WHY do you use Peak, Logic, etc.?

[Raymond Hardy]

I'm new recording but making slow progress in learning to use PT - BTW, DUC is speeding up my progress.
I notice many of you are using other applications, along with PT - Apps. like Peak, Logic, etc.. I'm sure you have good reasons for this - Why do you use them??

G4 Quicksilver - Digi 001 with PTle 6.1

[Morningstar]

It really depends on what you're doing. The 'right tool for the job' thing. A good 2-track editor like Peak or Spark XL can speed up some processes and facilitate others that would've been highly difficult or impossible with PTLE alone. I use Spark XL regularly. For example, yesterday I was preparing and burning a heavily edited 10 track playlist to CD while simultaneously converting the files to .mp3 for web-posting. So, while not a must-have, a luxury for sure. Other sequencers like Logic and DP are useful either because: 1) you prefer them for midi over PT- if you do alot of midi. 2)Compatability; you have friends or partners who use the other software. 3)Because they are fun. Sounds dumb, but true for me. Dorking around in some strange GUI is a geeky turn-on for some reason (which also leads to the releived sounding 'ahhh' when opening PT for the first time after using said other software)...

[Slim Shady]

I use...

Peak: for editing 60-90 minute radio programs into regions that can be exported to Jam then burned to CD. This is much faster and more reliable than setting regions in ProTools and bouncing each one as a seperate file.

Logic: for MIDI/drum sequencing, integration with Reason (better than PT) and of course all the great virtual instruments. Plus a lot of the plug-ins that come with logic are great for messing sounds up etc. I also use Logic as the basis of my live rig, which is centered around a powerbook and virtual synths.

ProTools: for mixing/mastering. Sometimes for composing if I don't need much MIDI, but for the most part when I'm done composing in Logic, I bring the audio files into PT for mixing.

[audioeric]

I use AudioDesk along with a MOTU 2408mkII to get ADAT dumped onto the computer.. With that, I can get 24 channels in very easily, and then use my optical patch bay to get more in if I need to.. Anyway, I like the MOTU because it was very cheap ($300 on ebay) and I get 24 channels ADAT in..

Other than AudioDesk and ProTools, I don't use anything else.. To burn songs I use an HHB BurnIt Plus, and I have my 002rack going into it using optical..

Hope this helps..

eric

[raswoods]

Helloo, Can Spark 1.5 do much for me ?

[Kickin.da.speaker]

Well yeah you could use Logic with only soft synths and then mix your result to CD, bypassing the need for any kind of inputs/outputs interfaces. However, you would be limited to software instruments.

The reason I use Logic is because you can have a gazillion tracks, and also midi programming is so much easier (than on PTLE). Also VST plug-ins.

[Raymond Hardy]

Thanks for the many ideas about why "other" software programs are useful.
Please pardon the Beginner's level of this question. Am I correct in thinking that after using Peak, Logic, etc.. you save the result to a file and then import (if you want to do additional work on the file) into to PT?
Someone else asked this question - can you use the Digi interface i.e. 001,002, etc. to input audio or Midi into those "other" programs?

[jpoprock]

This may be a dumb question, but if you use Logic, then do you also have to have some kind of additional breakout box to send your signal to it? Or no, if you're using software based stuff like Reason to do your drums? I was just wondering if the only investment one needs to use Logic is the program itself, and not some firewire interface or whatever.

Jason

[jpoprock]

So in otherwords, for you people that use Logic, Digi, etc, you have the 001/mbox,etc box for PTLE, and say a MOTU FW box for all the rest correct? In otherwords, you can't use the 001 for anything other than PTLE. And if you want to mess w/ different software, you've gotta invest in the interface. Right? Man, that sounds too expensive for the "non-pro". Make sense if you're a studio though.

Jason

[captain54]

Originally posted by Slim Shady:
Logic: for MIDI/drum sequencing, integration with Reason (better than PT).

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">what version of Logic are you using...??

I am running 5.5 and with Reason 2.5 and it is nothing but a pain in the butt...compared to how Reason is running with PTools 6..

I don't see the advantage of running Logic with Reason (unless of course Logic 6 is different)..its the old Rewire 1 format..you can apply effects processing in Logic to Reason tracks, but that's about it...you still have to bounce to render audio files, and I don't know of anyone who has been able to successfully trigger Reason modules via midi in Logic...