beginner? I thought you were just promoting your own pro studio?

"Anyway, our studio has it all. We even have packages for songs, photo sessions, engineer included."

I'm not a beginner... just don't have Cubase. I want to learn more about it.

just wanted to start a discussion.. I'm new to the site

Ok... Can I have the floor to set this straight once and for all??

I have lost a lot of business because my STUDIO doesn't have Pro Tools. But Bobby teenager down the street has Pro Tools M-POWERED because he has some kind of M-Audio piece at his "studio" (which is usually just a corner in his basement where isolation means you put the guitar amp and mic in the laundry room XD).

Cubase and Pro Tools both rock. They are great, stable, versatile pro-quality software. But the hard ware is a different story.. I can tell you right now that (raw tracks) my DIGIMAX FS into my E-MU 1820m with Cubase sounds beefier and clearer than the Pro Tools 002/003 system. But as far as the software goes, it's personal preference.

I do mostly electronic music (minimal live recording), and I've always preferred Cubase to Pro Tools in the realm of MIDI editing. Pro Tools' MIDI stuff is so stiff in comparison to that of Cubase or even Digital Performer (or ableton live! My favorite).. I've always been much more satisfied working with Virtual Instruments in Cubase than in Pro Tools. Also, you aren't limited to the somewhat inferior selection of RTAS plugins against the horde of VST's unless you use a wrapper of somekind.

I don't know much about hardware. I wouldn't really have the ear or experience to offer a valuable opinion on Digi's stuff against the rest of the market, but I've heard that the high end Digi stuff (not the LE line, but the 192's, etc.) "has more head room" and holds it's own in the market. It just sucks how damn expensive digi stuff gets if you need alot of inputs. My school has an HD system, but our "studio" has such bad rooms that I get a better sound just taking my old MBox and some cheap mics to a church or something. I wish I could be in the control room of a legit studio and hear a comparison of an HD system vs. some non-Digi high end stuff through the same monitoring, mics, room, etc.

What's out there that competes with PT's HD systems? I don't know what's out there. Is it more common to use a PCI interface instead of a USB/Firewire interface?

JesterMasque wrote: I have lost a lot of business because my STUDIO doesn't have Pro Tools.

That's discouraging. : (.. Someday I want my own studio, and I don't want to use Pro Tools.. I hope the industry becomes a bit more open in the next decade or so.

nvemusic wrote: where do we begin?

We should begin by narrowing down the comparison data. Both DAWs run on both platforms. Comparing running one on one and the other on another isn't really a valid comparison. However, you can find hundreds of thousands of discussions comparing Cubase vs ProTools and PC vs Mac all over the internet. Anyway, since you've set the rules, I will follow them. Here goes...

nvemusic wrote: why should one prefer one over the other?

Features. As mentioned in the post above, Cubase has much better MIDI implementation than ProTools. If one works with MIDI and needs lots of features there, Cubase (and as a result of your comparison restriction) on a PC would be preferred.

Hardware. If one doesn't like Digidesign's or M-audio's audio interfaces, then one would not prefer ProTools on a MAC.

Knowledge. If one's computer knowledge is based in Apple and he or she doesn't know what what Windows Explorer is, then he or she would prefer ProTools on Mac.

Budget. If one has a rather limited budget and wants to get the most bang for his or her buck, one would prefer Cubase on a PC as a PC in general is less expensive than a comparible Mac.

Image. Generally musicians aren't very knowledgeable when it comes to recording. They hear that Studio X uses ProTools so they too want to record using ProTools. In a very real way, this can and does have an impact on business. If one is concious of this and believes that it will affect their clientele, one may prefer ProTools on Mac as even now, it's still the hyped DAW.

Compatibility. Although files are compatible between both programs and platforms, ease of sharing is relative. If one works with other studios that use one particular DAW, he or she might prefer to use the same software/hardware to ensure that perfomances recorded on his or her system will work on other systems.

nvemusic wrote: ...basic, simple, differences for a beginner to consider...

ProTools requires specific hardware interfaces, either Digidesign's or M-Audio's. With Cubase you can use just about any audio interface.
ProTools sounds great. Cubase sounds great
Both ProTools and Cubase allow plug-ins but you NEED to learn the differences in which each uses and determine what you want.
PCs allow for easy and relatively cheap customization of Hardware. Macs come with what they come with...which is generally pretty good stuff.
PCs are generally less expensive than Macs.
Mac OS is generally less error-tastic than Microsoft Windows.
PCs have XP/Vista. Macs have Tiger/Leopard. - I'm holding out for AlleyCat! :)

Honestly, for a beginner, they are 6 of one, half a dozen of another.

Cubase and ProTools run on Macs and PCs. So, get the computer you are familiar with or that you can afford and then pick the software.