Free Loops - The Loop House

Pro Tools

Pro Tools has been the "industry standard" recording system for many years and likely many years to come.  It come in three versions. First there in the pro tools Hd, this being the most expensive and a popular commercial studio choice. Then their is the pro tools le, which is a mac only digidesign hardware system.  And the newest P.C. based pro tools M-powered, which requires a M-audio device.  So are any of these systems right for you?  Well, the first thing I would have to comment on is that becoming a proficient "pro tooler" is great for any recording resume, but apart from that it really requires one to weigh the pros and con and determine your individual recording needs. Lets start with pro tools HD.
From the website ... "

Pro Tools|HD, industry-standard audio production environment

Pro Tools|HD® workstations are integrated, modular systems that use a combination of dedicated DSP and host processing power to deliver the most powerful audio production environment available today. This cutting-edge system has earned Digidesign scores of industry accolades, including both Oscar® and Grammy® awards for technical achievement."

All pro tools systems come with their own dedicated hardware, this is sometimes a plus and sometimes a minus.  The plus being that you know that the compatibility between the software and hardware will be excellent, yet it does limit you a little. Another highlight from the website explains the reasoning of such hardware integration in the HD systems.

"Unmatched Processing Power
Producing professional audio often requires more power than even today’s most advanced personal computers can handle alone. Pro Tools|HD workstations deliver unmatched processing power by using dedicated PCI and PCI Express (PCIe) DSP cards that reside inside the computer while simultaneously leveraging the resources of the host to run additional virtual instruments and signal processing plug-ins. The result is an audio production powerhouse delivering extremely low latency and exceptional performance that far exceeds other hardware-accelerated or host-based audio workstations."

Well about five years ago this type of thinking made quite a lot of sense, not with easy access to quad core processors (jan 2008) ect. one is left wondering whether these features are worth the money.  


As far as functionality is concerned Pro Tools does it all.  Most likely 1/2 to 3/4 of you cd and movie collection have pro tools mark on them, so it is industry proven.  The nice thing is that Pro Tools Le and Pro Tools M-powered software are not "cheap" water down versions, but highly capable software that is also compatible with the HD systems in the high end studios.  This is a real asset if you want your own project remixed and mastered.  The the complaints I keep reading about is Vista compatibility (Jan 2008) dongle mania (many of the plug ins require dongles and most home studios end up with a dongle tree) and a 35 audio track maximum for M-powered.  The prices for Le and M-powered are around $250usd (jan 2008).