Originally posted by gregk:
Just because people use Pro Tools does not mean they will be successful in their productions.
True, nobody would argue that - it takes great musicians, great songs, great mic pres and a hundred other things to make a successful production. A good DAW like Protools can only help.
With so many DAW options out there on the market, almost all of them achieve the same thing. Whether you use Pro Tools or not has very very little, if anything to do with the quality or success of the final production.
False. This cuts to the point of what I'm trying to say here. DAWs like everything else, some are better than others. In my opinion, some do core features like recording and plugins badly. I can't tell you how many times Protools has helped solve problems by using corrective EQ for example.
The quality of the resulting production has to do with the CREATIVITY, VISION, EXPERTISE and MIXING AND PRODUCTION SKILLS of the producer and engineer,.not the brand of software they are using.
All true except that last part. A good tool will make help a carpenter do a better job. Same applies here.
As far as I am concerned, anyone can create a hit album on Cool Edit Pro just as quickly as they might on Pro Tools. And I know many many people including myself who can be just as quick on other multitrack programs as you can be on Pro Tools, with all kinds of editing - music multitracking, spotting SFX for foley work, radio spots, you name it.
I disagree. I know, I've done it. Cool Edit Pro is fine for hobbiests. It's not a professional tool.
That's what's wrong with the recording industry these days. Marketing has poisioned and infiltrated everyone's purchasing decision. Less people spend time evaluating products to determine what's really the best. Digidesign, Apogee, and many other companies all have ruthless advertising campaigns and software and hardware upgrade programs that are designed to make people spend money.
Frankly I think this is belly-aching. These companies aren't in business to make your life miserable. They don't sit around thinking "how can we give GregK a hard time." On the contrary, they want your loyalty. The fact is, some people have budgets and some don't. So these companies have to define what market they are going to sell to. In the case of Digidesign, they've made low end versions (001, and 002) that are doing well. I think you spend 6-8x more you get more power with Protools, but this seems quite contested in this forum. I disagree.
If you compare Pro Tools side by side against many other editing packages, you will indeed find that the software falls short in many ways. Here are two:
- Handling of stereo regions: Pro Tools did not support stereo regions until post v5.0.1. Many other programs, including Cool Edit, Vegas, Nuendo, etc. did.
- View resolution: Very inconvenient and difficult to do precise down to the sample editing with Pro Tools. Programs like Cool Edit, Vegas, Nuendo, Saw Pro, all have better horizontal and vertical view resolution, more clearly marked, and editing is more precise..
You could've found better examples. Protools does handle stereo wavs, sdII or aiffs. It zooms down right to the sample level which is how you can easily do perfect loop editing that doesn't pop.
There are many more areas where Pro Tools falls short as software. In addition, screen scrolling on my PT 24 Mix Plus 5.0.1 is slow in comparison to other DAW programs available at the time, and it takes FOREVER to boot up. Sonic Foundry Vegas has many more keyboard shortcuts for view zoom in/out, and editing with the cursor (and they all are identical with Sound Forge 7, which is an excellent 2 track editing program - Digidesign discontinued their 2 track s/w).
You know, I like Vegas and SoundForge for what they are. But not for tracking, recording and mixing music - no way. SoundForge is great for working with 2 tracks. I think Vegas is a great program for video editing but needs improvement.
I have evaluated the competition and I am sorry but no one will convince me that Pro Tools is the best s/w, hardware, etc. for any reason. However, I can use Pro Tools just as easy as I can anything else.
And, I am sorry to say but I've seen people who are very very very quick on editing platforms other than Pro Tools and the results turned out better than Pro Tools. I've also seen people struggle painfully with Pro Tools' vices. People like Pro Tools because it's easy to use and doesn't require a lot of brain power to learn. It's not necessarily the best or most full featured.).
Greg - you've obviously worked with older versions of Protools. Take a look at the HD stuff that's been out since 2002 I think. It really packs a lot of processing power, features and simplicity into it's abilities. When it comes down to it, I want a DAW that
1.) Is reliable and sounds good
2.) Edits fast without a lot of gimmicky features I don't need
3.) Allows me to insert eq, compression and effects without bogging down my computer
4.) Allows me to hear these effects in real time and with low latency(3ms) so I can create a pleasurable headphone mix for the person I'm recording.
5.) Allows for plenty of simultaneos ins/outs when recording.
Frankly, I don't know of another DAW that does all these basic features as well as Protools. :p
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