The situation regarding toolkits has often been prone to confusion, especially because since the release of Pro Tools 8, as you may know, it's been possible to run both the software-only version of Pro Tools and the Pro Tools HD application on computers without Avid audio hardware.

Pro Tools 11 also marks the end of the Complete Production Toolkit (CPTK), which enabled users of the software-only Pro Tools to gain access to features found in the Pro Tools HD application. So you might get lucky, but it's probably safer to assume that you'll need new interfaces when trading in your old gear for a new system. Avid have said they are no longer supported, but it was mentioned in a 'webinar' on their web site that the company haven't actively done anything to specifically make them not work. If you're running HD cards, you'll need to upgrade to HDX or HD Native hardware to use Pro Tools HD 11, although it might be possible to continue using the 'blue' interfaces. However, in Avid's defence, the company were very clear that this would be the case when Pro Tools 10 was released so while it will be a bitter pill for many to swallow, the prescription was written nearly two years ago. This is obviously going to irritate a great many people: specifically, those who have been happily running the Pro Tools 10 software on their HD systems. Pro Tools 11 discontinues support for 'legacy' Pro Tools HD Accel systems, including the 'blue' interfaces introduced over a decade ago with the original Pro Tools HD.

Unless you're an HDX, HD Native, or completely native user, the upgrade to Pro Tools 11 for you could be larger and more expensive than it will be for others. However, the culmination of all of these new technologies comes at the expense of backwards compatibility. It brings together everything Avid have been working on for the last four years - a new audio engine, a new plug-in architecture, and the latest native and DSP-based hardware - in one modern, 64-bit application.

If Pro Tools 10 was a watershed release in the product's history, Pro Tools 11 marks the beginning of a new era for Avid's audio production platform. With its 64-bit architecture and new AAX plug-in format, Pro Tools 11 cuts ties with the past - for the sake of impressive performance gains.

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