Being new to all of this myself, I would go for it. Pro Tools is the standard nowadays....If you are going to jump into the pool go head first. If you really start loving recording you will be ahead of the curve by knowing protools. Aside from that reason digidesign stuff from my liited experience is prettly darn reliable

Budget?

Just guitar and voice?
Get a used MBox 1, only 2 inputs, but the pres are much better than the MBox 2 versions, you could get a used one for $150, make sure they include the Protools installer disc, and the Protools authorization number, which is located inside cover of the "About" booklet.

check out digital performer. I'm thinking about moving to it from mbox 2 pro.

well the argument that ptle/m-powered is 'industry standard' it's quite a bit of hype. The obvious advantage is that you can load up a project created in it into the 'proper' pro tools tdm HD system.

This is about the only advantage. Almost anything else offers you better functionality, more features, doesn;t tie you to hardware, and any little upgrade costs 1000 dollars. PTLE - Limited to 32 tracks, no support for vst, dx or au plugs (only rtas), poor MIDI, very few plugins unless you upgrade, no plug in delay compensation, lack of proper real time fx processing and then the hardware - M-Audio stuff since Avid bought it is distinctively underwhelming, especially the fiirewire 410, one of the most inconsistent products ever if you believe the users in several other forums.

the digi 003 is reasonable performance wise but overpriced for what it offers. Digi are selling you the hardware, the software is not much better than freeware programs and in fact, Reaper a 45 dollar program kicks the PTLE/M-Powered software to the kerb in terms of features.

And as far as stability goes, maybe in Mac but for PCs it's a well known fact that Digi refuse to support numerous chipsets including many Intel ones. Some of these are not very good but Sonar, Samplitude, Cubase etc run on them and are supported, even if there are better choices. Digi just plain blank refuses to support them, so you better check that too if you do decide to go Protools.

Personally, I would look elsewhere unless you are planning to upgrade to a PTHD system costing thousands sometime in the near future. There's always .omf export if you choose another system which is fairly compatible for most situations from a different DAW to PT.

PTLE - Limited to 32 tracks, no support for vst, dx or au plugs (only rtas)

actually they have a VST to RTAS converter and most VST's (magor ones anyways) will have RTAS. So I wouldn't use that as an agruement but everything else you said i would agree with.

But if you plan on just running your stuff at home stickly then i would look at other programs, Cubas, Sonar, Audition etc. I went with PT because I needed to jump around to different studio's with the same project and infact i'm starting to get quite fond of it.

leedsquietman wrote: well the argument that ptle/m-powered is 'industry standard' it's quite a bit of hype. The obvious advantage is that you can load up a project created in it into the 'proper' pro tools tdm HD system.

Yeah, I would say I disagree with this a great deal, too.

leedsquietman wrote:
This is about the only advantage. Almost anything else offers you better functionality, more features, doesnt tie you to hardware, and any little upgrade costs 1000 dollars.

Protools 7.3 comes with what I consider to be great plug-ins included. The 7-band EQ is outstanding, the included limiter is punchy. Noce reverb, etc. Plus with the free Bomb Factory stuff you get more limiters.

leedsquietman wrote:
PTLE - Limited to 32 tracks, no support for vst, dx or au plugs (only rtas), poor MIDI, very few plugins unless you upgrade,

The Midi has been upgraded, its far beyond anything I would ever want to dig into, it has all the swing/quantize/note selection.... I need.

no plug in delay compensation, lack of proper real time fx processing and then the hardware:

You can use real-time effects in mixing, just not in tracking. But the plugins are so good no one using it even worries about the outboard stuff.

- M-Audio stuff since Avid bought it is distinctively underwhelming, especially the fiirewire 410, one of the most inconsistent products ever if you believe the users in several other forums.

I dunno, personnai I bought a Digi002 on Ebay, but found out I could have gotten by with an Mbox since I just work at home and the mixing is done in the computer.

the digi 003 is reasonable performance wise but overpriced for what it offers. Digi are selling you the hardware, the software is not much better than freeware programs and in fact, Reaper a 45 dollar program kicks the PTLE/M-Powered software to the kerb in terms of features.

Never heard of it, but color me skeptical.

And as far as stability goes, maybe in Mac but for PCs it's a well known fact that Digi refuse to support numerous chipsets including many Intel ones.

No, they refuse to support one chipset: Sis. I use an intel chipset on my Protools setup.

Some of these are not very good but Sonar, Samplitude, Cubase etc run on them and are supported, even if there are better choices. Digi just plain blank refuses to support them, so you better check that too if you do decide to go Protools.

Personally, I would look elsewhere unless you are planning to upgrade to a PTHD system costing thousands sometime in the near future. There's always .omf export if you choose another system which is fairly compatible for most situations from a different DAW to PT.

Sonar and Cubase are both good, but I am very happy with Protools. It sounds great and does everything I want it to do. The visual audio editing features are outstanding because it was a DAW first, not a midi program givin audio capabilities later. It is hardware intense, but because it works hard. And, it isn't the cheapest, but if that is what you want, then...

For my money, being able to make upwards compatible tracks is worth a lot. What if you record something killer and you really want to bump it up to a better system?