Sincere Question about PT

I don't work in PT. I work in Nuendo. I think if I had a lot of outside clients asking me to mix, I might think about PT, not because I think it's better, but because so many studios are using it. I would at least have it on hand for compatibility. In my case though, I rarely do outside mixes. mostly just mix what I've engineered at my studio. Nuendo is comfortable for me and allows me to do what I want. If you have no outside clients, then it's probably going to be a preference thing. The choices of good DAW's is great right now. Any of the major players is going to work just fine.

The whole "Use PT because it's industry standard and everyone uses it" thing overlooks that most folks use 3rd party plugs these days. Importing session files means nothing if every track is loaded with plugs that you don't have.  It might have been more relevant when everyone just had the Waves Platinum pack and not much else (besides stock plugs).  Now that everyone makes plugs and everyone is looking for esoteric stuff, it makes it really hard to transport sessions when 90% of the plugs are offline/missing and folks used the plugs themselves to do most of the work.

Consolidation of tracks for loading anywhere and into any DAW should be the industry standard, not the DAW itself.

Unless you’re going to go with an hdx setup, I’d say most major daws are basically a function of what works best for you personally and what you’re comfortable with using.

Well session data is about a lot more than just what plugs are on it. Panning, mix/edit groups, playlists, etc.

But that's because you use the same place all the time.  I can see that being a bonus, but for folks who get blind folders full of tracks, it doesn't really offer much I don't think.

When I get files, I bulk import them, drag them around inside my template to the tracks I already have panning and basic effects/plugs on.  Takes me a couple minutes.  I then edit how I see fit (I usually get stuff that's not edited nearly as well as I'd prefer so it's pretty much a given that I'll be doing it anyway).

Besides, today's sessions are full of stuff like guitar sims.  Someone might have tracked and monitored through a full Amplitube suite with a bunch of purchased effects and amps and whatnot.  I could go and buy 200$ worth of add-ons to satisfy the "missing plugin", or I can just start with my own sims.  Same goes for drums these days.  Chances are it's a bunch of MIDI drums that I'd have to go buy a full version of Kontakt and a bunch of add-on drum kits to mimic.

Or I can just request consolidation of their effects to a new track and import them as if they were real tracks..  What's the real time and money saver here?

Btw - had a client that used Studio One. He’s a novice and it was just easier for him to send me studio one files, so I got a studio one license. Really, really didn’t care for it.

Recently I had a DIY client send me his mixes to touch up before I mastered them. If they weren't in PT sessions then all of his extensive automation would have been lost. It was worth missing some plugins in that case. Sometimes compatibility saves the day. Other times not.

PT has the most intuitive editing and signal routing that I've seen. For some people that's top priority. It all depends on your usage.

Well... at least we know that PC's sound more analog and warm with a smooth hi-end, than those harsh sounding Macs. 

This is probably the number one reason to use PT. I do agree with svart there should be a better cross-platform way to share sessions from any daw. 

The biggest advantage is if you are working in an industry that demands compatibility. Things like post production are almost all using either Nuendo or Pro Tools. Production houses just expect that you know your way around PT.

The routing options in PT are more extensive than in Logic, which is a really feature packed DAW.

But like John said, the ability to save session data with a project is huge, and other DAWs don't have that. If a producer sends you a rough mix and full raw tracks, with all of the AUX routing they have created to get that sound, you might want to have access to that. If it's a huge track, that routing becomes even more complicated. Being able to choose what to keep from their project to what you prefer in your various templates...that's huge.

I just don't know if PT price is worth it unless you are getting paid from those interactions. In fact...it's not worth it. If you are just working on projects you've tracked, then none of that matters.

A huge benefit, people just want PT they don’t care what version. A LOT of protools studios are using realllllllly old versions. So one benefit, it hasn’t really changed much. New features might as well not care, since the next studio you visit may not have it. And you want to keep plugins and track count kinda low anyway in case the next studio is still running an iMac from 10 years ago. Stick to wavs classic or UAD, stock PT plugins. Be mindful of higher sample rates too, a lot of older PT systems crap out, old mac drives get filled.

So yeah.. I look often and It’s a becoming a great time to buy an old used PT setup. Old PT still works with new PT, as far as I can tell. And honestly it’s just as good. (I have the latest PT and I can’t tell a difference) I just use it for automation and arrangement. I’d need a beefed up refurb’d Mac if I went heavy into old PT, or maybe PC.. it’s doable.

If I got an M1 as well, I might get the the subscription. Maybe. Really though if I was to go into new PT, it would be a huge purchase.. Dolby Atmos monitoring, Avid controller, new converters etc. my current subscription on my PC feels meh

I like giving £800 a year to a charity.