I just took my new Powerbook G4 out of the box yesterday, and have now turned towards selecting my interface and DAW equipment. Since I'm relatively new to home digital recording, and have a limited budget, I'd like to make an educated decision before I start forking over money. I've messed around a little with Live, and have some friends who are fond of Pro Tools and have watched them use it. However, all this talk of dongles and a lack of "sociability" on the part of Pro Tools has led me to consider my other options, such as DP and Logic.
Is Logic really as scary and difficult as some people have said? Is ProTools incompatible with other programs/interfaces, and does that even matter? What sort of interface/DAW combos have the least bugs? Since I'll be recording primarily through mics, I was considering buying the Digidesign 002R with ProTools LE. Is this something anyone would recommend? Also, the words mobility and versatility come to mind...
Probably not enough info to get any pinpointed responses, but any help is surely appreciated. Thanks.

W.

"However, all this talk of dongles and a lack of "sociability" on the part of Pro Tools has led me to consider my other options, such as DP and Logic"

Do you plan on sharing your sessions and mixes with other studios and/or mixing engineers? While this seems like an important issue. At the beginner novice level, this is a rare happening.

Every software package has its own set of pro and cons.

Pro Tools is the universal standard, but you're locked into proprietary hardware. Which you either love or hate. Keep in mind that the digi 002 that you're looking at has 8 channels of input via adat. so you can go crazy buying all sorts of high end preamps and a/d converters if you're not crazy about the 002's built in preamps, but love the protools software.

Logic is also very widely used. Plus since it is now an apple product, is tightly integrated with other apple software. Logic and Digital Performer also have the benefit of letting you choose hardware that best fits your workflow.

So with the limited budget you have, you need to ask yourself questions about what your needs really are. Can you live with Pro Tools LE limit of 32 audio tracks? Do you really need all those ins and outs of the digi 002; or will a 2 in / 2 out or 4 in / 4 out sound card suffice?

Maybe saving a few hundred bucks on software and sound card will let you step up to nicer studio monitors. Do yourself a favor and put your $$$ there.

Just my 2 cents

Scott

I have used PT and Logic... IMHO... Logic is better at dealing with midi but PT is the king of dealing with audio sequencing... PT works a bit like using actual tape recorder in some ways and is easy to understand if you come from a hardware recording/mixing background.

I have not used DP but it has always seemed a good compromise of both Logic and PT to me