DinosaurDavidB.
New member
These are the two programs I've been considering, but haven't decided yet. I'm interested in hearing what the pros and cons are of each. Particularly from (but not limited to) anyone who's used both. Thanks in advance.
These are the two programs I've been considering, but haven't decided yet. I'm interested in hearing what the pros and cons are of each. Particularly from (but not limited to) anyone who's used both. Thanks in advance.
These are the two programs I've been considering, but haven't decided yet. I'm interested in hearing what the pros and cons are of each. Particularly from (but not limited to) anyone who's used both. Thanks in advance.
First, I'll note that I am not a Pro Tools user, so my opinion is based on secondhand accounts.
Then, there's the whole nonstandard plug-in model. They don't support any of the standard plug-in formats, so you are out extra money to buy adapter software that probably won't work as well as a natively-supported plug-in.
RTAS (real time audio suite) is far from a non-standard format. No less standard than MAS or VST or AU. An argument CAN be made that for some 3rd party code writers RTAS protocol remains an enigma but virtually ALL major 3rd party plug-in companies continue to write for RTAS.
RTAS IS as standard as it gets.
It is a proprietary specification that no DAW other than Pro Tools uses, so no, it isn't as standard as it gets....
And every plug-in I've seen thus far costs more as an RTAS plug-in precisely because it is a standard that only is supported by one vendor.
It's a lot of extra work for plug-in developers for a relatively small market (compared with VST on the PC or AU on the Mac).
This is completely wrong. Atmosphere, or Trilogy or TL Space or Waves or EZ Drummer or Native-Instruments or ect, ect is exactly the same cost be it MAS, AU, VST or RTAS
My bad. It was TDM that costs more. Never mind that part.
My other points about it locking you into a very limited choice of hardware (at a steep cost premium compared with equivalent hardware from other manufacturers) still applies, though.
This is also way off base. The current 003 is NOT "a steep cost premium compared with equivalent hardware from other manufacturers".
For example the 003 is roughly $1100.00 with both hardware and software.
Compare that to three box's that mirror the 003. The Motu 828 $750.00, The Presonus Firestudio $500.00 and the TC Electronic 16 in and out box (name escapes me) $550.00. Add to that a copy of Cubase at $600.00 and the 003 is cheaper than 2 of the 3 solutions and the same cost as the 3rd.
The "being locked in" argument always puzzles me. As a consumer you do the research and base your decisions on that hopefully informed conclusion.
That's why buying software that is tied to hardware is a bad idea. This isn't a conspiracy theory. It's just common sense.
The rack version is roughly $1100.00. It is approximately equivalent to an 8Pre, which costs $550. That's roughly double. The same goes for the control surface version when compared with equivalent products.
Well, let me give you a list of ways that tied hardware can screw you over:
First, when the hardware fails, you get to buy the software again. That software will never be usable by anyone without the hardware, so the cost of the first copy of Pro Tools is a wasted expense. Of course, you get a copy of Cubase LE or AudioDesk with other interfaces, so part of that extra expense is a give, but at least you could ostensibly sell your copy of Cubase LE or AudioDesk and somebody could use it without needing to own some specific piece of hardware....
Second, if you ever decide you want to use a mobile interface or upgrade your interface, you're basically stuck with buying another Digi interface unless you want to start over with a new DAW.
Third, when Digi stops supporting your interface in new versions of Pro Tools after a few years, you no longer have a viable upgrade path for that setup. If an OS upgrade forces you to upgrade to a new version of Pro Tools, you have a choice of buying new hardware or changing DAWs.
That's why buying software that is tied to hardware is a bad idea. This isn't a conspiracy theory. It's just common sense.
Somehow you need to be able to try out your choices, and see if you can figure which is most likely to match your way of thinking.
1. Could you elaborate on what do you mean by "when the hardware fails, you get to buy the software again"?
2. Upgrading hasn't been painful and I didn't feel I was missing out on any features from other interfaces. I went from a mbox 1 to a 002 and will be going HD in the next year or two.
I've kept my mbox 1 for mobile and will probably use the 002 to cross grade, digi give you [in Australia] $1000 off a HD system when you give back your 002.
3. I bought my mbox 1 in 2003, its still supported in the latest PT version 7.4.2 - doesn't seem too bad to me.
Hardware fails. It's an inevitable fact of life. Maybe it gets dropped or somebody spills a soda on it. Maybe the caps leak electrolyte. Maybe there's a power surge. S**t happens.
When you buy an interface/software package, you're getting the interface and the software. Therefore, if you need to buy new hardware because it fails, you end up paying for the software all over again.
That's all I meant.
I should hope so. That's only five years.... M-Audio still supports the 1010LT and that came out in... 1998, I think.
The Digi 001, by contrast, came out in 1999 and support was dropped three years ago when PT7 came out.
actually the 001 was dropped well before 7.0
Still...the M-Audio 1010LT doesn't have software. There's no need to keep it supported with specific software, since it just acts as a hardware unit. I guess maybe the drivers are still usable?
btw, to clear up a few things...PTLE does have a delay compensation built into the buffer. Not to mention I know people who prefer to have manual the control over correcting the plugin delay. They don't see the delay compensation in many programs being all that accurate enough.
Also, regarding surround sound, this is possible in LE ( http://www.neyrinck.com/Pages/mix51.html )
Hardware fails. It's an inevitable fact of life. Maybe it gets dropped or somebody spills a soda on it. Maybe the caps leak electrolyte. Maybe there's a power surge. S**t happens.
When you buy an interface/software package, you're getting the interface and the software. Therefore, if you need to buy new hardware because it fails, you end up paying for the software all over again.
My point was that when all is said and done, you will have paid for three copies of Pro Tools.
Okay, that certainly takes some of the sting out of it. On the other hand, since they can't realistically resell those 002 systems, that tells me that they have an extra $1000 of padding on top of the profit margins of a typical company selling the same product....