What will I miss in Pro Tools 10.

If I buy a copy of Pro Tools 10 to run alongside SONAR when I need to, besides SONARcentric plug-ins, what am I going to miss on a session with live musicians?
 
I use real time monitoring to create separate cue mixes for my talent.  If I understand correctly, Pro Tools doesn't do that in the native Windows version.  I also use 64 bit versions of VST software.  I'm sure I will have to install the 32 bit versions once again.
 
I've got a 64 bit machine but I understand that it will run in 32bit.  Correct? 
 
I have a UAD 2 Solo coming soon as a rebate for ordering a UA 710.  Will that software run in Pro Tools?

Thank you for your insights, Michael.  It's not about replacing SONAR.  It's about evaluating whether or not the expense of having Pro Tools available for other people to use is worth the investment.

I have started using my private home studio for recording others with the intent of profit.  I had someone contact me and they assumed that I had Pro Tools and they wanted to come in and do some R&B tracks.  The fellow had his own audio guy so all I had to do is sit there while they worked in my studio for a couple of hours.  I'm trying to see if the juice is worth the squeeze, so to speak.  I have to ascertain whether or not my current gear will work or if I will have to spend a lot of money to make it work.

Mod Bod


If I buy a copy of Pro Tools 10 to run alongside SONAR when I need to, besides SONARcentric plug-ins, what am I going to miss on a session with live musicians?
 
I use real time monitoring to create separate cue mixes for my talent.  If I understand correctly, Pro Tools doesn't do that in the native Windows version.  I also use 64 bit versions of VST software.  I'm sure I will have to install the 32 bit versions once again.
 
I've got a 64 bit machine but I understand that it will run in 32bit.  Correct? 
 
I have a UAD 2 Solo coming soon as a rebate for ordering a UA 710.  Will that software run in Pro Tools?

I think I must be misunderstanding your first question - Pro Tools allows real time monitoring and you can create headphone mixes. My only word of caution in that regard is that Pro Tools (software only, not the hardware-based one) may not be as efficient as Sonar in terms of latency/performance. On my Mac, I know it's nowhere near Logic.

You mention VST - probably as a generic reference to the type of software - but I thought I'd mention that PT doesn't support VST, but RTAS, TDM and AAX. But you probably know that.

Nevertheless, this also answers the 32 vs 64 bit question. If you have any RTAS plug-ins installed, you won't have an option of using 32 or 64, since they were developed for PT.

For the Windows 64 bit machine, I can't tell. But I know there are people out there running PT on such set ups. 

Same for UAD. I don't own one, but people do run UAD w/ Pro Tools.

Dave, saw you over on the Avid forum asking this question. I am running a headphone mix (1) right now off my lynx two card and I can't see why, if you have the extra outputs, you couldn't set up additional headphone mixes out.

All the RTAS versions of your plugins (which will need to be installed again) are the most time consuming part of the transition. PT10 runs fine in a 64 bit environment and I have it in Win 7. There are ways to run VST with a RTAS wrapper but I have not gone down this road and probably won't. I am running all of the UAD2 plugins in that environment but had to reinstall the rtas versions. Set your processors in PT for one or two less than your total number of cores. This to leave room for internal processes. I know it sounds archaic. Here is another zinger, adjust your sound card settings in PT and you will have to exit the environment and start it up again. That's what happens when you let a bunch of Apple developers loose in a PC development world. That is a little bit frustrating which is why it will drive you to eventually buying the native or hdx cards if you have the money.

A lot of things we take for granted in Sonar X1 have to be hand assembled in PT10.

There was a recent magazine article in which an up an coming mixer commented that he liked the warmer sound of Sonar versus the cleaner sound of PT and I thought that was a bunch of hooey. It is in fact the case to my ears but I attribute it to the sound of VST versus RTAS. When I put the same UAD plug in on a track in both environments, the VST version sounds slightly more closed as if there is a low pass filter on it around 12k (this purely speculation, just how it sounds). I would be curious to understand the internal workings of VST versus RTAS to understand why this might be the case or why the two environments sound different. I know that they are using 32 bit float on the PT side of things but that should be just a headroom advantage. It sounds different, leave it at that.

On the plus side of PT...Dverb, you will love the tails.

I think my biggest concern is whether my old trusty Frontier Dakota card is going to tolerate PT.  I bought that guy from Jim Roseberry a gazillion years ago back when we were overclocking Celeron processors.

The Dakota will only do one cue mix out inside it's own control panel.  I have to use SONAR and the input monitoring to create my cue mixes.

I think I'm going to throw down for the iLok dongle and then DL the PT demo and see what I run up against.

Jim Roseberry


Hi Dave,
 
For basic recording/editing/mixing, you're not going to be missing a whole lot.
That's PT's forte'.  (Straight up tracking/editing/mixing)
 
PT is 32Bit... so it's limted to addressing 4GB of RAM.
If you're making extensive use of virtual instruments, that limitation can be tough.
The way around it (for PT users) is to use VE Pro to host soft-synths... running alongside PT.
IMO, It's simpler to just use Sonar and forget about it.
There's nothing you're going to do in a typical session (using PT) that couldn't be done in Sonar.  In many cases, because of your experience with Sonar... it would be quicker/easier.
 
FWIW, I have many Pro level clients... and they use whatever tool/s they want to accomplish specific tasks.  These folks are hired for their ability/skills... not for the tools they use.  If a potential client is more concerned with your software than the end-result... I'd give that gig a second thought.
As for "compatibility", you can deliver Wav files... which can be loaded into any DAW application (including ProTools).  This works 100% of the time...

Jim , i tried PT 10 and i'm shoked how it crash everytime whrn i start loading it ith plugins sometime while in sonar i can put 10 times more plugins ,preferences are tweak , but i found it way less stable to not say unusuable...is it a PT on windows thing or a PT 10 thing ?

bapu


Based on your operating premise, you should own every major PC DAW just in case, right?


The answer seems simple to me.

You should have PT10, Reaper (which you have), Studio One Two (which I believe you have), SONAR (which I KNOW you have) and whatever the "next" PC based DAW to hit the market.

I think Pro Tools would be the only one that I would consider profitable to own.  (I reserve the right to change my mind at any moment.)  PT is the defacto industry standard DAW application at the moment and you can't help but bump into it now and then.  If an artist wants to work with me, I suppose I could insist on using SONAR or Reaper.  In this case, he had his own producer/engineer and he wanted to rent my studio for a few hours.  When I declined due to the shortness of notification, he inquired about another date which sparked the conversation about what DAW I had available.
 
Like I mentioned before, I am simply evaluating possible return on investment and if it looks like PT can pay for itself and make me some bucks without too many headaches, I may buy it and have it available as a selling point.  Doesn't mean I have to love it the most.

I still think Dave should get Pro Tools.....as he said, it's still the industry standard and it would be a selling point for him.....for example, there is a small commercial facility not too far from where I live.....this was designed by Tony Bongiovi (remember Power Plant?)...they use Sonar but do NOT have Pro Tools...frankly as much as I love Sonar, I thought this was a turn off.....every pro level studio I've heard of has a Pro Tools HD rig.....by Dave getting (I'm assuming) PT10 (the non HD version) it would definitely up his game with clients....I think all of us know Sonar is miles ahead, but he has to cater to the client

I think Jim is incorrect about the available RAM to Pro Tools. One of it's features (even though its a 32 bit app) is that if you have it installed on a 64 bit OS and you have a lot of RAM installed Tools can address all of it.

It is not unstable either. I have seen it running on a powerful MAC with three cards installed and it played back over 700 tracks with massive plugin counts. This is where it actually excells over most DAW's. It is serious in this department.

Also you can load an entire session into RAM and it plays back very fast and is very responsive. Something you cannot do in any other DAW.

It is very handy to have in your studio in terms of others wanting to use it etc or for converting sessions over to your fave DAW for mixing etc..

Jeffs , i'm talking PT native .....

In fact i have a friend engeneer that also made the same statement and use it under osx natively ...

You can only use the RAM disk feature if you upgrade to the toolkit from base PT10 in Windows. That capability is not in the $699 base package. But, to Dave's original concern, another $799 will get you the capability you seek. Basically a $1400 investment but you can shave about $200 off that investment if you buy the PT9 MBox version right now and then pay for the upgrade to PT10. A very little advertised option.

zippsinc


Hi Dave

Yes you would have to install 32bit versions of your VST software. For example, I have Superior Drummer 2.0 and EZ Keys (64bit & 32bit) installed. Failure to install the 32bit versions means that they would just not show up in Pro Tools at all.

Stewart
 

Just to be clear - since Pro Tools doesn't support VST, the issue isn't whether or not you install the 32 bit version of your VST plug-in - this won't make the slightest difference in PT - it's a matter of installing the RTAS version of your plug-in (which of course is 32 bit). 

In which case, you'll probably be happy w/ PT, considering what you're expecting from it.

Personally, I'm sticking w/ Logic for creation and/or anything that stays in house and doesn't require collaboration. 

Yup.

On a PC, it'd probably be Sonar + PT. 

When I am in creative mode, I will probably be more happy in SONAR or Reaper.

 
When I'm trying to compose/produce I much prefer Sonar X1 to ProTools.
Been working on some jingles in X1 recently... and I'm having a blast.