Hi,
I'm using Cubase SE3 now. A friend said that maybe Pro Tools LE/M Powered is also nice.
What are the pro's and con's of both systems ?
Thanks in advance.
Jeroen
Cubase or Pro Tools LE/M Powered
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- KVRist
- 487 posts since 23 Jan, 2004
I'm guessing you're new at this business if you're running SE?
Pugins for Cubase use the vst format. This means there are hundreds of excellent, free, plugins available to you. Pro tools plugins use the RTAS format, for which there are comparatively few free/inexpensive plugins.
Aside from that, they are both offer much the same functionality, but packaged in different ways.
Pugins for Cubase use the vst format. This means there are hundreds of excellent, free, plugins available to you. Pro tools plugins use the RTAS format, for which there are comparatively few free/inexpensive plugins.
Aside from that, they are both offer much the same functionality, but packaged in different ways.
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- KVRAF
- 3386 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Welcome to KVR, VortxWL!
Unfortunately, your question is a bit too broad for you to get an answer that'll help you to decide what to spend your money on. Adydub's answer is pretty much spot on -- in the end most sequencers will do largely the same things, often in different ways, with variations that may or may not matter to you, depending on your needs and preferences.
I use M-Powered because I record audio a lot more than MIDI and find that I like its power and ease-of-use for editing audio tracks and altering tempo with Beat Detective. Other folks don't like or need these functions.
If you're contemplating M-Powered, there are a few things to know.
1. You need to either have an MBox2 or a compatible M-Audio interface before it will run. You can get an M-Audio AudioPhile 2496 sound card for $99, for instance.
2. You can buy the VST2RTAS adapter from FXPansion for $99, which allows you to use VSTs within the program, opening up lots of free and cheap effects and instruments for you.
3. You should go to http://duc.digidesign.com to research a bit further. Especially check this thread to make sure your computer is up to spec: http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.php? ... t=1#887446
4. If you qualify for an Academic Discount, and live in the US, you can get PT for $150, which is much less than Cubase SX3. (But remember the up-front extra cost of the audio card and VST2RTAS adapter for M-Powered.)
**************
Honestly, if you're new to this stuff, I'd strongly encourage you to not spend a lot of money yet. Try out the lighter versions of some programs. There are some very functional ones that won't set you back much, or are free. When you have a stronger knowledge of your needs and preferences, then you can splash out however much you want to.
Two good places to start right now are Reaper, which is free while it's being developed, and is generating a lot of enthusiasm here. It's at www.reaper.fm
If you want something more modular, so you can create your own setup, you might want to try Energy XT, which costs about $50. It's extremely powerful, though it has a bit of a learning curve at the beginning. The people who invest the time to learn it are extremely enthusiastic about it. There's a support and discussion forum here at KVR: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=36
This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of other cool programs out there that might be just what you're looking for. Many people find that they end up trying out half a dozen or more before settling pretty much on the one that they favor.
Take care,
GreyLion
Unfortunately, your question is a bit too broad for you to get an answer that'll help you to decide what to spend your money on. Adydub's answer is pretty much spot on -- in the end most sequencers will do largely the same things, often in different ways, with variations that may or may not matter to you, depending on your needs and preferences.
I use M-Powered because I record audio a lot more than MIDI and find that I like its power and ease-of-use for editing audio tracks and altering tempo with Beat Detective. Other folks don't like or need these functions.
If you're contemplating M-Powered, there are a few things to know.
1. You need to either have an MBox2 or a compatible M-Audio interface before it will run. You can get an M-Audio AudioPhile 2496 sound card for $99, for instance.
2. You can buy the VST2RTAS adapter from FXPansion for $99, which allows you to use VSTs within the program, opening up lots of free and cheap effects and instruments for you.
3. You should go to http://duc.digidesign.com to research a bit further. Especially check this thread to make sure your computer is up to spec: http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.php? ... t=1#887446
4. If you qualify for an Academic Discount, and live in the US, you can get PT for $150, which is much less than Cubase SX3. (But remember the up-front extra cost of the audio card and VST2RTAS adapter for M-Powered.)
**************
Honestly, if you're new to this stuff, I'd strongly encourage you to not spend a lot of money yet. Try out the lighter versions of some programs. There are some very functional ones that won't set you back much, or are free. When you have a stronger knowledge of your needs and preferences, then you can splash out however much you want to.
Two good places to start right now are Reaper, which is free while it's being developed, and is generating a lot of enthusiasm here. It's at www.reaper.fm
If you want something more modular, so you can create your own setup, you might want to try Energy XT, which costs about $50. It's extremely powerful, though it has a bit of a learning curve at the beginning. The people who invest the time to learn it are extremely enthusiastic about it. There's a support and discussion forum here at KVR: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=36
This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of other cool programs out there that might be just what you're looking for. Many people find that they end up trying out half a dozen or more before settling pretty much on the one that they favor.
Take care,
GreyLion
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- KVRist
- 109 posts since 8 Oct, 2005 from Dallas, Tx (PLEASANT GROVE)
I just recently switched from cubase sx3 to pro tools m-powered and I love it. both programs primarily do the same thing, it is just a matter of what benefits you best. I like the compatibility of pt with most studios in my area. I bought the music prod. toolkit which gave me some nice effects and synth plus additional track count. alot of people knock pt. but I find it to be one of the easiest DAW to use and the audio capabitlities are among the best out there. the instrument tracks also make midi very easy to use. Again I like both programs, but I am glad that I switched to pro tools.
when they ask who sent you tell them "I AM" sent you.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 3 posts since 5 Mar, 2006
I'm not really new, but I don't know all details.
I use both MIDI and audio, so both are important to me. I like to upgrade later for the Audio Warp functionality of Cubase SL. Does PT LE/MP also have real-time timestreching ? Audio Warp from Cubase SL looks very powerful.
From what I saw PT LE/MP doesn't include virtual instruments, so that not very handy for me.
I was thinking if I should later this year upgrade to SL4 or maybe do a switch to Pro Tools LE/MP.
I like Cubase and I'm very happy with it, so it's not that I don't like the program.
A friend said that Pro Tools LE/MP is also widely used, so I wanted to know what pro's and con's of both are.
I use both MIDI and audio, so both are important to me. I like to upgrade later for the Audio Warp functionality of Cubase SL. Does PT LE/MP also have real-time timestreching ? Audio Warp from Cubase SL looks very powerful.
From what I saw PT LE/MP doesn't include virtual instruments, so that not very handy for me.
I was thinking if I should later this year upgrade to SL4 or maybe do a switch to Pro Tools LE/MP.
I like Cubase and I'm very happy with it, so it's not that I don't like the program.
A friend said that Pro Tools LE/MP is also widely used, so I wanted to know what pro's and con's of both are.
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- KVRer
- 24 posts since 9 Dec, 2005 from Hamburg, Germany
I'm using both, ProTools LE 7 with MBox and (still) Cubase VST 5.1.
I produce my songs in Cubase and then I bounce every single track and do the final mix and the mastering in ProTools.
I love the workflow with audio in ProTools, and the plugins sound absolutely awesome (Moogerfoogers, BombFactory Compressors, some Digidesign stuff etc.), but when it comes to MIDI I like the Cubase way better (maybe that's because I'm used to it since the good old Atari ST days.)
Hope I could help you some...
I produce my songs in Cubase and then I bounce every single track and do the final mix and the mastering in ProTools.
I love the workflow with audio in ProTools, and the plugins sound absolutely awesome (Moogerfoogers, BombFactory Compressors, some Digidesign stuff etc.), but when it comes to MIDI I like the Cubase way better (maybe that's because I'm used to it since the good old Atari ST days.)
Hope I could help you some...
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- KVRAF
- 3386 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Yep, agreed! The limit is 32 voices total playing at one time, which is 16 stereo tracks. As you may know, the Music Produciton Toolkit ups the count to a max of 48 stereo tracks. But it's about $400 street price. This is almost 3X what I paid for the program itself, since I got mine on academic discount.Mozzer wrote:What about the audio track count restrictions in PT - that is ridiculous in this day and age
That said, I do pretty basic rock and blues, so haven't hit the max yet, and my understanding is that there are some track-limit workarounds you can do by using the tracks in a Rewire client like Live or FLStudio.