Audio editing software: Pro Tools or other?

[Mycroft]

Hi all,

I work at a nonprofit org and am going to be purchasing a MacBook Pro. We've got a Tascam DR-1 digital audio recorder (with external mic) that we use primarily to record interviews and post them on our website as podcasts. We'd like to have the appropriate software in-house to let us do some audio editing.

Some initial research indicates that Avid Pro Tools is the industry standard. The only thing that strikes me as odd about it is its requirement to have an iLok (http://www.ilok.com/) plugged in to use the product (referring to the most recent version of Pro Tools). What happens if you lose the iLok??

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on Pro Tools vs. alternatives such as Adobe's SoundBooth or Apple's Soundtrack Pro? A benefit of these other products is that they come bundled with other software (e.g. Final Cut Pro or the various items in the Adobe Master Collection). Certainly, we'll need much of the software in the Adobe suite anyway (PS, Illustrator, etc.). Final Cut wouldn't be a bad investment for the future, as we may want to get into video editing a year or 2 down the line.

While it should be noted that we're a nonprofit and are certainly not a pro audio studio, we're not so broke that we need to settle for the cheapest solution.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JSt0rm]

its never been a better time to get into protools. With protools 9 they added many features and they desynced the need for a avid audio interface. You can use the internal sound card on the mac.

While you may find other software to edit your audio with, in protools you also have the ability to MIX your podcasts. removing pops and mouth clicks from the audio and pushing the entire voice chain through a leveling amp will give it a pro feeling. All you will need is the basic protools 9 software. I think it runs 499 and it will come with everything you need to get work done.

 

[JSt0rm]

oh dont lose the ilok

I put reward if found on my ilok with my phone number. Generally people wont have any idea what exactly is on the ilok. I have about $5000 worth of software on it.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Some initial research indicates that Avid Pro Tools is the industry standard. The only thing that strikes me as odd about it is its requirement to have an iLok (http://www.ilok.com/) plugged in to use the product (referring to the most recent version of Pro Tools). What happens if you lose the iLok??

You don't.

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on Pro Tools vs. alternatives such as Adobe's SoundBooth or Apple's Soundtrack Pro? A benefit of these other products is that they come bundled with other software (e.g. Final Cut Pro or the various items in the Adobe Master Collection). Certainly, we'll need much of the software in the Adobe suite anyway (PS, Illustrator, etc.). Final Cut wouldn't be a bad investment for the future, as we may want to get into video editing a year or 2 down the line.

Pro Tools is audio editing software. Those other ones are designed to work in conjunction with video editing software. You should be comparing Pro Tools to Logic Studio:

http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/

...which people have long been thinking was going to supplant Pro Tools as the industry standard Any Day Now™. (Any hope for that vanished when Apple bought emagic and made Logic mac-only, but it's still pretty kickass software as well.)

 

[Mycroft]

Thanks for the tips. Helps to know that the other tools I mentioned aren't meant to be stand-alone audio editors. I'll take a look at Logic Studio, in addition to Pro Tools.

 

[darth maul]

Reaper, I think the site to pick it up at is reaper.fm , not sure on that. I think it is only $200 for a commercial license. I have use it from .6 realise or there about. You can try it for free small nag screen when you launch it if you haven't paid for it. Tons of plugins are included and I mean a few tons. You can add just about any plugin you can imagine, vst, vsti, dx, etc. Reaper its made for the PC or mac. Check out kvr audio, for plugins if you find anything lacking.

My wife and I just finished up some songs for a high school band, and most plugins used were built in to reaper. I have used it for many other projects as well. I tried pro fools, and to this day don't understand why it is a industry standard, it is pricey, hard to use and it sounds no better than anything else on the market. Usability is the key word over a t reaper vile, if you can't get reaper working no way in hell are you going to get pro tools working to your satisfaction.

Of course imho, applies in choices of daw programs more so then the Mac vs PC debate.

 

[JSt0rm]

I tried pro fools, and to this day don't understand why it is a industry standard, it is pricey, hard to use and it sounds no better than anything else on the market.

lol.

I'll tell you why tomorrow.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

How does pro tools compare to reason and record?

 

[JSt0rm]

How does pro tools compare to reason and record?

Well I've never looked at record so i couldn't really tell you the feature set.

As for comparing to reason I guess it would depend on what you want to use the software for. If you want to make house music and hiphop beats then reason is a all inclusive package that will get you 60% (sounds are stale) of the way there. As a hobbyist you could have a lot of fun with something like reason.

Now if you are recording 96 stem tracks from 3 protools hd6 machines piped over aes into your computer all the while you are doing destructive punch ins and outs on those tracks along with running a sony srw5500 in sync and also recording and doing destructive punches then I would think that the "record" software wouldn't be the correct tool for the job.

If you are part of a larger pipeline and 6 different peoples work will be brought together after individually working for over a month into a couple massive protools sessions then it would be best and least costly in terms of manpower to have everyone cutting on 20k protools rigs.

Of course protools isnt for everyone.

 

[JSt0rm]

oh and the software isnt hard to use, it just has pro features and thereby complexity that takes time to learn. If you are just noodling for 3 hours every saturday well its gonna take a long time to learn the software. If you are working 60 hours a week in a demanding environment you WILL learn every shortcut key and fly through the program. You can run the program with only a keyboard thats how many shortcut keys there are.

 

[QueBert]

Reason with some refills is pretty damn hard to beat, it can be rewired into Ableton and for making music I dunno of a better combo. Kong in Reason 5 is outstanding for drums. A lot of big named producers use Ableton, it's a very powerful program.

 

[daceymathers]

Hi all,

I work at a nonprofit org and am going to be purchasing a MacBook Pro. We've got a Tascam DR-1 digital audio recorder (with external mic) that we use primarily to record interviews and post them on our website as podcasts. We'd like to have the appropriate software in-house to let us do some audio editing.

Some initial research indicates that Avid Pro Tools is the industry standard. The only thing that strikes me as odd about it is its requirement to have an iLok (http://www.ilok.com/) plugged in to use the product (referring to the most recent version of Pro Tools). What happens if you lose the iLok??

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on Pro Tools vs. alternatives such as Adobe's SoundBooth or Apple's Soundtrack Pro? A benefit of these other products is that they come bundled with other software (e.g. Final Cut Pro or the various items in the Adobe Master Collection). Certainly, we'll need much of the software in the Adobe suite anyway (PS, Illustrator, etc.). Final Cut wouldn't be a bad investment for the future, as we may want to get into video editing a year or 2 down the line.

While it should be noted that we're a nonprofit and are certainly not a pro audio studio, we're not so broke that we need to settle for the cheapest solution.

Thanks in advance.

An iLok USB Smart Key is required to use Pro Tools 9. Additionally, you will need to enter your iLok ID and Avid hardware interface serial number in order to activate your software.You will not be able to activate this product if you do not have these.
If you lose the iLok you must first report the lost iLok or you should replace the license.

Adobe Soundbooth is an entry-level application with a limited selection of wizard-type features.Soundbooth is a new application developed largely as a companion for Premiere Pro and Flash. It is limited in features and not suitable for complex sound editing.

 

[wantedSpidy]

Garageband by itself should be sufficient for your needs

 

[GuitarDaddy]

its never been a better time to get into protools. With protools 9 they added many features and they desynced the need for a avid audio interface. You can use the internal sound card on the mac.

While you may find other software to edit your audio with, in protools you also have the ability to MIX your podcasts. removing pops and mouth clicks from the audio and pushing the entire voice chain through a leveling amp will give it a pro feeling. All you will need is the basic protools 9 software. I think it runs 499 and it will come with everything you need to get work done.

I agree, with the release of protools 9 Avid has finally caught up to the market IMHO. Unlike earlier versions PT 9 finally works with the latest and greatest computer hardware and OS's and it supports virtually every modern recording interface. And it remains the gold standard for compatability with most pro studios. It is still quirky and has quite a steep learning curve if you haven't used protools before, there are much simpler and straightforward recording packages like "Reaper" (personal fav) but once you get to mixing and mastering they pale in comparison to protools and the huge amount of third party plug-ins it supports.

I built a 24 track mobile recording rig for my best buddy a few years ago using protools Mpowered 7.4, and because of the limitations of that particular version(18 simultaneous tracks, 32bit OS) we used Reaper to do the 24 track onsite recordings then converted the files to protools before final mixdown offsite. He has become accustom to this setup and the consersion process from Reaper to Protools, but I have finally convinced him to upgrade to PT 9. I'm really looking forward to doing this upgrade as I had come to loath the earlier versions of Protools, they were just so far behind the tech curve and traditionally had so many compatability problems.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Garageband by itself should be sufficient for your needs

Audacity should be fine too (that's free).

You pretty much only have only one input that would need to be recorded and then edited.

 

[daceymathers]

Thanks for the tips. Helps to know that the other tools I mentioned aren't meant to be stand-alone audio editors. I'll take a look at Logic Studio, in addition to Pro Tools.

The latest version of pro tools that is pro tools 9 is a standalone software means it can run with or without interface.Logic has a bad sound but pro tools has good sound.

 

[radioouman]

Adobe Audition is also a good choice. (Adobe Soundbooth is junk in my opinion because they stripped out a bunch of features, but it may be adequate for your needs.) I like Audition because I was used to Cool Edit from many years ago and there are still pieces of Audition that feel like Cool Edit.

 

[Patranus]

If all you are doing is posting these on the internet as podcasts there is really no reason to invest in professional level audio applications especially being at a non profit.

Take a look at garageband.