Avid, the makers of Pro Tools, have unveiled a new line of their flagship interfaces. There are three new pieces of hardware available: the HD I/O, HD OMNI and HD MADI. Avid is claiming a ground up redesign of the platform, with features never before seen. Though not a Pro Tools HD user myself, i must admit that some of the new features sound remotely interesting (my best attempts to avoid being singled out as an endorser or band-wagoner).

New features include a new clocking and filtering system, and more interestingly, a proprietary new soft knee analog limiter (HD I/O and HD OMNI).

HD OMNI – Filling the “Mid Level” Void for Avid?

The HD Omni looks like it could be a great option for pro-sumer studios, or overdub/edit rooms at professional facilities. It includes HD conversion, 2 mic preamps, 4 Line In, surround monitoring and a 14×26 software mixer. Looking at it reminds me of a trusty old Edoril UA1000 card i had kicking around for ages. I’d love to hear what the Omni sounds like, especially when it comes to the preamps. Avid could be making a wise move to tackle that mid level market with this piece. If you are one of the thousands of people out there that doesn’t need loads of analog I/O, and you want to get into the PT|HD market, this could be worth checking out.

H.E.A.T. – “Analog Warmth And Colour for HD”

I put the title in “quotations” because I am not convinced that this is the revolution that AVID is pitching it as, but its interesting none the less. H.E.A.T. stands for Harmonically Enhanced Algorithm Technology, and as far as I can tell, is similar to existing products such as PSP’s MixSaturator or URS’s Saturation plugins. The clip’s i listened to on the AVID website illustrated very subtle applications of the effect, which when purchased for an additional $500 on top of your HD system, integrates its self into the HD interface. It apparently applies it self across every channel, which provides convinience, but detracts from the freedom of using your own third party plugins to taste around your projects. From what audio I heard, this is nothing new, but could work well into the work flow of those who want to use a saturation/tape style effect in their DAW environment. Have a listen to the clips for your self HERE.

What does this mean?

I am not sure. Like I said, I do not use Pro Tools HD, but i do think it’s good the recent success at cracking the HD protection sceme (and subsequently exposing AVID’s lies that HD was somehow hardware dependand beyond DSP) has put the pressure on the company to bring something new a fresh to the market. Even though I use a different DAW system, I always enjoy healthy competition amongs developers in the market.

Jamie Kuse
Follow me on twitter! @jamiekuse

As I type this, I am enjoying a sonic experience I have never obtained through in-ear headphone listening. After owning my new Monster Turbines for a couple days, I thought I would share my findings. At $149.99 retail, I was pleasantly surprised.

How do they sound?

The bass is extremely well defined; it is large and focused, without being hyped out of proportion. The highs are bright and present, without being too sibilant or harsh, and allow for a great stereo image. Finally, the mids are what really surprised me: They are so open and detailed. Punchy snare drums take on a three-dimensional smack, and vocals sound ideal. The detail is so good that I even noticed new minute nuances in my neurotically-studied copy of the hiphop mix engineer’s bible: Dr. Dre’s “Chronic 2001″. More subtle things, such as the delicate picking of an acoustic guitar, translate extremely well and give you the sense that the instrument is right there with you.

Any flaws?

The only flaw I have noticed thus far is that the cables and the plug-in seem a little lightly built, which is surprising from a company that primarily sells high-end audio and video cabling.  I also had a bit of a tough time deciding between the 5 different sizes of earphone tips to use, as the fit is crucial to the quality of the sound.

In conclusion…

I never really took the earbud-style headphone seriously; after all, I have my expensive studio monitors and headphones for my audiophile listening needs. As a diehard hiphop enthusiast, I am genuinely excited to own these headphones, which provide a fresh perspective that my studio monitors or large headphones do not give me. It feels good to have my eyes (ears) opened to the fact that earbuds can sound amazing, too.

These are just my two cents.  For other details & reviews please read more about the turbines here.