Avid Debuts New Products at 2020 NAMM Show that Boost the Creative Powers of Music and Audio Pros from Studio to Stage

Today at The 2020 NAMM Show, Avid® (Nasdaq: AVID) debuts a wide range of powerful tools and solutions in music, composing, audio post and live sound for creatives at every stage of their career. Highlights in Avid's booth (#15502, North Hall) will include major updates of its flagship Pro Tools® and Sibelius® creative tools, control surfaces for any size venue or studio, and enhanced apps and services for creative collaboration and music distribution to streaming services.

"Our NAMM debuts show how Avid is delivering powerful and professional capabilities of its high-end solutions in smaller, more affordable form factors that advance the creativity and opportunity of all users from musicians, producers, engineers to composers, teachers or students," said Dana Ruzicka, Chief Product Officer and Senior Vice President at Avid.  

Pro Tools Advancements

The first release of Pro Tools 2020, which provides support for macOS Catalina, delivers Folder Tracks for more flexible and creative session organization. Tracks can be grouped in up to nine folder levels, a top level folder and eight nested folders, that can be collapsed and color-coded for easier navigation. Users can bring better focus to large productions and free their mind to work more productively by reducing the on-screen complexity attributed to sessions or projects with higher track counts. 

Pro Tools | MTRX Studio™ delivers high-quality I/O, extensive routing possibilities and premium monitoring in one audio interface, enabling users to save money and eliminate configuration complexities by replacing multiple devices in the signal chain. From recording and monitoring, to routing audio across multiple rooms and devices, tuning speakers with built-in advanced calibration, creating monitor profiles and folding down mixes, it's the ideal centerpiece for professional music and audio post facilities of all sizes.

With the introduction of Avid's new Pro Tools | HDX Thunderbolt 3 Chassis—built in partnership with Sonnet Technologies—Avid is bringing Pro Tools | HDX, the industry's most powerful, lowest-latency DSP-accelerated audio production system to an easily connected, Thunderbolt 3 desktop or rack solution. Also, with the addition of the new Thunderbolt 3 chassis there are pre-configured bundles, featuring Pro Tools | Ultimate™, Pro Tools | HDX, and Pro Tools hardware I/O at significant savings. Users can complete their studio with a pre-configured Pro Tools | Ultimate solution that provides the cutting-edge DSP hardware and high-quality I/O pairing they need. 

Control Surface Innovation 

Avid S1 delivers the unparalleled speed, rich visual feedback and software integration of Avid's high-end consoles in a portable, slimline surface that's an easy fit for any space or budget. Avid S4 brings the power and workflows of Avid's industry-leading Avid S6 control surface to budget-conscious audio professionals and small- to mid-size music and audio post facilities in an ergonomic and more compact package. 

Like the S6, the S4 and S1 are powered by EUCON™ to offer deep integration with Pro Tools and Media Composer®, plus native support for third-party applications such as Logic Pro, Cubase, Premiere Pro and more.

The latest Avid Control app offers expanded functionality and views, enabling users to take control of their favorite audio and video software from their iOS or Android tablet or smartphone. Users can wirelessly control the recording, editing, mixing and monitoring functions of their software, faster than working with a mouse and keyboard alone, and get great visual feedback and one-tap access to hundreds of commands. When used with Avid S1, Avid S3, Avid Dock or other Avid controllers, users gain extensive touch workflows and custom control. 

Sibelius 2020 

Sibelius 2020 introduces new auto-optimizing features that ensure scores always look perfect, even while users are still composing, so they can spend more time on their music rather than editing and formatting a score. It also comes with a fully refreshed set of House Styles to give scores a more modern or classical look. In addition—and in partnership with Berklee School of Music—Sibelius includes many new accessibility enhancements that enable visually impaired users to manipulate every aspect of their score.

Live Sound

Avid VENUE™ | S6L delivers the unmatched processing power and sound clarity that artists and engineers rely on to present the best show possible. And now, mixing the largest live productions is easier than ever before with the 48-fader Avid VENUE | S6L-48D control surface. In addition, together with the recent Avid VENUE 6.2 software release, S6L now supports dual operator workflows, making it ideal for programming theater sound, mixing live broadcast events and other complex productions. 

Enhanced Apps and Services

For artists, musicians, and creators wanting to stream and sell their music while keeping 100 percent of their earnings and rights, AvidPlay offers a one-stop service to distribute music to Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Prime Music and other major streaming services around the world. And now it offers unlimited plans starting at $24.99 per year, distribution to Apple Music and TikTok, and social links for users to easily share their latest release. Users also now can promote featured artists and collaborators on their tracks. 

Free to all Avid creative tools users, the mobile and desktop Avid Link app allows users to manage their products and add-ons with ease, endorse others' talents and skills, as well as share work from their portfolio directly in Lounges. Since launching at NAMM last year, Avid Link has grown as a convenient and powerful career resource for more than 500,000 individual creators.

The 2020 NAMM Show will be held Jan. 16-19 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.