I want to upgrade to Protools Le Digi002 from.....

anppilot1

New member
Cubase VST.

I have a question. I've been recording for years with Cubase VST. I opened my studio for hire about a year ago now, and would like to go with Protools Le with a Digi002. Heres my question. Which type of computer?

I know that you guys, that know Protools, well are going to say go with Mac.
I was told by a guy at Guitar Center here in arlington texas that the minimum he recomended was a Mac g5 2ghz 160 ghd, 512 (or 1ghz) ram recomended.

I'm pricing them now new and used. And the minimum I found that mac for is $2000.00

Ok, I'm a PC person. Why not a pc? I can build a Athalon XP 2.5 GHZ somthing around that speed or even p4, with 1GHZ ram for under 800.00 dollars.

Would a pc combo like this work (athalon, barton, 64bit or p4 presscott)? If so, what do you recomend PC motherboard/chip/ram combo? And if you dont recomend anything on a pc level, then what would you recomend on a mac level? And I highly doubt that i will be using all 32 tracks, but if I do, lets configue a mac to run all 32 tracks with say reverb and chorus MINIMUM on each track, and delay or flange here and t here on vocals and drums, ect. Would that g5 2ghz with agb ram do the job? What about a PC - speed, chip recomendations and ram manufacturer???

Help me, I want to switch to protools, but i dont want to be constantly upgrading a computer.

Thisis what I want: 32 tracks, rev + chrs, Minimum other effects here and there 1 computer purchase, 1 time. if i upgrade anything it will be a harddrive or something. i dont want to keep upgrading ram and processor. remember all I want is to buy the computer ONCE, just 1 computer purchase. I dont want the computer to bog at all under alot of tracks, ect. Isnt this why Protools uses external equipment so the processor isnt being eaten up by audio processing?

Also, Steinberg is famous for their sequencers. To me they have the best in the world ever. Maybe it's just because I know it inside and out, backward and forward. Seriously, You Protools people can laugh all you want, I will agree with one thing, Steinberg is by no means professional, well, maybe neuendo and Cubase SX 2.0+...and thats a maybe, But Protools is an industry standard. Thats a fact that no Steinberg enthusiest can argue, not even me. Thats why its time to switch. But their Audio portion to me, just doesnt cut it. Its processor heavy.

what do u recomend?
 
Pretty simple. Go to the compatibility docs at the digidesign site and follow them to the letter. you will be golden.

And put on your flame suit for suggesting that PTle is the "industry standard" cuz it's coming soon and it will come hard.



Cheers,
C
 
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Get an 001 instead.



Reasons why the 001 is better than the 002:
1. Cost so much less for really the same features
2. 001 has two less shitty preamps
3. 001 has two more ins usable for outboard (for outboard rerbs, delays, etc)
4. 001 is pci based
 
disputing fenix with reasons you should get a 002 instead:

1) i have no clue what the hell he was talking about with two more inputs....but the 002 and 001 have the exact same number of inputs...18
2) the highest sample rate you can get on the 001 is 48...highest on 002 is 96
3) the last version of PT you can get to work with the 001 is 6.4. and they just came out with 6.7, which won't work with 001 anymore.
4) I've heard of nobody having issues with getting 18 inputs to work across firewire


as far as your computer, if you can't afford a mac...then PC will work for you just fine. This is what I'm using with the 002:
AMD Athlon XP 3000
1GB DDR400 RAM
80GB audio drive, 40GB system drive (all 7200RPM)

works like a charm...now (i just found out my motherboard was set to the wrong FSB speed :eek: )
I was able to get 32 audio tracks, and 20 aux tracks with a 4band EQ, compressor, medium delay, and long delay on all the tracks. I probably could have gotten more, but I got bored copying tracks. If you get an AMD 64 it'll work even better.

I was in the exact same boat you were not too long ago. I choose PC, got the computer I wanted for the price I wanted and it works great. Just beware of the whole Windows SP2 problem that Digi's been having. There's a work around, but you'll have to download something from Digi and change a few things with the Windows settings.
Come join us at the bottom if you want to talk PT. Good luck. :cool:
 
I have an XP3200+, 512 Mb and it works like a charm.

Be sure to have an extra hardrive for recording, and I recommend 1Gb RAM, although my 512 is coping at the moment.

For all compatibility options, check www.digidesign.com/compato

I went for a Digi 002 Rack, and it's a great option if you don't feel a control surface is necessarry.

I wouldn't recommend the Digi 001, like fenix does. To respond to him

1) you can only find the Digi 001 second hand, it is no longer supported by Digidesign. So you don't pay less for the same features: the Digi 001 can't support the latest software updates
2) The pre amps are of the same quality in my opinion, and the 002 offers 4 and not 2 as the Digi 001
3) Where do you base that on? SImply not true.
4) Like Benny says, the firewire is just as reliable in these situations and has the advantage of being portable.
 
BrettB said:
1) you can only find the Digi 001 second hand, it is no longer supported by Digidesign. So you don't pay less for the same features: the Digi 001 can't support the latest software updates

Since 6.1, Digidesign hasn't had any real major software updates. You could argue the Beat Detective in 6.7 is a major update, but it's very limited, only letting you do one track at a time which poses issues and difficulty for drums. Not to mention the countless bugs with LE 6.1 and 6.4, such as a the gate plug that has reversed metering and occasional problems with aux returns and outboard gear and heaps more bugs. If you don't use the new features in the updates, then why get them?

BrettB said:
2) The pre amps are of the same quality in my opinion, and the 002 offers 4 and not 2 as the Digi 001

I never said anything about quality. I was referring to quantity. I would much rather have less shitty preamps. On the 002 (excluding optical ins) you can only run 4 outboard preamps. On the 001, you can do six. 2 shitty preamps is an advantage over 4 shitty preamps in my opinion.


BrettB said:
3) Where do you base that on? SImply not true.




Or you could just get nuendo and stop taking it up the ass from digidesign.
 
fenix said:
I never said anything about quality. I was referring to quantity. I would much rather have less shitty preamps. On the 002 (excluding optical ins) you can only run 4 outboard preamps. On the 001, you can do six. 2 shitty preamps is an advantage over 4 shitty preamps in my opinion.

what are you talking about??!
there is 8 analog inputs on the 002 (just like the 001). Either MIC/Line input or LINE input...on ALL 8. The first 4 that are preamps you can switch between either line or mic. Giving you the option of replacing those preamps with new ones by running LINE out of your preamp into the 002. Just like the 001 does (they use the Neutrik connectors on the front two combining 1/4" and XLR)
 
even if you use line in on the 4 preamps, you are still going through the preamps! If i remember correctly with the pre's turned all the way down, they are still at +12 gain. That's 12db of digi grit I would not want on my recording.
 
If you use the line in, you go straight to the converters. There's a switch that bypasses the pres altogether.

Back to the original post before the Protools bashing started :rolleyes:

Go to:
http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat....page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=1#360675

Post #1 in the thread is updated periodically so the recommendations in there are still good. You have the option of a under $600 machine or a new AMD Athlon 64. I went with the 64 version and it was about $1000 altogether. I'm getting 32 tracks +20 Aux with compression, 4Band EQ, slap, short, medium, and long delay on all tracks (there's a link there for this standard test to compare PT performance on different PC's, it's called the DaveC test)
 
BrettB said:
I come to this board for information, not to be insulted :mad:

Geez, get a grip, he's not insulting YOU, he's making a comment (shared by many) that Digi's hw is overpriced, and being proprietary, is effectively and figurtively forced up yer ass.

However, if you *like* it that way..... who are we to argue. Just *bend over* !!!!! :eek:
 
Yo Anppilot1- Don't sweat it. The windows platform got a bad rep with PT mostly because of Windows ME and Windows 2000, both of which are unstable platforms for Pro Tools. The 002 works fine with XP home. (skip XP Pro- the networking features just make running PT more difficult). Check Music XPC on line. They build a line of reasonably priced, already silenced, PC's built and configured for running PT. I have an S2, and it has never given me any trouble. -Richie
 
i'm really glad you guys resurrected this post....from DECEMBER!! :rolleyes:
leave it to a newbie to do a search and not look at the date it was last posted in
lol
move on boys
 
Unless you're just HELL bent on PT, really give Samplitude a consideration...

For $2K, you could upgrade to a screamin' 3.X GHz PC and buy Samplitude 8.1.

It'd be a great system...
 
M-Audio and Hard drives

here is the deal:

Digi is way over priced. The upside is protools.....this is TRULY the industry standard and infinitely capable. If you want to beat the price and get Digi quality, just go for the M-Audio Delta 1010. M-powered is awesome. If you have the right hardware on your pc, this is ideal. the hard drive is key. MUST (in my opinion) be a 1500rpm hard drive with less than 5ms latency and write and read speeds of less than 6ms. The seagate cheetah st336754lw is wicked. this is a small hard drive and I suggest using it exclusively forrecording. Get a larger hard drive for OS and such. When you are done with the entire project, transfer the final mix onto the other hard drive.
 
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