Editing Pro Tools (section)

=== Deck, Pro Tools, Sound Tools II and Pro Tools II (1990–1994) ===
The core engine and much of the user interface of the first iteration of Pro Tools was based on Deck. The software, published in 1990, was the first multi-track digital recorder based on a personal computer. It was developed by OSC, a small San Francisco company founded the same year, in conjunction with Digidesign and ran on Digidesign's hardware.<ref name="wired212">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/1994/12/osc/|title=Consume the Minimum, Produce the Maximum|last=Goldberg|first=Michael|date=December 1994|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> Deck could run four audio tracks with automation; MIDI sequencing was possible during playback and record, and one effect combination could be assigned to each audio track (2-band parametric equalizer, 1-band EQ with [[Delay (audio effect)|delay]], 1-band EQ with [[Chorus effect#Electronic effect|chorus]], delay with chorus).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lehrman |first=Paul D. |date=November 1990 |title=Digidesign Deck |url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/digidesign-deck/7318 |journal=[[Sound on Sound]] |volume=61 |pages=60–64 |via=Muzines}}</ref>

The first Pro Tools system was launched on June 5, 1991. It was based on an adapted version of Deck (ProDeck) along with Digidesign's new editing software, ProEdit, created by Mark Jeffery;<ref>{{cite web |last=Gotcher |first=Peter |date=2004-02-01 |title=Pro Tools user since the beginning |url=http://duc.avid.com/showpost.php?p=554780&postcount=29 |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=Avid Pro Audio Community}}</ref> Sound Designer II was still supplied for two-channel editing.{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=10}} Pro Tools relied on Digidesign's Audiomedia card, mounting one Motorola 56001 processor{{sfn|Manning|2013|p=389}} with a [[clock rate]] of 22.58&nbsp;MHz<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=102247|title=Audiomedia I in/out specification - Avid Pro Audio Community|website=duc.avid.com|access-date=2020-01-12}}</ref> and offering two analog and two digital channels of [[Input/output|I/O]], and on the Sound Accelerator card. External synchronization with audio and video tape machines was possible with [[SMPTE timecode]] and the Video Slave drivers.{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=10}} The complete system was selling for US$6,000.{{sfn|Millner|2009|p=216}}

Sound Tools II was launched in 1992 with a new DSP card. Two interfaces were also released: Pro Master 20, providing 20-bit A/D conversion,{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=10}} and Audiomedia II, with improved digital converters and one Motorola 56001 processor running at 33.86&nbsp;MHz.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.digidesign.com/support/propix/AM2.html|title=Audiomedia II|website=archive.digidesign.com|access-date=2019-12-13}}</ref>

In 1993, Josh Rosen, Mats Myrberg and John Dalton, the OSC's engineers who developed Deck, split from Digidesign to focus on releasing lower-cost multi-track software that would run on computers with no additional hardware. This software was known as Session (for stereo-only audio cards) and Session 8 (for multichannel audio interfaces) and was selling for US$399.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Waugh|first=Ian|date=November 1993|title=Digidesign Session 8|url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/digidesign-session-8/7647|journal=Music Technology|volume=85|pages=56–58|via=www.muzines.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="wired212" />

Peter Gotcher felt that the software needed a significant rewrite. Pro Tools II, the first software release fully developed by Digidesign, followed in the same year and addressed its predecessor's weaknesses.<ref name=":28" /> The editor and the mixer were merged into a single Pro Tools application that utilized the Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) created by Peter Richert.  DAE was also provided as a separate application to favor hardware support from third-party developers, enabling the use of Pro Tools hardware and plug-ins on other DAWs.
<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Curigliano |first1=Vin |title=Episode 19 : DAW Evolution III : Pro Tools – Past, Present, Future ! |url=https://dawbench.libsyn.com/episode-19-daw-evolution-vi-pro-tools-past-present-future |website=DAW Bench Radio Show |access-date=18 August 2022 |at=1:13:05}}</ref> Selling more than 8,000 systems worldwide, Pro Tools II became the best-selling digital audio workstation.<ref name=":28" />