Pro Tools Free HW recommendation?

[Jan Miller]

Like to build or buy a PC for running Pro Tools Free. Anyone have any recommendations for machines or components (motherboard, soundcard, etc.) that work well. Worst part is it must be Windows 98 SE.

[mgmmusic]

I bought a G# with Pro Tools already installed thru EBay, and I haven't figured it out yet..... Marty

[AcousticPro]

If you need help learning ProTools software the Cool School Library of Interactive Tutorials are helpful and one of the few I know of that will truly help familiarize you with concepts specific to Digi. In regards to the first comment on hardware and software recommendation I would recommend either waiting for PC compatibility for MBox and buying that with full support or get a Mac. Historically that has been no secret, Digi supports Mac, they always put PC as a lower priority, it costs both them and their customers too much money in terms of variables and before and after support. Hope that helps.

[mrmulti]

Is there a link for those tutorials?

[AcousticPro]

I am not sure. They are from Cool Breeze. You can see them on our site when you type in Cool School on our search engine and they should pull up.

[TeeCee]

Jeff:
I've heard such bad stories about the free version of ProTools on PCs. Do you recommend that a person build a PC to run ProTools Free?

[michaelhoddy]

I think it makes all the sense in the world to take some of that PC-building money and move up to an Mbox instead of using PT Free.

While PT Free works, and you can do some things with it, it's more intended as an advertisement for Digidesign's products than it is as a usable DAW. There are numerous bugs and limitations to it, and if you're planning to do purposed recording (building a PC and all), the Mbox will take you much farther for not a whole lot of money.

Besides, when was the last time Digi ever gave away anything useful for free? :)

[AcousticPro]

That is absolutely my sentiment Michael. If you sink a bunch of money into a machine for ProTools free you're asking for it. The machine may or may not work well even after all that is said and done and there is no support for the software in any way shape or form. It is good marketing to get you familiar with their software if you are thinking about heading that direction already.

[TeeCee]

Michael:
What's the Mbox? I haven't heard of that.

[AcousticPro]

MBox is Digidesign's replacement for the Toolbox. It's a USB audio interface with microphone amplifiers, phantom power, digital interconnect and output. Basic USB interface, but comes with ProTools LE software.

[ppxstnr]

I have a very powerfull computer for audio. I have used ever pc based DAW on the market on it and it has operated flawlessly. PT Free is another story. It freezes my pc every time I try to use it. Basically I have never gotten it to run. If you want a less expensive alternative that works well, I reccomend cubase sx v.1.0.5 and an m-audio delta card. I have the 1010.

[michaelhoddy]

How is Cubase SX cheaper than something that's free? :)

Does this mean that software manufacturers are finally paying US to use their products? Sign me up!

[Justin]

If you want something free, try http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Audacity is an open source DAW software package, it comes with a few basic plugins, and supports VST plugins. So you can get started with it, buy some plugins, and eventually migrate them to another "pro" level DAW.
Audacity is still very basic, version 1.0, but it does a pretty good job for the price, and it runs under Windows, Linux, and MacOS 9 and X.


Another alternative is to buy a sound card that comes with some software packed in.
Most of the Aardvark cards come with some form of Cakewalk. This also usually qualifies you for discounts if you later upgrade to Sonar.