The Protools LE to Protools 9 Upgrade satisfation thread

[Greg M]

This topic really has been beaten to death over the years. A few years ago the members over at the 3dB forum put most of the DAWs to the test. The result was that they all sounded exactly the same and nulled when set up the same. By being set up the same, I mean using the same pan laws, etc.

Stereo tracks will sound different (not necessarily better) in Sony Vegas than in PT (any version) if you don't set the pan laws the same.

The one exception that I know of is Propellerhead Record. I think they tried to build in an SSL console emulation. None of the others have done this (so that you can use your own plug-ins to make it sound like whatever board you want) as far as I know.

Greg

[soundboy35]

"...when somebody brings in a Logic track — I know exactly what it was recorded on."

Sorry Hans, I doubt it very much, now go cash that check from Steinberg...lol
I've heard stuff that was recorded on every DAW and they all have the potential to sound great with the right person doing the work. Pro Tools has just been the leader in the field for the most part, and is the most common in studios.

BTW, the fully loaded Dell's are now not so much cheaper than the Macbook Pro's anymore.

[spenner]

Originally Posted by Greg M

This topic really has been beaten to death over the years. A few years ago the members over at the 3dB forum put most of the DAWs to the test. The result was that they all sounded exactly the same and nulled when set up the same. By being set up the same, I mean using the same pan laws, etc.

Stereo tracks will sound different (not necessarily better) in Sony Vegas than in PT (any version) if you don't set the pan laws the same.

The one exception that I know of is Propellerhead Record. I think they tried to build in an SSL console emulation. None of the others have done this (so that you can use your own plug-ins to make it sound like whatever board you want) as far as I know.

Greg

Well I won't continue to debate theory over fact. And to clarify, not that it makes a difference, I said DAWs may sound different not better. I do have another question though. So what then do you say to people who kept the same outboard and software chain, switched DAWs and swear they hear a difference. The ears don't matter in this case? Just wondering.

FWIW, we are not too far off the thread. The OP initially stated that he heard a difference between PT7 and PT9. The other DAWs just got thrown in. In conclusion folks are saying PT9 does not sound different than PT7, neither do DAWs sound different.

BTW, thanks John for the gearslutz link.

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by spenner

So what then do you say to people who kept the same outboard and software chain, switched DAWs and swear they hear a difference. The ears don't matter in this case?

A couple of possibilities. A different looking interface will sound different to you while you're looking at it, even if the bit stream is identical. A different interface may encourage a different way of working, which may result in different session structures, which may result in a different bit stream. E.g., if a DAW makes it more convenient to put a compressor on every background vocal track than to bus them together and compress them on an Aux, most users will do it that way. Or if a DAW doesn't make it readily apparent that your levels are too hot, many users will routinely send excessively hot audio into their plug-ins, which may not handle it elegantly.

[John_Toolbox]

Originally Posted by spenner

So what then do you say to people who kept the same outboard and software chain, switched DAWs and swear they hear a difference. The ears don't matter in this case? Just wondering.

It's most likely that they didn't scientifically test it. There is some other variable other than just the DAW that they are ignoring or not aware of.

Just like if you went to someones studio and listened to a set of speakers.... you might say, "Wow, those sound so much better than my speakers!"

This might be true to your ears, but there are too many variables for you to make that conclusion. It's not just the speakers you heard that were different from your studio. Most importantly room acoustics, but also the gear, etc. in this studio are not likely a mirror of what you are using.

One of the other reasons I think this happens is up until PT9, you needed to use AVID/digi hardware to use pro tools. So someone coming from Logic with a motu interface and switching to LE with an 003 is changing converters, clock, pre's, etc.... not just software.