Justin, the reality is that YOU want WWIII to "need" PT, but he does not actually NEED it. Who do you think you are? ...telling someone that they NEED Protools? There are other options in his price range that are better. He has already said he can't afford it...so why not come up with some alternatives? Why not discuss other good DAW's that can do more than PT LE for less money and have more open ended options for hardware? It's a big world with lots of choices...PT LE is only one choice and from what I've seen it is not as powerful a program as DP for example - not even close...As I've mentioned above, friends of mine have bought and used PT LE only to be dissappointed when they see what DP can do that they can't seem to do with their PT LE software; one of these friends has already gone out and bought DP 4 and was immediately happier (he said it was easier to understand and use, also). I have a friend that has used PT (the real one) since it's beginning and still uses it in it's latest form; he's been on the upgrade path with them for years. When he sees certain things that I do in DP that he can't do in PT it blows his mind. He has even said that he will get the DP upgrade and try to start incorporating it's power in some aspects of his studio. Of course, I know that PT (not LE) can do things that DP can't, as well. From my exposure to PT LE is seems very crude compared to DP as far as editing etc. And (once again), why do you have to have their hardware to run LE!?!?!? Our drummer has DP and when we travel and fly he can get out his laptop and work a bit, but our guitar player sadly pulls out his Mac on the plane to be limited to some Reason programming...his LE won't work without the DIGI 002 hardware. He has plainly told me that he regrets his purchase of LE and would like to go another route when he can justify the move. And of course you can make amazing full blown records with LE if you have the right gear and engineering prowess and the right band etc. Even the worst DAW is a god-like machine compared to what was available some years back. So, since we are in this era of all these DAW choices, why not look them all over and pick the best one for the job. LE just flat out can't compare to a program like DP...even though LE is a powerful piece, but they all are. In the early 70's when 24 track was possible, the band Yes took it to it's limits to create their amazing music, with lots of tape cutting edits! Just think if LE was around back then with a computer to run it (well. actually it likely would have scewed them up and we would not have their work as we know it). Of course you can do amazing things with
LE...all the DAW's can do amazing things with lots of tracks, but which of them is "better" for the kind of work you're doing? Which is open ended toward hardware choices? Which allows you freedom to edit and work away from the studio without lugging around the "required I/O"? This is one of the big issues I have with Digidesign...the requirement to have the hardware to run the software (come on...LE is native!!). In the end perhaps PT LE will be fine for WWIII, but I'm not going to tell him that he NEEDS it or even better that he NEEDS DP4. I am merely pointing out that there are other options that would allow him more freedom in terms of hardware, perhaps a "better" software for his taste and working style, perhaps for less money than even an LE system...I am not telling WWIII that he NEEDS something just because I prefer it. It just seems very obvious to me that if he needs to interface on occassion with a PT studio that there are other DAW's that can do that very easily. --good night.