If you had to start all over...

[pk_hat]

We all love Digi001 for all it can do, we all hate it for what it can't. It's a funny world, indeed...

But if you had another option, either to add to your current setup, or start all over, given what you've read on various forums, heard about through other musicians and recording enthusiasts, knowing what else is out there and new recording packages shipping at an incredible rate, what would you get?
Laptops, in my opionion, will be the way of the not-so-distant future. In fact, we all know the capabilities are already among us. I simply mean it will become even more feasable, powerful and efficient to have the 'studio-to-go' very soon.

Many of us have read about the '+ and -' of Logic, Cubase, Acid, Nuendo, Radar, Digi001, Roland VS series, etc...
I can only presume that at times, we wonder if some other software or harware package can make the whole thing quicker, with less hassle, perhaps just to explore new ways of recording in new environments. Then again, maybe not.

I was at a friend's house last night, who is also a composer/recording artist, and I was anticipating talking shop about mixing, music, PT, Logic, etc.
Well, no...
Not a Cubase nor Logic user at all.
Not even ProTools.
He boots up his PC and launches SONAR XL.
I had no idea that what I was about to witness would make my decision (see subject header) about all of this.
To tell you everything I saw would take hours. In my opinion, this app, wins the battle of the 'other sequencers', and it's only gonna get better with future upgrades.
Imagine doing all you can do in PT, or any other program, with the flexibility of Acid. Not only that, the whole thing just blew me away. I was a Cakewalk user for 2 years, and it's just nothing like it, in a great way.

I'm perfectly content with my Reason/Acid/PT combination and have no intentions of adapting to a new app. I just wanted to shed a bit of light on the 'very improved leaps and bounds-nothing like Cakewalk Pro Audio-software.
So, if I had to start all over...
laptop+M-AudioQuattro interface+Sonar XL+PT free(?)

Then again, we also hope Digi freshens up with a Digi002 firewire very soon. For that may change everything all over again.


happy recording, whatever you use [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

pk

[moe green]

wow!

me too.

I was at a friend's house last night and he runs Sonar as well. Keeping things in social context, he does pretty nicely for himself in terms of studio time and clients and whatnot. I brought some pro tools sessions over and we imported the waves to sonar. No problem at all!

when me and this other fellow first hooked up and started getting into all kinds of dealings on musical level i was shocked to see most of his music was sequenced with Sonar and many of the sounds were actually soundfonts. He asked me if i felt he should switch to pro tools and i simply told him to stick with whatever he was comfortable with.

eventually we have plans to upgrade our entire studio to TDM. But for now we're doing fine with swapping back and forth between pro tools and sonar

Its all about "what" the client sees. THey don't care what your using as long as it looks like they spent their money well. People are stupid. We open up sonar and tell em its Pro tools. They don't know the difference.

[Roy Howell]

pk,
I'm sure this question won't detour others from your main topic. But, how did you ever solve your Reason to PT setup probs? Hubi's Loopback or what? I was personally dying to just hear Reason in all its glory, and finally gave up.

Roy

[KaiXXX]

I really love the Digi001 and the PTLE software.
I tried Logic with Audiowerk before (still have it actually) and Uuuhhhh...
I have to work with Cubase in the studio now and Aaarghhh...

BUT:

There is software that in some points is better than PT. A guy from a radio station told me he was able to edit things much faster with waveframe than with PT (couldn't try it for myself yet).

I checked Sequoia at the 'Musikmesse Frankfurt' and the way it handles crossfades is much better than in PT. I'm talking about realtimecalculation! You're able to move your crossfade (like a region) until it's like you wish to. (Digi should improve that anyway)

I'm aware that both software is very expensive and it is no alternative for the Digi001/PTLE since this huge pricedifference.

I just wanted to point out, that PT isn't always the top solution in every situation and that there are still improvements to make.

Right now I can say one thing for shure:
For this price, I don't know an alternative to the Digi001 bundle, so I would definitely buy it again.

[pk_hat]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Roy Howell:
pk,
I'm sure this question won't detour others from your main topic. But, how did you ever solve your Reason to PT setup probs? Hubi's Loopback or what? I was personally dying to just hear Reason in all its glory, and finally gave up.

Roy<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Roy,
what do you mean you gave up?
I haven't figured out the Reason-PT sync issue, and on that alone, I did give up. You can work around the MIDI issues with Hubi's, but on the audio side, you just can't run both at the same time, no matter which you boot up first. (this is the part where someone comes in with "yes you can, just do this...!)
The thing is, when I start a new project in Reason, I can usually lay the foundation of the entire track/song, and then, should I even want to, export to PT to add guitars, live bass, maybe some Waves plugins (whenever I get those), etc.
Besides, after your meeting with the Digi rep last week, he seemed rather conclusive that PT and Reason will never become good roommates until ReWire or DirectConnect is implemented.
But Roy, sync to PT or not, don't give up on Reason itself!
I'm literally losing sleep here. I get in from work anywhere between 1 and 2 am, and will fire it up to keep working on some tracks until 4 or so. Sure, I've got the racoon dark circles and my eyes feel like beef jerkey, but man...Reason has me by the ***!

pk

[GP]

pk, I know what ya mean about the raccon eyes and beef jerky lids....I do exactly the same. But, forgive me for sounding so STUPID....wtf is REASON?? I've used just bout everything out there, but I can't remember REASON. Of course, I have been in a state of flux for some time.... [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Tomy DeClerque]

Hi

I agree that there is softwares that are beter then ProTools, for exaple I work on a radio station and for commercials i use Cool Edit Pro becouse is much faster then Pro tools for combine multitrack audio files an so on...

BUT...

I was a cubase user an one day I downloaded the PtoTools Free version and try it ...

It sounds beter !!!

I've do the test and you can do it also...

take 8 loops ( grove,base,guitar,whatever,...) and inport it in any multitrack audio software, dont touch the levels of the mix and then improt the same loops in Pro tools... But every time
listen to this loops from the same stereo output...
YOU WILL HEAR THE DIFERENCE !

The mix alghoritem of the protools mixer is much better then in other softwares ! I have try it , you can do it also and then ...

TOMY

[JPS]

If you had another $1200, you could put another computer together (1.2 Athlon/AMD 760 chipset, about $800), slap in a Frontier Designs WaveCenter soundcard(about $350), install Sonar(Home Studio 2002 just $49) and Reason, then take the sound to your Digi via lightpipe and use all 8 channels of pure clean digital sound! Great midi sounds and sequencing and perfect recording on the Digi.

[KaiXXX]

JPS,

did you ever try something like this?
I'm wondering how it would be like to have a second computer for sound purposes. Using the PC as synthesizer so to speak. I think when I will buy a new PC, I'll take my Audiowerk2 I still have and use the digital (coax) spdif output to connect to the digi001 box. Sending MIDI data from PT to the second PC (I have this USB MIDI Interface that won't work with PT anyway)... Well, should be no problem actually!

Did anybody ever try to synchronize two PCs (maybe even with two Digi001s!) ??? You could run PT on one and another apllication as Logic on the other one. This would be true multiprocessor working! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[crs117]

Does Sonar support win 2000, and if so does sonar support multiple processors???

If its true that digi is purposely handicapping the 001 to use only a single processor, then i am thinking of jumping ship. Everybody should know by now that they cripple it to only support 24 tracks (there are ways around this), which is understandable. But to tell us that we cannot purchase a box that supports 2 processors (again even if PT le only uses a single processor), then i will start to get upset. I mean i know they dont want pt le and the 001 to be as powerful as a standard mix system, but what are they gonna tell us that pt le does not support processors faster then an 2 gig athlon because its more powerful then the base tdm system???

Christian