mike_mccue
If you want to use Spectasonics you should probably steer clear of PT11 until there is a 64bit AAX port for the synth.

 
Ouch!!!

I think Pro Tools has a far superior design to Sonar in a lot of ways - I prefer the MIDI functionality of Sonar, but in terms of keeping your project organized PT is excellent, specifically their Playlist and Clip List functionality. The console mixer is also a lot better, way more tracks visible on screen and I liked its separate pan pots for left and right on stereo tracks. Also the stock PT plugins are excellent. But in the end though it just wouldn't play nice on my DAW. Constant crashes and hangs and dropouts for me when using VSTi's. In the end I ended up hosting all my VSTi's on Reaper and ReWiring the two so that the MIDI went from Pro Tools into Reaper and the resultant audio back into Pro Tools. Having to use two DAW's got old after a while and it was nice to be able to do things in Sonar without any hangs or glitches. But I had no idea of what other annoying problems Sonar had in store for me....

spacey
Bat I don't care what others or doing, what they are doing it with or how they are doing it.
Those are not questions for me. X2a will not do what I want to do on my old PC and it will not do it
on my new one. 

MINE WAS A SERIOUS QUESTION.
 
and if you do not care, i understand that.
but for the sake of myself (looking to update soon) and others that MIGHT be interested, i thought putting it out there was important to the original post.
 
i'd like to know what the 'gotcha' is, so i can avoid it as well.
 

I have long suspected that the number one issue people have is stacking up scary combinations of latency inducing plugins with out realizing how much juggling they are asking the DAW to do.
 
For example; Try to stream Guitar Rig w/automation and a state of the art soft synth and who knows what you'll end up with. 
 
It seems like an obvious pitfall to an open architecture plugin model that allows plugins to demand dynamic latency buffering even if the host is having trouble juggling the riddle.
 
 
 
I also think that SONAR's Tempo mapping seems very fragile... I only alter the tempo on simple projects. I suspect that this related to what I have mentioned above.
 
best regards,
mike
 

Bat....you know that everybody has something different to say about X2.
When you state that "so many are not having problems" to me you know good and well that there are million and one possible reasons why. Simply, they got lucky because for everyone of them there is one that it is not working for. It doesn't take long reading in the forum that even those that can fight there way through a project have problems. Nothing I can offer will help anybody avoid issues that they may have with it.
I do wish I could tell you what to avoid but I can't. IMO you'd be better off getting info from somebody it is working for, such as Ed.
 
Mike, I know but you left this part out:
 
Avid Pro Tools 11/AAX support?
Will Spectrasonics support Avid's Pro Tools 11 and AAX Native plugin platform?
Yes. Spectrasonics is fully committed to supporting the Pro Tools platform and we are currently in testing our support for the new AAX platform in Pro Tools 11. 
Pro Tools 11 is a major new version of Pro Tools - essentially a ground-up new 64-bit architecture application.
Will my existing Spectrasonics virtual instruments automatically work on Avid's Pro Tools 11?
No, not yet. The RTAS platform is no longer supported in Pro Tools 11.
When will Spectrasonics AAX versions be released?
The timing of the release of our AAX plugins is not determined yet as the new platform is undergoing significant testing. We should have more information on the timetable for release later this month.
When Pro Tools 11 is released, would I be able to use Pro Tools 10 and Pro Tools 11 on the same machine?
Yes. Pro Tools 10 and Pro Tools 11 can be run on the same machine.
 
 
To the well wishers- thank you.
I don't like repeating myself but I mentioned first thing what my plans are. I based them on what is the best thing for me to do, when to do it and how. Naturally I appreciate suggestions but I've learned to do what I think is best and when.
 
And for those that didn't understand due to my limitations or theirs..assuming you care to..
1. "Done with X2a."
2."I'll see what Cake does and if it doesn't work then
    I'll go to Pro Tools."
   "If I don't have something from them that will record by my Thanksgiving time off -when I spend
   vacation time with it so I can enjoy recording...game over and I'll be trying out Pro Tools too."
 
Now I have drawn a line. I'm hoping they will deliver and by my time-line. Until then I'm done with X2a.
I have become tired of complaining, waiting and pissin' in the wind. I have resolved it to what is best for me and I shared my plan.
So this evening X2a will be removed from my PC...step No. 1 to be followed by step No. 2.
Simple plan and a nice one. I'm giving them a chance to redeem themselves and with a very
fare time frame especially when one considers how long they've left folks (like me) hanging.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

So, basically, people want their Cake and to eat it for it to work too?  Imagine that!
 
It's too bad that nobody's made one of those comparison charts that show what platforms are compatible with all the different ways people want to use their DAW's.

Good luck to you Michael! If X2 isn't working for you, then I hope you can find satisfaction in PT. Please don't stop coming here, tho! and posting pics of your fantastic guitar builds! and be sure and share your music with us, too!

I hope you don't disappear like many others spacey. You're a good influence around here. Be cautious when moving to Pro Tools. I was in a PC based studio using Pro Tools and the engineer told me that getting PT stable on a PC was a lot of work and many hours of tuning. I'd hate to see you jump from the frying pan into the fire.
 
I've been sampling the grass on the other side of the fence and it's not perfect. I find that stability comes with it's own price. S1-2 has a very stable audio engine and if I was only playing with audio tracks I'd switch completely. I'm not going to buy any more PC daws. IF I bail on Sonar completely, I'll likely get a Mac and logic or PT for Mac. I know a bunch of people getting great, professional, audio and audio for film with Mac's and logic. I'm beginning to think that it's the way to go.
 
I'm waiting to see what Cake does. IF the next release doesn't put a smile on my face I'll be following you. Good luck buddy.

Man I appreciate the kind words guys.
I'm so sick and tired of ****ing and having problems with this...this morning I blew and been steamin' all day.
I gave up on using it. I can't tell the future but in this case I can sure decide what will be part of it with me and X2 is history. If it wasn't loaded in a kick-ass brand new computer they'd both be getting picked up by the sanitation workers in the morning. (I'm not trying to be funny either...it's the truth)
 
I've been here, as I previously stated, for the last few years because of you guys. It damn sure
hasn't been because I've been making music and trying to get help about recording.
 
Well I've said all I ever have to say about X2.
Didn't mean any offense to anybody- including the people making a living using it or making it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

As the others said, I too hope you stick around. I sincerely appreciate your input.
 
I was discussing w/ an old friend who used to help me build my PCs back in the days and he asked me if I had installed a Windows partition on my Mac. Because, that was the original plan and part of the advantages of buying a Mac - I could still run good old Sonar.
 
For better of for worst, that's when X1 came out and it was such a departure from Sonar that I would have been outside of my comfort zone anyway. So I focused on my new DAW 100%. 
 
Not that I had much to say against Sonar - no horror stories like yours or others', I'd always been lucky w/ it I guess - but it wasn't long before I realized that my new DAW just worked as advertised out of the box, w/o me having to jump through hoops or troubleshoot or optimize this and that. 
 
Suddenly I was no longer trying to find excuses for this and that or trying to find why things didn't work so that I could adapt my workflow. It was all about making music, period. The software works for me instead of me having to work on fixes and workaround to make up for the software's bugs and flaws.
 
I wish you the same thing whichever DAW you settle for.