ProTools III is a Macintosh based random access digital audio recording and editing system supporting up to 48 tracks and 64 channels of I/O. As the first truly integrated digital audio production platform, ProTools has garnished support from many third party developers and has become the disk based recording system of choice for all major studios. Pro Tools III provides automated mixing and effects processing in addition to recording and editing. The standard ProTools system is comprised of a Macintosh Quadra 650 or higher system, ProTools software, a disk I/O card providing connections for a SCSI HD and eight channel audio interface, a DSP farm card for processing audio, and an eight channel audio interface. Multiple DSP farm cards can be added for as much processing horsepower is needed. I use the standard 882 audio interface, which provides eight channels of balanced analog (+4 or -10) inputs and outputs, along with stereo SPDIF digital I/O. ProTools software 3.2 provides numerous features for editing and automated mixing, allowing internal mixdown of tracks in the digital domain. Using ProTools opens up a whole new method of recording, allowing the user or musician to select the best takes of each track, edit out imperfections, and make audio "collages". On mixdown audio levels can be automated and tracks processed via audio plug-ins such as delay, compression, reverb, and many new esoteric plug-ins now available via third parties.