2018: What DAW do you use?

[john]

Hi

 

Theres's an old topic kicking around about what DAW members use, , but I thought a poll would be a better way to get an idea of member preference

 

 

Ableton - Live

Adobe - Audition

Apple - Logic Pro X

Avid - ProTools

Bandlab - Sonar (free)

Cockos - Reaper

Harrison - Mixbus

Imageline - FL Studio

Magix - Acid Pro

MOTU - Digital Performer

Presonus - Studio One

Propellerheads - Reason

Steinberg - Cubase

 

 

Other:

 

Acoustica - Mixcraft

Apple - GarageBand

Audiotool - Audiotool (free online)

Bitwig - Studio

Magix - Sound Forge

Magix - Samplitude

Mutools - Mulab

Renoise - Renoise

 

 

 

In addition to your poll answers, please tell us of your choice of DAWs, why you chose the one(s) you use, why you might have switched or be thinking of switching.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Peggy]

I use ProTools. Started with it and stayed with it.  It's alittle complex but sticking with it.

[starise]

I was a bit of a daw snob at one time.

 

I think we can tend to get stuck in a rut and miss what else is out there. Now I use multiple daws. My main daw is still Cakewalk by Bandlab ( which is FREE now BTW) I once payed for it. 

I also use Studio One Professional, Mixcraft Pro 8 and Ableton Live 10.

[ImKeN]

I use LPX because its the only DAW I really know how to use. If I had to switch to something else, I guess it would be Ableton Live manly because I like to produce EDM tracks. 

 

Ken

Edited July 27, 2018 by ImKeN

[john]

13 hours ago, Taking Notes said:

I use ProTools. Started with it and stayed with it.  It's alittle complex but sticking with it.

 

Did you not vote?

[Peggy]

1 minute ago, john said:

 

Did you not vote?

I thought I did. Maybe I didn't hit submit

I also use other DAWs.. I should include those too in my post.

[Just1L]

I started with Garageband as soon as I heard I could actually make songs with it because it was already on my computer and was free at the time. I think it's $6 for upgrades so that's good too. I've tried a few others, only actually getting close to finishing one, but the results were the same. Until I get better equipment going in, and a better room to record in, there's no real reason for me to switch as there are more options for me to use than I can handle, and have yet to hear about something I need that isn't already in Garageband. I think the tools I have are fine, but the understanding of how to use them is where I need to improve. The last thing is the interface, for me, couldn't be easier to understand and use. It's all what you're used to I reckon.

Edited July 12, 2018 by Just1L

[Capo3tanya]

Thanks for this! I still have not chosen what to get, I can be fairly indecisive but I think I'm going to go with Presonus Studio One package. I can't wait to get going! Can't vote don't have anything yet. 

[Nick]

I first used Cakewalk Guitar Tracks.

 

Then bought Reaper - I tried it and bought and use it for all sorts of stuff now. It's the one I know most about - though I don't know very much! I have actually bought Reaper twice as my deal only saw it through two version numbers (3 and 4) so I bought 5 when doing a potential project with a friend and there was some functionality that I wanted

 

I have copies of

• Garageband - which I have occasionally used for drums but very rarely
• Ableton Live 8 - which I have never really got round to using
• Sonar Home Studio - which again I haven't really used
• Tracktion 6 - which I have but have never really looked at

For me Reaper does what I currently need but like people who acquire guitars I tend to grab good offers on DAWs if I see them (like FREE) - just in case

 

Mostly I use Reaper as part of a practice workflow rather than using it as a DAW for recording "proper projects". I play and sing with two friends. We meet up and I record on my (old) Zoom H2. Download into Reaper and edit, normalise and tweak bits and bobs in there and then send back to other members. Occasionally add extra tracks in etc but I just find it easy to use and do things like that in it and then create and export a bunch of mp3s

And I use it to record keyboard ideas and (very) occasionally do things with drums (this is a cover that shouldn't probably be on reverbnation but hasn't been taken off yet - https://www.reverbnation.com/nickblair/song/28856761-harvest-for-the-world - if the links a problem delete it) and that's probably as complicated as I do these days

 

 

 

The intention is to do a more 'proper' project and I'll use it then

 

[TPistilli]

I started out originally with Acoustica which was a precursor to Mixcraft Pro Studio which I use now. I tried Ableton Live Lite but found it to be too cumbersome for my uses. I find Mixcraft to be a very powerful and inexpensive tool for simple recording musicians. What sold me on purchasing it was the amount of plugins and virtual instruments that came with it for under $200. I've also tried Pro Tools First but it's too limited and I can do as much or more with Mixcraft. If someone's looking for a great value to get your feet wet with, I recommend Mixcraft Pro Studio.

[moptop]

Years ago I started with Cool Edit Pro 2.0, the predecessor to Adobe Audition. (Adobe bought the parent company Syntrillium that put out CEP)

 

Now I use Cubase 7LE....and the learning curve was huge but it was worth it.  Even just using the LE version it way better hands down to anything else I've used...and IT'S STABLE! No goofy glitches, lockups, or losses.  

 

[Roymega]

It's all about how much time you take to get to know the DAW's layout and interface.. almost all DAW's provide the same features and functionality.. I stick with FL Studio because I started with it and learned the in's and out's that a lot of people that poo-poo it don't know about.. Sucks to be them.. Buy another DAW and be let down when it provides the exact same thing but in a more complicated manner.. FL Studio is very user friendly for mapping out 'beats' and instrumentals, and if you take the time to learn the DAW itself, just as good and useful (if not better because of it's simplicity) as Avid Pro Tools, the "industry standard".

[TPistilli]

On 7/15/2018 at 8:18 PM, moptop said:

Years ago I started with Cool Edit Pro 2.0, the predecessor to Adobe Audition. (Adobe bought the parent company Syntrillium that put out CEP)

 

Now I use Cubase 7LE....and the learning curve was huge but it was worth it.  Even just using the LE version it way better hands down to anything else I've used...and IT'S STABLE! No goofy glitches, lockups, or losses.  

 

I remember Cool Edit Pro! Used it a loooong time ago. It was pretty good at the time.

[MikeRobinson]

Quite honestly ... "today, we enjoy an Embarrassment of Riches."

 

Obviously, commercially-focused products such as Logic Pro and ProTools will never change their focus away from their commercial customers (who continue to do billions of dollars' worth of business with them ...), but those of us who "do this, just for fun" have never had more options at our disposal. (And in some instances, "they completely re-invented themselves without changing names."  For instance, GarageBand became Logic Pro Lite!)

 

So, "these days, if you just can't get 'er done, don't blame the computer!" 😁

Edited July 18, 2018 by MikeRobinson

[Roymega]

33 minutes ago, MikeRobinson said:

Quite honestly ... "today, we enjoy an Embarrassment of Riches."

 

Obviously, commercially-focused products such as Logic Pro and ProTools will never change their focus away from their commercial customers (who continue to do billions of dollars' worth of business with them ...), but those of us who "do this, just for fun" have never had more options at our disposal. (And in some instances, "they completely re-invented themselves without changing names."  For instance, GarageBand became Logic Pro Lite!)

 

So, "these days, if you just can't get 'er done, don't blame the computer!" 😁

 

When I worked in tech support, we used the term "operator error" often.

[starise]

16 hours ago, MikeRobinson said:

Quite honestly ... "today, we enjoy an Embarrassment of Riches."

 

Obviously, commercially-focused products such as Logic Pro and ProTools will never change their focus away from their commercial customers (who continue to do billions of dollars' worth of business with them ...), but those of us who "do this, just for fun" have never had more options at our disposal. (And in some instances, "they completely re-invented themselves without changing names."  For instance, GarageBand became Logic Pro Lite!)

 

So, "these days, if you just can't get 'er done, don't blame the computer!" 😁

 

This reminds me of yesterday. I'm sitting there with a lot of capability and the creative bug just isn't biting me then. Working 10 hour days with a two hour commute will do that. 

Yeah I could have started throwing loops together but I don't think that's where I get creative. It would be in time and it would sound like something. There would be some creativity involved in loop selections, but darnit I need to play or sing to feel creative.

Doesn't matter what daw you have if the creative bug isn't biting might as well forget it.

We could go on about what is and/or isn't creative. I suppose looping is a kind of creativity yet I feel I would be letting myself down if I settled for that personally as my highest aspiration. I'm not a snob on this. I respect that others use loops as a creative outlet. I would say I sometimes augment with loops.

Maybe another thing to ponder is which daw allows you to use a creative feeling with the most efficiency and in the least amount of time?

For me this is simply a good solid way to track ideas I have. After that it's all about the best way to get a mix from my head into the daw. The daw must also be good at allowing me to efficiently combine the sounds to a good mix/master using those tools without taking weeks to do it. I think there IS a difference in operating characteristics that make that happen better in some than others. Yes, they all do a lot of the same things however there is a huge difference between the loops based approaches found in  Bitwig, Ableton, FL, Acid Pro8 as compared to daws with more musician composition in mind such as any analog representation of a tape machine CbB, Studio One 4 pro, Cubase, Ok...PT. These are the more complex composition minded programs for building music from the ground up. The less technically challenging ones such as Garageband, Mixcraft Pro 8, Acoustica and similar are nice easy programs to use with decent added content. I really have grown to like Mixcraft Pro 8 for the simple reason it can put an idea together FAST. You don't need a training course to use it but it has a few limitations, mainly it likes to stay in 16 bit when recording and it has some odd work arounds. It is a deeper program than it appears to be on the surface once you get past the easy GUI. Made by some of the same guys who made Acid now owned by Magix.

 

Edited July 18, 2018 by starise

[MikeRobinson]

Every software-design team faces the same fundamental problem:  "what's in, and what's out?"  A "general-purpose" design is harder to learn and, in the hands of users who want to accomplish a particular task, the more "dissipated" it appears to be.  On the other hand, a "task-specific" design is by definition limited to a narrow vertical-slice of the market.

 

Fortunately for all of us, there are many [both open-source and commercial] products available which serve each market segment:  from Logic Pro® and ProTools® to beats-makers to Band In A Box.®

 

Yes, we live in very interesting times . . . 

Edited July 19, 2018 by MikeRobinson

[Nick]

On 7/18/2018 at 8:41 PM, starise said:

 

"This reminds me of yesterday. I'm sitting there with a lot of capability and the creative bug just isn't biting me then. Working 10 hour days with a two hour commute will do that....

 

On 7/18/2018 at 8:41 PM, starise said:

For me this is simply a good solid way to track ideas I have. After that it's all about the best way to get a mix from my head into the daw........"

The one tool I would replace in a second if/when it goes wrong is my Zoom H2. The best thing I ever bought. Quick ideas i record on it and then (sometimes) mess with it in reaper. Unless i want to play a keyboard. Or add tracks.

But my simplest easiest point of call is turn it on record and smile (or not). And sometimes I actually think the sound is better than all the fiddling around with Reaper (or whatever) and the M-Audio M track thing and etc etc

Sometimes I record a backing track on the Zoom. Pop it into reaper and play a second track over the top into the Zoom and it is as easy as chips.

But then I'm not trying to make super quality tracks

(By the way "How do I get my head into the daw?" sounds like a way to hurt your ears)

I have downloaded and looked at Mixcraft since your post

 

Edited July 21, 2018 by Nick

[starise]

Don't know how the quotes were mixed up here but I get what your saying. I think Mixcraft is an excellent entry into daws. It was actually the easiest to set up a Kontakt multi in.

 

Though the second quote was attributed to me. I never use Reaper.

[Nick]

My inability to understand how to use the reply and quote stuff  

RTFM as they say