Mike Slinn
Mike Slinn

Pro Tools Issues

Published 2020-03-01. Last modified 2026-04-11.
Time to read: 3 minutes.

This page is part of the av_studio collection.

I have written eighteen articles about Pro Tools. They are somewhat ordered, but largely are meant to be read in any order.

Saranoya

I eventually got tired of the poor quality of the Pro Tools code, and their abysmal support. I cancelled my Pro Tools Artist subscription in March 2026. I mostly use Ableton Live now. That product has excellent quality.

Plug-In Cache

The Pro Tools plug-in cache is a shared folder containing individual cache files for each installed AAX plug-in, located in Windows at C:\Users\Public\Pro Tools\AAXPlugInCache, and in /Users/Shared/Pro Tools/AAXPluginCache for macOS.

Deleting *.plugincache files within causes Pro Tools to rescan %CommonProgramFiles%\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins the next time it restarts, which can resolve issues with plug-ins not appearing or malfunctioning.

Third-Party Plugins

I purchased an Aphex Aural Exciter and Big Bottom Pro Bundle Full License from Avid. The product is made by RØDE in Australia.

I was unable to install it using the Avid Link app. Avid does not have good support for anything web-related, including download issues. Their engineering department does not seem to have the necessary skills, and they tend to overcomplicate things without any consideration for user experience. The support team is disinterested and does not even pretend to care. I give Avid a big fail on all things web-related and everything customer-related.

When I tried to manually install using the URL provided from Avid Link, I discovered that Avid's download link was corrupt. Eventually, I realized that the problem was caused by uBlock Origin, so I disabled it for avid.com and cleared the browser cookies for avid.com as well. After that, I was able to download and manually install Aphex_Systems_Bundle_18_8_Win_104307.zip.

I have been unable to get any of the many bonus plugins that Avid makes available from third parties. Avid support is remarkable in how unhelpful and obnoxious they are able to be.

Documentation Not Provided

Avid offers no documentation for this product. The product has virtual knobs and dials, but there is no explanation of what the controls do. RØDE's tech support sent me the manual (Aphex_Plugins_Guide_v80_56069.pdf).

Pro Tools

  • RME TotalMix input gains on the microphone are fine–no clipping, strong signal–but Pro Tools seems to amplify the inputs a lot when displaying the meter levels (the recorded signal is fine).
  • Use Trasher to solve intractible problems.

I have written eighteen articles about Pro Tools. They are somewhat ordered, but largely are meant to be read in any order.

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