Looking for some feedback from current PT users. I've been using Digital Performer for over a decade, but will be upgrading my computer in the near future and figure that would be a good time to switch DAWs. DP is great for a lot of stuff, but it's clunky and there's very little out there for user info.

My main goals for a DAW are for recording mostly live instruments, editing, and mixing. I don't tend to use my DAW as the primary place for writing and use midi only a little. I love the manual vocal tuning in DP, so that would be a priority in any new DAW. This is for a home studio only, so no clients.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you have related to PT. Especially those of you who are non-pros or semi-pros.

it's the standard for good reasons
Native options
DSP options
Expandable DSP
Expandable I/O
Every studio has it (at least the one's I use).

Pro Tools was the first system under $100,000. Nobody has produced anything enough better overall for most professionals to consider the hassle of learning or doing project conversions. It's like 2" vs 1" 16 track tape.

I have been using logic for 10 years and still do for composing with VIs (drums & synths). I switched to pro tools last year for all audio recording / editing / mixing and couldn’t be happier.

The editing is really powerful and was something I was not doing well before

recording, editing, mixing..........Pro tools does it best - no competition on those three fronts

I realize we're in a PT sub-forum here :-)

I've been using PT for quite a few years, but have recently taken a close look at Nuendo. It seems to have feature parity for as far as I can tell, and then has some nice extras and a fresher user interface.

That may not make it the right tool for everyone. But I think 'no competition' may be over simplified.

And for the haters of Avid's subscription model, Nuendo is $700 flat for a cross grade.

My main reason to keep using PT is because every studio I worked on are using PT. It's so much easier to move around using the same format/session.
For my personal projects, I prefer Studio One.

But yes, for mixing I still work faster in PT

If you don’t need compatibility with past sessions or paying clients, and aren’t already a die hard user for many years...aren’t requiring any features that might be unique to Pro Tools, I struggle to recommend getting into it now. I think it’s pretty expensive for what your basic requirements are, and for your own personal stuff would be overkill.

Thanks. This is what I thought might be the case based on particular needs.

I love Pro Tools for its simplicity with recording, editing and mixing. For composing with MIDI and VI's Logic Pro can't be beat because of the price.

If you want inexpensive and still excellent - look at Cakewalk by Bandlab which is the updated version of the $500 Sonar Platinum...for free...hard to beat that!

Pro Tools is terrific for tracking, editing and mixing. If you are running the DAW as an engineer for someone, it can't be beat. Even if that someone is yourself. When you get fast and skillful, the tool 'disappears'.

If you are composing in the DAW, if the DAW is your "instrument" then so much personal preference comes into play, it's hard to say.

As for the expense, I got Pro Tools 11 in 2013 and used it for seven years without upgrading it. Divide the cost of my perpetual license by 7 and I came out ahead of a lot of other people.

I just went to a new mac, but not because my seven year old program was having trouble recording, editing or mixing.

I needed a modern Mac with Catalina to do the remote recording, consulting and teaching that I have needed to get into these days . And PT 11 won't run on the new OS. Simple as that. If it were not for the pandemic, I would still be using PT11.

If you get your system set up and stable, you can "freeze" it, and treat your DAW as if was a tape deck and a mixing console. i.e. NO upgrades. None. You wouldn't "subscribe" to a tape deck, nor would you feel obligated to purchase a new mixer every time they came out with an improved model.


Vocal tuning As We Know It is not built in. You would need some 3rd party thing. Autotune or Melodyne or the the Waves one.

Well one thing you won't have any trouble with is finding tutorials aimed at Pro Tools. Perhaps you have friends and colleagues or a nearby "Mother Ship" studio that can help you as well.

On the other hand, if you already know Digital Performer, any new DAW, no matter what it is, is going to have a learning curve.

Learning new software is one of my least favorite things to do. Number one it hurts my brain and number two, there is that long period of frustration while you are slower than you would have been had you needed to do this task in your "old" software.

Even if the "new" software is inherently 'faster' or 'less clunky' it can often take months or even years to get skilled enough at it to actually realize that speed advantage.

The best DAW is the one that you know how to use.
Virtually all DAWs are at a level nowadays that there is no excuse to make professional recording with them.
The big advantage with no-latency with HDX systems becomes less of an issue with super fast computers, or at least less convincing to spend premium money for it.
There are always features that DAW A has that DAW B doesn't have and vice versa. Unfortunately, many users lose too much sleep over that and sometimes switching to a different DAW (enduring a timely learning curve) just to have a specific feature (unless it is really super important).

Pro Tool is (still) the de-facto standard in professional studios and even more so in the film industry. Not many Dolby Atmos mixes are done in Ableton Live or Fruity Loops last time I checked.

The biggest enemy( or uncertainty) for Pro Tools seems Avid itself, especially their accounting department. They have quite the talent to alienate their customers with questionable strategies to squeeze out every nickel and dime. Subscription models, love it or hate it, are here to stay in the software industry and you can't blame Avid, however, putting a few features in the Ultimate software package, just so they can charge more instead of making the pro features hardware dependent, or charging the user extra for additional voices is just bad PR (but obviously necessary to survive financially).

Long story short. Get Pro Tools, it is a great DAW.

absolutely. And the better you are at operating the DAW, the less you have to think about it, and the more the DAW "fades away". Which IMO, is the goal of any tool.



There is probably less of that than you think.

One thing that I see in many of these threads is that people with some knowledge of multiple DAWs will say something like: "Cubase has X and in Logic you can't do that". Invariably someone who is truly an expert in Logic will drop in and say: "sure you can" - and will proceed to describe how such and such a thing is done in Logic.

Now admittedly, it is not always exactly "the same". There may be different methodologies or metaphors. Different ways of accomplishing the same task. But it just seems to me that the deeper such discussion goes, the fewer 'gaps' there are in most professional DAWs capabilities.