Avid Launches Pro Tools | Carbon, Targeting Music Creators with Hybrid Audio Production System

Avid has come full circle with its solutions, settings its sites squarely on music creators with the launch of Pro Tools | Carbon.

With this next-gen audio interface, artists, bands, engineers, and producers now have what Avid refers to as a “hybrid audio production system” that prioritizes sound quality above all else. With Carbon, the Pro Tools integration combines the user’s native CPU with the performance of HDX DSP acceleration, enabling extremely low latency for a very smooth tracking experience.

Although Pro Tools | Carbon can be used with both Pro Tools Ultimate and Pro Tools Standard, it’s important to note that it is Mac only at launch–Windows support will be available with a future release. As a music creation-focused product, it does not support frame edge syncing which is often required in audio post workflows, thereby limiting its usefulness for that application.

Pricing for Pro Tools | Carbon starts at $3,999 USD, which includes a one-year Pro Tools subscription and partner plugins from Arturia, McDSP, Plugin Alliance, UVI, Native Instruments and Embody at no additional cost.

Designed specifically for music creators, Pro Tools | Carbon is available now.

Here are full details of this significant new launch, as provided by Avid:

The all-new Pro Tools Hybrid Engine lets users push their CPUs to the limit when working with virtual instruments and mixing. It simultaneously allows users to access on-demand, low latency channels to record through AAX DSP plug-ins in real time—with sub-1 ms latency monitoring performance. With the ability to easily toggle a single DSP Mode button per track in Pro Tools, users have the flexibility to simplify their workflow for recording and mixing, so they can focus on the music they’re making—not what they’re making it with.

AAX DSP is at the core of the Hybrid Engine and is the only plugin architecture that offers true hybrid capabilities. AAX DSP delivers the same sound quality in both native and HDX DSP Acceleration domains, enabling users to toggle in and out of DSP Mode while maintaining equally exceptional sound quality. This also enables music creators to easily disconnect Pro Tools | Carbon and take their mix on the road or collaborate with others who don’t have the interface.

Pro Tools Carbon provides 25 x 34 simultaneous I/O to record full band sessions.

Featuring pristine converters, double resolution clocking, and Avid’s most transparent mic preamp design yet, Pro Tools | Carbon has been meticulously designed so that with the push of the record button every nuance of every performance is captured with the greatest depth, dimension, and clarity.

In addition, Pro Tools 2020 introduces a new dramatic dark themed UI that’s sleek, inspiring, and easier on the eyes—especially in lower light conditions. It also provides new ways to create and advance ideas with the ability to analyze audio and render it as MIDI notes. For audio post professionals, Pro Tools 2020 includes native integration to export ADM files for Dolby Atmos®, a new space clips function that lets you arrange a multitude of clips in a fraction of the time, and it reintroduces the ability to bounce sessions to QuickTime formats in macOS Catalina.

Avid will host a series of Pro Tools | Carbon webinars starting November 13. To register for a webinar in your region, visit avid.com/audio-events. For more information about Pro Tools | Carbon, visit avid.com/carbon. 

“With onboard HDX DSP, Pro Tools | Carbon puts low latency power at your fingertips,” said Foo Fighters, Radiohead and Beck. “I can have AAX DSP plugins on my tracking channels at the ready and access them whenever I want. I work extremely fast, so the fewer steps that I need to think about, the better. Pro Tools | Carbon really speeds up the recording process. Plus, its transparent converter and preamp design sounds amazing.”

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