DIGI 001 a good all in one system???? Comments!!!!

[Slovenec]

Hi everyone! This is my 1st post in this usergroup. I own a project studio which is primarily midi based but I want to get into some audio stuff/mastering also. My studio mainly caters for doing backing tracks and demos that will require midi stuff along with vocal and guitar overdubs etc (no I don't wanna record bands). I've been using Logic over the past 3 years and have found it the most flexible Midi/Audio sequencer out there. However, I used it on a PC and also had my fair share of problems with it (it wasn't mine but my business partners). Now I've gone solo and am really interested in something that will provide decent sequencing features along with audio that wont decide to **** itself the night before a major session!!!!

The Digi001 looks like the ideal set up for me I think? Yes I know it's midi capabilities are a way behind those of Logic or Cubase etc but to be brutally honest I don't use the more fancy midi options anyway! Here are a few questions I'd like answered and I thank anyone in advance for their kind advice!

a). Will I be able to run an editor/librarian such as Soundiver or Unisyn in conjunction with Protools LE like I can with Logic (Soundiver). This is important to me as I have quite a bit of midi gear.

b). What are the standard plug ins like to start off with and what are recommendations to get later (for example for mastering).

c). What is Protools LE like for 2 track editing/mastering? I'm thinking of getting Bias Peak or TC Spark but if the capabilities in LE are adequate than I might skip that option for now.

d). What are the pro's and con's between Spark and Peak if I go the dedicated 2 track editor route?

e). How is LE set up for burning CD's- yes I know it doesn't have it's own dedicated CD burning software. I'd like to create red book compatible CD's for my clients and does Toast allow you to create CD's in this format with disk at once or should I get Jam or Waveburner?

f). Pros and cons between Jam and Waveburner?

g). How easy is the system to use in general if coming from something like Logic?

Thanks for any replies in advance. Cheers!

[djasonic]

Forget all your PC nightmares, Logic on the mac is really a wonderful thing. Even if you don't need the advanced midi stuff, it is there just in case. You even get an event list editor. (something sorely lacking in PTLE) There is just such a nice flow editing music tracks in logic. (the way it handles crossfades is just pure genius) Digi made a good start with midi in PTLE, but I'm afraid I can't recommend it for even semi-serious MIDI use. Also, let's not forget artificial crippling of PTLE by Digi's removal of SMPTE editing. PTLE is sort of functional for 2 track mastering, but in no way ideal. Especially since it doesn't handle interleaved stereo files until you bounce output. Also there is no way to go back and trim/fade starts of files after silence is added from plug-in latency. Go with Peak as your 2 track editor. (v2.5 VST is soon to be released) With Peak you can master files, create a CD playlist and burn it with the included copy of Toast. Spark is very good, but Peak has a few more years of development behind it and it shows. Waveburner is also cool for CDs... The recently announced Waveburner Pro has some really cool realtime mastering specs, but you won't be able to get it for a while. If you need a simple 2ch audio card, the AW2 audioproduction bundle (includes Waveburner) is a great value for the money. (but it can't handle anything other than 16 bit 44.1 kHz)

[Slovenec]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Besides the number of years in existence, why is Peak better than Spark?

Also, with the Peak/Toast or Spark/Toast combinations, can I set up the playlist and then burn a 'disk at once' CD rather than 'track at once'?

Yes I no doubt will get Logic for Mac down the track but I'd really like it to work properly in tandem with the 001 hardware- it seems that there are problems at the moment!

Anyway, any more suggestions/comments would be most welcome from anyone. Cheers.

[Slovenec]

Price doesn't really matter if you have clients breathing down your neck whilst you are trying to tactifly explain to them that 'the computer has **** itself again!'. This happened too many times with me using a PC. When I used a Mac (a very long time ago c1993!), it seemed so more straight forward to use than Windows (IMHO Windows seems to try and copy MacOS anyway?).

All pro studios I know around here use a Mac for audio/midi. My hobbiest friends all use PC's because it's not such a stress if the thing breaks down- no one is breathing down their neck with a chequebook in their pocket!!).

Yes I know that Macs if not correctly set up (and even correctly set up for that matter!) can give headaches also. When shopping around for the Digi001, all the shops ill advised me about getting the PC version because (it's too new!). The Mac has proven itself with running Digidesign hardware and software. PC is new to this field.

Yes Wavelab is an awesome program- unfortunately the guy who created the program hates Macs and refuses to port the code over to MacOS!!!!!! Or so I've been told from reliable sources.

The above does not mean that I will possibly forsake using a PC for Digi001! It's just that the problems I've encountered using a PC for serious audio/midi work in the past has put a real sour taste in my mouth!

And also, there has to be a good reason for why a similarly equipped PC system would be $1,000 cheaper!!!! Thanks for you kind advice- it's given me food for though.

[meshtheflesh]

Hi there,
Just to answer one of your questions, I use sound diver with my PT mixplus, cant see why it wouldn't work with LE.

cheers
Ramesh

[Slovenec]

Ramesh- Are you using Soundiver as a stand alone application or in conjuction with PT5.0? Does it run under OMS? I'm interested in being able to directly download my patch maps for my gear into PTLE for each song- I'm not so much interested in doing real time sysex parameter changes during a song (not yet anyway!!). If it works as you say above, I will get Sounddiver!

[Doc]

Slovenec, I too started off using a PC for my audio work and all was OK until I installed Digi. Then I started getting crashes caused by interrupt problems even though all cards had thier own interrupts. My PC is a PIII 500 with 128 megs ram and ATA 66 HDD's. I have just bought a G4 400 with the same amount of ram and the same HDD's. It runs PtLE about 20 - 30 percent faster and doesn't crash. Believe it or not, my PC is even stable again without the extra strain of Digi
For me, Digi on Mac is the way to go. Plus, I maintain compatability with the studios I do mastering for. This alone makes the Mac option worthwhile.

[Frank S]

Drastik-

Oh boy, here we go again - Mac vs.PC, MAC vs. PC - which is better - how interesting...

BTW - you should change your name to DRASTIKSPAMM - because thats what you're doing to this user conference - pure and simple. This is the Mac section of the 001user conference buddy - do you really think that we are all going to trade in our G4s for one of your SPAMMDOG machines ?

I am violating my cardinal rule of dealing obnoxious SPAMMers by not just ignoring you, but I can't help it. Why don't you go back to the PC board from whence you came. Or better yet, pay someone to put some banner ads up for your business on another website, instead of trying to get free advertising on the DUC. Is it really working?

Your lack of couth and judgement by SPAMMing this particular board does not speak well to how 'smartly' your PC systems are built - if you can't even figure out who your target demographic is, how great a computer are you building?

Goodbye.

[tld]

Frank...I agree about the drastikpup posts, and have seen others here gripe to Digi about it. While it's easy to ignore, I'd hate to think that anyone here might unknowingly have their hardware decision influenced by these blatently commercial posts.

No place for it here.

Tom

[AEW]

Oh Dear
Here we go again the PC MAC thing. By the TIME and I mean TIME you get a PC running near to a Mac you might as well buy one. My PC (dedicated audio deceased) & audio stuff (I really don't want to list it as it reminds me what a dick I was)which I spent about $8,500Aus that's right you read it $8,500Aus sits next to my Mac G4/400/384meg ram as a sampler/emailer.
I've seen a PC that runs OK with audio but it runs with windows NT/Soundscape R,ed but that is a system like TDM all song and dance with DSP.
The choice is all yours Good Luck

Nick