ProTools & Digi 001

[BCrowell]

Dave,
I noticed you piped everything through and recorded with your Digi001 and ProTools. Obviously ProTools is THE recording software of professionals, but I wanted your opinion on the DIGI001 based system. Was it easy to Use? Did it give you the results you wanted. Would you recommend the same setup for home studio musicians? I've been temped to make the jump into buying a digidesign system (going away from Maudio card & Adobe Audition), and would love your insight!
Anyone else having opinions, please chime in!

[webguy]

Hey BCrowell,
If I'm not mistaken Digi no longer makes the 001. The last newsletter I received said that they are going to stop offering support for the 001. The 002 is the new system. It comes 3 ways. Interface and surface control together, interface rack unit only (without a surface control), and the Mbox which is the portable unit. Retail Prices: Interface and surface together around $2200, Rack unit around $1200, and Mbox around $500. Protools has been the standard for along time and is excellent to use. I have the 002 rack unit. There are others out there such as Nueindo, but Protools puts you on the same page with most studios in the country. This is great when you go from project studio to a major studio because you are still in the same software. Another good example: When I work on my fathers material, because it is so old, sometimes I run into problems I can not fix. If that happens I can send the files to a studio in Nashville and have them fix the problem and then send it back for me to complete. Get the picture. It's the standard. That's why I use it. I will say that Nueindo, which is the only thing I've seen that is comparable, is very impressive but it is not as user friendly. If you get Protools I recommend you get the new Mac G5 to run it on. Mac is the best for music production bottom line! I use Windows XP only because I have a network of 5 computers that are all Windows and it would cost me to much to convert and I need them all to communicate. And I'm to cheap to pay for a Mac! Also bite the bullet and get the interface and controller combined it is worth the extra bucks. Working with the mouse gets old. You can add a controller to the rack but it is not the same controller and not as good. Once you work with Protools you will never use anything else. http://www.digidesign.com/

[Val]

I've never been into ProTools, always used Logic on my home PC and Cubase at college.

[DavejWeiner]

The 001 was great, but I used it mainly as a dongle to make PT work. I didn't use it's pre's or converters. You needa really good frotn end no matter DAW you're working with.

The 002 has replaced the 001, I definitely recommend it. The only limitations are 32 tracks and your computer's processing power.

Before I record my next cd, I'm probably going to try out the new Logic. Since Apple bought it, they made some amazing advancements that I think I would like.

Dave

[BCrowell]

I always thought it was ridiculous that you need the hardware just to use the software!! So you used the Avalon pre's right? What did you use for A/D converters?

Webguy, my first experience was with ProTools Free, and I really liked it! Could handle MIDI & audio equally well and didn't take too much to get used to. Adobe Audition (Cool Edit Pro), is very similar from an audio standpoint, with all it's automation controls, but sucks for MIDI. I understand the point about portability of protools sessions, as allot of studios use it or Logic. I had to port my Audition session into ProTools at a local studio for mixing...what a pain. I also found my A/D card from MAudio is actually better than the digi001s, but the Digi002 is far better. As far as automation, I am looking for a nice external USB mixer/controller interface...the Digi002 control surface model is really out of my financial reach, but am considering the rack unit.

Cubase is fine, but I mainly use it for MIDI oriented projects and VST instrument stuff, as it's just not up to par (IMHO) for audio intensive stuff. I tried and sold Nuendo, so I'm not going to go there.

So I'm hearing that Apple's Logic is a good way to go also. I'll do some more research, thanks all!

[invisibo86]

I have the 002 rack unit. I like it, it serves a purpose and I can do what little stuff needs to get done. However at the studio where I intern among other things they use Sadie, which I have to say is my favorite for editing. It's just so ultimatly user friendly and just works really well, also the fades are better than ProTools (in my opinion) as well as a few other things that just make editing easier. The plug-ins in ProTools are a lot of fun to toy with, but they pale in comparison to other mediums, even other plugins.

[DavejWeiner]

I used an Apogee PSX-100 SE for converters.