Logic Studio, Pro Tools LE, or Pro Tools HD?

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:36 pm

I have been using Pro Tools TDM since 1999. I have just climbed from a modest PT24 to PT24 Mix Cubed and then to and HD2 Accel PCI-E.

HD2 Accel and a fat MAc Pro will give you best of both worlds, being TDM and RTAS (VST with the wrapper stuff) dsp related.

I guess prices of these systems have dropped considerably in your area. You live in the USA, right?

Maybe you can even find used PCI-e rigs, 2007 Mac Proes and save some money for microphones ( Neumann, Audio Technica, AKG, Rode) and very mportant, room acoustics and monitoring.

Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:58 pm

I use Logic 8 Studio daily and loving it! I has all the features and plug-ins for recording, tracking and mixing. You can even master tracks well on it. Logic Studio is around 500$ and comes with tons of high quality plugs and synths, drum machine and great, organized presets for everything. As well as all of the Appleloops (6 packs of garage band jam packs) and other software (Main Stage, Sound Track Pro, Compressor). For me it's very stable and fast on an Intel Duo Mac! If you use a Mac go with Logic! If you use a PC, buy a Mac and use both for best software combo. While Pro Tools is an expensive industry standard, Logic is more fun and inspiring with a more streamlined approach, cheaper plugins and comparable functions. There is not much one can't do with Logic vs. PT. On the other hand if you run a professional recording studio you will end up with both inevitably.

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 3:27 am

Pro Tools is great due to the DSP processing power of the system. Great for stacking reverbs, EQs, and the like. But if you are using external hardware for compression and tone, you may be better off going with one of the second tier DAWs like Logic, Sonar, Cubase, or Live. All lean more towards composition instead of pure audio manipulation (PTHD), plus can use audio interfaces with quality at least as good as the PTHD boxes. With quad cores, DSP power is becoming less important. The new PCIe UA cards are a good substitute for PTHD, if you need some more horesepower.

You can put together a Sonar rig on a PC with a top quality interface, summing box/mixer, and monitors for around $10K. Try doing that with PTHD...

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:36 pm

PTHD is the de facto standard and if you are serious about studio work, you probably should consider it strongly, but it's very fiddly setting all that up and making sure you have compatibility etc, not to mention, IMHO ridiculously expensive. For audio editing it is better than Logic, although Logic Studio includes Soundtrack Pro 2 which is a very capable audio editor.

Although PTHD is an industry standard, in terms of cost efficiency and features, Logic blows it away. You could set up a Logic studio with Apogee interfaces or a Nuendo studio and would have better MIDI, more plugins, and a better audio interface for quite a bit less but you are going to have plenty of potential clients who will insist on using PT, or bring you PT files.

I am not and never will be a fan of Digidesign stuff, especially PTLE/M-Powered, or their monopoly and tying you to proprietary hardware (none of which is more than acceptable in it's respective price range, IMHO) but they have the reputation and there is a need to fit in if you want to be successful - there are very few Logic or Nuendo only studios that are, most studios know they need PTHD. Logic Studio 8 only costs 499 dollars, so you could include that in your setup too.

Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 1:20 pm

I also can afford PTHD, but it doesn't fit my business plan.

Just curious, but why would you choose PTHD if you don't have any DAW experience?

Do you have the proper acoustically treated space for it, mics that will do it justice, a business plan?

In the Seattle area most of the studios with big rooms, that solely depended on musicians, have had to shut their doors.

The remaining PTHD rooms are mostly doing video and film post production.

Bad Animals studio (used to be owned by the band Heart ) had to remake themselves to stay in business.
http://badanimals.com/

If I were your client why would I spend my money at your business, if you don't have any experience or track record?

Just curious.

Cool

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