What's Special About Pro Tools for Mixing

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

Workflow. Routing and destructive processing is unmatched. I'm sure "destructive processing" isn't the right termanology, but the ability to apply an effect directly to an audio clip and change it on the spot. Great for tapestop effects, pitch changes, noise reduction, reversing that can lead to creative effects, ect. Other programs do the same(Digital Performer, Cubase, SONAR)but alot of DAWs do not. One of the deal breakers for me with Logic.

There's also a workflow to how many things can be done without having to click on different tools. Easy to highlight audio for editing, copy/paste, add effects, tweak without spending time selecting a different tools every few procedures.

Still all boils down to workflow, but after becoming familiar with Pro Tools, and it's functionality, it's hard to find a substitute. Keep in mind, if you get a copy of 8 or 9, by the time you upgrade to 11, you'll end up spending another $300-400(last I checked). I think a new copy of 11 is like $600, just something to consider.

EDIT: Not sure how my post ended up above yours...strange.

 

[caycay]

I use fl studio to make tracks, but the mixing part seems a little hard. I'm thinking about getting pro tools.

I've messed around with pro tools here and there for several years, and I understand what makes it good for recording, but was wondering what makes it so special for mixing?

Is there a sound quality difference? Is it just workflow?

Is cubase a better mixing daw?

Also I would be getting probably pro tools 8 or 9....

 

[yada]

...the ability to apply an effect directly to an audio clip and change it on the spot. Great for tapestop effects, pitch changes, noise reduction, reversing that can lead to creative effects, ect. Other programs do the same(Digital Performer, Cubase, SONAR)but alot of DAWs do not. One of the deal breakers for me with Logic.

Interesting that you don't prefer to do those things non-destructively. You could do most of them destructively in the sample/audio editor. Although granted, opening another pane does make it take longer.

 

[caycay]

Workflow. Routing and destructive processing is unmatched. I'm sure "destructive processing" isn't the right termanology, but the ability to apply an effect directly to an audio clip and change it on the spot. Great for tapestop effects, pitch changes, noise reduction, reversing that can lead to creative effects, ect. Other programs do the same(Digital Performer, Cubase, SONAR)but alot of DAWs do not. One of the deal breakers for me with Logic.

There's also a workflow to how many things can be done without having to click on different tools. Easy to highlight audio for editing, copy/paste, add effects, tweak without spending time selecting a different tools every few procedures.

Still all boils down to workflow, but after becoming familiar with Pro Tools, and it's functionality, it's hard to find a substitute. Keep in mind, if you get a copy of 8 or 9, by the time you upgrade to 11, you'll end up spending another $300-400(last I checked). I think a new copy of 11 is like $600, just something to consider.

EDIT: Not sure how my post ended up above yours...strange.

Ok. That sounds good. But how easy is it to eq several tracks at once, while looking at them at the same time?

Also I'm going for 8 or 9 because it cheaper, and I don't like the dongle...and I was wondering if there's a major difference from version 8 to 11?

Also can someone put my original post at the top?

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

I was trying to figure out what went wrong and cannot, lol. When I tried to fix it, I almost deleted the thread.

There's only small differences and add ons to PT over the years. Like any other program, with each newer version you get newer tools and functions. Make sure you research before buying, Avid/Digidesign older products don't run the best(if at all) on newer systems. And all ver. of Pro Tools have some type of "dongle" 8 and below need a Digi audio interface to run(M-Box, Digi002, Eleven Rack, ect), and 9 and up all have iLok keys.

 

[bandcoach]

on the issue of why one is above the other - the servers have timestamped your post as being earlier than caycays deranged nothing we mere mods can do to fix that

as for the rest, I would have to ask my son (currently working with 11 as part of his audio engineering studies)

 

[caycay]

I was trying to figure out what went wrong and cannot, lol. When I tried to fix it, I almost deleted the thread.

There's only small differences and add ons to PT over the years. Like any other program, with each newer version you get newer tools and functions. Make sure you research before buying, Avid/Digidesign older products don't run the best(if at all) on newer systems. And all ver. of Pro Tools have some type of "dongle" 8 and below need a Digi audio interface to run(M-Box, Digi002, Eleven Rack, ect), and 9 and up all have iLok keys.

is there any slight sound difference between using pro tools, and say fl studio to mix? Also, is it easy to eq several tracks at once while looking at them at the same time?

 

[mycbeats]

Interesting that you don't prefer to do those things non-destructively. You could do most of them destructively in the sample/audio editor. Although granted, opening another pane does make it take longer.

If you're sure about the effects youre applying why not save the cpu?

I use Studio One and when people send me noisy tracks I cut the silences, render the events into a long track, apply noise reduction to the event, render the file again, then start with the mixing non-destructively. Don't know about PT but Studio One allows you to bounce all event fx, I think in Pro Tools only AudioSuite plugins have this capability.

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

is there any slight sound difference between using pro tools, and say fl studio to mix? Also, is it easy to eq several tracks at once while looking at them at the same time?

FL looks different, but ultimately can route the same way. Out of the DAWs being discussed, IMO, FL is one of the most different with the approach because of how their mixer is setup(assuming they haven't recently changed it, last time I was on FL was ver.9 i believe). "Sound difference" will come from the way things are setup and the plug ins you use(ex. mixing in a 32bit environment vs 24 or 64, using Pro Tools EQ that has a different sound than FL, leaving FL's panning curve set differently, running dither to each individual track in PT, ect.)none of these factors will make one quality "better" than another, just different. "Better" becomes an opinionated thing.

As for your question on EQing, "easy" is once again an opinionated word. Within Pro Tools, I tend to get lazy and EQ groups together when I can because if I EQ each individual track, I've gotta open an EQ plug on each track. In FL, within the sample cells you run sounds to, you can find basic EQing tools(speaking on the filters) that made me more likely to focus on individual sounds. Same time, this is just my opinion and my method, the next guy may throw 3 EQs on every track.

 

[DGT]

In terms of PT 8 vs 11, 11 is 64-bit, so moving forward that will help. Also, 11 is the first one that has 64-bit AAX as the plugin format (10 could support 32-bit AAX, as well as 32-bit RTAS. TDM isn't applicable as we're likely talking non-HD Pro Tools here). So, any plugin manufacturers now making Pro Tools plugins are going to be making 64-bit AAX plugins, meaning that any RTAS plugins are not being developed further, and many new plugins will never be RTAS.

Also there was a big jump in features in the non-HD flavor of Pro Tools between 8 and 9, because PT 9 was the first real standard edition, as opposed to LE. So if you decide to go older, get 9 at the oldest. There are some other feature differences between 9 and 11, but I think the biggest ones if I was buying a version to keep, as in not upgrade for a while, are listed above.