Ya know, for once this thread as been really civilized and not become a Protools flamefest (thanks Jeremy for not posting - just kidding).

While it's true I have a strong biased in favor of Protools I totally respect and have high regard for the innovative solutions each one of you has come up with. I agree with Pat's comment -it's not the tools but how you use them. Garbage in, Garbage out definately applies. I also agree that great mics, mic pres, AD conversion and monitoring acoustics play a big role.

We live in a thrilling time for computers and recording. You just know the best is yet to come. Features added to software, power added to processors, bigger/faster memory and storage, and high speed internet are still vast, open frontiers.

Look at what computers do in other industries. They help doctors be more accurate. They have revolutionized the commercial printing business. I think of a computer as giving me the ability to analyze sound using precision instead of relying 100% on what my ears tell me. I think we'd all agree this makes the process easier and more fun. We can all dive into our labs and make great sounding music. All we need is the will to do it.

K, off my soapbox. Everyone, go record.