Alternatives?

[drjenk]

Hello,
I've been mulling a protools 002r purchase for some time now. I have also been looking at alternate products out there. One in particular has caught my eye, was curious what more experienced people might have to say about it. It's the tascam FW1884 (or 1084, still looking at that). http://www.tascam.com/Products/FW-1884.html

I'm upgrading my computer regardless, and will probably still keep to the digi specs just in case I change my mind between now and April (my birthday gift is new recording hardware of some sort, using sblive and cakewalk right now). But in the meantime I've been surfing, and that product in particular has caught my eye. It is about the same price as an 002r, but has all the control surfaces and integrates with sequencing software, including protools (but why someone would buy this who already owns protools hardware is beyond me), and appears to have more channels in/out. The negatives are it does not include all of the effects (software) that the protools software does. It is getting rave user reviews in musiciansfriend.com. Some comments have said sound quality is comparable.

No this is not troll bait, I don't work for tascam. When I spend this much money I really like to get as many opinions as possible in case there is one gotcha I haven't even thought of. I guess I'm looking for a real good reason not to choose this over protools. Please let me know if I've missed a few pros/cons above, I respect this forum and it's users after reading for a while now on how much help users get when having problems (a big selling point for the purchase of 002r btw). Part of me also feels I may be paying a little more for the "name" of protools (though I'm sure it is well deserved). BTW, it's use is mainly going to be in my home hooked up to my computer, although I envision possibly taking it elsewhere in the future to work on projects with others.

Thanks for the input
Dave

[da BaSsTaRd!]

fw1884 + <insert comparable DAW software of your choice> = $same price as 002.

hardware wise, the fw1884 has more features, but bear in mind that the 002 was designed SPECIFICALLY for PT and will work out of the box very well (and very well integrated with PT).

as far as your computer goes, if you build or buy one that's compatible with PT, then you'll be set with whatever DAW setup you choose. most other daws are less choosey about computer requirements. as always, check the forums before buying. on this one, there's a sticky thread called "best desktops for PTLE" which has a ton of information on it.

so the bottom line is, in the long run, the feature set and nuances of the DAW software you choose are more likely to make or break the deal (for me, anyway) so instead of focusing on the hardware side, you might want to see if you can borrow someone's PT/cubase/nuendo/logic/whatever setup and take it for a test drive.

[drjenk]

Sound advice, thanks

[tempest18]

The problem with any DAW is, Unless the hardware was specifically designed to integrate with the software, its not always great.

Take Cubase, You can purchase any soundcard under the sun and it should run, but that to me isnt an ideal solution. Theres always gonna be features on one which the other cannot utilise. Also buying a good card and then buying a DAW to go with it can cost way over a 002R which comes with your software.

Everything in the price range is going to sound similar. One cant sound great and the other terrible. To get a better sounding converter, You have to go into the next price bracket. Sure theres going to be differences between them, But the features always seem pretty standard.

I used to run SX2 with a M-Audio Delta 1010. It was not bad but a bit of a pain to set up.

When I got my 002R there was no clarting about, installed it, plugged it in and it was recognised. I'm not saying this is because of the firewire. Its just made to work with LE.

Take Nuendo. Steiny do their own cards with so many ADAT's on and rack converters to go with them but Im not sure how well these integrate.

Again, Lots of different DAWs but I'd say the 2 main ones are Protools and Cubase. The others just dont do it for me.

C Tempest

[bigbadhenchman]

Again, Lots of different DAWs but I'd say the 2 main ones are Protools and Cubase. The others just dont do it for me.

C Tempest



Don't forget Nuendo.