2018: What DAW do you use?

[Rudi]

I use JACK

[starise]

Who's Jack?

[Just1L]

1 hour ago, Rudi said:

I use JACK

 

Thanks Rudi! Great DAW. I had a little troubles getting all my plug-ins to work and still having trouble getting my plugged-in guitar to sound like anything other than a pan flute. But I can overlook those small things just based on the raw power and resolution alone. It's got a great export to youtube.eps feature that I don't think anyone will ever be able to best.

[DC Cornelius]

I've been using cubase since it first came out on the Atari... Phew late 80's?

So I can only talk about cubase with regards to how it allows cheating!

Newer versions produce chord sequences (for example) that, to me, defeats the whole object of music creation!!!

It's bad enough years ago when (so called alleged producers) put a few preset loops together & say:

listen to this what I writ... NOOO you did not write it!! Very annoying

[john]

2 hours ago, DC Cornelius said:

I've been using cubase since it first came out on the Atari... Phew late 80's?

So I can only talk about cubase with regards to how it allows cheating!

Newer versions produce chord sequences (for example) that, to me, defeats the whole object of music creation!!!

It's bad enough years ago when (so called alleged producers) put a few preset loops together & say:

listen to this what I writ... NOOO you did not write it!! Very annoying

 

The real deal or Mike Hunter's crack? lol

[DC Cornelius]

what does that have to do with what you're replying to?

i'm a professional, mate! i earn my living at it- have done for the past 42 years!

 

are you suggesting i'm an amateur just playing around with music for a laugh -- nothing better to do!?!?

 

this is an insult!!

 

seriously though:

 

1 minute ago, john said:

 

The real deal or Mike Hunter's crack? lol

 

yeah for quite a few years😄 

[Samuel Davis Jr]

I use Cubase because it came with my interface when I was getting started a few years ago, but also because I have a friend that went to Fullsale for audio recording and that is the main DAWs that he uses in his studio. He showed me quite a bit to get started and now that I understand the interface I'm able to easily build off of what he taught me.

 

The only downside I have at the moment is that I don't have the full version and do not have sidechaining capabilities. That hasn't been a big deal to me before but since I've started producing EDM now I need to either upgrade or find a cheap DAW that has sidechain capabilities. I was thinking about trying out Cakewalk by Bamdlab. Does anyone use that and know if it allows sidechaining?

[Samuel Davis Jr]

On 7/12/2018 at 8:00 AM, starise said:

Now I use multiple daws. My main daw is still Cakewalk by Bandlab ( which is FREE now BTW) I once payed for it. 

 

Does Cakewalk have sidechaining capabilities?

[Roymega]

13 hours ago, Samuel Davis Jr said:

Does Cakewalk have sidechaining capabilities?

If Cakewalk allows plug-ins I guarantee it does.. sidechaining is such a small hiccup in the production game though, that if that's stopping you from committing to a DAW, then screw me I guess.. I suppose you did say you wanted to produce EDM though huh? Might as well bite the bullet and buy a copy of FL Studio like Avicii (RIP)

[Samuel Davis Jr]

I downloaded cakewalk last night. It does allow sidechaining but it took me forever to figure out how to use the program and then it was still a pain. I'll have to watch some videos on YouTube and see if it gets any easier. Cubase just seems so much more user friendly to me but then I've been using it for about 3 years.

[Roymega]

24 minutes ago, Samuel Davis Jr said:

I downloaded cakewalk last night. It does allow sidechaining but it took me forever to figure out how to use the program and then it was still a pain. I'll have to watch some videos on YouTube and see if it gets any easier. Cubase just seems so much more user friendly to me but then I've been using it for about 3 years.

 

Which can be said about any of the DAWs you decide to use. Like I said in my original response in this topic, it usually comes down to whatever one you feel most comfortable in. Which for me is FL Studio, because it's what I started with.. for you it might be Cubase; in which case, you may want to consider supporting the creators of that software by purchasing a full version. Or continuing to try different trial/free versions of other DAWs til you find one that suits your needs.

[Samuel Davis Jr]

1 hour ago, Roymega said:

for you it might be Cubase; in which case, you may want to consider supporting the creators of that software by purchasing a full version.

I do support Cubase. I upgraded last year from the free version that came with my interface to the paid elements package which is the lowest of their 3 tier system.

 

I though I had to upgrade to the pro version to get side chaining but after some quick research I can get that with the artist version which might be in my price range at $200. That may be my best bet.

[Roymega]

9 hours ago, Samuel Davis Jr said:

I do support Cubase. I upgraded last year from the free version that came with my interface to the paid elements package which is the lowest of their 3 tier system.

 

I though I had to upgrade to the pro version to get side chaining but after some quick research I can get that with the artist version which might be in my price range at $200. That may be my best bet.

 

Have you looked at FL Studio by chance? It gets overlooked when comparing other DAWs because I guess it's seen as amateur-ish, but everything I've seen done in ProTools or Ableton or Reason, I've been able to do easily in FL Studio as well.

[Samuel Davis Jr]

I don't think I've looked into that one. I really like using Cubase though. I've seen some people complain about it being hard to use but to me it just makes so much sense compared to other DAWs that I've messed around with. The German music companies really makes some great products IMO.

[starise]

On 7/29/2018 at 2:21 PM, Samuel Davis Jr said:

Does Cakewalk have sidechaining capabilities?

 Hey Samuel. Nice to meet you man! Sorry I don't come around every day here.

 

Every daw looks intimidating in the beginning. Give it some time and a few videos and you'll get it. CbB has a mastering compressor built into the pro channel that has side chaining capabilities which is part of each channel. If you have questions feel free to ask and I'll try to help. I'm not sure if we're on the same page here though. Sidechaining usually refers to individual plugins with that capability. CbB has no problem seeing the sidechains in every channel. You can also add stereo busses and send to them. There's an online manual and a great forum. FORUM

Plenty of knowledgeable users there. If you have a question just ask. CbB also has an info box you can select to view that shows what each thing does when you hover over it with a mouse.You may like the Tungsten theme as well instead of the aero look. You can color the tracks. 

Try matrix view for a FL/Ableton experience.

[M57]

"What other DAWs do you use?" is a required field - and "None" is not an option.

[john]

5 minutes ago, M57 said:

"What other DAWs do you use?" is a required field - and "None" is not an option.

 

Thanks, option is added.

[MikeRobinson]

FYI – one tool that i use very heavily isn't a DAW:  it's a music scoring program called MuseScore.

 

(Yes, my music often starts out as sheet music.)

 

When I first discovered MuseScore, I had "money burning a hole in my pocket" and I was prepared to invest in a full-blown version of Sibelius,® Finale,® Notation,® or "what-ev-er pap-pa picked."  

 

Well, I started with MuseScore, because it was free, and ... I stopped ... because I did not feel the need to look further.  (Yes, I still feel that way.)  I had found everything that I was looking for, supported by an extremely active open-source development community, and "it's just a bonus" that I didn't have to spend money to get it.  (I have financially supported the project since then, and I'm glad to have done so.)

Edited August 21, 2018 by MikeRobinson

[starise]

Thanks for that tip Mike. I don't know much about that program. Since I've been getting a bit more into written music composition it might be something I could use.

[M57]

Just so that people aren't confused - Musescore is pretty much strictly notation software, and not a DAW at all. I have colleagues who are music educators that use it, but Finale and Sibelius are still the industry standards. No doubt MuseScore is a lot cheaper.  F & S are pro, which means powerful and detail oriented - so you can imagine the learning curve is significant. Also the big two are obscenely expensive plus you can say goodbye to an extra $100+ every year if you want to keep it updated so that you can work with others who have theirs updated because they update theirs so they can work with ... 😖..you get the picture.

 

For anyone who is interested in getting into entry level notation software, another option they should probably also look into is Noteflight. The advantage of NF is that's it's cloud based and runs on your browser anywhere - anytime - and from any computer.  Me, I don't really have a horse in the entry level race; I'm a spoiled Finale user.

Edited August 21, 2018 by M57