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garage band vs protools

JRB

JRB

Supporting Member
Oct 21, 2003
492
430
Northern California
#1
Hi everyone,
So I know that protools is better but I just got a new powerbook and it already has garage band on it. So I can get an M-audio box for $149, but I was also thinking about just forgetting garage band and getting and M-box with protools for $440. My question is, how big a gap is it between these two programs. And for a non professional setting will the garage band be good enough. Money is deffenetly a concern so if I can spend less even if the set up has a little more limitations but still great quality I would like to do so. Any thoughts. Thanks everyone. PS. every anyone knows the major differences between these two programs I would love to know what they are.
 
#2
As much as I hate to say it, I bet the Garageband/M-audio setup will treat you just fine. Sounds like you are new to computer based recording so a simple program like Garageband will probobly be better suited. If you are just doing basic recordings or brainstorming type stuff it will be perfect me thinks. After a while when you discover the short comings of Garageband, then go to ProTools or whatever USB/Firewire, software combination you dig.
 
#3
I haven't used Garage Band that much, but I think for your purposes it's the better program. The little of Garageband I've used it seemed pretty straightforward and easy to use, while Protools can be really irritating if you don't have Digidesign's hardward going into it.

I say Garageband is fine.
 
#5
Do you need to be able ot record multiple tracks simultaneously?

if yes, then garageband will not suffice. It can only record one track at a time, but it can record unlimited tracks.

I love Garageband because it gives me everything *I* need.

Check out www.iCompositions.com

that's the biggest GarageBand community on the web right now, seeing as how Garageband is very new, the community is small, but that'sstill a good place to go to get GB information.

my username over there is Wrao if you want to hear some stuff I've done with GB.
 
#8
Garageband is great for a scratch pad but not much else. I use Nuendo for all my recording. Yea, it is a little more involved than Garageband but the flexibility more than makes up for it. If you want something affordable but gives you the same flexibility as Nuendo, check out Cubase SE. It sells for right at $100 and is powered by the same engine as Nuendo 2.0 (@$1200!!!) Plus, you don't have the problem with hardware incompatibility like Protools. Cubase and Nuendo will work with just about any hardware on the market! Not trying to bash Protools but, I wouldn't use it for anything. I have used it and Nuendo just works much better to me. Thats just my opinion though and take it as such.
 
#9
Garage Band has worked extremely well for me. My band uses it to plot out songs and get basic arrangements down (I'm using M-Audio along with GB on my laptop so we record wherever we happen to be). It might not be as powerful as other recording software, but for the price I've been able to get some really good sounding stuff out of it and I know others have done better (see: WR).
 
#12
I can't speak to ProTools, but Garageband impresses me with its power, ease-of-use, and quality of sound. With no real recording experience, I was quickly able to get a better bass sound down than I've gotten in most of my "real" studio experiences.

By all means, I'd stick with Garageband until you outgrow it. Don't skip up to ProTools without trying GB first if money is a concern, unless one of its limitations (mainly inability to record concurrent live tracks) is a complete deal-breaker.

:)
 
#14
Wrong Robot said:
I hope that GB gets simultaneous multi-track capabilities in the future, even if it's only 2 or 4 tracks at once.
Click to expand...

Someone on the icompositions forums suggested a workaround that sounded kinda viable to record two simultaneous tracks... as long as your instruments are mono, just record one track in stereo, then split each side into tracks, where you can add stereo effects and whatnot. I can't remember the exact procedure for doing this but it wasn't terribly difficult.

I think it was also suggested there that since GB is built on Logic, which Apple bought not long ago, it makes sense for them to keep some key features unavailable, lest the product compete with the true pro product. That notion, if true, speaks well for GB: It's a pro-level product at its core, with a few 'hobbles' and a bit of 'dumbing down' that is acceptable for most of the target market. Just speculation and my opinion on that last part, of course... ;)
 

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