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new audio workstation


kutcher

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I had to smile. I had soundscape and without a doubt it was the worst front end I've ever used (simply very unintuitive and unfriendly - but sonically excellent) and in the end I used the soundscape boards driven by cubase. The trouble with that list of high end studios is that you seriously can't be suggesting the op strives for the studio specs of the megastudios? Crazy! On the real world, not mr brainwave's one, the sheer numbers do NOT suggest in any way that pro tools has any lead on the others. Pro tools is an excellent recording system but to suggest it's popular outside of pro studios is silly. I have avid here on one machine in the edit suite and never use it - ever. Adobe works for me, but I suppose that's a toy too!

 

Computer workstations are not the same thing as the big Pro Tools control surfaces that are in essence, the core of a multi-room, big budget installation. The OP said:

Need a new PC as im a sound editor but im also not so technical,

What indicates he has a need or deep pockets?

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Nice Pro Tools ad there brainwave-generator...but totally irrelevant to the question at hand. A professional studio using Pro Tools HARDWARE (and we're not just talking A to Ds here...also DSP boxes, etc) is a very different kettle of fish to a standalone audio work station on a low/mid range PC. The basic Pro-Tools software is clunky and unintuitive compared to lots of other editing/mixing software out there. Out of the box, it's also lacking a good many features which turn out to be optional extras...all chargeable at high prices.

 

If you think the perception is that they're behind the times "because they don't advertise" then you clearly don't keep up with audio technology. Pro Tools is advertised everywhere and pushed very hard.

 

No, my perception of "behind the times" is based on things like most competing DAWs moving to 32 bit float years before Digidesign made the move from 24 bit integer. I suspect this delay may be down to the fact that they DO manufacture hardware, meaning that they can't just tweak software.

 

And, beyond that, in the past I had many years of dealings with Digidesign and Avid. Let's just say they weren't my favourite company for the point of view of responsiveness or customer service. A I mentioned previously, my knowledge isn't just theoretical. I used to manage a facility with many Avid and Pro Tools suites--we had to go that route for compatiblity with others. However, for my home studio where I wasn't so constrained, Pro Tools didn't even make my short list.

 

Frankly, Pro Tools is a bit like the SM58 of the DAW market. Everybody has to use it because everybody else uses it--not because it's the best at anything, just because it's market dominant.

 

In this case, though, pushing Pro Tools for a one-off budget level workstation is just plain wrong advice. It seems more motivated by a "designer name" than any consideration of practicality.

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For a prebuilt workstationit might be worth ahving a look here http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/pro-audio

 

I've always bought bits from scan but onlyrecently noticed they have an audio section.

 

+1 for Scan.

 

The owner is a top guy and the company are great.

 

If you want a machine that pre-built, they have a dept. called 3XS which do this in house.

 

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/

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There's a lovely article in Sound on Sound this month covering a story about Hans Zimmer temporarily leaving his US studio complex to work in London in De Lane Lea in the west end. The really nice thing was that this world class musician, with very deep pockets uses Cubase to compose on, and Pro Tools to monitor the inputs and record them. The mixing would then be done on a Euphonix series 5. I think it safe to assume that each of these offers what the man wants, and he has no strange Pro Tools only mentality. I'd love somebody to tell him that Cubase has no place in a pro studio, because he seems to think it has. One thing I have learned over the years is NEVER to knock a product on the basis of somebody else's personal preference, but to make your own mind up.

 

Alan Parsons now distributes his training material through Steinberg, and is a documented Pro Tools and Nuendo user - again another respected industry figure willing to use what appears best. Open minds are great things!

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Another thing to consider is where the software has grown from. Cubase grew out of midi sequencing so is great for composing and midi integrated work. Protools grew up as a tape replacement and is great at recording/mixing.

 

At the end of the day they are all only tools, and if you can get a great result out of it then use it. Noone refuses to buy an album because it wasn't mixed on protools... A tool gets a job done, and the right tool is the one that works for you.

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I'll chip in here and agree with J Pearce. I use Logic at home for midi work and music track creation. I recently switched to using Sibelius for printed music writing (because Logic was such a pain and required lots of work to get anything half decent) and I use ProTools at work for recording choirs, sound effects editing etc. I have in the past even started on Logic, printed the music on Sibelius and recorded the singers on ProTools. As Paul has said, it's what gets the job done for you and what you're used to rather than relying on one brand to sort you out.
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