Would you GIVE BACK your Pro Tools system?
I did.
My wife and son have heard me talk about the industry standard PT setup, and we have all heard the demo played at GC through the HD24 rig with the HD192 gear through top of the line KRKs or Genelecs, on a $3000.00 MAC G5 DAW.
Well this Christmas, my loving wife and son got me the PT Digi-002 Rack as a gift. I tried to act surprised and joyfully grateful.
The sales rep at GC PROMISED my wife that her husband (me) could install the software and compare it to what ever he was using and if he wasn't stunned by the improvement, he could just return it.
Return installed and registered software to GC? I don't think so! I call GC and asked to speak to John, the manager. He knows me, and I described the situation and he agreed that he wouldn't be able to resell it if I installed it, and so wouldn't be able to accept it as a return if installed. (I thought so).
Well, I knew I'd have to let my wife down easy, so I prepared a comparison for her between my Sonar rig and the entry level Pro Tools system she purchased.
PTLE: Digi-design interfaces/hardware only
S3: Any windows compatible interfaces/hardware
PTLE: 8 track simultaneous recording / no expanssion unit available
S3: I'm using the MOTU 24i/o - 24 in / 24 out with expansion units possible
PTLE: Software limitation of only 32 tracks per project
S3: UNLIMITED virtual tracks - (what ever your DAW can handle)
PTLE: Limited MIDI sequencer support
S3: One of the best MIDI sequencers on the market
PTLE: Prohibitively expensive plugins that must be designed to work with PT
S3: MUCH less expensive versions of the SAME software (which I already own) plus any DXI or VST plugins from ANY windows plugin manufacturer
PTLE: Manual delay compensation must be carefully calculated from a chart for the accumulated effects of all the plugins in the mix and entered into the PT delay compensation plugin and changed when effects are added or removed
S3: Plugin Delay Compensation (PDC) is automatic and you NEVER have to think about it
I could go on and on, but I carefully and tactfully told my loving wife and son that in order for a Pro Tools set up to compare with what I already have, it would cost $30,000.00.
I returned PTLE yesterday to GC and the guy at the front desk said, "What are you doing man? This is the SH*t man!".
I explained the above to him and told him I'm getting killer sound using Sonar3, with 24 simultaneous analog inputs, at 24/96khz, using an ASIO driver, with a monitoring latency of 2.7ms, with automatic delay compensation, and 16 tracks of Mackie Control automatted faders on the desk, using a high-end DAW costing only $1400.00!
"REALLY?!!". was his reply.
Same discussion with the sales rep in the pro audio dept.
His response... "REALLY?!!!!".
Same discussion with dept manager who needed to sign off on the return.
His response... "REALLY?!!!!!!!!!"
Yes... "REALLY!!!!!!!!".
If I've got Christmas money to spend on the studio, I'd rather spend it on mics, or maybe put it towards the purchase of some Apogee Rosetta 800s, but Pro Tools LE does not come close to replacing what I have in my studio using Sonar3!
