Lesser expensive DAW Recommendation

manatthewell

New member
I was doing home recording several years back creating instrumental backgrounds to my original music utilizing a Roland Fantom keyboard and Roland 800(?) recorder. I want to get back into recording utilizing a computer and software that will have a fairly easy learning curve, decent instrument samples and looping (particularly drum loops) and some mastering capability at a lower end price. Is that too much to ask for? Please advise and give me your recommendations. Specifically what are your thoughts on Mixcraft and Audacity. I'd like to purchase soon. Thanks
 
Less expensive daw? Its a no brainer. Reaper. About 60 bucks, extended trial period, full featured. You can do 'records' with it.
Yeah, you gotta learn it, but there's an in depth manual (almost 400 pgs), a support forum, and the reaper TV youtube channel.
It don't get better than that.
:D
 
Mixcraft? I would say throw that one out of your choices.

Reaper cheap. Some love it. Some need more than it can do. You need to trial software and find what 'feels' good to you. Then there is your budget. Not necessarily that you get what you pay for, but your personal needs may demand paying for the things you need. You will not know until you know... Sounds stupid but it is totally the truth.
 
I'm not exactly sure the term DAW is even useful any longer. So many variations of what these things do. Nobody, oddly, seems to have compared features in a big grid. With so many features in each of them now - the list would be HUGE. For instance - my absolute Essentials, MIDI and the ability to run video tracks is missing from some - but that doesn't;t make them bad to people who don't need them. On the machines here that do audio, I use two versions of Cubase, Audacity, Audition and Sound Forge because they all do similar but different things.
 
I think a lot of features can't be compared on a yes or no basis. Reaper has "folders" that are sort of like control groups and mix groups. But what matters is if the weird way some DAW does a common task fits with how you think.
 
I'm happy with "Cakewalk by Bandlab" formally Sonar Platinum...it's free with plenty of on-line help
 
For the loops maybe Fruityloops? (FL Studio) I used it many years ago. For samples I think any new midi keyboards comes with some as bundle if not there are plenty out there in all prices from free to hundreds of dollars. Depend what kind of sounds you're looking for? Keyboard sounds? Orchestra sounds? etc.

KORG Collection for Mac/Win - SOFTWARE INSTRUMENTS | KORG (USA)


Garritan - World-Class Virtual Instruments & Sound Libraries

The easiest DAW to learn for me it was cool edit pro but it's old and limited compare to what others can do now. I switched to Reaper which is really cheap but it took me some time (more than cool edit) to master it enough to do what I wanted.
 
Hi. Cakewalk by BandLab is a fully grown DAW with lots of options and is now free.
I highly recommend it.
REAPER is also very capable of doing all you want but has a steeper learning curve (IMO).
Studio One has a free version called "Prime" and is also fully capable of doing the basics.
And though I haven't used this version, I do use Studio One 4 Pro most of the time.
All the best.
 
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Reaper is great and does a lot of things that other DAWs can't. I won't use anything else anymore, and it is my suggestion here also, but...

...It comes with pretty much no useful instruments, samples, grooves, or anything like that. You can't just install it and start banging together midi arrangements. You have to go find those things - specifically like VSTis and groove libraries if that's what you're looking for. I think it's a good thing in that you're not paying for a bunch of stuff that somebody else thought you'd find useful but might not actually meet your needs. You pay almost nothing, spend the money you saved on a couple important pieces (EZDrummer is my first suggestion), and take your pick of all of the incredible free instruments that are just a goodle search away.

It might be disappointing, though, to somebody like the OP who expects the DAW to just have all that, then everybody says "Reaper!", then they install it and can't actually do anything.

So, to the OP, I'm sorry if you had that experience. Somebody should have warned you. This thread on the Reaper forum has a wealth of links and recommendations that can get you set up pretty well pretty quick and for free, as long as you have a basic idea what your looking for.
 
I'm no expert, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt...

I use Reaper, Mixcraft, and Studio One. Of the three, I enjoy using Mixcraft the most. Most of the tasks are very easily laid out and I don't have to dig deep into a 500 page manual to figure it out. Simple things like being able to grab the end of a drum loop and just drag it to the length you want, etc. are so much easier in Mixcraft. In Studio One, you have to copy and paste, copy and paste, copy and paste until you get the length you want.

I have Mixcraft 8 Pro and it's a little more expensive than the basic version. I'm not sure what the actual differences are between the two.

I think Reaper and Studio One are great DAWS and much more suitable to people who have more experience in DAWS and in the steps that most require to achieve specific tasks. I see Mixcraft as a very useful solution, but maybe not as in-depth as some of the others.
 
I'm no expert, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt...

I use Reaper, Mixcraft, and Studio One. Of the three, I enjoy using Mixcraft the most. Most of the tasks are very easily laid out and I don't have to dig deep into a 500 page manual to figure it out. Simple things like being able to grab the end of a drum loop and just drag it to the length you want, etc. are so much easier in Mixcraft. In Studio One, you have to copy and paste, copy and paste, copy and paste until you get the length you want.

I have Mixcraft 8 Pro and it's a little more expensive than the basic version. I'm not sure what the actual differences are between the two.

I think Reaper and Studio One are great DAWS and much more suitable to people who have more experience in DAWS and in the steps that most require to achieve specific tasks. I see Mixcraft as a very useful solution, but maybe not as in-depth as some of the others.
Yeah, software is key. I'm wondering what hardware I'd need.
 
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