My Pro Tools 10 HD2 to HDX upgrade story – part 3

In part 1 I installed the new Mac Pro, and in part 2 I started the Pro tools installation.
 
Lack of AAX plug-ins
Having now got a stable system it began to dawn on me how few AAX plug-ins were installed on my system despite the PR to the contrary on the launch of Pro Tools 10.
 

 
This shows the complete extent of my AAX plug-ins, notice that not even the Avid AIR plug-ins are there, even they are still dpm plug-ins. So I started to research what plug-ins were available starting with the list of “some 35  3rd party companies” that Avid announced on launch day having “AAX-compatible plug-ins ready or will have them ready shortly—please visit their website for specific plug-in information.” And are listed on their AAX compatibility web page. I will keep this page updated as announcements are made above AAX support, so do pop back to check for the latest info.
The news isn’t good as of now……
 
Bias – have announced they have plans to support the AAX plug-in format starting with their SoundSoap restoration plug-in “in the coming months”.
 
Blue Cat Audio – Most of their plug-ins are available in AAX format to run on the Mac platform
 
Brainworx – now the Plug-In Alliance together with Maag Audio, SPL, Vertigo and Elysia. In general they are supporting AAX Native across their entire product range but they recommend you do check each product spec for detailed compatibility info.
 
Crane Song – They have a new version Phoneix II that is AAX Native & DSP on the Mac platform released in early November 2011
 
Cytomic – have announced they will have AAX DSP & Native versions available in “early 2012”.
 
DMG Audio – they have had demos running and their web site says “They’ll be here on the site for you to grab pretty soon…” in a message dated 20th Oct 2011, but still no sign of them.
 
Dolby Labs – There is no mention on their web site about AAX, a search revealed on matches for AAX.
 
DUY – They have an AAX page on their site showing that they plan to release AAX versions of their plug-ins soon but the new product promised on Dec 14th still isn’t out in mid January.
 
Eventide – They have AAX versions of their 2016 Stereo Room and Omnipressor plug-ins but no announcement of when their TDM only Anthology II bundle will be available in AAX format.
 
FabFilter Software Instruments – They have AAX Native support for all their plug-ins announced at the end of November 2011.
 
Flux – They are planning to start releasing AAX versions in the first quarter of 2012.
 
iZotope – There is nothing on their web site about AAX support.
 
Kush Audio – They say on their web site that AAX versions will be “available soon.”
 
Longcat – Their H3D plug-in is available with AAX Native support from v2.1.0.
 
Massey – UPDATE – Steven says on his site in the FAQ section “We haven’t yet worked a plan into our schedule. Currently, we’re crunched finising up a few new plugins. Expect a more definitive statement from us early next year once we have an opportunity to evaluate the developer kit more deeply. (From what I understand, Pro Tools HDX systems will continue to run RTAS plugins until version 11.)”
 
McDSP – are stating that there will be support for AAX DSP & Native plug-ins for their v5 range in 2012, but no indication when in 2012. UPDATE – In their January 2012 newsletter they are now saying… “Pro Tools 10 and 64-bit AU support are available now, with AAX/HDX support coming in mid-2012 as a free update to all v5 customers! Support for the AAX DSP and AAX Native plug-in formats will be added to McDSP HD v5 plug-ins. Support for the AAX Native plug-in format will be added to McDSP Native v5 plug-ins. McDSP v5 plug-ins will continue to support the TDM, RTAS, and Audio Unit (AU) plug-in formats.”
 
Metric Halo – They are actively working on AAX DSP & Native versions of their Channel Strip, Transient Control and Character plug-ins but they aren’t available yet.
 
Neyrinck – There is nothing on their web site about AAX support.
 
Overloud – Breverb 2 is available in AAX format from late December 2011. Nothing about their other products.
 
ProAudio DSP – No mention of AAX support on their site.
 
Slate Digital – Steven has announced that all plug-ins will be available in AAX in 2012.
 
Softube – released Mac AAX versions of over 20 plug-ins both Native and DSP (although the DSP were still in beta back in early November. They also announced their Native license would enable the DSP versions as well.
 
Sonnox – have a very detailed FAQ on their plans for AAX with their R3 EQ and Inflator plug-ins available in Jan 2012 and the other to follow in early 2012. Top marks to Sonnox for the most detailed AAX brief I found.
 
TC Electronic – Their current range doesn’t support AAX but the new LM6 loudness meter will support HD Native when it is released.
 
TubeTech – There is nothing on their website, I did a search for AAX on there site and it came back with “no results”.
 
Sound Toys – They are looking into the possibility of a new PitchDoctor for AAX, but have not finalized any plans, and it would not be anytime in the near future if it happens.
 
Wave Arts – There is nothing on their website, I did a search for AAX on there site and it came back with “no results”. UPDATE 19/01/2012 They have posted a tweet and on their Facebook page “Getting ready to head out to NAMM for a couple days of meetings – AAX versions of plug-ins are coming along!”
 
Waves – They say “AAX is not officially supported at this time, but will be at a later date. Waves will release an official announcement in due time. This is a big disappointment as they are often my ‘go to’ plug-in of choice for so many applications.
 
Wholegrain Systems – They say “DynPEQ plugins for Pro Tools 10|HDX will be available soon. Please check back here or the Availability page for announcements.”
 
 
Avid have also announced that the following TDM-only plug-ins are not AAX-compatible:

Dolby Surround Tools
Line 6 Amp Farm
Line 6 Echo Farm
TC Electronic TDM plug-ins
Waves PS22 Stereo Imager

 
I have to say I am very disappointed at the take up of AAX plug-ins and it is interesting that some of the smaller companies have ben very proactive in going for it and some of the bigger companies seem to be very slow in reacting and that has to include Avid themselves, why weren’t all the AIR plug-ins and virtual instruments ready? Lets hope that by the time you read this things will have changed.  That said I am pleased to see an AAX version of their TDM only plug-ins Reverb One & Revibe and I am looking forward to using the new Avid Channel Strip based on the System 5 console.
 
If you know of any other AAX plug-ins that are available or that have planned release dates then do please post details as a comment to the post, thanks.
 
Conclusion
I had much more problems getting my system to play nice with Lion than I did getting Pro Tools 10 HD up and running on the new computer but its done. I still occasionally come across something that needs sorting but over all it has been a worth while process and the new system feels more solid and responsive than the old one but then again I suppose it should. I am disappointed at the lack of AAX plugins and so for some jobs I don’t have the tool sets available to me that I had before with Pro Tools 9 but hopefully this will be a temporary blip whilst everyone ports their plug-ins across to the AAX format, but these issues are small compared to the performance benefits I have with the HDX card and Pro Tools 10HD software.