What kinda music you wanna make? On PC or Mac?

With mbox 2 you get midi and audio hardware all in one plus software... could be sweet. Doesn't it come with a version of reason as well?

I'm not familiar with sonar. I don't think its particularly well regarded. I like Logic (mac only).

GO with what you feel more comfortable with. The standard is Pro Tools. I like pro tools kinda, like the gear dont like digidesign so much but they could get better over time. I dont know sonar but like i said it is what you feel comfortable with, ask youself do you want to do this as a job if so go pro tools because everyone uses it...well almost but you know what I mean. If you are doing this as just a hobby then go with the firepod. I have heard a few good things about it.

GO with what you feel more comfortable with. The standard is Pro Tools. I like pro tools kinda, like the gear dont like digidesign so much but they could get better over time. I dont know sonar but like i said it is what you feel comfortable with, ask youself do you want to do this as a job if so go pro tools because everyone uses it...well almost but you know what I mean. If you are doing this as just a hobby then go with the firepod. I have heard a few good things about it.

well, i play in a punk/reggae band, but im also interested in making kindof trippy wierd rock stuff such as ween,

i have a pretty nice PC too

The bottom line is ... do you want to use Pro Tools or not? If you plan on being able to share projects with other studios on a regular basis, I would suggest Pro Tools. The majority of other studios, and even other home users, use Pro Tools and your chances of being able to share projects greatly increases when you do, too. I used Cakewalk and Sonar for years on the PC until I got sick of not being able to share projects with others. My decision was made.

If sharing doesn't matter to you, going with another software will likely save you money and will also open up many more hardware options (read: more decisions). Drawbacks of Pro Tools LE include a 32 track limit, no time code and having to have hardware attached in order to use it. In other words, wouldn't it be nice to do some editing on your laptop, say, on a plane? Better bring your mbox along for the ride, too.

And by the way, Sonar is a top-tier program, on par with Cubase, Logic, DP, et al.

I've been using Cakewalk since version 3 (that is, Cakewalk 3, much older than Sonar 3!), I doubt one could go wrong with Sonar 5, it really is a great program. And if you want to record drums, you will need at least 4 simultaneous inputs so the Firepod is great for that. Note that it comes with a light version of Cubase.

The only drawback of the Firepod for me is the lack of a DSP mixer, which means you can't get 0 latency mixing for monitoring what you're tracking. THe only time it really becomes a problem is if you're tracking a whole band at once. THere are ways around it though.

Hardtailed wrote:
The only drawback of the Firepod for me is the lack of a DSP mixer, which means you can't get 0 latency mixing for monitoring what you're tracking. THe only time it really becomes a problem is if you're tracking a whole band at once. THere are ways around it though.

This is untrue. You have to turn of track monitoring in cuebase and turn the MIX knob back towards input till you get the desired levels.

-Josh