Is pro tools what I want? What else do I need?

[SpinningDisk]

You'll be ok Area. Your in good hands.

[astroturf]

youre better off with ableton or cubase with electronic music if thats what youre gonna make. their midi stuff is way better than anything pt offers. PT is better for recording, mixing etc. I know its a pt forum but its the truth man.

[VRW]

Originally Posted by astroturf

youre better off with ableton or cubase with electronic music if thats what youre gonna make. their midi stuff is way better than anything pt offers. PT is better for recording, mixing etc. I know its a pt forum but its the truth man.

From what you have been writing about your current computer, your style of music, your budget etc. let me highly recommend Logic Pro X instead of Pro Tools, Cubase etc.!

I use both PT12HD and Logic Pro X on my system, have used Cubase, Reaper, Ableton and others in the past and I guarantee you that you will get satisfied with Logic as for
your style of music, your demand for tons of sounds, virtual instruments, loops and professional audio quality etc.

Logic is the perfect DAW if you want to make electronical music and add a few professionally sounding audio tracks finally. It comes with tons of good quality synths, loops,
sample sounds and high quality plugins. All for $199.- only.

As Logic had been added to the Apple corp. a few years ago, you now buy it via the Apple App store and you will always be up to date because it gets updated automatically
according to your OSX. Means it simply will work well with your current OSX.

Further will Logic work flawlessly with your current Macbook Pro 2,5GHz i5. Pro Tools does work with it as well nevertheless does Pro Tools like i7 Quad Core processors a lot more.

What I would recommend you to get would be
1) Logic Pro X ($199.99)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/logi...34148309?mt=12
2) Focusrite 2i2+Blue Microphone Bluebird Bundle ($299.99)
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BlueBirdScarBun
3) M-Audio Midi interface ($39.99)
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MIDISport1x1
4) Yamaha HS5 (2x $199.-) ...very musically sounding yet accurate ones in this price range.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HS5
5) Monitor stands ($99.95) ...these provide you a more accurate sound from your monitor speakers than having it on the desk itself.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MonitorStd
6) SE Reflexion Filter ($199.-) ...with this one you can get professionally useable vocal/instrument recordings even in untreated/sparsely treated rooms.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Reflexion
7) Room Treatment stuff ($224.99) ...you get 12 pieces with this pack and you might put some on each wall of your room, some directly on the wall behind your monitor speakers
and some on the ceiling exactly above your desk and chair. This will provide a basic acoustical improvement of your current room for sure.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SF2in22CHA
8) External 3TB 7200rpm HDD with Thunderbolt connection ($299.99)...on this external drive you can have it all, your music projects, your photo stuff etc. and it will use one of your
Thunderbolt ports on your Macbook which will be useful because your USB ports are busy already.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Lacie/9000492U/

This will be about $1761.- all together however provide you a small but really useable and good quality home recording system.

If you would want to have a more clear and convenient view on your work you could add an external monitor to your Macbook via it´s 2nd Thunderbolt port (Thunderbolt to HDMI
Adapter required). Because you only have a 13" screen I would recommend it as well. It will be worth the extra $150.- in the long run.
http://www.amazon.com/VS248H-P-1920x...words=Asus+248

I am aware of that this is a Pro Tools forum and I am a happy PT user as well (using 12HD and 12 Native on 2 different systems) but nevertheless Logic will be the right choice for your
requirements at the moment.
If you will record and mix more audio sources in the future you then may add Pro Tools to your system later as well which still is the best DAW for audio recording and mixing particularly.
It is great to have both on your system available actually.

Hope this will help you further in a way.

The best of success to you!