Whats a great DAW software for recording?

best daw software for recording?

  • Sonar

    Votes: 75 14.0%
  • cubase

    Votes: 99 18.5%
  • acid

    Votes: 9 1.7%
  • adobe

    Votes: 20 3.7%
  • pro tools (m-audio)

    Votes: 67 12.5%
  • nuendo

    Votes: 15 2.8%
  • logic

    Votes: 77 14.4%
  • other (please specify)

    Votes: 173 32.3%

  • Total voters
    535
I'm using Samplitude. The SE No.9 version is a very affordable way to dip your toe in to it. I use it for putting demos together before bringing to the pro studio (where we use the big bro version of samplitude)
 
I am going to go with Logic for two reasons. The basic functions of most of these are pretty similar but Logic stands out a little in two categories.

1: Ease of use. Logic is really simple to learn but can also be very technical if you really dive into it. I have yet to find anything that I was doing in ProTools HD that I can't do (relatively faster) in Logic Pro 8. Plus it's a fraction of the price and I think aesthetically it looks a lot nicer.

2: The quality of the sound samples for the built in synths and software instruments. They have included some really REALLY nice sounding software instruments in the Pro version of Logic and they can add to any project without making your song sound like it was written in a laboratory. I hoenstly think that the Logic instruments stack up well against my IK Mutimedia Philharmonic library and the SonicSynth2, both of which cost almost as much as the whole Logic Pro suite.

-ryan
 
I went for Pro Tools because I know it and like it.

But I gotta ask, why does (M-Audio) come after it?

I know there's M-Powered, I know that Digi own M-Audio (well, technically Avid),
but there's LE (which is normally said to be better) and HD (better again).

:confused:
 
Samplitude Professional. Freakishly amazing engine, object-based editing, probably the greatest native processing available, no substitute.
 
Cubase!

Cubase is the only program you need, Audio editing, midi is the best (pro tools worst), everything is only a right click away (hate macs), pretty simple look, great automation, nice little VST bundle in SX.. I love it and can't use any others.. But if they provide all of this and the sound quality is fine then it is all about work flow and what works for you I'm just used to Cubase and Logic does my head in even though I know its ok its just were the buttons are...

Just my two pence...
 
More people don't use Pro-Tools? I'm suprised...isn't that sort of the industry standard?

People have wised up to that idea. You can only call yourself the industry standard while having fewer features for more money than everyone else for so long.
 
Huh.....

I'm surprised! A little less so in that I've noticed PT mentioned very little on this forum.... but it seems like most of the studios I see in magazines or engineers I hear interviewed (few, mind you....I'm far from an expert researcher in the matter) mention PT at some point. How did it get so popular if it's not that tight?
 
I'm surprised! A little less so in that I've noticed PT mentioned very little on this forum.... but it seems like most of the studios I see in magazines or engineers I hear interviewed (few, mind you....I'm far from an expert researcher in the matter) mention PT at some point. How did it get so popular if it's not that tight?

They were the first one's to really do it right. They made the software and hardware to play along nicely with it. It was 100x easier than using tape or ADAT, so every studio started using it.

Once every studio uses it, you have to use it if you want to use your stuff with studios. Digidesign was in a good position because high end studios had to have their stuff because it made life so much easier. Along comes home recording, and everyone wants to be like the big studios, so digidesign markets their product as the industry standard and charges extra for it.

Then a bunch of companies come along and make a similar product for much cheapter. A lot of home recording guys jump on this because it's cheaper, and most home recording guys don't have a lot of money to throw around. Big studios don't jump on it because they get clients that come from other studios and it's a lot easier when everything is in the same format.

I don't know about most people, but I never use pro studios for anything. I use my studio, so I don't have to worry about what some pro studio down the street is using.

What happened was, because there was no real competition for protools in high end studios, they started slacking off and not adding new features, while all the other guys were fighting for the home recording market and adding as many features as they could to try to beat each other out. Suddenly you have this entire market of products that is better than the industry standard, because they've actually been competing with each other.

The pattern as of lately seems that steinberg, cakewalk, or some other company that makes DAWs comes out with a feater, then the other guys quickly do the same thing. Digidesign then comes in a few years later and adds that feature and pretends like it's magic.

In short, that's why most people don't use protools. cost more, more limited, fewer features (but the pro studios use it).
 
Free

AUDACITY

.

its not the best but ive compared it to cubase and i prefer it on all my current projects. once i upgrade my computer and interface however.... im thinking protools.
 
Interesting...

Thanks Bozmillar, interesting breakdown! I'm running on an old cpu, so perhaps when it breaks down I'll be looking @ some new software! It does seem to be a lot more expensive than other programs, and is unable to host VST's without a converter...I always thought that was sort of odd....
 
More people don't use Pro-Tools? I'm suprised...isn't that sort of the industry standard?

Pro tools is pretty simple and a bit limited but I think is more solid and better for live recording.. I use Cubase for electronic music production which you can't really do in pro tools.. Also the plug ins that come with pro tools are awful so you immediately have to go and get some good ones... lame
 
I'm surprised! A little less so in that I've noticed PT mentioned very little on this forum.... but it seems like most of the studios I see in magazines or engineers I hear interviewed (few, mind you....I'm far from an expert researcher in the matter) mention PT at some point. How did it get so popular if it's not that tight?
PT became standard more because of a "in the right place at the right time" factor than anything else. As boz has said, they were really the first ones to do it right. Earliest in the days of digital multitrack editing they were virtually (though not quite literally) the only game in town.. So when the bleeding edge studios wanted their new toys, PT was the way to go.

Then the idea of "standardization" took over. See, unlike many 21st century home recorders, pro tracking engineers, mixing engineers and producers in the Big Boy studios of the 20th century might work on album A in studio X, but album B in studio Y, and so forth. While they may have had "home court" studios they preferred, they had to move from studio to studio from project to project depending upon the budget, the preferences of the producer or label, available of schedule time, etc. It's often still like this today in the pro ranks, though maybe not quite as rampant as it used to be.

With this in mind, studios wanted to have gear and software that the engineers "knew" and/or wanted. An engineer doesn't want to learn how to use something new whenever they walk into a new studio. So PT became the standard for standard's sake; every pro learned PT, and then could use it wherever they went (with a few exceptions, of course). This is a similar story to the "standard" nearfield monitor called the Yamaha NS-10. Every studio wanted them so that the engineer had a familiar-sounding base to work with.

Now in the home studio, PT is not quite the standard for a few reasons. The first of which is that, contrary to popular myth, Pro Tools is not "software" per se, it's an integrated system of hardware and software. That is, you cannot just go out an buy just any hardware A/D interface you want and buy a copy of PT software to run with it. You have to buy the specific hardware and the software comes with it, and there are only a small handful of brands of hardware with which you can do that.

Second is that the full-blow PT hardware/software system as used in the Big Boy studios is not cheap stuff, much of it beyond the budget of your average home wrecker. Now, to counter that, the makers of PT have released economy versions of both the hardware and software that is affordable. But the affordable stuff isn't really any better than many of the third party brands out there, and in some cases some of the cheap hardware is a lot worse.

Third, many home recorders - especially the self-recording amateurs - don't necessarily care about standardization or compatibility with other studios or with the ability to use other studios, so for them they want the most bang for the buck, which for them may be some 3rd party stuff and not necessarily PT.

So, yes, PT is still very much a "standard" in pro studios - though certainly not ubiquitous - but is far from standard in home studios.

G.
 
Interesting stuff! So it sounds like if I already have Pro-tools, I don't necessarily need to think about switching it up? Or are there much better options in terms of "bang for the buck" as others have put it?
 
If you already have pro tools then the best bang for the buck would be to use it and not spend money on something else

HOWEVER... there is a huge difference between Protools LE that comes with an MBox and a Pro Tools HD rig with DSP cards and dedicated hardware and costs about $7k for the entry level package that is "The Industry Standard" as used in many "Pro" recording facilities

If you're talking Pro Tools LE (which would be my guess here) then it may be worth switching as it is heavily crippled in terms of track count, what hardware it'll work with etc etc etc. In this case for $60 Reaper could be worth a look, you'd spend more than that just to unlock the track count in Pro Tools LE

(also I'm glad too see from the poll I'm still the only person in the world using sony ACID, I like to be unique)
 
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