acid / protools / emu / breakout boxes / etc

[deathmonkey]

Hello all.

I've been recording music on my PC a little over a year now. Until now, I've done everything in Reason. I capture guitar and vocals with an SB Live Platinum, and load them as samples into the NN19; then I generate everything else within Reason, and mix it all down within Reason, as well.

But I've decided I've outgrown that system, and I'm going to upgrade, in every sense. I'm planning to buy new audio hardware, and I want to add a new software step, wherein I have greater flexibility and control in the final mix (ie, generate drum and bass loops in Reason, then mix down in something else).

I don't know much about any music software other than Reason. My degree is in film, so I've used Protools to mix film soundtracks before, but that's it. So my question, in its most general sense, is How do Acid and ProTools Compare?

I'm also looking at upgrading the audio hardware, as I said. The best I've found seems to be the Emu 1820M, with its fantastic breakout box, for about $500. I figure I would use the Emu with Acid as the final step in mixing. Or, I could get a ProTools mbox for about that price instead, and then I'd use ProTools instead of Acid for the final mix down. So, my question, in its more specific form, is How Would a ProTools-based System with an mbox Breakout Box Compare with an Acid-based System with an Emu Breakout Box?

I apologize for such a longwinded question, and I will be very grateful to anyone with the patience to answer it.

Thanks.

--jim

[MadAudio]

Apples and oranges...

ProTools works best on a Mac. And as far as I know you can ONLY use the M-Box with ProTools. Acid is for PC's only. Acid is a loop-based program, though you can record into it just like any other program.

I'm biased towards Sonic Foundry - whoops I mean Sony - products, but if you need a true multitracker and these are your only choices, then I'd go with ProTools. Acid can only record one track (mono or stereo) at a time. If that's not an issue, and you need to be able to sync to video, then you'd want Acid or better still Vegas. I've been using Acid recently to score some TV commercials, and it has worked quite well in that capacity. Both Acid and Vegas can import a few different types of video files. Can ProTools? Vegas is a lot like ProTools but is much more user-friendly. Besides being a great audio multitracker, it's also a powerful non-linear video editor.

That doesn't answer all your questions, I know, but there's my rambling 2 cents.

[deathmonkey]

Thanks, MadAudio, that helps.

I don't need multitrack recording, and I just have the feeling that the Emu is a better breakout box overall; but it's hard to get away from the simple giddiness I feel when I think about actually having a ProTools system in my office.
ProTools does work better on Macs, though. I used to have ProTools Free on my PC, and it crashed that machine like nothing ever has before or since. I was hoping that with my own updated hardware and Digidesign's updated software that wouldn't be a problem. But I can't really be sure....

Anyway, thanks again. I don't have to make the decision for a few weeks yet, so I'll mull it all over in the meantime.

--jim

[ntnguitarist3]

i have a mbox.. and a digirack002.. the mbox is very handy i highley recommend it

[MadAudio]

Well, Pro Tools Free is just crap anyway. I've never known anyone who could get it to work right. I tried it and it basically turned my soundcard at the time (GadgetLabs Wave 8/24) into a fancy digital delay! I hear Pro Tools LE is fairly stable on the PC, though. So the M-Box may be the way for you to go.