New To The Game, trying to find the best setup for myself Options

[FroBoy909]

hey everybody, i need some advice on purchasing some music software and equipment. as it stand now, i'm torn between a digidesign pro tools system and an emagic logic system. i've got my eye on the new digi002 with pro tools LE, which seems really nice because it basically comes with everything i would need at the moment, including an impressive array of bundled plug-ins and extra software. but emagic is looking better and better, one of the reasons for this being that apple has pretty much put its faith into the program by buying the company. i plan on buying a new tibook in january, or whenever the updated ones become available, and so my question now is where do i put my faith and money (beyond the purchase of the computer, i mean)? i like the digi002 system, but would i be better off buying logic with an emagic control board? where do the different companies stand as far as plug-in availability? i know that pro tools has a large following of plug-in developers, but i dont know much about logic. i realize that both programs can do basically the same stuff and it's mostly a matter of preference either way, but the fact remains that protools has been something of an industry standard for a while (unless i'm mistaken in that area). and of course money is something of an issue. the digi002 is nearly 2500, while i'm not sure how much a logic system would run simply because they dont seem to have any kind of all-in-one type deal that digidesign has. i noticed that emagic and digi are doing some collaborations with software and hardware, but that only looks to be with the higher end stuff, which i'm not sure i can handle right now. i am a college student in his 3rd year, so that might help put my economic status into perspective. as far as other equipment goes i have a yamaha synth with midi, so that's another factor, but i'm pretty sure midi capabilities would be almost the same with either program. and i am aware that pro tools for os x will be available sometime around january, so osx compatability shouldn't be a problem.
any advice that yall can give me will be greaty appreciated. as it says in the title i'm new to the digital music production game. thanks a lot.

[rickenbacker]

Welcome to MacMusic, Froboy! You might like to do a search for similar topics within these forums, as this is a question that comes up quite often and there have been a lot of good discussion over the last few months that I'm sure you'd find useful.

My two cents: I use Logic Platinum on OS X and I love it. You get 50+ plug-ins, virtually all of which are very usable. Depending on what you're doing, you may not need anything else ever again. Excellent Midi features, naturally, but good audio, too. Logic 5 has probably got everything you need. I'm very happy with my decision to go with Logic.

As for inputs, I've tried half a dozen or so USB interfaces over the past six months and am currently grooving with an Edirol UA-700. Every kind of connection I need, Midi and amp/mic midelling, too. I like it a lot.

Digidesign? A lot of people love Pro Tools/Digi 001; but a lot of people bitch about their cunning marketing schemes post-sale to make more money out of users. I think Pro Tools is good, but that word "Pro" inevitably means "expensive". I came within a whisker of buying an Mbox and Pro Tools LE, but was put off by the extraordinary expense of buying future plug-ins. If you're on a budget, I'd say forget Digidesign - Logic add-ons are cheaper.

[Presto]

You haven't said what you want to do with your set-up. Composing? Midi and/or audio? Have you already got a synth, guitar, soundmodule?

I have an ibook/Mbox/PTLE and its great for me but that's not what costs alot.

Good mics and good studio monitors (loudspeakers) will stretch your budget, then you're a good way to avoiding "shit in, shit out"

Welcome. You're going to love it whatever you get