Given that Digidesign also owns market-leading scoring software Sibelius, this is hardly surprising, but the ease of use and resulting quality of output is a real boon. Score writers will also be delighted with the debut of notation in Pro Tools. The ability to display and draw volume, panning, mute automation data and more in separate lanes is a blessed relief. Similarly, LE 8's introduction of multiple automation lanes per track is reminiscent of Cubase or Reason 4, which is no bad thing. In workflow improvements, there's a new track compositing workflow, whereby you can view multiple takes from a track's alternate playlist, select the best sections from each pass and a single click sends them all to the main playlist for the track. There are a further 20 new Air effects, the arrival of which go hand in hand with the ability to host 10 insert effects per track, which is twice LE 7's meagre limit of five. There are also new mix plug-ins, including Eleven Free, a light version of Digidesign's renowned guitar amp sim, and Structure Free, a light version of its sampler.
All five are very welcome additions and broaden LE's tonal palette.
There are five new virtual instruments: the Mini Grand piano the DB33, a B3 Hammond-style organ Vacuum, a full-phat 'tube mono synth' Boom, an analogue Ultrabeat-style drum machine and Xpand2, LE's sample player, here upgraded in feature set and content. In fact, there simply isn't room here to detail the myriad new features in version 8, but there are some noteworthy headline features. Naturally, Pro Tools users aren't being asked to dig deep in these troubled times just for a new skin on old windows. Overall, it's a pleasure to work with: a pretty face never hurt anyone and Pro Tools is now arguably the best-looking DAW. Waveforms are more detailed, windows can be docked and you can customise the Edit window toolbar. Grid lines now show through the translucent audio regions, making alignments easier, and the markings have improved on the mix faders. Gone is the old, Mac OS 9-like austerity of the previous interface - in version 8, colour abounds, with rounded corners on everything, 3D glassy buttons, crisper text and a thoroughly 21st century GUI all round. When you first launch Pro Tools LE 8, having selected your session of choice from the helpful new Quick Start window, the big change is instantly apparent: a funky new interface. Pro Tools LE 8 is an upgrade to version 7, which shipped bundled with the Mbox, and, as such, needs the Mbox in order to run. The LE version reviewed here needs Digidesign's Mbox hardware, while the HD version needs Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools M-powered requires M-Audio hardware. It's been three years since Pro Tools had a big number change and while the point updates to 7 brought some cool new features, a completely new version number indicates big changes.
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