New 2 Pro Tools... Please Help!!!

[rockbottom510]

I have recently been recording on Sonar Cakewalk 6, and now im ready to switch to Pro Tools. I have a dell 531s, and I was told that I would need a new hard drive in order 2 run Pro Tools effectively. I need suggestions on the CHEAPEST most reliable way to go. Thank You!

[Larry Mal]

Help me understand what you need a little better:

1) What is your audio interface?
2) Do you have a Firewire port or just USB?
3) Did you friend tell you that you needed a new internal drive, or just add an external? (You really want an external, but there is a follow up question below.)
4) What speed is your internal drive- 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM?
5) How much RAM do you have?
6) What is your processor? (This isn't that important, I'm just curious.)
7) How do you intend to work- recording acoustic audio (and how much), mainly MIDI, mixing, or what do you think you'd like to do?

I'll try to come up with some suggestions. As it is, Pro Tools recommends that you record to a non-system drive, which is why I'm asking what is your Firewire status, so that you can have an external Firewire drive to record to and bring audio in on a USB interface, or the reverse, or what. Let me know, L

[rockbottom510]

I am currently using a Behringer USB Audio Interface
Windows Vista Home Premium OS

Service Pack 1

1GB RAM

Processor
Type: AMD Sempron LE-1300 / 2.3 GHz

64-bit Computing: Yes

Installed Qty: 1

Max Supported Qty: 1

Cache memory
Type: L2 cache

Installed Size: 512 KB

Cache Per Processor: 512 KB

Mainboard
Chipset Type: NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE

Ram
Installed Size: 1 GB / 4 GB (max)

Technology: DDR2 SDRAM

Memory Speed: 667 MHz

Memory Specification Compliance: PC2-5300

Form Factor: DIMM 240-pin

Features: Two DDR channels

Storage controller
Type: 1 x Serial ATA - integrated

Controller Interface Type: Serial ATA-300

Channel Qty: 4

RAID Level: RAID 1

Storage
Hard Drive: 1 x 160 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm

Optical storage
Type: DVD±RW - Serial ATA

Monitor
Monitor Type: DELL SE178WFP - LCD display - TFT active matrix

Diagonal Size: 19"

Max Resolution: 1440 x 900

Widescreen Display: Yes

Dot Pitch / Pixel Pitch: 0.255 mm

Response Time: 8 ms

Image Brightness: 250 cd/m2

Image Contrast Ratio: 600:1

Graphics controller
Type: Integrated

Graphics Processor / Vendor: NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE

Audio output
Type: Sound card - integrated

Sound Output Mode: 7.1 channel surround

Compliant Standards: High Definition Audio

Speaker(s): 2 x right / left channel

Input device
Type: Mouse, keyboard

Keyboard
Interface: USB

I intend to mainly record audio... no more than 24 tracks at a time, and some midi but not much.

[EC_Beast]

If this

64-bit Computing: Yes

is an indication that your computer is running a 64bit OS, rather than just having a 64bit processor, then as of now, you're unable to use Pro Tools.

Also, I'd certainly up your memory to allow for better performance. What interface were you planning on getting if you are running a 32bit os?

[rockbottom510]

I am planning on using a Digidesign Mbox 2, and I would like to just get a new hard drive but I dont know of any cheap alternatives to the I mac or the apple mac pro for example

[RScott]

The Creation Station LE may be a cheap Pro-Tools ready PC solution if you're shopping in the $1000 range. A bit beefier for the price than an iMac if you have a monitor. I just got a Tower and it performs fantastic on my 003.

Keep in mind that unless you need a specific feature set that ProTools offers, most of the quality of your mixes is going to come out of your skills, how good your system devices are (ins and outs, monitors, etc.) and what plug-ins you use.

Check with a sales rep or another ProTools user to find out if ProTools has all the features you need. You may need the Music Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit to unlock everything you want to use and those are quite expensive. DigiTranslator is another feature that requires a toolkit.

Also, Digi does not come out of the box with too many insane plugins that hands-down top the out of the box plug-ins of any other DAW software.

Depending on what you do, Sonar may perform just fine and you may find that your plug-in set, software, or hardware may do better with the upgrade expense than your DAW software. When I was recently shopping for my workstation, I considered Sonar 8 Pro as a possibility.

But, I am a ProTools user for many years, and it has a lot of things that I need as a film post-production sound designer (unfortunately, a near monopoly on the film industry is one of those things.) So, for me, it's the right DAW.

[sounds_good]

........
3) Did your friend tell you that you needed a new internal drive, or just add an external? (You really want an external, but there is a follow up question below.)

I currently do a very limited amount of recording, but do mix on a fairly regular basis recordings from our church worship services. These are initially recorded to an Alesis HD24 which I then import to my 2nd internal hard drive dedicated for Pro Tools sessions (on an older PowerMac G4 tower using Mbox 2 Mini).

Should I be using an external firewire drive for my PT sessions instead of the internal drive? If so, any idea why that is the preferred option?

Thanks.

[rockbottom510]

I looked at a few desktops recently, and I found one that was reasonably priced. However, I dont know if its a wise buy. Its a HP desktop w/ an AMD Phenom X4 9550 Quad-Core Processor with 6GB memory and 640GB Hard drive. It runs Windows Vista with SP1 and NVIDIA 9100GS 256MB graphics. I need to know if this pc would run Pro Tools effectively by itself or would I still need to purchase another drive such as a Glyph?

[JrummerJ]

I currently do a very limited amount of recording, but do mix on a fairly regular basis recordings from our church worship services. These are initially recorded to an Alesis HD24 which I then import to my 2nd internal hard drive dedicated for Pro Tools sessions (on an older PowerMac G4 tower using Mbox 2 Mini).

Should I be using an external firewire drive for my PT sessions instead of the internal drive? If so, any idea why that is the preferred option?

Thanks.

No, you are fine. The basics are that you should not record or playback from the system drive, and the 2nd drive should be a 7200rpm drive with decent buffer. Doesn't really matter internal or external. A lot of people go external for portability, or because they are on a computer with no ability to add additional internal drives such as laptops.

J

[JrummerJ]

I looked at a few desktops recently, and I found one that was reasonably priced. However, I dont know if its a wise buy. Its a HP desktop w/ an AMD Phenom X4 9550 Quad-Core Processor with 6GB memory and 640GB Hard drive. It runs Windows Vista with SP1 and NVIDIA 9100GS 256MB graphics. I need to know if this pc would run Pro Tools effectively by itself or would I still need to purchase another drive such as a Glyph?

With Pro tools you always want a second drive, be it internal or external. All of your sessions get saved to this drive and therefore all playback and recording goes to this drive. You don't want to record to the system drive no matter what computer you are using.

There is Pro Tools compatibility info at Digi's site, do some research.

J

[masudkarim]

New to protools please help! by BB at Nov. 02, 2001 3:27 am gmt. Re: New to protools please help! by TED at Nov. 02, 2001 4:56 pm gmt. Re: New to protools .