Pro Tools??
I am looking at home recording software, and have been reading many negative reviews for Pro Tools. Does anybody have any experience with this software, or know of any good alternate choices?
# 1
I'm looking at recording software now, too. I'm trying to get Cakewalk Sonar 7 to work right now, But the combination of Soundblaster ASIO drivers, Vista 64, and the 64 bit Sonar, I can't seem to get the ASIO drivers working. I did get them working in Makie Tracktion 3. Tracktion doesn't look too bad, but Sonar seems to have a lot more features. Have to see how the TASCAM FireOne I ordered works, I may need to go back to Vista 32 or XP (Probably XP, I hate Vista).
I can't really recommend either one as I'm just starting to play with them, but they have demo versions -
Sonar 7 Demo
Mackie Tracktion 3
And in looking up the above links, I see SONAR 8 is coming out soon. Have to see what that looks like, too I guess.
Anyone else have any suggestions for us to look at?
I can't really recommend either one as I'm just starting to play with them, but they have demo versions -
Sonar 7 Demo
Mackie Tracktion 3
And in looking up the above links, I see SONAR 8 is coming out soon. Have to see what that looks like, too I guess.
Anyone else have any suggestions for us to look at?
# 2
--------------DOWNLOAD REAPER------------
Pro Tools is the industry standard - mainly because of when it entered the market and because it runs off a stable Mac platform. It is excellent for interfacing with heavy duty hardware and is pretty user friendly. The problem is that it is not good for midi and you cannot run VST instruments. It is also insanely expensive plus pc's are evolving at a very fast rate and are a lot more cost efficient - at this stage you can easily get a pc spec'd up to the same level as a Mac.
Cubase SX3 or Cubase 4 are my softwares of choice simply because I started out on the Steinberg and am very familiar with the packages. I also prefer pc and the Windows OS. If I was starting again though I would get Reaper. It is free to download and there are no crippled functions - you are asked to pay the vendors once you have tried it. The reality is that for $50 you get all of the same functionality of Cubase and ProTools including VST plug-ins and midi (it costs around €250 for a commercial grade license for use at a pro recording studio). Reaper is as powerful as the pc it is installed on unlike ProTools which has limited number of tracks (you can have 1000 tracks in Reaper once you hardware can handle the cpu load).
The Reaper forums are very active and there are daily updates. It was created by the guy who made Winamp, he is currently positioning it very cleverly to nudge in and become as widely used as Steinberg (Cubase/Nuendo) and Pro Tools. There are already some pro studios using Reaper.
Forget all of the other free downloads, this one is the only way to go.
Get it here: http://reaper.fm/download.php
Pro Tools is the industry standard - mainly because of when it entered the market and because it runs off a stable Mac platform. It is excellent for interfacing with heavy duty hardware and is pretty user friendly. The problem is that it is not good for midi and you cannot run VST instruments. It is also insanely expensive plus pc's are evolving at a very fast rate and are a lot more cost efficient - at this stage you can easily get a pc spec'd up to the same level as a Mac.
Cubase SX3 or Cubase 4 are my softwares of choice simply because I started out on the Steinberg and am very familiar with the packages. I also prefer pc and the Windows OS. If I was starting again though I would get Reaper. It is free to download and there are no crippled functions - you are asked to pay the vendors once you have tried it. The reality is that for $50 you get all of the same functionality of Cubase and ProTools including VST plug-ins and midi (it costs around €250 for a commercial grade license for use at a pro recording studio). Reaper is as powerful as the pc it is installed on unlike ProTools which has limited number of tracks (you can have 1000 tracks in Reaper once you hardware can handle the cpu load).
The Reaper forums are very active and there are daily updates. It was created by the guy who made Winamp, he is currently positioning it very cleverly to nudge in and become as widely used as Steinberg (Cubase/Nuendo) and Pro Tools. There are already some pro studios using Reaper.
Forget all of the other free downloads, this one is the only way to go.
Get it here: http://reaper.fm/download.php
# 3
# 4
Yeah, I'm a Cubase user as well.
I actually started back in 1991 using Opcode Vision, which was almost identical to Cubase.
Then I went to Cubase 2.5... eventually upgraded to Cubase VST 24, then finally right now to Cubase 4.
What can I say.... I used to have major problems with Cubase customer service in Canada (Ray Williams, the old Canadian rep was extremely rude to me on the phone when I called for support and for some reason he now runs the Canadian company).
Their tech support has greatly improved however and they've been very helpful in sorting out some initial bugs.
Anyways, to answer your question. I've never used ProTools really.
I attempted to use the free version of ProTools Light a few years ago but found it overly confusing and not very intuitive.
Cubase has a steep learning curve if you've never used recording software before but there are some excellent DVD video tutorials from ASK Video that get you up and running in no time.
And what can I say.... I use it exclusively and the ability to time stretch and transpose audio files on the fly is majorly convenient.
(Like seriously... it's like every audio, midi or rex file is completely fluid and you have total freedom to adjust audio files to fit your songs.)
Just as a fer instance, I needed a keyboard riff to add to one of my songs from a sample recording that was originally at 120bpm in the key of A.
Just a couple of clicks and I slowed the track down to 100bpm, transposed it to E and matched it up with the original song. And you can't hear the difference at all.
Anyways, personally I'm sticking with Cubase. I've used it now since about 1992 and come up with some decent recordings even on ancient Mac equipment going back 12 years. (in fact my entire 2nd album was recorded on a Mac G3 with only 512MB of Ram and the songs are still getting picked up for TV commercials and movies.)
I actually started back in 1991 using Opcode Vision, which was almost identical to Cubase.
Then I went to Cubase 2.5... eventually upgraded to Cubase VST 24, then finally right now to Cubase 4.
What can I say.... I used to have major problems with Cubase customer service in Canada (Ray Williams, the old Canadian rep was extremely rude to me on the phone when I called for support and for some reason he now runs the Canadian company).
Their tech support has greatly improved however and they've been very helpful in sorting out some initial bugs.
Anyways, to answer your question. I've never used ProTools really.
I attempted to use the free version of ProTools Light a few years ago but found it overly confusing and not very intuitive.
Cubase has a steep learning curve if you've never used recording software before but there are some excellent DVD video tutorials from ASK Video that get you up and running in no time.
And what can I say.... I use it exclusively and the ability to time stretch and transpose audio files on the fly is majorly convenient.
(Like seriously... it's like every audio, midi or rex file is completely fluid and you have total freedom to adjust audio files to fit your songs.)
Just as a fer instance, I needed a keyboard riff to add to one of my songs from a sample recording that was originally at 120bpm in the key of A.
Just a couple of clicks and I slowed the track down to 100bpm, transposed it to E and matched it up with the original song. And you can't hear the difference at all.
Anyways, personally I'm sticking with Cubase. I've used it now since about 1992 and come up with some decent recordings even on ancient Mac equipment going back 12 years. (in fact my entire 2nd album was recorded on a Mac G3 with only 512MB of Ram and the songs are still getting picked up for TV commercials and movies.)
# 5
