I guess the word "NEED" is relative. Does WWIII need all the headaches that DP provides (crashing, poor plugins, non intuitive) go right ahead. Does WWIII need to spend $1000+ on Protools LE when he may only want to replace it later with the more powerful Protools HD|2? Maybe he doesn't have a rack full of outboard gear to compensate for the limited plugin power of LE. Who do I think I am? Look WWIII can make up his own mind and do whatever he wants. I stand by my recommendation. WWIII asked the question "Do I really need Protools???" The answer is yes, he does. :p

Ok. Here's what I did. After reading all of the posts, some for getting PT and others against it, I picked up a 002 rack. I got 1 for a steal at a local shop.

Was it worth it? From a business point of view...I would say YES. You do get a very positive response from clients when you tell them you have PT. Most don't know or don't care if you have the HD or LE system. For the clients that work at my studio and other studios (with 1 brain cell engineers), having a PT session disk will save them time and money.

I will continue to use LOGIC as my main production and recording platform. I'm so fast and efficient when using LOGIC and I get very good results. Results good enough for some of my clients to travel 50-100 miles. PT will make a difference to my clients that have the money to mix their projects at a large commercial studios.

I think it comes down to:
Will I get good results with PT? Yes
Will I get a return on my investment? Yes
Will it help my business? Yes
Is PT the only game in town? No
Will it be good to have both platforms? Yes

Paul, I disagree that DP is "better" than PT LE or that it can "do more," or I should say I don't view it that way. There's a lot of overlap, but they're different types of programs.

Obviously DP has more features. It's also several hundred dollars, compared to an MBox and PT LE for under $500. If you want to compare hardware systems, that's another matter.

What your friends are missing is that it's the little things in the interface that make people want to use PT, and you either see that from using it or you don't. There are so many lopsided comments in this thread, it's laughable.

WWIII Congrats on your purchase and good luck. It would be great if you report back to us the pros and cons of the 002 after you've used it for a while.

To all - I know I've annoyed some of you with my strong opinion on this subject and if there are hurt feelings as a result please accept my apology. I am passionate about this subject because I really believe in digital recording. I also have spent years looking at software, shaking my head and saying "how could they release this with so many bugs" or "if it only did xyz." Then you spend time eagerly anticipating the next release. I think we've all been there. It's true software and computers are getting more powerful. The best is yet to come.

WWIII, it sounds like you have a made a wise choice for your studio. Especially for how cheap dollar-wise it was to add the 002 and thus be compatible with the other studios; and yes, now you can say that you have PT. I enjoyed the replies I made on this thread; it was a fun ride while it lasted. The one issue about having to have the Digi hardware to run LE is still strange to me. At some point, WWIII, I'd like to try Logic, I'm a DP guy, but am curious about it. Maybe later this year, I'll get it just to have another way of doing things. Concerning PT, I do plan to get an old TDM system on ebay perhaps...just for the Beat Detective and Sound-replacer tools! Way cool. Good day

Sounds like a group hug coming on.
This was better than the mixerman posts.

pt le and 002... you'll love it. I have had mixes on the WB the show One Tree Hill and also mixes on the radio all from pt le and 002. Don't sweat it you'll make the money back in a minuet. Oh I read the digi boards a lot and there magazine Digizine has a lot of good learning tools like go back in the archives to the beggining of the LE workshops and they have stuff to download and practice with. Oh and save and buy the Waves plugins they are GREAT a must for mixing and mastering.
good luck
sam

WorldWarIII,

Congrats on your purchase. As a fellow Logic user, I am interested to hear any experiences with your new PT set up, client wise or otherwise.

Did you consider the 002 (non rack)?

No, just because of my setup. I have no room for a controll surface. In addition, I'm very used to the mouse and keyboard for controlling everything. I will post how it is working with the 002.

I know, Waves is a must have. I use Waves with LOGIC.