Why does My PT rig sound better than my RME rig?

[Musicianista]

Hi gang.

I've been reading up on the PT vs Logic front in respect to composers like me that have a HD rig for audio and a Logic rig for composing.

Until recently I had these two systems completely separate (different suburbs) and had never used MIDI or recorded instruments into PT. Used it solely for audio post - VO's, TV mixing etc.

I have had the two systems sharing the same room for a while now and since PT8 I have done a bit of comparison recording.

Logic runs thru an RME FireFace 800 and PT is a HD-2 on a G5 as written below.

I can't seem to get past the fact that as soon as I play back in either system, it's obvious that the HD just sounds better.

I tracked an acoustic guitar in Logic and PT at 48k, and PT sounded better. The same VI, EZdrummer sounded better it PT as well.

Now, even though I feel compromised by the MIDI side of PT, I miss the sonics so much that I don't think I can go back to Logic as a total solution again.

I have read about the dual rig scenario, but I think the double handling would drive me nuts ( more nuts than the PT midi )

Is the firewire RME not up to the task??

Does an HD system sound better than a firewire 003 setup? Or is it the same except with the TDM added on?

Any views are welcome.

[25ghosts]

A DAW SHOULD sound according to it's interface.

Since you are not using the same interface you cannot make a valid comparison.

You would HAVE to use the exact same interfaces and very critical the same MONITOR way in order to make it valid.

A PT HD system running Apogee Interfaces is going to sound different from an HD system running digidesign interfaces which is again going to sound different from an HD system running PRISM interfaces etc etc etc.

In above scenario you would not say that PT HD sounds better than PT HD - but you would make you decision based on the sound of the interfaces.

I heard RME is good - but I aint never used 'em myself.

As to whether Logic and PT (with the same interface and monitoring way) sound different - I dont think so. At least until proven otherwise

[TCLguy1]

I have talked to many folks that use both about this - the funny thing is, some prefer how logic sounds over PT. They go as far as importing all their tracks from PT into Logic to mix...beats me!

I have done major A/B's as well and at the end of the day, when I grab 30 tracks and import them into PT and or Logic, bounce them as a 2 mix...sounds really the same, or the difference is so subtle that I can't decide which one is actually better, there is just a difference, but no judgement.

It's one of those things I guess...but don't forget, there are tons of records and filmscores out there that sound fantastic and are being mixed in PT and or Logic or DP or Cubase...so in the end, well composed, produced and mixed music will sound great coming from any DAW. It's not the tools but the skillz, right?

Happy Holidays everybody!
t

[Musicianista]

I'm thinking that the convertors in the RME aren't up to par with the HD. I abandoned PCI cards years ago and have run my music system via firewire interfaces instead.

The FireFace 800 seemed like the top of the heap at the time, so that's what I bought. Even without the side by side comparison I started to feel that everything sounded a bit two dimensional and blamed a lack of plug ins or VI's.

Perhaps replacing the RME with a PCI based card that is more competitive sonically would bridge the gap and give depth and width to the soundscape that I seem to be missing?

I've really got to the point where the thought of buying new gear doesn't excite me any more, but I may have found a major distraction in my workflow that has added wasted hours to mix sessions trying to achieve something that may not be possible with this one piece of kit.

Don't get me wrong though... I can get the RME mixes to sound great (it's my job) so I understand the tools and skills angle, but I'm feeling that all my skills are constantly wrestling with a mix buss that seems to choke the soundscape compared to the HD.

Anyhoo, I will continue to embrace PT8 as an obvious successor to Logic because the dual rig thing doesn't appeal to me and I won't be getting rid of PT!

Thanks guys your posts helped to clear the fog on this issue.

[rdolmat]

Originally Posted by Musicianista

I'm thinking that the convertors in the RME aren't up to par with the HD. I abandoned PCI cards years ago and have run my music system via firewire interfaces instead.

The FireFace 800 seemed like the top of the heap at the time, so that's what I bought. Even without the side by side comparison I started to feel that everything sounded a bit two dimensional and blamed a lack of plug ins or VI's.

Perhaps replacing the RME with a PCI based card that is more competitive sonically would bridge the gap and give depth and width to the soundscape that I seem to be missing?

I've really got to the point where the thought of buying new gear doesn't excite me any more, but I may have found a major distraction in my workflow that has added wasted hours to mix sessions trying to achieve something that may not be possible with this one piece of kit.

Don't get me wrong though... I can get the RME mixes to sound great (it's my job) so I understand the tools and skills angle, but I'm feeling that all my skills are constantly wrestling with a mix buss that seems to choke the soundscape compared to the HD.

Anyhoo, I will continue to embrace PT8 as an obvious successor to Logic because the dual rig thing doesn't appeal to me and I won't be getting rid of PT!

Thanks guys your posts helped to clear the fog on this issue.

I think I might have missed something..but you never mentioned which audio interface you're using with "the HD".

[jeremyroberts]

Are you clocking both systems to common wordclock? Are you running both systems at the same sample rate?

I own an RME interface for one of my PCs, and it sounded like doo until I clocked it externally. You can say the same thing about many cheap interfaces...

What interface are you using with HD, and how are you clocking your interfaces?

[Musicianista]

I figured out that the HD rig was using the spdf input of the Presonus Central Station while the RME was coming out balanced down the analog 1 & 2 outs and into the Central Station.

Thus the difference.

I patched the RME in via the spdf, and bingo. They sound the same! Logic now sounds as bright, wide and dynamic as the HD.

I have the SYNC IO as part of my HD-2 rig, so can I clock both systems from there??

Maybe not, but I am much happier now that I have figured out this anomaly.

I knew there should be a simple reason related to operator error, but I needed to get it out to the brains trust to speed things up.

Thanks for all the help so far.

[carlone]

For the record.
Different "software" applications can sound different. It's all math and programming and how they pan and sum can make a subtle difference in the sound of the same file played back from various applications. Usually not enough of a difference to worry about and like most things with audio - you get more bang for your buck (in terms of making an audible difference) with hardware.