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Pro Tools M-Powered software for M-Audio !

Hhh please Mr. Digi,

Wanna a Pro Tools free for OS X now...pleaaaaase..

Avid/DigiDesign/M-Audio have just launched Pro Tools M-Powered. While Pro-tools has only worked with Digidesign hardware, now the software will work with at least part of the M-Audio line of audio Interfaces. Specifically the Audiophile 2496, Audiophile 192, FireWire 410, FireWire 1814, and Ozonic — the integrated 37-key audio/MIDI FireWire interface and controller. This move was probably inevitable with Avid's recent acquisition of M-Audio. To put it in Star Trek terms, M-Audio has been assimilated by the Avid Continuum.
With an expected $300 street price (PLUS the price of a compatible interface) P.T. M-Powered is obviously designed to compete with Apple's similarly priced Logic Express. The primary differences between the two products is that Logic Express will work with practically any Mac compatible audio interface and Pro Tools has both PC and Mac versions.
The argument could be made that since most people are using M-Audio interfaces with Logic Express, that PT M-powered is price equivalent. However with the least expensive compatible M-Audio interface at $180 street , the hardware/software combo is still going to cost as much as a DigiDesign $500 M-Box system. Also using Pro-Tools means using the Digidesign USB dongle.
Let's pretend that Logic Express and PT M-Powered are the same price, what about features? Logic Express can theoretically do 255 stereo audio tracks, PT claims 32 tracks, Which to be fair is about the limit of most computers to handle. PT ships with 30 Free effects plug-ins vs. Logic's 40. Logic has 27 software instruments and ReWire support, PT has no software instruments but has ReWire support for external instruments and programs. On most other fronts the two programs are roughly equivalent.
Bottom line? If you are looking for compatibility with pro studios and you do more traditional style straight recording, And if you have or are considering one of the compatible interfaces, Pro Tools might be the way to go. If you are a composer or use software instruments (synths)) to make and record music and you want to save a few bucks and don't want to be tied to Digidesign compatible hardware and plug-ins, Go with Logic Express.