differences between Pro Tools LE and HD (software only)

[brianbfw]

my question is this.

are there any major differences between Pro Tools LE software and HD software. (other then the 32 track count max). not hardware here, just software capabilities and functionality.

thanks

[EC_Beast]

http://www.sweetwater.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21026

Per the user interface, No. It can handle more Aux's, and tracks and you can do more complicated routing...but if you can work on one, you can work on the other no problem.

[brianbfw]

uh, i fell like dunce here, i actually resonded to that thread and didn't read the orginal post.

that's exactly my quuestion. i'm a logic/symphony and DP user.

i use pro tools LE simple because 90% of the audio world is on pro tools and i can just open up the files. i may have some recording jobs coming up which will be entirely pro tools HD in another studio, so i just want to make sure i've got the software down.

and for the record, every pro tools user who come in does not like Logic or DP. i started with those, so i gues i'm used to them.

thanks for the response

[EC_Beast]

:D It happens to to the best of us. I say if you don't have a couple of "duh" moments a day you're not a live.

[tech1]

Here goes:

* Most plugins have an RTAS or TDM option. Some are TDM only, some are RTAS only. Make sure you pick the right one.
* There is an extra "I" button next to the "M/S/R" buttons. It controls input monitoring.
* The I/O and Hardware Setups are, of course, vastly different.
* Voices are not unlimited. There is still a limit. It is set up in the HW setup, and uses DSP chips to achieve different tiers of voice counts.

Other than that, if you can fluently use LE, HD is the same in 99% of the day-to-day tasks most people do.

[brianbfw]

that's good news. i thought the software was radically different, with alot more functionality.

i love my logic/DP/symphonic system, but it has put my in a box so to speak.
most projects i get in are in Pro tools. with DP, Logic, i can do anything, but i'm pretty slow with Pro tools outside of the basic tasks. i've got a chance for some big jobs coming up that i know are in HD, so i just wanted to make sure if i'm studying LE, i'll be ok.

i wish the audio world was a little more even devided between the major DAW's. Logic, DP, and even SONAR are really great programs.

[DAS]

Brian, I think it's a great idea to get an inexpensive system and use it as a way to get more familiar with it. There's no substitute for actually using the software. This is exactly what I've been doing with Logic (as a long time PT user).

A couple of other resources that will help: 1) Digi is posting some really great videos on their website that highlight a lot of the newer features in Pro Tools. Watch some of these and then practice the same things on your system integrating them into your workflow and you'll get a lot more fluid with it. You can find them at...

http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?navid=199&itemid=27606&langid=100

...just click on the Accelerated Videos at the bottom for a menu of what's available.

Also, when you buy a system from us we throw in a free 7-Day video training pass for Groovebox. The guys that started this company used to work in our technical support department and I think they've done a good job of addressing a lot of the common PT issues with video tutorials.

http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/g-pass/

Good luck.

[brianbfw]

thanks for the advice DAS, and i'm glad to see other are using logic.

the new "QuickComp" function is amazing. that alone makes it worth it.

another questions, at what level of pro tools does it accept up to 96 Khz files?

although 48Khz is fine, there is alot of sessons i work with done at 96Khz.

[DAS]

thanks for the advice DAS, and i'm glad to see other are using logic.

the new "QuickComp" function is amazing. that alone makes it worth it.


Agreed.



another questions, at what level of pro tools does it accept up to 96 Khz files?

although 48Khz is fine, there is alot of sessons i work with done at 96Khz.

MBox2 Pro is the lowest unit that does 96k

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MBox2Pro/

[aitikin]

Just to throw another question in the ring, what would the difference between LE/HD and m-powered be?

[tech1]

M-Powered is essentially LE, but uses interfaces from M-Audio instead of Digidesign hardware. Also, M-Powered does not support the DV Toolkit or DigiTranslator.