For the first time ever, Digidesign's Pro Tools recording software is available as a stand-alone product, which can be used in conjunction with any of five audio interfaces from M Audio.From humble beginnings as Midiman, makers of handy gadgets such as format converters and MIDI interfaces, M Audio's growth is the stuff of business legend. By the time the company was bought by Avid Technology last year, sales of M Audio's core products — affordable sound cards, USB and Firewire interfaces, and controller keyboards — were bringing in tens of millions of dollars. The motives behind Avid's acquisition seemed pretty clear: Digidesign, also owned by Avid, had reached a dominant position in the pro and semi-pro markets, whilst M Audio were one of the leading players in the home-studio computing arena, so the takeover gave Avid a substantial slice of the latter market to complement Digidesign's dominance at the higher end.







