protools?

crazeehorse

is it worth it?

looks a bit pricey
my music teacher says its the best tho

jtsuited

depends what you want it for. if it's for multitrack recording and mixing, then it's the one to go for. If it's for composition/production then it's probably not.

it's not that expensive if you go for the mbox mini

crazeehorse

could i use this as an interface with protools as opposed to an mbox?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=43545&doy=18m11

jimi_t

crazeehorse wrote: »

could i use this as an interface with protools as opposed to an mbox?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=43545&doy=18m11

No.

And therein lies a major problem with pro-tools (especially at consumer level) in that you are limited to pricey interfaces.

My advice would be to go the Cubase or Logic route. Ableton probably wouldn't suit you given that you said in another thread that you'd be mostly recording Acoustic Guitar / Keyboards etc...

Doctor J

One of the great advantages of protools, in my experience, is that there are a lot of studios using it so if you ever need to record something in a full studio you can do your guide tracks and session setup at home and make the most of the time you pay for. You can then bring your studio work home with you and continue with your work in your own time.

jimi_t

Doctor J wrote: »

One of the great advantages of protools, in my experience, is that there are a lot of studios using it so if you ever need to record something in a full studio you can do your guide tracks and session setup at home and make the most of the time you pay for. You can then bring your studio work home with you and continue with your work in your own time.

At hobbyist level, unfortunately, this is more or less the only thing in PT's favour as a DAW.

studiorat

P.Tools is probably the easiest to get started on, it's a simple two screen interface. I've used it for lots of different kinds of projects.
However, if you are learning from the start, I'd go for Logic 8. It's the best value for money, with regards to bundled effects, samples, synths, drum machines etc. Logic has a steep learning curve, but with it you shouldn't need to buy any additional software later.

jtsuited

jimi_t wrote: »

At hobbyist level, unfortunately, this is more or less the only thing in PT's favour as a DAW.

Here we go again!!

Helix

crazeehorse wrote: »

is it worth it?

looks a bit pricey
my music teacher says its the best tho

firstly, what exactly do you need it for?

crazeehorse

recording drums,vocals,piano,keyboard,guitar,base etc

pretty much everything

not too bothered about what sample loops i get,ive used garageband before but didnt really think too much of it

Helix

if its gonna be totally audio recording based, then yes, protools is your man

Passenger

Pro Tools is for professionals and is designed and packaged for such. Hence the hefty price-tag and the fact you need the MBox to operate. It really depends on your requirements from the software tho the MBox MINI as mentioned above might be worth a look.

jtsuited

Passenger wrote: »

Pro Tools is for professionals

This is a statement that is gonna get you into a lot of trouble!

jimi_t

Passenger wrote: »

Pro Tools is for professionals and is designed and packaged for such. Hence the hefty price-tag and the fact you need the MBox to operate. It really depends on your requirements from the software tho the MBox MINI as mentioned above might be worth a look.

It being tied down to a pricey (and often inferior at pro-sumer level) proprietary interface makes it less 'professional' if anything - but certainly it is geared towards professionals in terms of pricing.

brettzy

jtsuited wrote: »

This is a statement that is gonna get you into a lot of trouble!

Too right,

I run a recording studio and use Cubase as my DAW. The reason, truthfully, is because I started with it and stuck with it. But after using both I realized there is nothing on protools that can't be done with cubase. In fact there are some features in cubase not found on protools. Freeze tracks, free routing, control room, much better midi features come to mind.

I think that Protools became popular in the beginning when computers weren't very powerful, it allowed the users to use DSP cards to run plugins which was a god send. It also had some excellent audio editing features that were way better than its competition. When studios started adding digital systems to their setup then protools was really the only option. As a result it became the standard.

These days protools isn't the only option. It no longer leads the way in audio editing. PCs (and macs) are getting so powerful that DSP cards aren't nessicary. For example, I have a Quadcore machine that even with loads of CPU hogging convolution plugins it never maxes out even on very large mixes.
TDM plugins are nearly twice the price of native vsts and even with a few (expensive) DSP cards you can still reach their limit in a hefty mix.

Also, nearly all DAWs have conformed to having an OMF (Open Media Format) as an export option which means that a project done on protools can be imported into logic, cubase, sampitude or sonar if needs be. It only takes a few minutes to do, burn a DVD with the OMF folder and away you go.

Anyway, thats my rant done for the night

Happy Cubase 4 user

empirix

How about the M-Powered version i have an M-Audio 410 intervface, which will work with M-Powered, anybody use this have opinions
cheers

Moojuice

Under the hood the PT audio engine is killer, especially the high end studio versions. Even the Pro-sumer versions have a very good audio engine. Yes it is pricey though. Its all about preference. I would say though that PT has a better Audio/Mix engine than Cubase but its MIDI functionality/ability is TERRIBLE. However Cubase SX improved the core Cubase audio engine a lot so I am not sure if there is anything between PT and Cubase. Like I said its all about personal and subjective choice when it comes down to it. I love PT, I like the way it does things and I like its sound. I dont like Cubase SX but I do like the SE version, its great for MIDI and programming etc.