Avid's Pro Tools 9 is the latest version of the industry standard music production software. It's got some game changing features in it when compared to older versions of the software, including the ability to run it with third party audio interfaces and as a standalone piece of software without any interface at all. You do need to have the serial number and information from your audio interface to run it however, so it's not like you can have no interface at all. I recently 'cross-graded' my version of Pro Tools LE 8 to Pro Tools 9, which is now no longer considered an 'LE' product. You can download it straight from Avid's site or get a boxed version. You'll need an iLok to run it with as well. In general I didn't have too much trouble getting the software up and running, but did also have to upgrade my operating system to 10.6, as it won't run with earlier versions in theory. The interface of Pro Tools 9 is pretty similar to Pro Tools 8, so there isn't as much of an adjustment here as there was going from Pro Tools 7 to 8. A manual might be a good idea, especially if you're new to Pro Tools altogether.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I'm running Avid Pro Tools 9 on my system at home, which consists of a Mac Book Pro computer. The lap top has 4 GB of RAM and a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. My audio interface is a Digi 002R when I'm running it, but since I've got Pro Tools 9 I've been running it standalone pretty often. I haven't noticed any negative changes in performance going from Pro Tools 8 to Pro Tools 9 - if anything it's smoother and faster...

OVERALL OPINION

Avid Pro Tools 9 offers up a slew of great features that make the upgrade well worth it. It's more expensive if you aren't upgrading from LE or M-Powered, but for those who are upgrading, or cross-grading, it's definitely worth. Beyond being able to run Pro Tools on your lap top, you get double the amount of voices (now up to 96), double the amount of audio tracks you can record at once, as well as more instrument, MIDI, bus, and aux tracks. Pro Tools 9 also features automatic delay compensation (previously only available in Pro Tools HD), multitrack beat detective, core audio support, mp3 export, and easier file conversions between DAW's. Most of these options you either had to pay extra for in the past, or were only available in HD systems. As you can see, Pro Tools 9 is a big change for them, undoubtedly made in light of all the new illegal cracks out there. Every Pro Tools LE user needs to consider making the switch to Pro Tools 9!