A New Time for Avid Pro Tools - A Conversation with François Quereuil, Vice President, Audio Product Management at Avid

Using the opportunity of the recent Audio Engineering Society convention in New York, I met with François Quereuil, Vice President, Audio Product Management at Avid, to discuss all the latest trends in that space, and in particular to learn where Pro Tools is heading. For the benefit of our many readers who don't normally follow the pro audio markets and are not exactly familiar with Avid and Pro Tools, enough to say that this is the market leading digital audio workstation (DAW) solution.

During the 2023 AES Convention in New York, Digital Audio Denmark (DAD) announced DADlink, a new proprietary audio and data format that establishes a super-fast connection between DADlink-compatible units such as the AX64, AX Center, Core 256, AX32, and other DAD audio interfaces. Depending on the sample rate, DADlink handles up to 128 bidirectional channels between units with a latency of less than 100 nano seconds.

DAD just announced a new Thunderbolt 3 audio interface for studios, location recording setups or touring rigs. The new AX Center is a dedicated Thunderbolt modular audio interface with dual microphone and instrument inputs, dual headphones and monitors outputs, built-in PRO|MON monitor control with speaker EQ, and two slots for DAD expansion cards. It comes with 256 channels via Thunderbolt, 256 Dante I/O channels, up to 192 MADI I/O channels and 16 ADAT channels, as well as onboard summing and processing.

Avid continues to be the undisputed leading DAW solution for professionals studios and music production, offering an extensive range of solutions from free basic software for musicians, all the way to complete broadcast and film production configurations in multi-million dollar studios. And yet, Avid has failed to generate any headlines in the industry for quite some time, even with its latest announcements proving that the company remains focused in updating its complete range of hardware and software.

In a strategic and focused effort to support broadcast audio sales in the US, NTP Technology is teaming up with industry veteran Kurt Howell. He joins the company as Sales Director for North America and will work in close co-operation with NTP’s and Digital Audio Denmark (DAD) current distribution.

Avid announced the availability of the Pro Tools MTRX SPQ Speaker Processing Card for speaker calibration and bass management. Built for the Pro Tools MTRX audio interface, the SPQ speaker processing option card enables complete control of monitoring systems and enables users to fine tune their mixing environment for a consistent experience across mono, stereo and immersive formats. The card offers precise control to manage bass and EQ monitors, and cue signals for the most challenging music and audio post-production projects.

At the 141st Audio Engineering Society convention, Digital Audio Denmark (DAD) scored big with some key announcements of joint projects with Danish speaker powerhouse Dynaudio, and a very interesting new product development for Avid, with the preview of the new MTRX audio interface for Pro Tools. Two powerful alliances, given DAD’s expertise with audio networking and AD/DA conversion technologies.