Thoughts on gear
I own and operate a relatively large Pro Tools TDM system. When I mix for clients these days, most of the time they will have constructed their tracks on a Pro Tools LE system. Their system limits them to fewer simultaneous high-quality signal processing options compared to mine-in general they have used fewer plug-ins. I carefully collected a sizable set of plug-ins, most of which sound more robust to me than those typically found in LE systems. Generally, I find the tracks of projects that were created on Protools LE systems don't sound nearly as robust as I think they should. There are so many reasons why this can be the case, but let's just say that expensive gear is usually expensive for a reason, just as great engineers and studios generally earn and deserve their reputation.