of the 4 headphone outputs can be set to mirror the main monitor output or run its own discrete output. The line outputs are switchable between +4dBu and -10dBV and by default, only the TRS monitor output’s level is variable via the right-hand encoder
If you want to run multiple monitors then line 1-2 and 3-4 can be set to operate as variable monitor outs for running alternate sets of monitors from the same hardware window. The monitors can be switched between using the A, B and C buttons to the left of the right-hand encoder.
Monitor switching, Cut and Dim are all that is available here, level control adjusts the level of all three outputs and any level matching between monitors needs to be done elsewhere but three pairs of monitors can be accommodated without a separate monitor controller.
Pro Tools Carbon Preamps
There is 60dB of gain available from the mic preamps, typical for utility preamps and passive mics would be perfectly catered for on loud sources. The three impedance choices offer useful tonal options on both the instrument inputs on inputs 1-2 and mic inputs 5-8.
Talkback Mic
The talkback mic shows up in the IO window and is routed via Pro Tools just like any other input, which is exactly how it should be. The Talkback mic is a great example of the focus and attention to details which has gone into Pro Tools Carbon. The mic is built into the front panel, it’s a small hole over by the Avid logo. It’s operated by a front panel button or via a footswitch. The gain is adjustable in 6dB increments from the Hardware window in Pro Tools and when engaged it activates the Dim on for the monitor outs, also adjustable in the hardware window. The clever bit is that when pressed momentarily the talkback latches and when pressed for longer it’s momentary. A standard piano sustain pedal can be used to operate the talkback but the footswitch is always momentary.
Fan Noise
A question, which often goes unanswered about hardware of this type is does it have a fan and is it noisy? Thankfully although it does have a fan, a suitable amount of thought has gone into cooling, as illustrated by the pair of dual front panel slits which allow air in from the front. Avid use a planar low-speed fan, which draws air in the front and out of the sides. Throughout the test period, with the unit next to me, unracked, I heard no noise beyond the clicking of relays when switching settings.
Using Pro Tools Carbon In The Studio
There are various ways to get the full zero-latency tracking experience, by which I mean punching in and out without issue across multiple tracks monitoring through plugins. However if you want to use Pro Tools, and many do, then most of these choices disappear. It comes down to HDX for this and given those choices then Pro Tools Carbon is a solution suitable for a great many users, and crucially it is simple.
As long as you’ve already set up Pro Tools Carbon in Audio MIDI Setup, connect Pro Tools Carbon to your network port, launch Pro Tools and you’re in. Pro Tools Carbon shows up as “Pro Tools Carbon” in the Playback Engine.
Running your session is exactly like any native Pro Tools session until you decide to enable DSP mode using the new button between the group assign and the automation mode selector in the mixer or by the track display selector in the edit window. There is a new preference in the Operation tab.
The purpose of ‘Enable DSP Mode’ when tracks with Hardware Inputs are Record-Armed/Input-Enabled” doesn’t credit much further explanation. The name says it all really. DSP mode will persist after the record pass, it doesn’t cancel when you’re done.
The neat thing is that all of these Pro Tools Carbon-specific features of Pro Tools don’t appear when running Pro Tools 2020.11 with a playback Engine other than Pro Tools Carbon. You don’t have buttons you can’t use.
Pro Tools With Carbon Is Smart
When tracking using Pro Tools Carbon the Hybrid engine is smart enough to do what is needed to maintain low latency across all the necessary paths and as explained earlier will automatically enable DSP Mode on all necessary tracks. When you first click on a DSP Mode enable button you’ll be presented with a dialog explaining that “DSP Mode has been automatically enabled for one or more tracks to preserve Low Latency Monitoring for the entire signal path”. You have a “Don’t show this again” option.
If you want to understand the whole Pro Tools Carbon concept, there it is in a single dialogue box. You have the option to manually exclude tracks from this automatic switching to DSP mode as mentioned in the reverb return example earlier and that is pretty much it. It’s simple, consistent and it makes latency go away by pressing a button!
There will probably be some people reading this thinking that they track quite happily at 32 samples and this sounds like a lot of money for not much benefit. All I can say is I have tracked quite happily at low buffer settings. It works. However, the difference between low latency and (effectively) no latency is like that moment when sitting in a quiet kitchen and the fridge stops buzzing. You didn’t realise it was annoying you until it stopped, but when it went away it was just so nice!
Tracking an acoustic guitar the sound of the instrument and the monitored signal lock into one and the same thing. Vocals have always been the very worst offender for me for picking up on latency because the sound travelling through your skull is so unavoidable and completely instantaneous! Again with Pro Tools Carbon, the monitored signal and your internal voice just become one. The most surprising thing I found using Pro Tools Carbon was how much fun tracking, or just monitoring electric guitars becomes. Being able to track electric guitars through plug-ins, in Pro Tools at near-zero latency feels great. Probably helped by the switchable impedance. Even though I have more modern amp sims, with this combination Avid’s Eleven got a whole new lease of life.
The paragraph above reads as if I’ve never experienced this level of low latency before. I absolutely have, I’ve used DSP based Pro Tools systems extensively for years. Like many, I’ve never been tempted to get my own HDX system and it’s been a while since I’ve had access to an HDX or TDM system, so I’ve got used to the compromises you make using a native Pro Tools system because the cost of entry to HDX was just too high for me to justify.
This is the point of Pro Tools Carbon.
For those people tracking bands and solo musicians and, with a little imagination, even larger ensembles, Pro Tools Carbon makes the compromises go away without having to make the large leap in expense and complexity that an HDX system entails.
Add some ADAT equipped mic preamps and a qualifying MacBook Pro or even a Mac mini, and you have the ideal mobile recording solution for tracking in nice-sounding spaces all in a 3U rack. Having 4 low latency headphone outs built-in is exactly the right number for a typical band session, well actually five might have been better as I could see me frequently giving up the engineer’s cans for a 4th mix but adding an external multichannel headphone amp means you can share those 4 mixes many ways. The Pro Tools Carbon unit is clever enough to sense when headphones or guitar leads are connected and if there is no connection present it will skip that option when cycling through the available inputs or outputs.
Is The Front Panel Enough?
On the subject of the information offered by the display, the front panel is the only place you can monitor the status of most of the hardware settings. Most premium interfaces have a control app. This is something if a necessary evil as direct monitoring through hardware is the most common solution to the latency problem when tracking with a native DAW. These control apps also provide an overview of the status of the hardware; phantom power, input switching etc. Because of the way Pro Tools Carbon integrates so closely with Pro Tools, there is no need to have a control app. The AVB settings are set up in Audio MIDI setup and a limited number of settings can be accessed from the Hardware window in Pro Tools. If you want to get an overview of whether your inputs are set to mic or line or whether you have phantom power active on any channel you cycle through the inputs by pressing the left-hand encoder repeatedly and reading the information off the front panel.
Can You Use Pro Tools Carbon With Other DAWs?
Considering some parameters are only accessible from within Pro Tools it begs the question: Can you use Pro Tools Carbon with other DAWs? The answer is yes. Nearly everything is accessible from the front panel and in the same way as Pro Tools Carbon can be used for system sounds, it can also be used with DAWs other than Pro Tools. This would be to miss the point of the system as the DSP mode is Pro Tools only and the DSP processing is for AAX plug-ins. For a non-Pro Tools user to buy Pro Tools Carbon would be a strange choice but lots of Pro Tools users also use other DAWs and unlike with HDX systems where integrating other DAWs into your system isn’t straightforward, with Pro Tools Carbon it is simple but omits some features.
Session Interchange Between Pro Tools Users
If you want to share a session created using Pro Tools Carbon’s unique features with a Pro Tools native user it couldn’t be simpler. The DSP mode isn’t available and so its features just aren’t displayed. Opening my test session on Pro Tools Ultimate 2020.9 everything was available apart from my headphone outputs, which needed to be re-mapped and the talkback, which isn’t available on my Focusrite Red 4Pre. A round trip back to 2020.11 with Pro Tools Carbon was seamless.
Extended Warranty Available For Pro Tools Carbon
Pro Tools Carbon includes a 1-year hardware warranty. During the 1st year, your interface needs service, you can send it to Avid for repair but they advise this could have a 4-6 week turnaround. If you don’t want to be without your Carbon interface for that long, you might want to consider purchasing a Pro Tools Carbon 3-Year Extended Hardware Support contract for $399, which includes zero-downtime advance replacement of your Carbon unit. It is available to all Carbon users but you need to sign up for the extended hardware support option within 90 days of activating your Avid Carbon hardware. This can be purchased either from your MyAvid account or from your Avid reseller.
Want To See More Of Pro Tools Carbon? Check Out These 3 Videos From Avid…
What Is Pro Tools Carbon?
Pro Tools Carbon - What Comes In The Box
Pro Tools Carbon - Configuring Pro Tools
What Software Comes With Pro Tools Carbon?
This brings me to the software that comes with Pro Tools Carbon. Pro Tools Carbon ships with a copy of Pro Tools Standard. You don’t get Ultimate and considering it is a stereo-only device the only Ultimate feature you might miss would be the advanced automation. This is a one-year subscription and if you choose not to continue with the subscription at the end of that year your licence will revert to a perpetual licence, meaning that you will continue to have access to Pro Tools albeit without access to updates once your subscription expires.
As part of the subscription, you will have access to the Avid Complete Bundle including the Avid Pro series plug-ins, Revibe and Eleven as well as, with a handful of minor exceptions, everything else Avid offers. As these are all AAX DSP plug-ins you’ll have plenty of compatible options. While some of the plug-ins are quite old it is still the case that there are an awful lot of plugins available here.
On top of the stock plugins and the Avid Complete Bundle Avid are also including a bundle of third-party plugins available from Brainworx, Arturia, UVI and more worth over $1600:
DSP Plugins Included With Pro Tools Carbon
Brainwork_rockrack
Purple Audio MC77
Native Plugins Included With Pro Tools Carbon
Arturia Rev PLATE-140
Embody Immerse Virtual Studio
Native Instruments Vintage Organs
UVI Model D Piano
Should You Buy Pro Tools Carbon?
Pro Tools Carbon costs $3999. For that, you get a premium quality, all in one solution suitable for the majority of music tracking and mixing. Bundled software including Pro Tools makes the offer more appealing, but even disregarding that, I’d still suggest that for the right customer, who wants to use Pro Tools and is prepared to pay a premium compared to a similarly equipped native-only interface to be able to forget about latency completely, it’s an ideal solution. You can get the work done without Pro Tools Carbon but it is just so nice to be able to work freely without considering latency that I suspect many people will happily pay the money.
If you want to see how Pro Tools Carbon compares with similar offerings from Universal Audio and Apogee then check out our comprehensive comparison article.
Pros
The simplest way to forget about latency in Pro Tools
Excellent build quality
Fantastic sound quality
Good connectivity
Pro Tools included, one-year subscription then drops to a perpetual licence
Supports up to 192kHz
Cons
Currently unable to expand
Cost may still put some people off
For DSP you have to rely on HDX AAX plugins
Does not work with older Macs
No Windows support
No global hardware settings views
Want To Buy Avid Carbon?
Unlike previous Avid hardware product launches, with Pro Tools Carbon you can buy it straight away from Selected Avid resellers.