Members tilimo Posted March 2, 2010 Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 I'm looking at the possibility of getting a new computer and pro tools. Any suggestions on the computer, operating system, ect would be a big help in narrowing my choices. I also have a delta 44 sound card in an older pc and I'm wondering if that could be used with the pro tools? all suggestions and guidance is greatly appreciated...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CME Posted March 2, 2010 Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 Right now there are 3 versions of Pro Tools. The sessions are compatible between systems. You just may reach voice or I/O limitations between systems. Pro Tools HD- the top of the line. Probably not what you're looking for. Talking an investment of several thousand dollars just to get started. Pro Tools LE- This version basically the same as HD, mind a few differences, that runs on Digidesign's own hardware. The 003 and Mbox 2 families are the current generation. Believe the Mbox Micro starts at about $250 however you'll need something else as this is essentially just a dongle with a headphone jack for editing on the go. Pro Tools M-Powered. This was started when Avid (Digi's parent company) bought M-Audio. It runs on M-Audio interfaces. It is very similar to LE except it is not compatible with the Digital Video and Complete Production Toolkits. Also Mackie has recently came out with a few interfaces that are compatible with this software. To use this you must buy a supported interface and and the software. Just checked your Delta 44 is compatible up to version 8.0.1 but they are not supporting it with version 8.0.3. As far as what computer to get that depends greatly on personal preference. I am a Mac person but not every one is. Right now Windows XP is the preferred OS. Windows Vista is only supported in 32-bit versions and W7 isn't quite ready for action, as it is in public beta. Hope some of this helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tilimo Posted March 2, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 great explanation! thanks..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimOBrien Posted March 2, 2010 Members Share Posted March 2, 2010 BIG HINT: Go to the professional audio computer websites and see what components they use in their boxes. They know what works and what keeps angry customers from coming back with complaints. www.adkproaudio.com is one and you can google others.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 BIG HINT: Go to the professional audio computer websites and see what components they use in their boxes. They know what works and what keeps angry customers from coming back with complaints. www.adkproaudio.com is one and you can google others.... Great tip Tim. And great post CME. You should also check the Digidesign site and read over their hardware compatibility information. Just because something doesn't appear on that page doesn't mean it won't work (unless it's specifically mentioned as such), but what Avid has tested and "approved" will be on the list. Also check the DUC ( duc.digidesign.com ) for some suggestions regarding what is - and isn't - working for other Pro Tools users. I have my PT 8.03 HD2 Accel system running on a Athlon 64 4200 dual core PC, and a Mbox 2 Mini for my 2.1 GHz Core 2 Duo Macbook. Both have 4 GB of RAM - don't skimp on the RAM... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CME Posted March 3, 2010 Members Share Posted March 3, 2010 Yeah def become a member of the DUC. There is a wealth of knowledge and helpful people there. There are even threads on building your own pc if you wanna go that route. They detail what parts they used and how powerful it is. They can also guide you if you need some suggestions on what parts to get, or even what parts not to. Like I've learned the less RAM a video card has (to a certain extent) the better for Pro Tools under Windows OS's. And just to reiterate what Phil said, more system RAM is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jon Chappell Posted March 3, 2010 Members Share Posted March 3, 2010 Right now Windows XP is the preferred OS. Windows Vista is only supported in 32-bit versions and W7 isn't quite ready for action, as it is in public beta. Hope some of this helped. Just adding my $0.02: I have a Dell Inspiron 530 running 64-bit Vista Home Premium (2.8GHz, 6GB RAM), which I bought off the shelf without even checking for PT chip compatibility. Most of my programs (including PT, as CME points out) are running in 32-bit with no problems. It's the hardware drivers that you have to wait for with Vista 64, but most (including all of M-Audio's interfaces) have caught up. You'll still be running 90% of your programs in 32-bit, though. V64 is an orphan, and I'm hoping W7 will revive the push for a 64-bit Windows OS. I have both PT M-Powered (with a Fast Track Ultra) and PT LE (with an Eleven Rack) running (back and forth, but not simultaneously), and I've never had a problem. Of course, when I run PT MP, the Eleven Rack works as a front end/control surface for the plug-ins, which is very cool. I'm reviewing the Eleven Rack for Electronic Musician magazine, so I'm giving it a thorough going-over, and I'm very impressed so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spleencage Posted March 6, 2010 Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 Why Protools? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 6, 2010 Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 Prolly same reason as everyone else - free beer and a secret decoder ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tilimo Posted March 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 Why Protools? Figured I would get what seems to be the standard everyone uses? I have downloaded Reaper and have been checking it out and I may go that route instead of pro tools. I have a korg d3200 and several different mic pres and that setup works decent but I would like to use some plug-ins and maybe try to end up with a more polished/professional sound on the songs that I'm trying to record if that is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 6, 2010 Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 You can get a polished/professional sound on just about any decent DAW. I would check out a few and see what feels right to you, make a choice, and then get the best computer/OS that supports that choice. I use Pro Tools for several reasons. The compatibility is a big factor, but it's also really good at editing and recording, and since I have a VST-RTAS wrapper (FXPansion), I have access to a fair amount of plugins. However, there's a lot of other DAWs that have more (or better) features than Pro Tools and are often cheaper, DAWs that have freeze track capability, automatic latency compensation, better MIDI implementation, better warp capabilities, and more. Think about how you like to work and what's important to you, and simply choose the best one for how YOU work. For pure sonics, a lot of people seem to really like Sonar. I'm also getting a lot of people showing up here who love Logic...and Logic has a ton of features. Ableton Live is really cool and different from the other DAWs in feature set. And of course, there's a lot of people who love Reaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 6, 2010 Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 Apologies if this is overly pedantic. But just in case it helps you... Getting back to the "polished/professional" sound, depending on how you are working, if we are talking about micing up stuff, then your best bet, far more than any DAW, would be your musicians, instruments, recording environment (acoustics of the room, etc.), mic placement, mics, mic preamps, converters, etc. Those, in my opinion, will make far more of an impact on your sound than the choice of DAW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jon Chappell Posted March 6, 2010 Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 , better MIDI implementation, better warp capabilities, and more. To help mitigate the lack of latency compensation (usually in the top 3 of most people's gripe list), you can use Mellowmuse's ATA (Automatic Time Adjuster): http://www.mellowmuse.com/ATA.html (Check out the informative and well-produced video demo.) Yes, it's a third-party purchase, and yes, Avid/Digi should have implemented it themselves, but it's a quick and cheap fix (like FXpansion, the VST wrapper). As for, say, warp capabilities, I prefer WaveLab 6 (with the DIRAC algorithm) and Cubase 5's approaches, and might transfer a few files over for their superior treatment in this regard, but I wouldn't throw over the general workflow and interface of PT, which I love, for straightforward audio recording and editing, simply because some feature is better implemented elsewhere. (And PT's MIDI and Elastic Audio are pretty good, since 8.x.) Ken's assessment is very well-reasoned, and I think one would be hard pressed to improve upon it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Joe Gilder Posted March 9, 2010 Members Share Posted March 9, 2010 Back to the original poster's question, check out the specs on Sweetwater's Creation Stations, too. They spell it out pretty clearly what components they use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 9, 2010 Members Share Posted March 9, 2010 To help mitigate the lack of latency compensation (usually in the top 3 of most people's gripe list), you can use Mellowmuse's ATA (Automatic Time Adjuster): http://www.mellowmuse.com/ATA.html (Check out the informative and well-produced video demo.) Yes, it's a third-party purchase, and yes, Avid/Digi should have implemented it themselves, but it's a quick and cheap fix (like FXpansion, the VST wrapper). Yes, they should have by now, but they haven't. This works really well. YOu basically put it on every track at the beginning, "ping" it, and voila, it works. If you add anything, simply "re-ping". Yeah, it's more of a hassle than if the thing automatically compensates, but it's fairly cheap and it works well. Ken's assessment is very well-reasoned, and I think one would be hard pressed to improve upon it. A mistake...sorry, it won't happen again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.