Soundtrac is a toy compared with PTHD

STP is a "native" system that relies exclusively on your computers processing power and RAM. PT HD requires rather expensive proprietary Digidesign hardware. PT LE is a native system similar to STP, but still requires proprietary Digidesign hardware such as the M-Box or the DIGI-003, and also needs DigiTranslator software to import/export OMF and other files, and has limited track count.

Pro Tools is still the industry standard, not necessarily because it is better but because it got there first. PT HD systems, due to their proprietary hardware, can support an insane number of the plug-ins which are routinely required to do extensive audio post production, something of which most native systems are incapable.

Native systems can get a boost by using cards and/or external firewire modules for additional DSP processing power, although they are usually exclusive to the manufacturers plug-ins.

Your biggest considerations are your budget and career goals. Budget is obvious; a basic PT HD system will, by the time all is said and done, set you back a minimum of $10k. A native system (with the exception of PT LE) is just the cost of the computer, the software and any additional plug-ins you may need; and trust me, you will need to buy some additional plug-ins. As far as career goals, at this point in time, if you want to work in the audio post industry knowing PT inside and out is a requirement.

I use PT
but as a partner to FCP
have a look at Deck

it's a more than a Soundtrack but not quite a PT

STP shares key commands with FCP, and has seamless file sharing integrated.

Also it has Photoshop-like editing of audio with the action process list.
Want to compress audio, before applying reverb.

Grab it and reorder, like you would a layer in Photoshop, Want to remove the reverb applied five steps earlier? delete it without disturbing other edits.

STP also give you access to all of the Logic Pro effects processors.

Deck can't deal with 24bit files, it's 16bit only.

If your'e using FCP, STP is best and most integrated app to use.

8)

gdoubleyou wrote: Deck can't deal with 24bit files, it's 16bit only.

didn't know that
that's a real shame as 24 bit makes good sense

funny they don't mention that on the FAQ page
... also seems to have trouble importing .wav files

but the surround mixing looks cool

STP does look to be an easy fit inside FCP but it's not a PT
IF
Deck were to sort a few things out then it could be a good native substitute for PT without the frutrations of PTLE

it's all about budget

Thanks everyone for responding! I'm still not sure about the balance between the higher quality audio editing capabilities of PTHD and the sync to a FCP timeline that ST has. Also I should have made it clear that budget is not an option I work on a PT HD rig right now and could install ST and start to work on that if I wanted to.......

I use PT almost exclusively for audio post. 95% of my clients use FCP. They export the audio from FCP as OMF files and the video as a hi-rez QT file. I just import and get to work; that simple. When I'm done I just export the mix which is then imported into FCP. 99.9999% of the time there are no problems with the sync.