Recommendations for Mac Recording/Mixing Software

S

Spillenger

New member
I am a Mac user (a recent convert) who uses the computer mainly for editing video with Final Cut Pro 5. I’m also a musician who, prior to converting to Mac, happily used Sonar 4 Studio for recording and mixing music. I have enjoyed playing around with Garage Band 3, but I can already feel its limitations. I am not that interested in MIDI sequencing. I am mostly interested in recording acoustic and electric instruments (real audio) with a multitrack recording program. I do like the idea of being able to use instrument samples and maybe even percussion loops to supplement the instruments I actually know how to play. I probably don’t need to be able to record more than 4 tracks at a time, since I’m mostly recording alone at this point, and how many instruments can I really play at once?!

Given these considerations, what is the best software recording/mixing/mastering program I can get for the Mac? I’ve played around with Cubase LE, which came with my audio interface, the Presonus Firebox, and I liked the interface, but I can tell this version is pretty limited in what it can do. I’ve looked at Logic Express, since it’s an Apple product, and I figured it would interface nicely with other Apple programs, should that prove desirable, but it seems to be made mainly for MIDI lovers, and the interface is pretty SCARY.

If I went with Cubase, what would be the main considerations in choosing among SX3, SE3 and SL3?

Keeping in mind that I’m not an engineer, but a musician who is willing to learn the basics, what are my options for a program that’s made more for actual audio than MIDI, but which has some basic capacity for MIDI should I want to play with that later? (If Sonar worked on a Mac, I’d probably go with that.)

My system: Power Mac G5 Quad w/4gb RAM. Presonus Firebox. Mackie 8-channel mixer.

Thanks a lot!

Paul S.
 
Im using Logic Pro 7.1 and although it is not as intuitive as Sonar, it comes with lots of useful plugins !

Once you get your head round it, it is not bad.
 
i've used logic before and althought i feel it is a very powerful program, it is just too complicated for my patience!

i'm using protools right now and am very happy with it. i find it is fairly intuitive, and find the interface user-friendly. i've used cubase sx3 before and prefer PT. PT 7 is now better quiped for handling midi than any of the previous version.

thats my experience..take it for what it is :)

MD
 
You should maybe take a Look at "Mackie Traction 2.0" which is a Very Powerfull program but it has an Interface that is very easy to use especially if you are used to analogue Recording as the Interface is Made for Musicians to understand and not for Computer Geeks.....

I figured the Program out Very quickly and within about 10 minutes of useing it I was Recording....It will let you record from as Many Inputs that you have available and can even record from multiple cards at the Same Time.....

Cheers
 
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