Topic: Girlfriend needs software help for BF's V-day Gift!

[GearDefender]

Okay, so I'm sure you get this all the time, but I need some help.
My boyfriend is a taper and a bit more than just a starter. I want to get him the Protools software for for valentine's day, but I have NO idea which of the bundles to choose and need advice getting him one that rocks. Now, of course I have no idea what his equipment is. I know he uses Noimans and AKG microphones and he has one of those equalizers which outputs to his digital recorder, but I don't know formats at all, and I think that it's 16 bit recordings. I know he uses USB to transfer the files. Hope that helps. So, here are my choices:
M-Audio ProTools M-Powered 7 w/ MobilePre Bundle
M-Audio ProTools M-Powered 7 w/Ozone Bundle
M-Audio ProTools 7.3 M-Powered - Academic  (which I think is just a watered down version for starters)

Anyway, I'm not sure if this even helps, but I'd love some advice on which one he'll be stoked about. Right now he's using a freeware, so I know that anything is a step up, but I'd like to get him the right thing and not just the most expensive.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[F0CKER]

Do you have a sister?

[yug du nord]

Do you have a sister?

 

[intpseeker]

Do you have a sister?

''

[Brian Skalinder]

I'm only vaguely familiar with ProTools, so hopefully others more knowledgeable will chime in.  My thoughts...

Looks to me like the MobilePre Bundle includes, and is intended for use with, the M-Audio MobilePre USB.  Unless he's specifically using the MobilePre USB in the field - which I doubt, else he wouldn't need to transfer recordings from his recorder to computer via USB (the recordings would already reside on the computer) - no need to spend the money on the additional hardware he won't need.

The Ozone Bundle is designed to work with a keyboard.  Unless he's specifically doing a lot of work on a keyboard in a home-studio recording environment, probably not a good fit.

I think you're right that the Academic bundle is watered down.  Though when I searched online, both of the bundles above also showed as "academic" bundles with special pricing.

All of the above will probably work - even if he's not using the MobilePre or keyboard interface, the software will still probably the capability to do many of the things he wants accomplish.  But I'm wondering if another software package might do the trick.  If he's a taper, there are a handful of popular audio editing applications, the selection of which mostly comes down to personal preference since they have a lot of the same functions (though some are better than others at certain tasks).  Assuming he's using Windows, some options:

MAGIX Samplitude SE v9 (~$50;  inexpensive, but a little limited in its capability; this is what I use, but I occasionally wish I had...)
MAGIX Samplitude 10 (~$300; I'm a big fan of Samplitude, though I use the SE version)
Sony Sound Forge 9 (~$300; probably available for less, price is from the Sony site)
Steinberg WaveLab (~$300)
Adobe Audition (~$350; probably available for less, price is from the Adobe site)

All pricing above is ballpark, you might be able to do better looking around a bit.  I know my comments probably complicate things further, but my guess is he'd be happy with any of the above apps (with the possible exception of SAM SE).  Now, if he's on a Mac, I'm of absolutely no help.

[terrapinj]

may be tough to answer, but does he do a lot of multitracking or has he specifically hinted that he wants ProTools?

there are a lot of other common software options that may work just as good or better for him aside from ProTools and may even save you some $

[Massive Dynamic]

I pm'd you earlier about the copy of ProTools I have for sale. However, I agree with the others that unless he specifically wants ProTools, other programs may work for his needs and be cheaper.

[Chris K]

the academic version of pro-tools is a full system, but it is not upgradeable to the next version.

as for pro-tools, and taping/recording, if you are recording multiple tracks it is great, but if you are inly using it for 2 channel audio editing (mastering)then it is overkill.

 i recently got the m-powered 7.3 to run with my m-audio products. the deal with the 'm-powered' is that you have to have m-audio gear for it to work. if you dont have m-audio gear, but still want the entry level pro-tools, then you need to get pro tools LE which will work with pretty much any interface.

but, instead of speculating on what your taper boyfriend wants, why don't you get a pro audio catalog (i like the one from sweetwater...www.sweetwater.com) and have him dog-ear the pages and circle the choices of gear or programs etc that he would like. that is what my wife and i do around xmas/bdays and it works well....havent had a return in 5yrs+!! 

[Tim]

may be tough to answer, but does he do a lot of multitracking or has he specifically hinted that he wants ProTools?

there are a lot of other common software options that may work just as good or better for him aside from ProTools and may even save you some $

what he said

Do you have a sister?

[Charlie Miller]

Do you have a sister?

LOL!!!

[Chuck]

Okay, so I'm sure you get this all the time, but I need some help.
My boyfriend is a taper and a bit more than just a starter. I want to get him the Protools software for for valentine's day, but I have NO idea which of the bundles to choose and need advice getting him one that rocks. Now, of course I have no idea what his equipment is. I know he uses Noimans and AKG microphones and he has one of those equalizers which outputs to his digital recorder, but I don't know formats at all, and I think that it's 16 bit recordings. I know he uses USB to transfer the files. Hope that helps. So, here are my choices:
M-Audio ProTools M-Powered 7 w/ MobilePre Bundle
M-Audio ProTools M-Powered 7 w/Ozone Bundle
M-Audio ProTools 7.3 M-Powered - Academic  (which I think is just a watered down version for starters)

Anyway, I'm not sure if this even helps, but I'd love some advice on which one he'll be stoked about. Right now he's using a freeware, so I know that anything is a step up, but I'd like to get him the right thing and not just the most expensive.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Yeah, actually we don't get many GF's wanting to get their BF's more taping related stuff around here.

If you don't have a sister, I'd like to meet your mom!

[GearDefender]

Sorry all, no siblings...just me, although my mom's single, but far more frugal, so no luck. LOL

Okay, I see that he's using M-Audio "Microtrack 24/96" and a Lunatek V3 for the input-thingy (really wish I knew more about this so that I don't have to sound like such a moron), so I'm not sure if that stears the answer any better.
As far as computers, we have a Dell PC notebook, but we really use the desktop iMac for this stuff since it's the main computer.

Does that help?
And yes, I think he wants ProTools because he'd like to maybe get the certification for it.

Thanks for the posts thus far!

[George2]

I believe all the software Brian quoted you is for a PC and doesn't support Mac.
PT academic is the same as regular version, although they are phasing out the M-Powered PT academic.
ProTools LE won't run with any hardware.... you will always need Digidesign hardware for PTLE, or M-audio hardware for PT M-powered. Those 2 softwares are the same also, but the Digidesign hardware is made better.
I recommend a M-Box II. or M-Box Pro. Can run on PC or Mac.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=M-box&go=Go%21

[Massive Dynamic]

As far as computers, we have a Dell PC notebook, but we really use the desktop iMac for this stuff since it's the main computer.

Does that help?
And yes, I think he wants ProTools because he'd like to maybe get the certification for it.

I'm using my copy on an iMac G5 running 10.4.8. Probably work fine for your iMac, as well. I don't think ProTools will work on Leopard (10.5) yet.

[db]

unless he's going to be doing multitrack recording in a studio/studio-like environment, pro tools is kinda overkill. if he is interested in this kind of recording, best to start off with ardour (free) or  reaper (somewhat free).... get a sense of the workflow and if he wants to continue in this vein, then look into the professional proprietary stuff. btw, a lot of people like logic (apple only) although it does require a decent amount of computer muscle if you're doing multitrack with effects.  for the recording hobbyist, audacity (free) contains every tool he'll need -- i got 10 bucks that says so...

if he's into video at all, maybe a program like vegas or the lite version of final cut (300 clams) wil be a fun toy. with these he can sync up audio and video and get somewhat creative too.



edit: sorry read that he wants pt. then fine.  but remember le is pretty bare bones out of the box... in order to get it up to snuff effect-wise, it's quite a bit more.