Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7.4

I cannot completely pan it generally, as I am not using PT for the most part. However, the overall rating indicates my overall opinion of it given what else is available in the market.

Pro Tools, the software is decent. It records audio well, and makes that process very easy, but compared to other sequencers it is woefully limited, and Digidesign will charge you for every additional software instrument or new minor version of the software, AND it will make you wait eons every time your OS is upgraded before it supports it. When I started on PT hardware a while back it was a good option. Now they are a ridiculous Quark-like company that holds on by virtue of their pre-existing market penetration. My 001 was very reliable. My 002r cuts out like mad, and Digidesign could care less about anyone who is not on one of their high end systems. I massively regret staying with Digidesign for this upgrade. They will charge $100 every 6 months to keep current with their latest version, which you will at some point need to do to upgrade your OS. It might work with pro tools, but if you want to use any other software, you will deal with a lot of pain. If you are just starting out, I would not make the mistake of buying a PT system. If you need to run PT just buy their PT mini usb stick. I am admittedly bitter, after talking my whole band into PT systems and recording 2 albums with it, I can see that it does some things very well, but it is still mostly a necessary evil at this point. And frankly, I question its necessity at this point - use another system and bounce the raw tracks to wav or aif to be mixed if you are working with a PT studio.

Actually Pro Tools is the recording software used by Digidesing and M-audio. Its' the only recording software I've used, except for Cakewalks' Guitar recording software which wasn't that "hot" or easy to used. Version 7.4 of Pro Tools adds time compression to its' capabilities, giving you "elastic" tracks...

Version 7.4 is supposed to have better midi handling capabilities, however, I just figured out how to drag midi files into Pro Tools. Talk about a revelation...I did a "drag & drop" with some Led Zep midi files I found on the web and ended up multiple midi tracks for drums, organ, guitar, bass and vocals. I set-up some audio tracks with various virtual instruments, including BFD and Strike for drums and fed them with the midi tracks and I had a song! Probably not a new feature, but it was way kewl to me???

I'm using PT with a Digi 003, but that a separate review and I wanted to get: a) Digidesign added to this area of user reviews, and b)an area set-up specifically for Pro Tools.

See above

See Connectivity

sample rate goes up to 24-bit/96 kHz resolution, maybe higher depending on what interface Pro Tools is using (i.e. Digi-03 versus M-box versus HD/Icon/Venue)

This all depends on which package bundle your using Pro Tools with (i.e. Digi-003 vs. m-Box vs. HD/Icon/Venue).

Pro Tools has been a great learning experience that I think most musicians should put time into learning/mastering its' use. I'd definitely replace it if it were stolen....also, my impression is that its' the sort of computer recording program interface you can always learn something new about... Probably the other two things to point out are: 1) It seems like there's aways a new version coming out to upgrade to, 2) Rumor is that Pro Tools is always a bit behind other computer recording interfaces, on the other hand it seems like they spend a lot of time making sure everything works...I'd rather have a stable recording environment rather then an unstable one that's on the cutting edge...IMHO