Research..Pro Tools or Acid Pro 6..help

[Professor M]

Hello,
I have been asked to recommend a DAW system for a sound tech class.:eek:
I know that Pro tools is the industry standard but it is very expensive. I am a long time user of the Acid Pro products and with the new realease of Acid Pro 6, I wonder if it would be a good choice to start young novice students on in the world of computer recording? Any forum members have any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks,
Prof. M

[BTLG]

You could get a Digi 002 with Pro Tools LE, which would be much less expensive than going out and buying an HD rig. I wouldn't both teaching the kids ACID Pro, I'm not sure what it's capabilities now but I used to use 4.0 which was lacking in a lot of ways.

At least with Pro Tools LE (as much as I dislike Pro Tools and Digi in general) the students would have some exposure to what people are really using for things.

Matt

[oretez]

I don't think there is a 'one size fits all' answer (not that you were asking for anything but opinion)

almost any current commercial release lets people get started . . . and assuming that PT has corrected any lingering math issues it is a reasonable choice . . . and you might not only get academic pricing but as a center piece of a course get other consideration as well (the ethics of that is of course open to debate)

personally I'm not particularly fond of PT . . . its strongest selling point hardware/software integration is not as much of a selling point . . . that analog, non computer adept audio people gravitated to it (and macs) is also much less of any issue then it was . . . but the point is depending on the focus of your class providing hands on with more then one commercial release might be necessary

If I could only chose one app. I think I would have to spend serious time considering Adobe Audition . . . it's current v2 release adjusted some tracking issues of previous versions and do not seem to have completely crippled its 'best editor' status

It (and it's Syntrillum pre cursor) remain 'radio' standards in their own right

if 'editing' audio is focus of the course it would be hard, in any single app, to exceed the value of Audition

if focus of course is teaching newbies to interface with old analog hands stumbling awkwardly into 21st century (of which I am one) then PT is a respectable choice

do not mean to 'dis' your personal choice (and in some ways Vegas is still a better choice for Video interface than most choices) but even before Sony acquired Acid (and I have some of the same issues with Adobe) I think it had passed it's prime . . . conversationally speaking the Acid premise sacrificed math robustness for real time results . . . as machine power has increased this approach is beginning to look a little shop worn

anyway good luck

[George Life]

For "all-in-one" solution, I would seriously consider Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio 4. It provides a sold, versatile solution for all three major DAW areas (MIDI, audio, loops). It supports all major current technologies (24-bit recording, VST, VSTi, DX, DXi, ReWire, etc.
For $99, nothing comes even close in value.

I use mostly Acid Studio 6, Cool Edit Pro 1.2 (I agtree with Ortez, this is an amazing audio editor!), and I have used PT LE.

[Professor M]

Thanks forum members for your input and suggestions. I will be instructing 17 and 18 yr olds that may or may not have any experience with computer recording software. My aim would be to give them the basics of audio production and the software that is used in modern music production. The course will be hands-on using a Roland VS2000 in a small studio setup. Recording, mixing, and mastering will be our main focus. Any other software that I should look at? I value all opinions.
Prof. M