Virtual instruments and rewire between PT and DP

[mixaudio]

I've been trying to gather enough info from other posts related to this topic but it's a bit sparse, so I'd like to ask for opinions from fellow DUC users to help me on this.

I'm willing to add a few more virtual instruments to my setup, mainly orchestral and drum instruments (I already have Reason and Live running via rewire with PT), but ran across several posts where it is stated that PT performance becomes compromised and slow with certain virtual instruments, as well as getting very limited instances of an instrument or simultaneus parts from the same instrument.

At the same time, I've ran across other posts pointing at other DAW software that handles virtual instruments with better efficiency. The main candidate here, IMHO, would be Digital Performer, since Logic seems to be more criticized, mainly for the amount of windows and steps necessary to accomplish certain tasks.

I've been a loyal PT user for more than 10 years, and the truth is that the idea of learning another program at the same level I've already got within the PT environment appears both a little scary and time consuming, yet the main reason I'd do this, is that now I need to get more involved with music creation, besides record-edit-mix which I know for sure are the strongest PT features.

I'm also curious to know if there's a reliable way to interface both programs via Rewire. In this "ideal music creation tool" I'd whish to put together, I'm thinking of recording-editing-mixing audio tracks in PT, while adding virtual instruments and recording MIDI for them within DP, while both programs run synced via rewire and DP streams audio into PT via rewire. I think I've read something about both PT and DP being "rewire masters" which seems to make not possible the task I'm suggesting here. Is there an option like the "IAC bus" in OS9? Yet this would only solve the syncing.

I'd like to hear some thoughts about:

- How possible would it be to have a setup like the one I described in the previous paragraph.

- More particularly, how to stream audio from DP to PT.

- How much of truth or myth are in those statements claiming that you'll get better performance from virtual instruments within DP.

Thanks in advance for reading this and for any info you might provide to englighten me.

Rodolfo Fernandez.

[Slim Shady]

You'd have to have a separate computer running the MIDI sequencing software of your choice (DP or Logic). There's no way to rewire PT to either Logic or DP, they are all Rewire 'masters' if you will, and none of them can act as slaves.

For the ultimate in soft synths, Logic is the way to go - it handles them beautifully and comes with a buttload of free instruments that sound great, from classic keyboards to analog synth emulators to guitar amp sims. DP is also not bad, and probably better than PT as it doesn't require all the extra track setups, but they were late jumping on the AU bandwagon and still have more issues with certain plugs than does Logic. That being said, the difference is probably pretty hard to measure, and as far as performance goes, if you're using a soft-sampler with large libraries you're going to run into performance issues no matter what software you use.

I find it pretty easy to go between Logic and PT - I do my writing, mockups, rough mixes etc. in Logic, and when it's time to get into the nitty gritty mixing and editing I switch back over to PT - as long as you do a couple simple things it's no hassle going between the 2 programs at all. I also work with several people who use DP and it's just as easy to work on the stuff they send me, so it's really going to come down to a personal preference and what piece of software you think you'll be most comfortable using.