Pro Tools with M Audio

[fxe]

Excuse me if this has been posted before but I was wondering since Avid bought M-Audio there has been some talk of Pro Tools possibly being made to function with the M-Audio interfaces. Any thoughts on this? Ive never used Pro Tools but would be interested in trying something new.

[Alan]

there has been some talk of Pro Tools possibly being made to function with the M-Audio interfaces

The aquisition had more to do with distribution and both companies remain seperate at this point in time.My guess since Digi is mainly a hardware company this will never happen anytime soon,unless they fancy a zillion Audiophile users using cracked versions of the latest PTLE.It's possible down the road M-Audio might come up with something along those lines(new specialized hardware optomized for PTLE)) with Digi's approval,but I seriously doubt it,and it won't be with currently avalible M-Adio hardware,that you can bet on.

[headquest]

Do you think this is likely to effect Reason or Ableton Live in any way? (both distributed in UK by M-Audio)

[x_bruce]

Hi Alan,

I have no particular knowledge of M Audio other than previous excellence of service. I was wondering though, don't you think this opens a market for the Pro Tools LE edition which is already close in price and capability to the cards like Delta 44, 66, 1010 that M-Audio have available.

Unless the stereo Focusrite in/out's are that much better, don't you see a possibility for a Protools LE upgrade?

It would be nice as several program already do RTAS and Protools LE does Rewire, enabling VST/DX from going to waste. Just a thought. If something like Protools was available with my Delta 44 I'd more than likely switch with the disappointing, expensive upgrades for Sonar 4 and Cubase 3.

[Alan]

Hi Alan,

don't you think this opens a market for the Pro Tools LE edition which is already close in price and capability to the cards like Delta 44, 66, 1010 that M-Audio have available.

Digi would have to have a big cut in M-Audio hardware for them to open up that avenue,otherwise they'd lose money.It's that simple.

[x_bruce]

I guess that's how things have to be.

I have a budget to do a studio upgrade and was seriously consdering a MBox but it's just a bit more than I want to spend to get into ProTools right now.

So the money is in the hardware? That makes sense as the software most likely has made it's investement back. I know when I was part of a company making hardware and software the money was always tied up in the design of the hardware but it seems hard to accept that the MBox is of reasonable value at it's price.

Too bad, I'd like to get into ProTools as I have several friends including one in my building who use it. But it's cost is too steep for me.

[Alan]

Too bad, I'd like to get into ProTools as I have several friends including one in my building who use it. But it's cost is too steep for me.

Iv'e seen M-Box packages with PT software as low as $450.00 U.S. pretty much everywhere Iv'e looked which isn't too steep considering the built Focusrite Pre's are fairly decent,and you do get PTLE and a pluging package in the deal besides the M-Box shipping with ASIO drivers.I can't vouch for the performace of the drivers and Iv'e seen mixed postings regarding them,but some keep something like an Audiophile for other stuff anyway.If that's too steep($450.00) you can always make a seperate partition for Win 98 or ME and run PT free on it if you have a 2 ch card.PTLE strengths are mainly in audio editing anyway and not so much in virtual instruments and loops and such.This way you can keep your current setup as is and import your files into PT Free and at least get to use it.Anyway,the future doesn't rule out Digidesign commissioning M-Audio to make upcoming inexpensive hardware to be compatible with PTLE similar to the deal they have with Focusrite,but don't excpect compatibility with current M-Audio hardware.

[x_bruce]

I'd never go back to '98 or especially ME. I had protools free on there and if I remember it didn't accept plugins.

I've also heard mixed things on the MBox. The Focusrite inputs are attractive but I think enormously stingy. Even as a single user I often need four inputs and would like more. It's ashamed as I'm updating my system and tried to justify MBox. The ability to work with many other artists I'm friends with is really tempting. Most of the money is from a grant and the grant committe considered MBox to be software(!!). This issue of drivers came up frequently in people who have the MBox and 002. This is inexcusable for a $1000 - $2200 interface, and says to me they still don't take the PC market seriously. Not even as a audio/midi recording only program. It starts to feel like they rub our faces in the dirt with the "we trust Mac" attitude. Even speaking to technical sales they made MBox initially sound like a toy.

They need to learn how to deal with PC users who are rightfully skeptical when they see $450 stereo inputs with software that has great potential and the bomb factory plugs which are certainly of excellent quality....as long as they can be used.

I've used Sonar 2.2 and 3.11 Producer on 2 CDs along with Cubase VST 5.1 on several others. Most of the things I do and my old band did were audio based and recorded in Vegas Video 2. There's much to like about the program in that it's the closest thing to a tape recorder and sounds great. Also, using self designed acid loops is very helpful. Now I just use Sonar 3.

If you want a real trip try Steinberg's Cubase SE. It is acceptable to make an album off of if you have your own plugins and cost all of $75.

[neverwhere2012]

hrm... right... i suppose the acquisition of m-audio by avid explains the bundling of reason adapted and live digi edition in pro tools LE systems. and the speculation on being able to use LE with m-audio interfaces or not is leaving out one very very very important fact. Pro Tools LE is a castrated shadow of the full TDM/HD version of the software. granted, there have been some advances in the software that help it along a little bit, but not much. if you're using SX 3 or Sonar 3/4 PE, you're already doing infinitely more than you could ever conceive of doing with PTLE. 32 mono tracks get used up very quickly in that program, believe me. likewise, the bomb factory plugins tend to devour cpu and give less than desirable results compared to most VST/AU plugs. lord knows that Blockfish, for free, destroys both the bomb factory LA-2A and 1176. in all honesty the only worthwhile bomb factory plugin is SansAmp. At least among what you'll get bundled with PTLE, i've heard good things about their Pultec and Fairchild, but I'll stick with my UAD-1 for those anyway. blah... don't understand sometimes why i hate Digi so much, used to think they were the cat's ass a couple years ago...

[Alan]

I'd never go back to '98 or especially ME. I had protools free on there and if I remember it didn't accept plugins.

You don't have to go "back" to 98se or ME,just create a seperate partition and a dual boot,I did this very thing on my net machine for whenever I have the urge to do anything in PT(not much).It ships with a scaled down version of Audio Suite plugs with an option to buy their Reverb plug,but I never bought it or any other plugs so I can't vouch for any compatibility there,plus practically all newer RTAS plugs(BF ect.)have flags for XP installation only.

they still don't take the PC market seriously. Not even as a audio/midi recording only program. It starts to feel like they rub our faces in the dirt with the "we trust Mac" attitude.

In that I'm in total agreement,their PC knowledge and drivers for them really show their lack of familiararity in that market.I don't know who's coding for them now in drivers and software,but if it's the same Mac guy's from yesteryear I guess it shows.And yes,PT Free is pretty much a dog performance wise,but I got it working well enough for audio imports/playback and editing which is all I find PT useful for anyway(sans Accel/TDM cards).Running PT Free on my net machine on a dual boot is about as far I'm willing to venture into Digi-Land.In a way I like it this way as I wouldn't even want their crappy coding(not even PTlE) on my 2K machine with Sonar either.

[Chickenman]

I've used the Mbox and a couple of digi 001 systems, pro tools is just not as good as it is purported to be.

I would suggest looking around the online stores and finding a cheap version of Nuendo(1.6 upwards) and then buying a nice cheap card (m audio etc).

I personally have a Creative Audigy 2 platinum ex (long name, must be good ) six analog in's and outs and a stereo s/pdif and optical digital i/o. Have had no issues running at a latency of 5ms with a couple of synths going (bass and drums) then recording a live guitar vox etc with real time monitoring and efx. My pc is a pretty average athlon 2100xp.

Of course the great thing about the VST platform is all the free stuff that's out there.

[neverwhere2012]

on an additional note, the hardware that digidesign sells with pro tools LE is some of the cheapest garbage ever made. the converters are awful, the preamps on the 002's are worse than mackie pre's, and it's all so poorly made. my school just upgraded to a main HD workstation and 4 digi 002 workstations and within 2 weeks of the semester starting, one of the 002's had died. no one was even using any of the computers at that point except to authorize software and make sure everything was functional. pretty sad.

[t-willy]

blah... don't understand sometimes why i hate Digi so much, used to think they were the cat's ass a couple years ago...

sorry, the cat's ass comment just made me laugh



lates

t-willy

[neverwhere2012]

blah... don't understand sometimes why i hate Digi so much, used to think they were the cat's ass a couple years ago...

sorry, the cat's ass comment just made me laugh



lates

t-willy

i always enjoy throwing that one out there