Getting back to the initial intent of this thread, you CAN use Pro Tools and VSL together successfully. Many of us do. Now moving on...
Speaking about Pro Tools TDM and not LE - as you're not going to invest those kind of dollars in TDM hardware if audio isn't at the top of your list of priorities....
Pro Tools is first and foremost an AUDIO recorder, editor and mixing solution. Most of the major recording studios and audio post houses that I have worked in use Pro Tools, not Cubase or Logic or DP. I use Pro Tools, Digital Performer and Logic and Pro Tools is in my OPINION the hands down winner for audio work. As I've said elsewhere on the forum, Midi in Pro Tools is like early Vision (and not even). But it works just fine.
Nick Batzdorf wrote:Pro Tools is fine for sequencing if you can play everything in real time. Otherwise its editing is much more cumbersome to move around than any of the composition programs.
What bothers me most about sequencing in PT is that you can't just hit a key to get at what you want to edit - and being an almost-keyboard player, I rely upon editing a lot.
Nick, it's gotten much better in Pro Tools 6.9, which unfortunately you can't use with your Mix hardware. I'm not finding it any more difficult now in most cases to edit midi in Pro Tools than in DP, and much easier than in Logic - at least as far as general note, velocity, durations, etc. They've now added a Control-Command-Left/Right Arrow shortcut so you can jump quickly to any Midi editing window. Previously, hitting the "-" key was pretty useless jumping from Notes to Regions. It IS more cumbersome to use the Performance Tool with Pro Tools than DP or Logic, as I've detailed elsewhere. But it DOES work. And that is the good news for anyone who currently works in Pro Tools that wants to start working with VSL libraries.
Nick Batzdorf wrote:A better way of putting it is that the others are way ahead in this area, not so much that Pro Tools' MIDI is bad. It's not bad, it just has a rudimentary interface by comparison.
I think this is a very fair analysis. But what it does it does OK. And that is in addition to a superb audio editor and mixer.
wrote:.... but for everyday writing I do just fine. I do large orchestral stuff all the time without a hitch. I do wish I could print out the score though...
That says it all. It's the same for me....and I wish it did notation as well.
Nick Batzdorf wrote:Then again, that doesn't take into account a friend's friend who recently lost a Mick Jagger vocal take when it decided to have a bad day.

(True story.)
To be fair, I have seen almost every major brand of hardware and software fail at one point or another, and at the worst moment, regardless of who is in the room. If that was a qualifier there wouldn't be anyone left in the industry to buy from.
Bill