Any Software Recommendations?

[lucky13]

Alright, here's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

I went to an audio school, and got certified on using Pro Tools, so when it came time to buy audio software, it was a no brainer-Pro Tools. Everything was fine, working with audio. I was very happy with Pro Tools. More recently, the amount of audio work I've been doing has decreased while the amount of MIDI work I'm doing is increasing. It's no secret that Pro Tools is about 5 years behind everyone else when it comes to MIDI. The guy who I work with a lot uses Acid 4.0 for most of the MIDI stuff we do, and I dig it. Tempo matching, time compression and expansion, it works easily with Reason, it's a cool program, and I would get that except I use a Mac, and it's not compatible with Macs. So I've looked into some other MIDI software, and the two I'm looking at the most are Ableton Live, and Logic Express. I can get Logic for $150 with a discount from where I work, and I'm not sure on the price price I could get for Ableton. I'm planning on keeping my Digi 002 and using that as my interface for the new software. Does anybody use either of these? Any advice? Any other cool programs I'm missing?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[RAK]

Sonar is pretty good for MIDI. That's what Cakewalk was known for for a long time before Sonar brought them into the full audio production field. Digital Performer is also great for MIDI. Haven't used the others you mentioned.

 

[ssscientist]

Sonar is pretty good for MIDI.

Sonar is PC only.

I use and recommend Ableton Live. It does --- in my humble opinion --- better time stretching than Acid and once you get the hang of it is easy to use. It also has a friendly way of editing midi which I've gotten very used to.

It doesn't have as many midi tricks up it's sleeve as Logic Express does - at least not in Version 5 - but it does everything I need it to do.


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[lucky13]

Sonar is PC only.

I use and recommend Ableton Live. It does --- in my humble opinion --- better time stretching than Acid and once you get the hang of it is easy to use. It also has a friendly way of editing midi which I've gotten very used to.

It doesn't have as many midi tricks up it's sleeve as Logic Express does - at least not in Version 5 - but it does everything I need it to do.


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I played around with the demo version that came with Pro Tools when I bought it, and it seemed pretty easy to use. I also like the editing modes. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[lucky13]

Sonar is pretty good for MIDI. That's what Cakewalk was known for for a long time before Sonar brought them into the full audio production field. Digital Performer is also great for MIDI. Haven't used the others you mentioned.

I have some buddies who use DP and they swear by it. I haven't done any research on it yet, but I'll look into it. Thanks.

 

[RAK]

I have some buddies who use DP and they swear by it. I haven't done any research on it yet, but I'll look into it. Thanks.

I love DP (and MOTU in general). DP 3 was the first DAW I experienced before getting into ProTools, and eventually got Sonar for home. If I was putting together a studio from scratch now, I'd probably go with DP5.

Sorry about the Sonar recommendation. I missed where you said you were on a Mac. My bad!

 

[lucky13]

Would DP work with my MBox2 as my interface? Or would I need to buy a MOTU interface?

 

[RAK]

Would DP work with my MBox2 as my interface? Or would I need to buy a MOTU interface?

DP will work with a number of interfaces, not just MOTU brands (it's not like ProTools in that respect).

I believe that it will work with the MBox2, although I can't say for sure. I would double check with MOTU before you buy anything.

 

[lucky13]

DP will work with a number of interfaces, not just MOTU brands (it's not like ProTools in that respect).

I believe that it will work with the MBox2, although I can't say for sure. I would double check with MOTU before you buy anything.

Cool, Muchas Gracias