Pro Tools Free (yup! it Bites)

S

shredfit

New member
Guys and Gals, Pro Tools free IS the most suck @ss program i've ever downloaded... I cannot see the reason digidesign even has the crap on their site...

I'm a Pro Tools user... I love it... but after reading some posts, people seem to think that the pro tools software is like pro tools free... (it looks like it) but that is about it.

Don't judge Pro Tools on that PT free crap

Shred
 
Hmmmmmmmmmm

It works fine for me. Maybe your using the Windows version. I've heard that doesn't run well.

Exactly what does PT do that you can't do with PTF, besides the obvious like track count and time code?
 
I gotta chime in here, tried it , hated it (on pc). The audio quality sucked, and that was the least of my worries. Bah ..a big BAH on that crap.

JAKE
 
Back in the late 80's, when I paid approximately $800 for my 4-track Tascam Porta Two, I would never have guessed that some day I would be able to get a free 8-track digital recorder... with insane visual editing capabilities... and somewhat prisitine audio quality...

Now we all just whine our asses off because the thing that someone gave us FOR FREE doesn't work like something we could buy for a lot more money.

Just goes to show how much we take the world of things for granted now.

</soapbox>
 
I have to totally agree with Shredfit. I tried PTF quite awhile ago, and not only did the program crash constantly, but from the instant I installed it until I removed it my system (then running Win98) also became buggy and crash prone.

I like the idea of working demos, but if PTF is an indicator of the programming skills that went into Pro Tools, I'll just stick with Cakewalk products.
 
Re: Hmmmmmmmmmm

M.Brane said:
It works fine for me. Maybe your using the Windows version. I've heard that doesn't run well.

Exactly what does PT do that you can't do with PTF, besides the obvious like track count and time code?
Click to expand...

Well, it works with Pro Tools hardware ... that may or may not be an improvement depending on what your sound card is. It was an improvement for me. Another thing, perhaps Charger can tell us more about this -- I also think there are certain algorithms that are missing in Free that are necessary for LE and certainly TDM, and these algorithms allow for better sound; think of it in terms of how Cubase handles processing to stave of ugly summing compared Digital Performer, etc. I'm not a software engineer so I don't really know the specifics, but I did read that somewhere, and whether it's true or not I can't say.

Also, there are certain session setup parameters an engineer with a pro TDM system told me to use for "session compatibility" ... the option to configure these parameters seemed to be missing on Free; they certainly are there on PT LE. Could be because the PT LE I have is 5.1; I think Free is built off of 5.0. At any case, it wouldn't work but it works now. The engineer even saved the Mac TDM sessions as 5.0 and I STILL couldn't open them in Free. Strange.

I'm on a PC and both versions ran/run fine, BTW.
 
I never asked the engineers about their algorithms. I think the audio is pretty much dependent on what your sound card can do. The mix algorithm is pretty simple--with only 8 tracks of audio, it's definitely possible that they stripped down the code, though I think it sounds the same on an 8-track project (after bouncing) as LE. I know the free reverb that is included is a lot chintzier than the already chintzy DVerb. PTFree always worked for me on my Mac and on my PC, but I didn't use it a ton, since I have PTLE and PT TDM to work with, and they are superior.

I do think it was something of a mistake to release a product like this that is intended to sell higher-priced products, and to allow it to leave the shop so buggy. At the same time, it's not like Digi had a ton of testing resources to throw at a free product and to try it with all of the thousands of PC hardware components that are out there.

At the end of the day, it's still free and 8 tracks, but it's not anything like Pro Tools LE or Pro Tools TDM, and no one should expect it to be. Digi (and all other audio companies) are in business to make money, and anything they give away free should be viewed as an attempt to make cash, nothing more or less.
 
Well, it works with Pro Tools hardware ...
Click to expand...

Not on the Mac. SoundManager only. That means no PT hardware. It does work with some USB stuff but only that which is compatible with SoundManager.

As for the sound quality, I use the stock RCA's on my 8500. It's good enough that I need to improve my room, mics and pre's before I need to worry about the Mac's input. As long as you are mindful of the amount of fader movement, plug-ins and the mix bus I don't think anyone can bitch for free. :p

Oh yeah, and if you know what your doing with OS 9 it runs very stable. Too bad the same can't be said for Windows '98. :D
 
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