Whey/casein protein varieties any better?

[BigMasaBarto]

I am calling on all the collective minds in this forum to help explain the necessity for all the different types of whey/casein protein supplements out on the market. It seems that before companies like TrueProtein.com and MuscleFactory.com, it was fairly well established that whey was good for quick update PWO, and Casein was great either as a MRP, or Pre-Bedtime.

Today, however, we see the proliferation of all sorts of protein varietals: whey isolate ion-exchange, whey isolate micro-filtered, hydrolyzed whey, hydrolyzed casein, calcium caseinate, micellar casein... I could go on forever naming all the different types you can find. And these are just the generic bulk proteins you can buy from places like TrueProtein. I am not even mentioning the expensive stuff from the different supplement companies - MRI's "multi-fractioned whey protein" - and so forth.

To my knowledge, the isolate varieties differ in how the protein is broken down into its isolate form, either through some form of ion process, or through filtration. Then, to create the hydrolyzed proteins, they are broken down even further, usually with certain chemicals.

Now, my question for all you supplement gurus out there is: Are any of these protein types have some merit and are worth the extra dollar per pound to be put in my protein mix?

Anyway, I just wanted to get the discussion going, as I feel this issue in the supplement realm is growing quite rapidly. I look forward to all your input.

[BigMasaBarto]

Anyone????