With superior sound quality and intelligent software integration, Pro Tools | Carbon removes barriers to creativity, so you can bring out the best in your performance and capture it beautifully. Whether using a single interface or a Carbon Expanded system with Pro Tools | Carbon Pre, you can bring the power and sound of Avid's flagship Pro Tools | HDX system anywhere you want to record.
Get all the inputs you need for large tracking sessions and multi-mic live recordings. Each Pro Tools | Carbon Pre provides eight mic/line preamps and eight line outputs, enabling you to expand your Pro Tools | Carbon-based studio up to 24 mic/line inputs and 24 line outputs total. Two Variable Z instrument inputs, 8 x 8 line I/O, ADAT I/O, and Word Clock I/O provide even more connection versatility.
Features include:
Power and Simplicity That Drive Your Creative Spark
With HDX DSP acceleration under the hood and deep Pro Tools integration, Carbon enables you to record, edit, and mix in a single application without bouncing between software. Create in the moment, free from technical hassles. And focus on the music you’re making - not what you’re making it with.
No Latency. Period.
Carbon is cut from the same cloth as our flagship Pro Tools systems used in the world’s most acclaimed studios. Its custom-designed FPGA and eight HDX DSPs achieve remarkable sub-1 ms recording latency and free up your computer to run big, plugin-heavy sessions smoothly.
Fast, Intuitive and Fully Integrated
Move effortlessly between tracking and mixing - without messing with buffer settings. The magic is in the Hybrid Engine. Toggle any track into DSP mode, and the Hybrid Engine seamlessly moves your entire live signal path to use real-time AAX DSP plugins for recording. Toggle a track back, and it automatically switches to use the AAX Native versions of your plugins, giving you the freedom to adjust plugins as the track evolves.
The Ultimate Toolset
Pro Tools | Carbon comes with a Pro Tools Ultimate Perpetual license, providing the complete advanced toolset, plus a massive collection of plugins, loops, and sounds. And with Carbon turbocharging the experience, you can act on inspiration the instant it strikes.
Plug Into An Inspired Sonic Palette
Shape your sound with a full range of AAX plugins - from warm, dimensional analog emulations, to cutting edge processors that define modern music making. In addition to the 120+ plugins that come with Pro Tools Ultimate Perpetual, Carbon includes a premium collection to get you started from the biggest brands in the business, including:
- Arturia REV PLATE-140: Bring the silky-smooth, resonant tones of vintage plate reverbs to shape vocal performances, give drum tracks air, and bring whole mixes together with bright, sweet overtones. This circuit-accurate re-creation of the iconic EMT 140 reverb and its vacuum tube preamp adds that sought-after glue and space to your mix.
- Embody Immerse Virtual Studio: Mix in the “sweet spot” of some of the world’s most iconic sound studios - right through your headphones. By modeling your unique ear shape and combining it with precise room measurements and sophisticated AI algorithms, you experience a true studio mixing environment on headphones that you won’t find anywhere else.
- Brainworx bx_masterdesk: Master your own music with a minimal learning curve. With a clearly defined workflow and pre-tuned processing chain, bx_masterdesk contains every component you need for professional results. From setting levels and compression, to dialing in the right tone for your mix, the entire mastering process is as easy as 1-2-3.
- Brainworx bx_Purple Audio MC77: Get access to the same unrivaled functionality and lightning-fast response as the original 1176 Peak Limiter hardware compressor, with the added bonus of onboard side-chain and stereo linking facilities. This re-creation is your one-stop shop for taming dynamics and adding character to your tracks.
- Brainworx bx_rockrack: Have the sounds of the most coveted guitar amps at your fingertips with an emulator that not only sounds like a tube amp, it feels like one too. Crank up the sounds of eight famous amp models in a single plugin, which includes 40 impulse responses for different tones and timbres.
- McDSP 6050 Ultimate Channel Strip: Get everything you need to make your music sound great. With over 25 EQs, compressors, gates, expanders, signal saturators, and specialized filters, this award-winning plugin offers enormous possibilities for customization and a variety of uses - from vocals, to drums, to keys, and more.
- Brainworx bx_console N: Give your tracks the unmistakable magical sound and infectious warmth of a legendary large-format Neve console. This revolutionary plugin delivers a startlingly realistic model of the rare 72-channel Neve® VXS™ analog console. And thanks to Brainworx’s pioneering Tolerance Modeling Technology, no two channels sound exactly alike - just like analog.
- UVI Model D: Sit down at a beautiful Concert Grand Model D piano captured in the brilliant Guillaume Tell sound stage in Paris. With its deep multi-sampling, precision mastering, and advanced scripting, you can experience all the warmth, expressiveness, and detail of playing the real thing right in Pro Tools.
- Native Instruments Vintage Organs: Bring that 60s and 70s vibe to your sound with a virtual instrument that authentically reproduces the sounds of five legendary vintage organs. Experience the authentic character and charm of classic tone-wheel and combo organs in perfect, expressive detail, with full control over the drawbars, chorus/vibrato, rotary effect, and more.
Super Sonics
Superior audio conversion. Double resolution clocking. And our most transparent preamp design ever. All details have been meticulously considered, so that Carbon captures every nuance of your performance with the greatest depth, dimension, and clarity. All you have to do is push record.
Record More with Depth and Precision
Carbon captures 32-bit audio right at the converters and maintains a full 32-bit path from input to output for stunning sound quality and dynamic range. And with Variable Z built in, you can optimize or alter the tone of any microphone or instrument by simply adjusting input impedance.
Get Flawless Sound
Precision clocking is crucial for distortionless, artifact-free audio. That’s why we designed a double resolution implementation of the JetPLL jitter elimination technology to ensure the best sound quality for your music. It runs twice as fast as typical JetPLL clocks - and it’s twice as accurate.
Build Your Studio Around Carbon
Get the power of Avid's flagship HDX system in a single audio interface with 25 x 34 simultaneous I/O, eight remotely controllable and recallable mic pres, four headphone amps, and latency-free monitoring. Add Carbon Pre to expand your system up to 24 mic/line inputs, enabling you to record an entire band live - wherever you need to.
The Future is Ethernet
Carbon connects to your computer over Ethernet using a proprietary version of AVB to stream audio at 32-bit float precision - a first in the industry. This enables a consistently high headroom and the highest possible sound quality from input to output. And it primes Carbon for the future.
Specifications:
General
- Simultaneous I/O: 25 x 34
- Audio Resolution: Up to 32-bit, 192 kHz
- Mic Preamps: 8
- Phantom Power: +48V
- Integrated Monitoring and Talkback: Yes
- Form Factor: 1U Rack
- Dimensions: 1.8" x 19" x 13.5"
- Weight: 17.3 lbs
- Connectivity: 2 AVB Ethernet ports for host connection and expansion
- Maximum I/O Expansion: Pro Tools | Carbon supports up to two Pro Tools | Carbon Pre interfaces for up to 24 mic/line inputs and 24 line outputs
Inputs & Outputs
- Analog Inputs:
- 8 balanced XLR/TRS mic/line inputs with Variable Z (impedance) on inputs 5–8, remote controllable from Pro Tools
- 2 unbalanced Variable Z 1/4-inch TS instrument inputs
- 8 balanced line inputs (DB25)
- Analog Outputs:
- 8 balanced line outputs (DB25)
- 2 balanced 1/4-inch TRS monitor outputs
- 4 stereo 1/4-inch TRS headphone outputs
- Digital Inputs
- ADAT: 16 channels @ 44.1–48 kHz, 8 channels @ 88.2–96 kHz, 4 channels @ 176.4–192 kHz
- Digital Output
- ADAT: 16 channels @ 44.1–48 kHz, 8 channels @ 88.2–96 kHz, 4 channels @ 176.4–192 kHz
- Other I/O:
- Word Clock I/O
- Footswitch input
A/D Conversion
- Mic Preamps: Dynamic Range: 126 dB (A-weighted); THD+N: -105 dB (0.00056%); Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB; EIN: -129 dB (A-weighted)
- Line Inputs: Dynamic Range: 125 dB (A-weighted); THD+N: -106 dB (0.0005%); Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
- Line Inputs (True Bypass): Dynamic Range: 126 dB (A-weighted); THD+N: -113 dB (0.00022%); Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
- Instrument Inputs: Dynamic Range: 125 dB (A-weighted); THD+N: -103 dB (0.0007%); Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
D/A Conversion
- Line Outputs: Dynamic Range: 120 dB (A-weighted); THD+N: -110 dB (0.0003%); Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
- Monitor Outputs: Dynamic Range: 120 dB (A-weighted); THD+N: -110 dB (0.0003%); Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
- Headphone Outputs:
- Power: 100 mW into 300 Ohm; 200 mW into 32 Ohm
- Dynamic Range: 116 dB (A-weighted)
- THD+N (32 Ohm): -87 dB (0.0045%)
- THD+N (300 Ohm): -100 dB (0.001%)
- Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
BONUS Purchase Option: Add the Carbon Pre for Only $2,500 - Regularly $2,990
Get all the inputs you need for large tracking sessions and multi-mic live recordings. Each Pro Tools | Carbon Pre provides eight mic/line preamps and eight line outputs, enabling you to expand your Pro Tools | Carbon-based studio up to 24 mic/line inputs and 24 line outputs total. Two Variable Z instrument inputs, 8 x 8 line I/O, ADAT I/O, and Word Clock I/O provide even more connection versatility.
With up to 24 mic/line inputs available in a Carbon Expanded system, you can capture live performances easily in pristine sound quality, making it an ideal companion for your next gig. You can also use Pro Tools | Carbon Pre as a standalone 8-channel preamp, enabling you to use it to expand other systems. And because it’s EUCON-enabled, it integrates with Avid control surfaces for seamless recording and mix control.
Expand an Existing Pro Tools | HD System
Got an existing Pro Tools system that needs more mic pres? Use Pro Tools | Carbon Pre as an 8-channel preamp expansion unit to scale up your I/O, with the flexibility of remotely controlling and recalling all preamps right from Pro Tools. Or replace an aging Pro Tools | PRE and enjoy better performance and pristine sound quality. Integrate up to nine Carbon Pres in an HD system through your interface’s ADAT inputs.
System Requirements:
- Avid-qualified Ethernet or Thunderbolt-equipped macOS-based computer
