Noob DAW choice for Zoom H6

JohnnyCrisis

New member
I have very limited digital recording and DAW experience (messed around with ableton in the past but found it dumbfounding). I just picked up a zoom H6 to record my rock band (I'll be multi-tracking), my plan is to record in my basement and then import the tracks later into the DAW on my desktop. I'm looking for suggestions for which DAW to use?

I'm trying to keep costs minimal to start... a product code for cubase LE came with the H6, I've heard reaper is inexpensive, and I believe audacity is free... those are the three I'm considering at the moment, but open to further suggestions.

For practical reasons I'd like to make an educated decision on what program to start on so I don't have to relearn too many things. And trying all of them might be burdensome on my desktop. Anyway, I'm sure all of you were in my shoes at one point so just looking for some opinions. thanks
 
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I have very limited digital recording and DAW experience (messed around with ableton in the past but found it dumbfounding). I just picked up a zoom H6 to record my rock band (I'll be multi-tracking). I'm looking for suggestions for which DAW to use?

I'm trying to keep costs minimal to start... a product code for cubase LE came with the H6, I've heard reaper is inexpensive, and I believe audacity is free... those are the three I'm considering at the moment, but open to further suggestions.

For practical reasons I'd like to make an educated decision on what program to start on so I don't have to relearn too many things. And trying all of them might be burdensome on my desktop. Anyway, I'm sure all of you were in my shoes at one point so just looking for some opinions. thanks

sonar is free too and would be better for multitracks. audacity is plenty good enough for just two but more takes extra work.
reaper has some bad comments on the web. so do check reviews of all before you choose. cubase should be okay since zoom included it, but i am not that familiar with it .
 
sonar is free too and would be better for multitracks. audacity is plenty good enough for just two but more takes extra work.
reaper has some bad comments on the web. so do check reviews of all before you choose. cubase should be okay since zoom included it, but i am not that familiar with it .

Thanks. As an update I think I'm going to go with either Reaper or Cubase LE if any one could compare the two or offer any insights for a noob.
 
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I chose Reaper over Cubase LE ultimately. Reaper is free to try. You can download it and work with it to see which one you like better. I actually have both Cubase LE and Reaper on my laptop but for my main desktop machine, I went with Reaper.

Sonar is now Cakewalk by Bandlab and its now free.
 
I've got GarageBand on this Mac, and always treated it as a rather clever, but rather basic system - it doesn't seem to have hardly any of the features of Cubase, my preference?
 
I've got GarageBand on this Mac, and always treated it as a rather clever, but rather basic system - it doesn't seem to have hardly any of the features of Cubase, my preference?

You’re right, it doesn’t. But OP said he doesn’t want something with a high learning curve and I suspect GarageBand will do what he wants.

It has all the effects he needs (compression, EQ, reverb, etc.) and I’m pretty sure it can use plugins now. That DAW will be the easiest as far as learning goes. If he wants to upgrade after learning the basics, he can certainly do so.
 
Cubase LE is free. You've got the license, download it and try it. Reaper is about $60usd. I have been using cubase for years. There is a learning curve. They all have learning curves. I tried Reaper and it is just as good. I didn't like it only because I had to struggle to learn a different user interface. Not that reaper isn't good, it is and great for the price.

That's why companies like Steinberg (maker of Cubase) throw lite versions of their DAWs in with interfaces for free. Once you get started with one type of DAW, you are reluctant to learn a new one. Had I first started out with something else, like Reaper, I would have been using it all the time. My first interface came with Cubase and I stuck with it.

Don't use Audacity as a DAW. It's more of an audio editor.
 
Cubase LE is free. You've got the license, download it and try it. Reaper is about $60usd. I have been using cubase for years. There is a learning curve. They all have learning curves. I tried Reaper and it is just as good. I didn't like it only because I had to struggle to learn a different user interface. Not that reaper isn't good, it is and great for the price.

That's why companies like Steinberg (maker of Cubase) throw lite versions of their DAWs in with interfaces for free. Once you get started with one type of DAW, you are reluctant to learn a new one. Had I first started out with something else, like Reaper, I would have been using it all the time. My first interface came with Cubase and I stuck with it.

Don't use Audacity as a DAW. It's more of an audio editor.

you can record and edit and export and more
it has filters , measurement tools, and f/x and you can write your own with it

what do you think a real DAW has to be able to do to be called a DAW?
 
Record more than two channels at a time and take advantage of ASIO drivers. VSTi and softsynth support. MIDI. Stuff like that.

That is certainly desirable for a high end DAW but how does that make audacity not a DAW ?

And cant you get some of that support for audacity through 3rd party software add ons.
 
That is certainly desirable for a high end DAW but how does that make audacity not a DAW ?

And cant you get some of that support for audacity through 3rd party software add ons.

I'm not really interested in debating the merits of Audacity. Thanks.
 
I'm not really interested in debating the merits of Audacity. Thanks.

I am not debating anything. Just questioning your apparent bias.

You do not have to like audacity.
But you need a logical reason to refuse to call it a DAW even if it is more lightweight than protools or whatever.
 
??? :confused:

I don't need anything, thank you very much. And I don't refuse to call it a DAW. Go back and read what I said. You're the one using terms like "real DAW" and "high end DAW". I just said it is more of an audio editor, which it is. Call it a DAW if you want.

In context with the OP's questions; He has a free license to use Cubase, I recommend that he give it a try.
 
But you need a logical reason to refuse to call it a DAW even if it is more lightweight than protools or whatever.


Chili didn't 'refuse to call it a DAW'. Chili suggested not to use Audacity as a DAW because it was more like an audio editor.

I would suggest exactly the same. Applications such as Cubase, Protools, Sonar, Logic & Reaper are written specifically for comprehensive multi-track, multi-function studio work. I use Vegas for video work, but it too could be used as a DAW. But it would not be as effective in that role as the applications I mentioned. So if anyone has aspirations for involved and complex recording, they are better off picking the tool best suited to the purpose, rather than one that can be made to work.
 
Have to agree - Audacity is a fine free audio editor, but a ‘DAW’ only if you are bizarrely insistent on using it that way.

There are, after all, free as in beer actual DAW alternatives...
 
I have Audacity, I use is just like most others here, I convert audio, edit sounds (I can do that with my DAW, just Audacity does this sort of thing very well), but it lacks ASIO support, it is clunky for mixing multi tracks, and over all isn't well suited for recording a complete song.

Once again, as stated before, when you have used a tool for the purpose intended, hard to use a tool that is not its primary intention. Like using a screwdriver for a chisel. Yes, it works, but a chisel is usually better.
 
I have very limited digital recording and DAW experience (messed around with ableton in the past but found it dumbfounding). I just picked up a zoom H6 to record my rock band (I'll be multi-tracking), my plan is to record in my basement and then import the tracks later into the DAW on my desktop. I'm looking for suggestions for which DAW to use?

I'm trying to keep costs minimal to start... a product code for cubase LE came with the H6, I've heard reaper is inexpensive, and I believe audacity is free... those are the three I'm considering at the moment, but open to further suggestions.

For practical reasons I'd like to make an educated decision on what program to start on so I don't have to relearn too many things. And trying all of them might be burdensome on my desktop. Anyway, I'm sure all of you were in my shoes at one point so just looking for some opinions. thanks
So, I used an H6 for probably 6 years as essentially a field recorder with the XLR extension (EHX6), and you are still limited to 6 channels. It is not well-designed for multi-track recording in the sense of adding tracks later to combine with existing tracks like a standalone digital recorder is, i.e., you are limited to 6 tracks, regardless of whether you record them at the same time or later, so a full band is a little hard to do unless you send some submix in via the line inputs, or it's a small band and you limit the amount of mics on the drum kit. Maybe 1 mic on vocals, 1 each on guitar and bass, and 3 on drums, something like that. (And that would require the EHX6 add-on.)

I'm not going to weigh in on the DAW choice (Mac user here), save to make the majority comment that Audacity is not what I would recommend, though I too use it occasionally for quick edits and other utility tasks. Just try the DAWs you have access to and decide based on which [workflow] makes more sense to you.
 
I was always fairly computer / software savvy.........and yet.....when trying out DAWS for the first time......after using stand-alones.........it was Reaper that made the most sense to me and became my DAW. Everyone will have some sort of opinion about what DAW to use........and most of them will deliver what you need. Audacity is.......by most standards......not as fully functioned or flexible as other's.......and that's the problem. As others have mentioned........what you DON'T want to have to do is begin with one DAW and move to another somewhere in time. That would be beyond annoying.
 
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