Pro Tools Family
Pro Tools Software Comparison
| Pro Tools HD 10 | Pro Tools 10 | Pro Tools Express | Pro Tools MP 9 | Pro Tools SE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ideal for… | Pros who need maximum track counts, the highest performance, scalability, and surround sound for demanding music and post production |
Pros who want to compose, record, edit, and mix music or sound for picture with a complete set of tools and advanced workflows |
Aspiring music and audio pros on a limited budget who want the best sound quality possible and the essential features of Pro Tools |
Aspiring pros and those on a budget who want to create music, but don’t need all of the advanced features of Pro Tools |
Beginners or those looking for a simplified music creation, recording, editing, and mixing solution with built-in tutorials |
| Availability |
Comes bundled with Pro Tools|HDX and Pro Tools|HD Native systems only; can be used with or without hardware |
Can be purchased alone or as part of a Pro Tools software/hardware bundle; can be used with or without hardware |
Comes bundled at no charge with Mbox and Mbox Mini interfaces only |
Can be purchased alone or as part of a Pro Tools MP software/hardware bundle; requires an M-Audio interface |
Comes bundled at no charge with many M-Audio interfaces; requires an M-Audio interface |
| Supported tracks | |||||
| Maximum simultaneous audio tracks @ 48/96/192 kHz) |
256/128/641 (up to 768/384/192)2 |
96/48/24 (mono or stereo) |
16 / 16 / – (mono or stereo) |
48/32/ – | 16/ – / – |
| Audio recording (maximum simultaneous tracks) | 256 | 32 | 4 | 18 | 2 |
| Instrument | 128 | 64 | 8 | 32 | 8 (combination MIDI/Instrument tracks) |
| MIDI | 512 | 512 | 16 | 256 | see above |
| Auxiliary | 512 | 160 | 8 | 128 | 5 reverb sends |
| Busses | 256 | 256 | 16 | 256 | n/a |
| Video | 64 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| General | |||||
| Maximum sample rate supported (hardware dependent) | 32-bit, 192 kHz | 32-bit, 192 kHz | 32-bit, 96 kHz | 24-bit, 96 kHz | 24-bit, 48 kHz |
| Maximum I/O (hardware dependent) | 256 | 32 | 4 | 18 | 2 |
| ASIO, Core Audio, and EUCON support (for third-party interface and control surface integration) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Supported plug-in formats (virtual instruments, effects, and sound processors) | AAX DSP (Pro Tools|HDX only), AAX Native, TDM (Pro Tools|HD only), RTAS, AudioSuite | AAX Native, RTAS, AudioSuite | AAX Native, RTAS, AudioSuite | RTAS, AudioSuite | Works with bundled plug-ins and ReWire only; no third-party support |
| Bundled software |
Over 75 virtual instruments (thousands of sounds), effects, sound processing, and utility plug-ins; 8 GB sound library |
Over 75 virtual instruments (thousands of sounds), effects, sound processing, and utility plug-ins; 8 GB sound library |
Three virtual instruments (hundreds of sounds), plus over 25 effects, sound processing, and utility plug-ins |
Over 70 virtual instruments (thousands of sounds), effects, sound processing, and utility plug-ins; 8 GB sound library |
Over 100 virtual instrument sounds and 20 effects plug-ins; 3 GB sound library |
| Features | |||||
| Composing, recording, sequencing, editing, and mixing tools | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Loop record/track comping | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| MIDI Editor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sibelius Score Editor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Elastic Time and Elastic Pitch | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic Delay Compensation | 16k | 16k | 16k | 4k | n/a |
| Beat Detective | Multitrack | Multitrack | n/a | Single track only | n/a |
| QuickPunch | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| AAF/OMF/MXF file interchange | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| DigiBase Pro | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Clip Gain | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| MP3 option | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Export to iTunes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Timecode Ruler | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Full Import Session Data | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Variable stereo pan depths | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Field recorder workflows | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Surround mixing |
✓ (up to 7.1) |
With the Complete Production Tookit (CPT) option3 | |||
| Extended RAM/disk cache | ✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| TrackPunch / DestructivePunch | ✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| Input monitoring | ✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| VCA mixing | ✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| Solo bus AFL/PFL | ✓ | With CPT3 | |||
|
Advanced audio editing (Scrub Trim, Replace Region, Fit to Marks, Matching Channels, Back and Play, Auto Fades, and more) |
✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| Advanced automation (Punch, Capture, Write on stop, Write to all enabled, Automatch, Preview, and more) | ✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| Advanced video editing (multiple video tracks, multiple video playlists, and video editing tools) | ✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| Hardware interface support | |||||
|
Pro Tools HD Series interfaces |
✓ | ||||
|
Mbox family (2nd and 3rd gen) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ (Mbox and Mbox Mini 3rd gen only) |
||
| Eleven Rack | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| M-Audio interfaces | All interfaces | All interfaces | n/a | Only those in which it's bundled | |
| Third party | Any Core Audio- or ASIO-compatible interface | Any Core Audio- or ASIO-compatible interface | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Console and control surface support | |||||
| C|24 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
|
DirectLink-enabled M-Audio keyboards
|
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
|
EUCON-enabled |
✓ | ✓ | |||
|
HyperControl-enabled M-Audio keyboards |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
|
ICON |
✓ | With CPT3 | |||
| Third party | Any analog or digital surface that supports the HUI protocol | Any analog or digital surface that supports the HUI protocol | n/a | Any analog or digital surface that supports the HUI protocol | n/a |
1 Per Pro Tools|HDX or Pro Tools|HD Native card; track counts for Pro Tools|HD systems remain unchanged.
2 With Pro Tools|HDX systems only.
3 Get this and many other advanced features of Pro Tools HD when you add the Complete Production Toolkit (CPT) option to Pro Tools 10 software.
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