| Author | Message | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 306 Registered: 1-2011 |
Good day, Alembic family. Does anyone here have experience with Protools. I am considering buying it to interface with Garage Band on my Mac. Any input on your experience will be appreciated. | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 1947 Registered: 11-2004 |
My son uses Protools at college, he says that it's THE best recording software you can get..if that's any use | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 307 Registered: 1-2011 |
Yes, it does help. Thanks, Terry. | ||
| jzstephan
Intermediate Member Username: jzstephan Post Number: 111 Registered: 1-2012 |
If you're happy with Garage Band, just get a nice hardware interface to go with it. Apogee makes some nice ones. You'll spend a lot more money getting a PT rig that sounds better. | ||
| jimmyj
Senior Member Username: jimmyj Post Number: 403 Registered: 8-2008 |
I'm a ProTools guy just because it's still considered the industry standard. But if you're running Garage Band on a mac (or iPad!) and feel you've reached the program's limits then Logic may be the way to go as it's more closely related. I believe you can open Garage Band projects in Logic... ProTools comes from a background of audio recording (actually the parent company is all about video) and it does that very well. But the midi and loop functions are not very intuitive. And as John suggested, it's the hardware that you hear. All the software does is manipulate audio files in slightly different ways. So mics, preamps, A to D and D to A converters are what will effect the actual sound. It is amazing what we can do on our personal machines these days! Have fun, Jimmy J | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 308 Registered: 1-2011 |
Thank you, Jimmy. I am a longtime fan of yours. I will take your advisement into consideration. (Message edited by billostech on August 17, 2012) | ||
| sparechaynge
Junior Username: sparechaynge Post Number: 40 Registered: 6-2010 |
I use ProTools 10 for my college class, and it's certainly way bigger than Garage Band is. If it helps, for most of my personal projects I find that a combination of Garage Band and Audacity works well. Sometimes I just don't need a whole studio, just a few simple loops and effects to get the point across. Hope this helps. +1 to getting a good interface, that's part of my problem too. | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 679 Registered: 2-2011 |
I have Pro Tools 9 & love it! You can do professional sounding recordings right in your bedroom! I use a Presonus Audiobox USB interface & it works great with Pro Tools too. | ||
| flpete1uw
Member Username: flpete1uw Post Number: 92 Registered: 11-2011 |
When I left the "Biz" a bunch of years ago Pro Tools was the standard, still is today from what I understand. The late 90's saw a large consolidation. The combining Digi Design, Pro Tools, Audiovision became what everyone used. Moving files from Studio to Studio was easy again like moving a 2" Multitrack. Remember those? Pete | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 2593 Registered: 5-2009 |
I use both older large Protools TDM systems and older" LE" consumer systems. If you are using Apple Garage Band as your DAW I would agree with both "jzstephan and 'jimmyj" . I think that if you get a nice little Apogee interface as "jzstephan" suggested above you will get excellent results. You will be spending BIG money if you want better results and higher resolution with Protools HD hardware. | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 309 Registered: 1-2011 |
Thanks again, for all of your input. I currently use an Apogee Jam to plug in my bass into Garage Band. I use Sony's Sound Forge on my my PC for light editing and audio enhancement. I was looking for something more robust to use on my MAC for tunes created in GB with my bass and Garage band instruments. Like Jimmy said, "It is amazing what we can do on our personal machines these days!". | ||
| dannobasso
Senior Member Username: dannobasso Post Number: 1462 Registered: 3-2004 |
I just upgraded with a new mac and protools 10. Took some time rewiring all the stuff but the result of adding a track to an old session was very enjoyable. An Alembified strat direct into the digi 002 rack. Mbox has great bundles and values. Small footprints with big results. | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1441 Registered: 6-2002 |
I'm thinking about purchasing PT 9(upgradeable to 10 ) and a Focusrite Sapphire 40 as a breakout box. Anyone here have experience with the Focusrite consumer line? I've been using my old LE and Mac G4 for a good decade or so...I sure will enjoy more tracks/memory/etc. I'll have to get a new (to me) computer too, I like Macs alot, but I might get more processing power if I have a friend custom build a PC for the studio...any thoughts,input,opinions are much appreciated. Elwood | ||
| darkstar01
Senior Member Username: darkstar01 Post Number: 441 Registered: 6-2005 |
i used to run several Focusrite pre's at my studio, and to be honest i was never really impressed with them at all. they always just seemed a bit "flat" to me, for lack of a better term. but i did get a lot of good use out of them after working out some tweaks here and there. i had/have the ISA828 and two ISA430 MKII, though. so no experience with the saffire line. mind you, i am by no means an engineer. just someone with an ear. and a studio. | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1251 Registered: 5-2002 |
I have made my living as an audio engineer (and now run a location recording business) and I have to say that these things are very personal. For me, ProTools is the only way to go if your main focus is audio. Jimmy is right that other solutions have the edge with certain MIDI functions, but PT has come a long way. OTOH, if you are really used to the Garageband paradigm and want to have some ability to exchange files, Logic is a good way to go. It comes with lots of decent software instruments and plugins. I do actually use it a lot for my current business because it does one thing that ProTools doesn't: bounce in faster than real time. When I do a location recording of 3+ hours, I don't want to tie my computer up for 3+ hours doing a rough mix. Logic handles mixing tasks very well. OTOH, if the work needs a lot of edits, it goes right into ProTools. For me, editing audio in Logic is, well, illogical. But at the end of the day, all the DAWs have a different feel, so if you can find a way to play around with them, it's well worth it. I also like to encourage everyone to check out Reaper. The demo is free, the full version (which is actually the same as the demo) is dirt cheap and it's run by a company that is very responsive to the user base. Like any other DAW, there is a learning curve, but it's a very deep and capable program. | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1442 Registered: 6-2002 |
thanks for input, Most my tracks I use a stereo HHB tube compressor(Radius 30) that keeps things warm , so I guess I'll need to look at headroom specs to keep things transparent . The LE pre's barely come into play with my current set-up. I'm thinking the focusrite pre's would at least be a step up, but that's just a guess since I haven't heard them either. I'll keep up the research before I pull the trigger. cheers | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1443 Registered: 6-2002 |
Edwin, I know you mentioned before what you use with your laptop as a breakout box, would you refresh my memory? | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1252 Registered: 5-2002 |
While I usually use Metric Halo interfaces (utterly stunning sound quality with great features, but pricey and Mac only. Metric Halo is the Alembic of the audio interface world), I've found that the very latest MBoxes are pretty good. I got one of the basic MBox 3's for my study and it does quite well and have used it for some two track classical recording. I also liked the Apogee Duet 2, but I sold it because I wanted to have s/pdif input and output along with the analog channels. My suspicion is that both sound better than the focusrite, but I have no real evidence to back that up. I would also not bother with PT9 if you are purchasing new. PT10 is much more stable and has some better features. It's possible that there are some MBox/ProTools bundle deals to be had out there. However, beware and do not get the older MBoxes. They were pretty bad. | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1444 Registered: 6-2002 |
Much appreciated Edwin, My goal is to find something that I can have multiple inputs for live sessions . I see PT9 available ($359 on debay)with a free upgrade to PT 10...is that the same as buying PT 10 outright? Thanks for the caveat re the old Mboxes, I'll remember that. I'm sooo looking forward to having much more memory / tracks / etc. I just need to figure out how much equipment and instruments I need to sell to make it happen. Thanks for the help everyone. | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 314 Registered: 1-2011 |
Thanks, to everyone. I have decided to try Logic and Reaper (demo version). This is a sample of what I did in Garage Band. It is still a work in progress. I am hoping to obtain a better sound quality than what I have now. Please note this sample was done on an IPad2 not my Mac. http://soundcloud.com/billostech/marching-saints (Message edited by billostech on August 21, 2012) | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 317 Registered: 1-2011 |
The entry level studio is now complete: Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 Yamaha HS80M Monitor Speakers and HS10W Subwoofer. Running Logic Pro on a MacMini. I purchased the book: "The Art of Mixing". Great book for me being a beginner. Here is the result: http://soundcloud.com/billostech/charles-snoop | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 318 Registered: 1-2011 |
Here are some pics: http://s1123.photobucket.com/albums/l550/billostech/Studio/ | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1273 Registered: 5-2002 |
Congrats! It's the beginning of a long and fun journey! I recommend subscribing to DAW-Mac at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/daw-mac/ There are lots of really great people on that list who are very willing to help people of all levels. Plus, there's a lot of great information to be gained by just listening in on the conversation. There's also some good info at www.gearslutz.com. I've heard really good things about your choice of monitors. This company does mods on them that is supposed to kick it up to the next level. http://www.zenproaudio.com/yamahahs80mzenpromodservice.aspx Lastly, beware of plugin madness! It's so easy to get caught up in all kinds of additions to Logic. I can wholeheartedly recommend PSP, Metric Halo and SoundToys. The latter has a filter that rivals my old Mutron. However, Logic does come with an excellent complement of plugins. | ||
| billostech
Advanced Member Username: billostech Post Number: 319 Registered: 1-2011 |
Thanks, Edwin. I will do what you have recommended. There is so much to learn. i have decided to take a little at a time. It is quite rewarding to hear the tracks clearly. |
