Difference between Pro Tools 8 and newer versions

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Hi there,

Just wanted to ask this question here: What (and how much) is the difference in quality between tracks produced in older versions of Pro Tools (I own Pro Tools 8.0.5) and the newer HD versions (Pro Tools 10 and above)? Is there a drastic difference? Your answers would help guide my decision on whether I should update my pro tools to the latest HD versions. One serious limitation of my current version is that it is only RTAS compatible when it comes to plugins (so that means I can't even use all the great vst and aax type plugins that are available out there for free). Thanks!
 
What (and how much) is the difference in quality between tracks produced in older versions of Pro Tools (I own Pro Tools 8.0.5) and the newer HD versions (Pro Tools 10 and above)?

Hi,
There's quite a long list of differences between V8 and later versions but difference in quality? In basic usage, none.
They all record and store data in a lossless format so the quality is coming from your source, environment, performance, mics, preamps, converters, etc.

As you point out V9 and later can use AAX plugins (from memory) so that's one of the big reasons that V8 is really starting to show it's age.
If I remember correctly V8 didn't have clip gain or offline bounce?
These are feature/functional differences, though. For straight up recording and comparing they're going to be equal.
 
Hi,
There's quite a long list of differences between V8 and later versions but difference in quality? In basic usage, none.
They all record and store data in a lossless format so the quality is coming from your source, environment, performance, mics, preamps, converters, etc.

As you point out V9 and later can use AAX plugins (from memory) so that's one of the big reasons that V8 is really starting to show it's age.
If I remember correctly V8 didn't have clip gain or offline bounce?
These are feature/functional differences, though. For straight up recording and comparing they're going to be equal.

Thanks Steenamaroo for your reply. Yes V8 doesn't have clip gain (and I'm not 100% sure but it probably doesn't have offline bounce either). By the way, I'm not familiar with the term "offline bounce"...is it a different way of bouncing tracks? Thanks.
 
Hi. No problem. :)

In PT8 bouncing is done in real time. If the song is 3:30, it takes 3:30 to bounce it and you listen to it as it happens.
In V10 and later (i think) offline bounce is included so, depending on hardware, the bounce might happen 10X faster and isn't heard.

Another fairly major feature that was added in 9 (or 10?) was delay compensation.
That means if some plugin introduces X delay for processing, Protools automatically delays all the other tracks by this amount so that, relatively speaking, nothing has changed.
I forgot there that in 8 or earlier you had to manually stick delays on every track if some plugin introduced noticeable processing delay.
 
Hi. No problem. :)

In PT8 bouncing is done in real time. If the song is 3:30, it takes 3:30 to bounce it and you listen to it as it happens.
In V10 and later (i think) offline bounce is included so, depending on hardware, the bounce might happen 10X faster and isn't heard.

Another fairly major feature that was added in 9 (or 10?) was delay compensation.
That means if some plugin introduces X delay for processing, Protools automatically delays all the other tracks by this amount so that, relatively speaking, nothing has changed.
I forgot there that in 8 or earlier you had to manually stick delays on every track if some plugin introduced noticeable processing delay.

Thanks again, Steenamaroo! The "offline bounce" option sounds really cool and convenient. Also, I was completely unaware of the concept of "delay compensation" up until now. Thanks for bringing that up...I had no idea that plugins (even non delay type plugins like eq and compressors???) could introduce processing delay onto tracks...So how can a mixer know whether a plugin has introduced some subtle processing delay (or not), especially if it is very subtle and barely noticeable? Do they notice it by hearing it or visually? I apologize if I'm asking too many questions, but I was just curious. Thank you.
 
No apology necessary.

Some plugins introduce 64 ms or something like that.
If it's just a straight up compressor on your bass then no one's going to notice if it's parallel processing you're doing then it'll sound weird; That has to be ms-accurate.

Some plugins can add a huge amount although they are rare enough.
I think Waves Tune adds 1024 ms , for example.

My memory is terrible and PT 8 is about 10 years ago for me but I'm pretty sure in the mix window, right near the bottom/track name, you should have a read out for fader position (0.0 by default).
I think that can be ctrl-clicked to cycle through various values, one of which is delay.

To be truthful these are both features that the community shouted about for years as the competition had them way before ProTools finally got around to it.

I guess none is essential but, depending on your workflow, they can make a huge difference.
 
Clip gain is one of the most useful features. When I started using PT (7.4 LE) I had been using Sony Vegas for years and was completely used to having it available. I couldn't believe PT didn't have it. You had to use Audio Suite, which was very clumsy.

I'm pretty sure PT 9 was the first one to go to 32 bit floating point processing from 40 bit fixed point.
 
Thanks Steenamaroo,

I think I noticed that something was off and not in sync while parallel processing bass and guitars in the last couple of songs that I mixed. I thought it had to do with me not knowing the right attack/release settings, but now I think it might have been the delay introduced by the compressor. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Also, thanks for pointing out how to change the fader position value to delay. I am going to try that right now!
 
Thanks bouldersoundguy,

I use the "Gain" feature from the Audio Suite quite a bit!
 
Clip gain, if you're not aware, is something you can manually adjust along the timeline, just like regular track volume.
The difference is that it's pre-fader/effects.

It's super useful if, for example, you want to level out some performance pre-compressor.
There were always workarounds like inserting some other plugin before your compressor and automating its volume but clip gain is certainly much more convenient.
I find myself using it a lot more than I ever thought I would.
 
Clip gain, if you're not aware, is something you can manually adjust along the timeline, just like regular track volume.
The difference is that it's pre-fader/effects.

It's super useful if, for example, you want to level out some performance pre-compressor.
There were always workarounds like inserting some other plugin before your compressor and automating its volume but clip gain is certainly much more convenient.
I find myself using it a lot more than I ever thought I would.

Thanks Steenamaroo,

Being able to adjust the clip gain just like a regular track volume definitely sounds very useful (with the PT 8 Audio Suite gain, it can be very annoying to undo and redo the processing if one's not satisfied with the end result) Also, the fact that it is pre-fader/effects is really cool (the PT 8 Audio Suite gain obviously seems to be post-fader/effects?) Thanks!
 
The clip gain tool is way better. You have no idea how annoying using Audio Suite is until you have clip gain.

Thanks bouldersoundguy,

Yes, the clip gain tool definitely seems much better than the PT 8 Audio Suite gain!
 
the PT 8 Audio Suite gain obviously seems to be post-fader/effects?!

Good question. I expect those would be pre too, since you have tools like normalise, but I'm not 100%.
It's such a shame PT is so expensive now. I mean, it was never cheap but there were ways in.
I effectively got PT 8 through 12 for something like £20 a year and now if I want to upgrade it's hundreds. :(
 
Thanks Steenamaroo for pointing out that the PT 8 gain is pre-fader as well...Yes, it's definitely a shame that PT is that expensive now!
 
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