Yes, Digidesign’s Pro Tools still reigns king as the industry standard for most professional and commercial recording studios. Especially in film and television-related industries. But is it still on top because it was the first DAW on the scene, or are there more reasons?
Let’s have a look at some of the best features and advantages of Pro Tools.
The Pros:
- The ability to apply edits to multiple tracks simultaneously fast and easy leads to massive increases in productivity.
- Digidesign/Avid constantly reinvests money in developing newer, better effects .
- Digidesign’s dedicated hardware platform is the best in the world and built specifically to run this program.
- 100% compatibility is ensured, because only systems that have certain exact specifications are supported and are able to run Pro Tools.
- Pro Tools has a very strong focus on video and film.
- All surround sound formats are supported.
- Digidesign is very selective of it’s resellers.
- They stand 100% behind their product and their customer service is top-notch.
- They employ the best and most dedicated support engineers.
As you can see, a large part of the success of this program is due their reliability and stability. Not only of their software and hardware, but also their rep and support teams. That being said, let’s take a look at some of the disadvantages of the product as well. Just to even things out.
The Cons:
- It’s expensive and only works with a Pro Tools approved audio interface.
- It takes a long time to get to know the system.
- Deciding to learn the industry standard is a large commitment, both time and money-wise.
Alternatives to using Pro Tools
Here are some alternatives to research and consider if the cost and steep learning curve seems out of reach. Not all of these are meant for professional recordings our post-production, but they are worth checking out if you’re new to the recording industry.
- FL Studio
- Reaper
- Ardour
- Nuendo
- Ableton Live
- GarageBand
Do studios stick to only one tool?
Definitely not. Professional recording studios tend to use multiple tools of which the functionality compliments each other. In Fact, Mother City Audio uses Pro Tools side by side with an amazing product by Steinberg called Nuendo.
Let us know in the comments below which tools you use in your professional or home studio and your experience with Pro Tools.
