For the cats who own the digi 002R and Digi 002....

how many of you cats that own them are actually making moves. i mean i see heads buying them and its alot of paper to use, especially on the 002, so who is actually blowin up and makin records. anyway i could get it and waste money but who is making albums and not jus lilttle soundclick tracks and movin up on some professional shit.

jus askin cuz i'm lookin into protools but i dont know if i wanna give up my omni studio and spend major dollars.

one.

For the price of a Digi 002, you can buy a whole studio setup and plug-ins etc and be good to go. If you wanna blow up, make records, and make moves please believe that it will be the QUALITY of your tracks and your work ethic and professionalism (being on time, having tracks labeled etc.) that will determine your success not Protools.
I think it is good to at least be familiar with Protools, since I've found that a lot of these local MCs will buy my tracks JUST on the strength that I say that I work with it.

You would be straight with the latest version of Cubase, you can run all your programs inside of it, add music to movie clips, and it comes with a interface that has midi inputs to hook up your Mpc/keyboard whatever you got. That's only $300 and some change compared to the 2g's you gotta basically pay for hardware. You can always learn Protools on the side while you build up your beats etc. but don't go and spend all that money if you don't know EXACTLY what it does, trust me on that one!

He's right, but only to a point. The audio converters that come on that interface are nowhere near the quality of a 002. Neither are the mic pres, although you should be using pres that are better than the 002 as well.
Protools is a standard because it is solid. while 2000 is alot of money for some to pay for an interface, think about what it would cost to have:
8 analog inputs, 4 analog outputs, 10 digital inputs, 10 digital outputs,
2 mic pres, hardware controller for the software, and a talkback mic, all
in one box that you can just plug in.
Probably the same amount of money, give or take a couple hundered.
There is a good reason why cheap interfaces are cheap.
My veiwpoint is that it's more about the vocal chain, and how you mix after you record. If you get your levels in there hot from the MPC or whatever,
and you have a dope microphone and a high quality preamp and compressor to run through while you record, you will be strait even with a 4track cassete recorder. So, if you are recording vocals, I would spend alot of money on that, and less money on the DAW package. You just can fake good audio on vocals.

And I totally agree with what both of you are saying. Whether cats get PT or a cheap cubase system, some people feel that the more stuff they buy, the more it's gonna put them over the top.
It really does open up your sonic capabilities to have a DAW system, but
your gear never made you a better songwriter when it comes to the hook and the composition. It can help you achieve ideas that you cannot execute with only an MPC, etc, but it's your hustle and how hot your beats are that's gonna get you that paper and recognition that you want.

Good luck!

Sheeiit. I cut an international release on a mbox.

nice post folks.

question.

those with the 002, how much did it increase your ability to manipulate your tracks more? i mean, composition wise? Like do you use it to arrange your loops into songs? like record 2 bars, and copy and paste?

or do you still do that in the mpc?

That's pretty much what I do, usualy more like 8 or 16 bars though, I wouldn't say that it's the 002 that makes this easier though(I no longer own one but I had one for a while), any hardware/software setup will give you that ability. Pro Tools just simplifies the process to me, working with audio clips in PT is much easier than most other apps imo.

Cosign Coocooo on the fact that, while they all do the same thing,
ProTools is really good for manipulating audio and mixing.

PT software doesn't really enhance the creative process in any way for myself, it just streamlines operations. Also, everyone in my professional network is on PT, so it is good to know the program. I can now go into any studio and feel comfortable with my knowledge.

If I had a TDM system and owned the plugins available for TDM users, then hell yes, it would enhance my creative process. My homie has dropped tens of thousands of dollars on his PT HD setup with multiple accell cards, and a grip of all the high-end plugins. Anyways, the plus is, since I know my way around PT now, I can use his setup with out the need of assistance. Just bring over my Lacie with the session folder in it, and work anywhere I want.

good point^