I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

I’m kinda seeking reinforcement here and not intending to upset anyone in any way, I’m just asking for informed advice as I’m seriously at the crossroads.

The story is the same I guess, I’ve been on pretty much every version of Protools since 99-2000. From Digi 001 to a full blown mix system, to HD etc, and then and then etc....
the amount of money invested is insane, control 24 desk I still love. Etc.

So the dilemma, I’m finding it hard to go any further down the rabbit hole, a perpetual lic is only perpetual while the OS supports it, the constant plans are too expensive for me now as work is different due to the many attributing factors and for a smaller studio I feel I’m now being priced out of the market by Avid, I feel that I’m being farmed.
Protools is just getting too dam expensive, the upgrades are for mine not addressing the engine and for the first time ever I’m feeling protools is kinda old now.

I’m not saying Reaper is better but I am wondering why I never crash it and I’ve just spent 3 weeks downtime to learn it and it angers me that it’s performing better than my HD rig, and it’s on a very ordinary laptop and windows , never thought Ide say that.

I’m not attempting to start a pt vs reaper war, please don’t go there,

But come on Digi/Avid. The software needs a serious overhaul, I can get 3 Rd party plugs to use my control 24, after all it was 15k as was my original mix system, HD... man that’s exactly the bleeding on the next level.

I’ve played the game 22 years and I’m not sure to cut my losses and change it up.

Sorry. I just needed to vent.

I’m really upset.

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

Will Reaper run the Dolby Atmos Production Suite?

How does Reaper handle syncing two workstations for duplicate recording?

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

Hi

Honestly I haven’t tried either. I can’t comment,
All I can say is I’ve found in 3 weeks Reaper to be extremely stable, fast and kind of smooth that I haven had with ptools for a while.

It’s a bit of a steep curve that I have persisted with as I have been lucky to have some free time. I love it’s automation and several things I’ve stumbled on by accident. It’s really not too dissimilar like everyone says. Most daws do similar stuff , protools has been my love for 20+, I’m just wondering if I can honestly say it’s worth it. That’s my dilemma.

We are all loyal to Avid/Digi, you never hear anyone pay 20 k and admit it’s possible that it’s just not that great anymore.

In WW2 they flew planes with propellers, 15 years later they had jets flying twice the speed of sound.

My point is the dilemma, cost vs performance and I doubt anyone here would admit to there are possibly better options. Me included.

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

Reaper targets an entirely different market to Avid and Pro Tools. If it is working better for you, I wouldn't really hesitate in jumping ship.

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

I tried Reaper about 8 or 9 years ago. Paid full price for the commercial license. I hated it. I couldn't figure out basic routing and workflow issues like naming tracks and files. And the GUI is awful. It's too cluttered and dark and all the icons are too tiny to be able to see well. I understand that you can put a skin on it and adapt it to look the way you want it to, but I'm not interested in doing those things when Protools already does them.

I know Protools, and I'm fast with it. When I'm on a gig and I don't have a lot of time get set up I need my system to be fast and streamlined and Protools is that. It's been quite stable for me for a number of years now on both Windows and Mac OS.

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

Yet if you sit down in front of an Avid S6, equipped with an Avid MTRX and knock out a bunch of mixes in Dolby Atmos suddenly Reaper seems wwwwaaaaayyyy behind the times. Pro Tools is very much still the jet engine here. Whether you need to travel at that speed and can afford or justify the price of a ticket to ride is a whole other conversation in itself, really.

Reaper is a terrific piece of software. It has replaced a lot of Pro Tools systems around the world, but that doesn't correlate to Avid being behind the times. It is literally just a case of technology led attrition. A decade ago I would have dragged a HD rig and analogue splits into a venue to do a recording. Today, most venues have a laptop with a copy of reaper on it, jacking into the digital FOH desk via USB. Easy peasy and cheap as chips. Reaper is also used regularly around these parts for radio content as the python scripting and level of customisation allow it to be moulded around existing workflows.

Plenty of users here have tossed in the towel on Avid hardware over the last decade. I mean, if you are mixing in stereo do you really need a $7500 interface with 2048x2048 internal routing matrix, or a $80,000 control surface that allows you to access and control any Pro Tools system on the network? What about monitoring control for up to 64 channels of speakers? If none of that appeals to you, I wouldn't put too much time into entertaining your dilemma.

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

When I say behind the times, it kinda is. Not for the folks I’m guessing like yourself who really have a need for the specific larger projects/ venues/ systems
Certainly pt excels there

But for the garden variety home studio to myself where it’s a living studio, I’m yet to see a seriously stable and snappy system for several years
The playback engine needs a rewrite, it needs a overhaul big time.

My old mix system in my studio B is more stable than the recent years, I can’t comment on 12 as I have only played with it and wasn’t that stoked.

Overall it’s in need of TLC for the smaller users.

If people keep saying how great it is and it’s the industry standard enough then you believe them.

Ide rather believe my eyes and unfortunately it’s hard to ignore. It’s not what it was at a entry/ intermediate level.

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

What specific PT version are you running? The engine has had several rewrites these last couple of years. What's your computer setup? See my profile page - the system there I can run 60-70 tracks without it even breaking a sweat. PT 2021.6 even though it's unsupported with OSX 10.13.6.


I'm not a big producer as most of my work is on a commission basis.

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

For many, the DAW they use may be less about personal preference and more about specific features or compatibility. If you are making a personal choice, by all means, choose what works best for you(IOW, if its not Pro Tools, make a change and feel fine about it). Is PT perfect? Hardly. Is Reaper perfect(or Logic, Cubase, Harrison MixBus, etc)? Not a chance. Find the option with the strengths you want/need. Its not much different than the old Mac vs PC question. $20K for a new Mac Pro?!?!?! I'm not buying, but they sure do have a lot of customers:o

Re: I’ve come to the crossroads with protools?
 

Want to fly to Oklahoma and come visit me? I have two Protools systems sitting on my desk right in front of me right now that are super stable and snappy, one Windows, one Mac OSX, both living on laptops.