Avid Delisted from NASDAQ

[mickrich]

I have been following the Gearslutz thread about this.
Avid was, this week, kicked off the NASDAQ index for not filing results from last year.

I have always said that more powerful computers would kill Avid, negating the need for their processing cards. They released PT native and opened the software to 3rd party interfaces to try and combat this but it looks like it didn't work.
I wonder are the results so terrible that the current situation is preferable to showing a catastrophic loss.

 

[egan.]

People have been predicting their demise for a decade. I think things are probably bad, but I've always hoped and believed that the pro tools brand would be carried on by a more stable company.

 

[Line666]

Lets be honest, for industry standard software Pro Tools is pretty much a mess, especially on Windows - they held off on native far too long and are always at least 3 iterations between every other DAWs development cycle in implementing new features and even though they 'redid' the audio engine in 11 - it still somehow ended up even less stable than 10.

It's not just PT, Media Composer is even worse and if you look up employee satisfaction in Avid it's practically through the floor.

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

I've never used Pro Tools, but how the hell do you forget to file annual records? It's like the one thing all publicly listed companies have to do.

 

[mickrich]

I see the CEO dumped a load of shares on the 11th Feb too.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/9889631-post709.html

 

[Line666]

Guessing they neglected to file them due to financial irregularity ^ it was better for them to be publicly delisted than to reveal whatever it is that's going on.

There's speculation on GS of executives selling off personal stock.

 

[egan.]

Executives trading stocks based on inside information is technically illegal (though the concept that they could make a decision without considering the inside info is absurd and hilarious).

 

[AD Chaos]

I guess this explains somewhat why I got a mail from Avid yesterday offering a 30-day PT11 trial?

I always thought their business model was too ''elitist'' and awkward, requiring proprietary, 'MAC-only compatible' closed hardware and software. Slowly getting behind the times and with glitches as Owen says, relying heavily on their name from the days when anyone and everyone demanded PT on a studio, like it was some sort of requirement/proof of legitimacy.

Competition/3rd party developers and home audio setups were always meant to replace them and the big studios, imo.

 

[egan.]

I guess this explains somewhat why I got a mail from Avid yesterday offering a 30-day PT11 trial?

I always thought their business model was too ''elitist'' and awkward, requiring proprietary, 'MAC-only compatible' closed hardware and software. Slowly getting behind the times and with glitches as Owen says, relying heavily on their name from the days when anyone and everyone demanded PT on a studio, like it was some sort of requirement/proof of legitimacy.

Did you copy and paste this argument from 1998? Pro Tools hasn't been Mac only since the 90's and I ran it without incident on a PC from versions 5 through 8. It also hasn't been hardware locked for 4 years.
The parent company is horribly mismanaged but that has little to do with the relative success of PT and avid which despite the hate are still both incredibly pervasive in their respective industries.

 

[AD Chaos]

I know, that's why I used 'commas' around it. I still think it's too little, too late. They are citing negative cash flow, despite restructuring.

 

[egan.]

I know, that's why I used 'commas' around it. I still think it's too little, too late. They are citing negative cash flow, despite restructuring.

My point is the company may be fucked but Avid (the editor) and Pro Tools have a brand cache that will undoubtedly be bought and live on. Despite the complaints, pro tools is still very popular among pros and Avid has seen a renaissance since apple ruined final cut. It's also important to remember that this is a competitive business with tight margins. Steinberg changed ownership twice in a decade.

 

[DeclanWhite]

yeah protools is still king and will be for a very long time imo.

and i use reaper so no bias there

 

[Line666]

I ran it without incident on a PC from versions 5 through 8. It also hasn't been hardware locked for 4 years.

That would explain a lot as when it went native 9 was a nightmare, 10 recuperated slightly and 11 has just been a rolling disaster. I manage 40 machines with it installed on Windows and another 10 on Mac and you can just tell it's a bad port from OS X - it takes forever to boot and when it does it's extremely unstable. No complaints about the intrinsic software base itself apart from it's instability on doze and behind-the-times-ness which as you say is mostly down to poor management - it's certainly true the brand itself carries legitimacy and will carry on despite Avids blatant mismanagement.

"Avid has seen a renaissance since apple ruined final cut."

This is also true but I see Avid holding onto Media Composer/Newscutter to the death as it's always been their flagship software. The best thing that couid happen to MC would be an Adobe buyout and integrating the best parts of their software into the Premiere line leaving them with virtually no competition.

 

[GeertSamuel]

Their ideoligy is outdated. Their software and hardware aren't up to the standards of the competitors anymore.

It's just a matter of years (maybe with this even months) until they're not labelled as the industry standard anymore. I say labelled, because we all know there are allready guys in the big league that left avid long ago.

Well, that's just my vision, apparently also their CEO's vision.

 

[superfreak]

Although I agree with almost everything that has been said here and on the GS thread, I still love my Pro Tools 10. ZERO issues running on a Windows 7 custom PC.

 

[UncleBob]

Although I agree with almost everything that has been said here and on the GS thread, I still love my Pro Tools 10. ZERO issues running on a Windows 7 custom PC.

Does it molest your CPU like a priest?

On mine, with the same setting, tracks and plugins etc when Reaper is around 8%, Pro Tools 10 is around 32%, not sure if that's just a setup/user error though.

 

[worldwideweapon]

I wonder if Bob Olhsson has a lot of those halted stocks, as he keeps putting silly-uber-optimistic comments out in that thread..

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I love Pro Tools and I hope it's not doomed...

 

[Heabow]

^ Same for me

 

[B36arin]

Same here, and I'm confident that Pro Tools isn't doomed. It's the industry standard software, no matter what some of you guys are saying. There might be one or two pros running alternative software here and there, but the bulk of studio professionals(every single engineer/producer who has worked in our studio the last two years) use Pro Tools.