redsnapper:

all I am begging for is improved audio within media composer. 

I have carefully stated in many of my posts here that I support that.

redsnapper:

Why can't it be improved? Why? They own Pro Tools.

From my limited perspective I do not think this is the case.  I believe if MC was Mac only thenmany of the Avid audio improvements we would like would have taken place some time back when the Mac OS made significant audio handling improvements. For example I can choose audio replay to be from the CPU or Digi DAE for many programs in preferences. Or that my Protools plugins (not TDM) are automatically loaded by FCS.  PC audio handling (at least in XP) is miles behind this IMO

redsnapper:

just to get back to where this post

As the OP I have been around the houses recently looking at NLEs that have the audio functionality I need. And indeed a few of them have. Unfortunately I have found they are not as easy to edit with / mature as MC (for me).

Andrew's ProTools workflow is interesting, but I think not really feasible for me (although I am still investigating...), I'd be more likely to use FCP/STP.

It'll be interesting to see if anything changes at NAB.

What's frustrating is not only that the audio is so behind, but that THERE IS NO CLEAR ALTERNATIVE offered by Avid.

ProTools the answer? While I imagine ProTools blows away any NLE's native audio abilities, Avid offers no clear solution on how to combine ProTools w/ MC.

I have no idea what version of ProTools to buy for use w/ MC, what Mbox or LE are. If I need a separate computer (or not). If I can open an MC project in PT. I could go on, but you get the picture. The answers to these?'s are points that Avid should be making TO me.

I shouldn't have to poke around two companies' websites to read marketing blurbs and sift through various user forums to figure out how to add a top-notch audio toolset to my MC workflow. If Avid insists on not bringing MC's audio tools up to snuff, then they should at least be ACTIVELY selling audio solutions for MC users who want better audio capabilities.

But they aren't even doing that. Instead they cripple their flagship program to protect ProTools, yet offer no clear ProTools path for MC users to follow. What purpose could that possilbly serve? It just pisses off MC and Symphony users while selling no additional copies of ProTools.

Perhaps there IS some existing version of ProTools that plays nice with MC, opens timelines, etc.. Personally, I believe a Boris Red/AvidFX type version of ProTools would be ideal for MC users, i.e. launching through the MC interface to work on the current project.

Squeak