Switching to Pro Tools?

[Xspringe]

Hello everyone!

I recently watched the videos on the elastic time functionality in pro tools 7.4. I was completely blown away as it is precisely what I'm looking for. I currently use Ableton Live 6 and Sonar 7. Live is great but it lacks functionality when it comes to recording. Sonar 7 is decent but I cannot for the life of me get it to work properly with my Virus Ti synth (it's driving me bonkers). I was considering Cubase 4.1, but Pro Tools 7.4 impressed me a great deal.

My hardware setup is as follows:
Intel Q6600
Asus P5K
2 GB RAM
7200 RPM HD
RME FF800

I hope people on the board here would be kind enough to help me answer a few questions while I research pro tools.

1) What are the most important Pro Tools LE limitations you run into? I could probably live with the 32 track limit, but are there any other major restrictions?
2) Does Pro Tools LE work properly with the Virus Ti?
3) Is my hardware setup good enough to run Pro Tools LE properly?
4) What would be the most efficient way to switch to Pro Tools LE from my current setup? I've considered replacing the FF800 with the 003 Rack, but that would mean that, even though I get access to the pro tools software, I would also downgrade my hardware because as far as I know the AD/DA and wordclock of the 003 aren't as good as those in the FF800. On the other hand, shelling out >6k USD for a Pro Tools HD system just to get access to the Pro Tools software seems a bit steep. If only I could purchase something like an Apogee Ensemble and be able to run Pro Tools LE on that....
5) Is elastic time really as impressive as can be seen in the videos? Or are you running into some issues not shown in the videos?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[albee1952]

My 2 cents, grab a DIGI 003rack and add a second hard drive to your computer.

[cdxpat]

Oddly i'm switching the other way - got tired of waiting for Vista support and Cakewalks cross grade offer to the producer version of Sonar seemed too good to miss.

1) What are the most important Pro Tools LE limitations you run into? I could probably live with the 32 track limit, but are there any other major restrictions?

Tied to hardware
Limited features ( everything is extra)
Fussy on platforms
No native VST support although you can buy some extra software to get around this.
Limited plug in support for RTAS and they are always more expensive. High quality though.
Slow to fix stuff - and often re-introduce bugs they've already fixed.
LE tends to be bottom of the pile for support.
Security (reloads upgrades) can be fussy although they seem to have made it less so.

2) Does Pro Tools LE work properly with the Virus Ti?
Dont know - test before you buy.

3) Is my hardware setup good enough to run Pro Tools LE properly?
Pro-tools is very platform sensitive. Once working especially in the 7.3 variant it seems pretty robust and on a dual core platform the performance was good. But it takes a while to get there - or at least it always did with me. Dedicated PC was always the mantra here. Again it used to be a lot more fussy so maybe 7.4 will be great.


4) What would be the most efficient way to switch to Pro Tools LE from my current setup? I've considered replacing the FF800 with the 003 Rack, but that would mean that, even though I get access to the pro tools software, I would also downgrade my hardware because as far as I know the AD/DA and wordclock of the 003 aren't as good as those in the FF800. On the other hand, shelling out >6k USD for a Pro Tools HD system just to get access to the Pro Tools software seems a bit steep. If only I could purchase something like an Apogee Ensemble and be able to run Pro Tools LE on that....

Just remember the -003 becomes a very expensive audio interface if you decide to switch away from pro-tools because you cant use it as a mix desk for anything else. . I have an -002 in the same situation. I'd try and get a test version from a friendly dealer if you can and see whether what you get outweighs what you lose. Or you can buy my 002


5) Is elastic time really as impressive as can be seen in the videos? Or are you running into some issues not shown in the videos?

I'm curious to know that too. Doesnt the Roland V-vocal do most of that that for you in Sonar ? What would you say the issues are with Sonar ?