|
|
|
|
ProTools or Cool Edit ? ? ?
In article m writes:
Would someone please advice me if I should spend my money on the MBox with
ProTools le, or Cool Edit Pro plus a Mic Pre amp?
Like the shrink said, "What do YOU think?" At the moment, Cool Edit
Pro is going through a corporate transistion to Adobe, and while
probably nothing but the name will change, at least for a while, there
are bound to be some changes over the next year which may or may not
affect your life with the program.
The best reason to go the M-Box route is to create project files that
are compatable with probalby the most popular format today. If you're
a collaborator, or if you're likely to want to take your project into
a professional studio for some work or mixing, there's a time
advantage to using ProTools - the studio is pretty sure to have
ProTools and you can load and go without converting or important
anything.
You neglected to mention what you were using as a sound card. The
performance of the M-Box from end to end (mic in to playback output)
is fairly well documented by now. While nobody thinks it's up to the
performance of the finest preamps and converters, it's generally
accepted as being fine for general work. By going the "system" route,
you can improve your sound incrementally - getting a better sound
card, getting a better preamp, getting a better A/D converter, using
different software - as you see and hear the need. You don't have
everything in a single box. So the Cool Edit route offers you more
flexibility.
It's your decision - how much space do you want to commit to this, how
much time, and how long do you think it will be before, either because
of what you hear or what you read, you'll want to upgrade?
The big thing I don't like about ProTools, if this is true, is that the
sales man (Guitar Center) told me that I can only use the MBox with it. That
I can not use any other pre amp.
This is true - only the M-Box will talk to the software, and vice
versa. You can use a different preamp between your microphone and the
M-Box line input, or a different preamp and A/D converter between your
mic and the M-Box digital input. I don't think that you can use
the M-Box with any other software but ProTools, but I'm not sure of
that.
Plus I can only record two tracks at a time.
With Cool Edit Pro I can use any preamp.
I get the sense that you don't quite grasp the whole picture. There's
more to it than a preamp and a program. Perhaps what you're calling a
"preamp" is what the rest of us call a computer audio I/O interface.
These can range from a simple stereo in/out device that needs an
outboard mic preamp to amplifier the microphone to the required input
level of the interface to a box with 8 (or sometimes more) microphone
level inputs with gain, phantom power, and (usually) average sound.
--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
|