Originally posted by sharmon:
Hello :) I have been using Sonic Foundry's Vegas Audio for the past couple of years, have heard much about pro tools, can't see what all the fuss is about, but then again maybe i'm missing something. Any user comments on either.... or both? :)

You're not missing anything. The only thing that gives Protools any advantage is the hardware acceleration, and even that is sorely lacking when compared to today's competition.

I've used both for years, and found vegas/sound forge a lot more stable and versatile.

Pro Tools may make collabortion with other artists and studios a little easier, since that's what the majority of the studios are using. To some people that's important, to others not.

I think most of the deal passes through hardware. Anyway I've used them both and I prefer Vegas for most the work. ProTools has a lot of fancy tools that you don't use very often.

If you're really concerned with collaboration - Pro Tools can import your Vegas tracks because they're saved native into wav format.

Another upside to Vegas is that it's not locked into any hardware interface.

The only downside I see is that it doesn't look like there's much of a future for the audio only version.

Take a look at Steinberg Nuendo

I prefer vegas for editing, because it's faster and more accurate and crossfades are realtime. It's great for surgical type stuff, re-aligning tracks, actually zooming in to check phase and just really get anal. I also like the fact that you don't have to rely completely on your CPU if you wanna get crazy with overloading plugins - you can render any length of chains or any amounts of tracks you want, but it's just won't necessarily be realtime playback in the editor.

I still prefer protools for it's mixing system, the busing and automation is still allot better then the one in vegas, or maybe 'different' is a more appropriate word. And of course it has some MIDI.

What I don't get is why they don't merge Vegas with ACID (and more developed MIDI) and make an all-audio program. That would rock.

Originally posted by FragmentoUno Estudio:
I think most of the deal passes through hardware. Anyway I've used them both and I prefer Vegas for most the work. ProTools has a lot of fancy tools that you don't use very often.

If you want fancy tools as well, install Sound Forge alongside Vegas.

They are both "problematic" gears.
Vegas is way to be a really allround pro app, pt has a problematic sound issue

Pro Tools is popular for 2 main reasons:

1. Many professionals enjoy its simple logical user interface. My work flow when using pro tools is very very efficient.

2. For professional and non professionals, its ease of interfacing with other products and thorough documentation make for great collaboration.

There myths about pro tools as well:
Myth #1. Mixing sound: some people have trouble getting a good mix in PT. they blame the sound of the mixer.

Many others of us do not have this trouble and are very happy with the sound of the mixer. (the mixer performance has been significantly improved over the years as well).

Myth #2. TDM (hardware based) technology will be surpassed by higher speed native apps.

PT runs both hardware (TDM) and Native (RTAS or LE) at the same time. It always has the full power of the CPU Plus the TDM capability.

In short PT is not for everyone. Tron does not like it and prefers Logic's work flow and sound. Many synthesizer based musicians who are heavily dependent on MIDI prefer Logic or DP, but many of the same type of musicians/composers prefer PT.

So to each his/her own. Try it, if you like then go for it. If not then move on and please do not aimlessly bash applications you have chosen not to use.

Thanks for all the opinions. Just did a mixdown of a song that was recorded in another studio. Got all the tracks in wav format and inserted them into Vegas. I think the idea of having Vegas, Acid and more MIDI in one app is a great idea, but i guess having 3 apps is more money for sonic foundry... heh... although they don't seem to be much into sequencing. I do most midi work in cakewalk and then insert the track into vegas. I guess there are different apps for diff people.

Sharmon

Two programs I like a lot are Steinberg Nuendo and Adobe Audition due to their superior mix buses.

Steve
http://www.mojopie.com

Originally posted by ozraves:
Two programs I like a lot are Steinberg Nuendo and Adobe Audition due to their superior mix buses.

Steve
http://www.mojopie.com

Superior to what?

Anything I have seen that even comes close to an objective test of mix buses was not able to distinguish between various mix buses.

Both of these apps are 32 bit floating point. While 32 bit floating point can have a wider dynamic range than 48bit fixed, 48 bit fixed mix buses have 16 million times better resolution than 32 bit float. (its actually 16,777,216x).

MY personal experince is that the TDM 48 bit mixer is a lot easier to to achieve a great mix on.

Check out my demos on my home page if you like (although they are mp3s).

Steve D

Sharmon, if Vegas is getting the job done for you then there is no reason I can think of to switch to another app. Knowing pro tools would probably be handy if you are looking for a job in a commercial studio. Other than that stick with what works for you.