Survey:Which Timestretcher do you prefer ????

[Mano]

Hello,

What I want to know is which timestretch/pitchshift plugin all of you prefer and Why?
I had some very good results using a Serato Pitchntime-demo in PT 5.1.1 Some prefer Speed by Wavemechanics above Serato...why? Is it because Speed's pricing ( €450,= against Serato's €800,=)
I think the quality of a Time/pitch plugin reveals itself when stretching or pitching entire stereomixes ,Pianos or Bassguitars or lowfreq.stuff. However with Serato I don't like the transientsmearing that happens on stretching drumtracks.
Offcourse I can download a demo at wavemechanics and try Speed myself but I'm waiting for my HD exchange to arrive and at the moment and I've disconnected my whole Mixsystem. ( it is waiting in the box to ship back to Digi ) If some of you friendly people could give some good advise please do so, because next week I have to do some serious highquality stretching and shifting and I have to decide which plug to buy. Is Serato really worth does extra Euro's ???
I know both of them work with the timestretch-trimmer and that's why I want one of them.Or should I wait untill mondaymorning and see if digi has improved their own timestretch/pitchshifter. Sorry Digi but I've never had convincing results using yours....
Please help me out here

[Big2Fish]

In my experience, what you are stretching tends to be the determining factor in how you stretch it. Basses, whether synth or real, seem to despise certain algorythms. Digi's, for instance. Some things, though, Digi works well on. Serato is by far the most consistant performer. Also, as you noted, the priciest. It has worked on entire mixes for me in the past, but even it has its limitations. Phasing problems are the most common. It works well on vocals and drums in general. They do have a demo, though, that gives you a few tries....
It's a dicey business one way or the other in most cases, I think.
For what it's worth.
Good luck.

[Mano]

But what is your experience with Speed compared to Serato ?

[roberts]

I stopped using Pitch N Time and sold it as it still does not Support 96k or OS X. I think if I pay a premium price for a plug-in I should get premium support. I think Serato is a fly by night company. Wave Mechanics has always been on tiop of their upgrades. Why pay for something you can't use for a over a year.

[Mano]

Thanks for the reply roberts but there is a OS9 and OSX compatible version available. I already ran it in my HD system and it is astonishing good. My main question is: is Serato worth does extra 300 euros ??
(Still haven't been able to get my hands on speed...)

[fakshen]

There is no "best." I like the onboard Time Compression/Expansion for voice-overs.

If I'm trying to emulate some DJ moves (such progressive tempo shifting) I like PitchNTime. You can't do this with TC/E, but PitchNTime doesn't sound good for voice-over stuff.

[Mano]

Okay guys,

I really apreciate your reactions but I still haven't got the info I'm so desparatly looking for. I work with music and not with voiceovers, sorry I wasn't precise in my question and the purpose for which you use the plugin is indeed a main factor.

All I want to know is how Speed compares to Serato.
I'm pretty much convinced by Serato's qualities and I'm running the PnT demo on HD .
At this very moment there still isn't a Speed demo to download for ProTools HD and I have to decide whether I buy PnT or Speed.
The soundquality criteria I focus on is:
1. pitch a 60 Hz sinuswave up one octave . Do you hear a pure 120 Hz.tone without artifacts ? (Bad pitchplugs produce sawtoothlike waveforms at this stage)
2. stretch a 60 Hz tone at least to 150 % of its original length. Do you hear a pure tone without artifacts ?
3. Stretch a stereo piano concertmix or any classical stereorecording up to 150 % or down 75% .
4. Stretch 10 drumtracks by 130 % do they stay phasecoherent , is the timing and feel correct,Can you hear strange things on the transients ( loss of attacks ) if very little or not then it is gooood
5. support for high samplerates.

Untill now Serato's Pitch'nTime passed 4 out of 5 tests according to my own humble criteria...I only tested PnT on 48K untill now so I dont know about the high rates...
BUT.......... is Pitch'n Time worth its price compared to Speed by Wavemechanics.
Within a few days I have to do some highquality shifting and stretching and I can buy a ProtoolsHD compatible Speed rightaway at a much more affordable price!
So I'm not asking what you would do in my situation ( allthough that also interests me) . I'm just looking for some feedback , experience and comparison on this subject. AND...You will not held resposible for my final choice
[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] !!!

[aziel]

Seems like you have more info than us [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] but, in my opinion, by my ears, i prefer a little bit the Serato P'n'T...not everybody agree with this, for example, Dabasstard thinks that Serato stinks and prefer the onboard stuff...maybe you can tell us some technicall info about it...ooops, you already did it [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Big2Fish]

I assume you have since compared the downloadable demos.
Do you want a definite? Buy Serato. No, buy Speed. No, Serato. What can we say? You can return software a lot of the time.

[Mano]

OK !!!!

I've made a choice....
And the winner is Speed by wavemechanics.
[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Better on drums, better on pianoconcerto's, equal in pitchshifting ,better pricing [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]