Multitrack Audio Editor Help, not a sequencer, per se Options

[id-208]

ok... here is my deal.

i've been producing audio professionally for a bit over a decade, always on the mac and outboard gear. and i've been a mac user since summer of '84.

as far as sequencing is concerned, i am pretty much covered. i've owned and upgraded cubase for years, and i even have logic 5, which i want to / need to / will upgrade to 6 within the next few weeks.

for multitrack audio editing, i have been using sound edit 2. i know... it's old as hell, seeing as how it hasn't even been updated since 1996, but in all honesty, i really felt for audio editing (outside of midi stuff) it really did the trick for my multitrack waveform editing. (outside of music production, i have also done sound effects work for a games studio - and multitracking is essential.)

but here is my problem.

since i migrated to osx (when jaguar came out) every now and then os9 problems would creep up here and there. and with each new update of osx, more problems would appear. i managed to successfully start using osx for all my programmes except SE2, as i don't know of any good multitrack editors for osx. but then a terrible thing happened...

last week a few days before a live show here in tokyo, my sound edit would not open when i booted from os9. i reinstalled the app, and no luck. and yes, i trashed preferences, etc. i spent a few hours playign with every conceivable extension etc, and no luck. for some reason it would run through os9 in classic mode though osx, btu there is ALWAYS latency issues when running memory intensive audio apps in os9 through osx - but i am sure you already know that.

now, since i have updated to the newest osx, i have found out that the rumours of phasing out osx are pretty much true... i can't even boot my powerbook 800 from the os9 install disc to try and do a new install. i even tried themost recent version of os9 and no luck. so pretty much my os9 days with sound edit are now officially over and done with forever.

damnation.

so this leads me here to you informed people. what can i use which will act like sound edit? i need a nice multitrack audio editor, complete with time stretch, etc. i really don't care about MIDI, as i got cubase - and soon logic 6 - to take care of that.

what i liked about sound edit was the fact that i saw all my waveforms all lined up with each other. cubase just doesn't feel right, and for trying to do audio editing, it's way too inefficient.

i tried out peak, which is pretty good - but it's only stereo. feels just like sound edit, sans the multitrack support. so i tried deck from a friend, but i can't even get the files to view properly from the library, so importing my aif files to edit them seems to do me ZERO good.

so now i am considering going with pro tools, as everything i have read on these forums suggests that dp4 focuses on MIDI with some audio support, and pt6 focuses on audio with MIDI support. it may seem like overkill to have logic and protools, etc... but i really want to know which is best for me. and i really don't know much about all these new audio and MIDI interfaces... which is a question i should pose in that forum...

anyways, i think you know my situation well enough so i'll shut up now.

in short, my questions are as follows:
1) is there a good multitrack audio editor for osx?
2) am i missing something in bias peak which allows you to add multiple tracks?
3) am i having problems with bias deck that others are not having?
4) can people who have been using PT6 tell me their experiences?
5) since i am doing my audio (currently) on my laptop - will and mbox be enough - ro do i need to bite the bullet and get the digi002 (or can digi 001 work with a PB?)
6) should i just jump off a bridge and end my miserable existence?

thanks in advance.

PS - i alao ask a lot of these questions because i moved to japan a little less than a year ago, and it's not exactly easy to find help to my questions at stores or with other musicians - IN ENGLISH.

[id-208]

ahem... i should note that i figured out what my problem was for the library, sort of... it was an old problem, and i am a wee bit tired from deadlines at the office and working for two-and-a-half days of no sleep to think too coherently. it's not the library so much that i am having problem with seeing files... it's bringing stereo files in together instead of separately, but this i can figure out.

what i would like to know about deck is if i can do time stretch and whatnot to it, or is that something that must be done via peak?

also...

i really apologise for asking such (potentially) ludicrous questions... but i have been content with my setup over the past few years and have spent my "learnng time" being a beta tester for NI, so i've been focusing on different aspect of computer-based audio production, thereby letting my up-to-date knowledge of other audio softs slip.

additionally... these questions are posed because i want to know if it is best for me use multiple applications, or try and do everything in one: like logic, or protools, or digital performer. my past setup was cubase running several NI plugins, and sound edit for my mix down. two apps isn't bad. and most of the posts covering these topics seem to have been covered focusing on MIDI, and in february - a bit before several of these newer applications were released!

once again... i appreciate any constructive response you give in advance. i wish i knew about this community earlier, as i always love sharing production knowledge.

[Doug]

Seems you've got a similar background to me ... audio editing in multi-track. I learnt reel to reel 2,4,8,16, and 24 track, analogue all the way !!
Pro Tools is what you need. It comes from that audio editing background, where as sequencers come from the MIDI background. Pro Tools 6 is a brilliant app, has sequencing and MIDI included, costly and unique to Digidesign ... no VST plug-ins !! But VST has little to do with multi-track editing.
To do it properly you need to buy the basic DigiD package ...cards, breakout interface, software and their proprietry plug ins which are totally professional and VG.
Tell us (me) how you get on.
Doug

[Denvil Robinson]

I am a Logic user for a while now.....I do all my mixing in including midi, audio and audio instuments in logic and I don't know how to use any other sequencing program, in fact I don't own any other software program

I ususally heard people say that they use Cubase or Logic and do the mix down in Pro Tools....what I would like to know is what is the advantage in Pro Tools that is not in Logic?

I have to meet a friend of mine today who is a ProTools user and want to know about Logic, this will be intresting becouse I don't know about Pro Tools at all, but be sure to know that I will post all my question on this website about Pro Tools.

[BobbyA]

Hi, id-208-

Being a Digital Performer user myself, I would first suggest DP4 in a heartbeat. I't's got comprehensive multi-track editing (along with unprecendented MIDI features) and with the built-in option of using Peak as the external editor, you can do anythinh you need to.
But...
if you're dead set on using what your used to (I don't blame you) with Logic or Cubase, I'd recommend both BIAS Deck and Peak. I have only used Deck a couple of times, but it's the multitrack counterpart of Peak, which is an excellent editing program. Just edit what you need to in Peak and pop it into Deck for your multitrack fun. I have used Peak for years and it just keeps getting better.
As far as your initial problems with getting Deck to work -- I'd give it another try, making sure the install is good and you read the documentation well, of course.

Good luck to you,
BobbyA