The New Pro Tools | Dock Has Landed
By Jim Bask
The New Pro Tools | Dock Has Landed
Mini Footprint. Massive Control.
Mixing deadlines have met their match. Integrate your iPad with the new Pro Tools | Dock—now available—and get the extensive touchscreen and tactile control you need, plus vital visual feedback, to create better sounding mixes faster.
- Take control of Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, and other audio and video software
- Access and adjust EQ, panning, plug-ins, automation, and more—right from the surface
- Gain new touch workflows and custom control when paired with Pro Tools | S3
Bring intelligence, speed, and versatility to your music or sound studio.
What is Pro Tools | Dock? Pro Tools | Dock is a EUCON-aware, compact Ethernet control surface that integrates with an iPad (not included) running the free Pro Tools | Control iOS app. It offers touchscreen and tactile control of a variety of digital audio and video editing applications. Mini footprint. Massive control. Accelerate your editing and mixing tasks in creative new ways. Based on the advanced touchscreen workflows of the award-winning Pro Tools | S6 and hybrid command of the bestselling Artist | Control, Pro Tools | Dock provides intelligent studio control in a portable, ergonomic, and affordable surface. Working together with your iPad, you get the quick touchscreen access and tactile precision control you need to navigate and control music and post projects faster using your favorite DAWs. When paired with Pro Tools | S3, you gain new time-saving touch workflows and custom control. Mixing deadlines have met their match!
Key Features and Benefits: 
Get extensive touchscreen control Pro Tools | Dock easily connects with your own iPad and our free Pro Tools | Control iOS app, providing intelligent control of your audio and video projects. The app offers a host of touch controls and visual feedback to speed up your efficiency. Plus, you can navigate huge sessions with speed and ease using the Universe Scroller. You can bring the channels you’re looking for quickly to the surface through color-coded tiles in Tracks view.
Enhance your existing workflow with EUCON Why change the tools you love when choosing a control surface? Pro Tools | Dock respects the choices you make. That’s because it features EUCON, a high-speed Ethernet-based technology that enables the hardware to communicate directly with EUCON-enabled applications. That means you can work on a Pro Tools project, then switch to Logic Pro X, Cubase, Media Composer, and other audio and video software—in sequence or in parallel—in seconds.
Get deep Pro Tools integration When paired with Pro Tools, the Dock becomes an extension of your software. Access hundreds of key commands, shortcuts, and UI elements without clicking a mouse. Record, edit, mix, and automate tracks right from the surface. Adjust EQ, dynamics, plug-ins, and other parameters. Get dedicated access to advanced automation modes. You can even create custom Soft Keys to perform practically any Pro Tools function, or recall layouts to the surface, with a single button press.
Bring enhanced touch workflows to Pro Tools | S3 Pair Pro Tools | Dock with a Pro Tools | S3 control surface and you’ll gain even more time-saving workflows. View and access any track instantly through the touchscreen. Customize and recall layouts to jump right into a track set or workflow quickly. Trigger frequently performed functions and macros with dedicated Soft Keys as you continue mixing on S3. View tons of additional visual feedback to enhance your mixing experience.
Adjust parameters with a twist The Dock provides eight push-top, touch-sensitive Soft Knobs that interact with whatever knob-set you’ve chosen in the Pro Tools | Control app. Select an EQ, plug-in, send, pan, or other item, and all parameters instantly map to the knobs for tweaking. Because you’re making adjustments with physical controls, you don’t have to focus on your computer screen and can instead really listen to how your adjustments impact your mix.
Speed up tasks with Soft Keys You can click-click-click your way through frequently performed editing and mixing tasks, or you can assign the 16 Soft Keys to do the dirty work for you. Trigger menu commands and other software functions and recall layouts at the press of a button. You can also adapt the Dock to your unique workflow by programming macros to perform more complex tasks.
Navigate your project your way Quickly access any channel in Tracks or Universe view—no matter how huge the session. Get full transport controls, plus an alternate Shift layer to access commands such as back + play and pre/post roll on or off. Use the assignable weighted jog wheel and right-side switches to jog, shuttle, zoom, bank, switch workstations, and more. Scroll through projects or perform custom tasks with the two programmable Touch-strips.
Get your hands on important channels You can work with multiple tracks in Pro Tools | Control. But when you need to focus on a specific track—or want more tactile precision—a single “attention” channel awaits. Select any track from the touchscreen and the channel maps directly to the Dock’s surface controls. Adjust levels with the touch-sensitive, motorized fader. Select, record-enable, solo, and mute the track. Also, keep an eye on your levels with the 10-segment meter.
Automate tracks with ease With 12 dedicated automation switches, you can toggle modes and write automation directly from the surface. Press the ALT key and you have access to additional Pro Tools | HD functions using the same keys, including Preview, Join, Punch Capture, and Write to Punch. You can even attach a foot-switch to the Dock to control punch recording.
Qualified softwarePro Tools | Dock is currently qualified* with the following EUCON-enabled audio production and video editing software:
- Audio
- Avid Pro Tools 12.5 and higher
- Avid Pro Tools | HD 12.5 and higher
- Apple Logic Pro X
- Steinberg Cubase 8.5 and higher
- Steinberg Nuendo 7 and higher
- Video
- Avid Media Composer 8.5 and higher