Avid, the video company and owners of Digidesign have annouced that they are buying M-Audio. Digidesign and M-Audio will not merge. When the acquisition is complete, M-Audio will be a business unit within Digidesign, and will continue to function as it has in the past.

Currently the Pro Tools LE software application is written specifically to operate with Digidesign’s line of LE hardware interfaces for reliability, performance, and ease of setup. Digidesign also includes industry standard drivers (Core Audio and ASIO) with LE products, so that any piece of compatible software can use them for audio recording and playback. While the companies may discuss integrated product development initiatives in the future where it makes sense, there are no plans to develop Pro Tools for M-Audio hardware as part of this acquisition announcement.

After the acquisition is completed, M-Audio customers will retain the same sales and support contacts as they have had in the past. No changes are currently planned for local offices in different regions and geographies.

There are no plans for exchange programs for M-Audio customers as a result of this acquisition announcement. Once the acquisition is complete, Digidesign may consider offering exchange programs to M-Audio customers that are comparable to the hardware exchanges currently available to Digidesign customers.