ShofB
Sometimes here...
I can tell you that you are way under budget for the computer. Forget the DAW until you have something to run it on. A $600 laptop isn't going to cut it for long.
I can tell you that you are way under budget for the computer. Forget the DAW until you have something to run it on. A $600 laptop isn't going to cut it for long.
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Philx123
New member
Another vote for Reaper. I used to use Magix Music Studio and recently downloaded the 2013 trial to reaquaint myself. I like it still, but I'm used to its layout and functionality. But that said, had some real problems with Latency. Also, no virtual keyboard for plugins, which is a pain. Tried Reaper demo, and once I got my head aound it, found it just as good, if not better. Zero latency (even using ASIO4all, same as the ones I loaded into Magix), and a virtual keyboard. Absolutely excellent. Give it a go. Well worth it.
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namnibor
New member
Wanted to emphasize how much truth is in ShofB's comment above! Reaper is actually really light as far as any CPU load and perhaps could get by on laptop in that price range. *However*, cannot tell you how many people post problems on various great Forums when a person expects to not have any problems running a DAW on laptop or pc tower while surfing internet, Skype, playing games, et al! When you can get money together, having a separate PC/Mac that is dedicated duties for your DAW is some of the best advice given to me and implemented. Purchasing great monitors and building your home recording set-up from the monitors-->dedicated computer/DAW-->Audio Interface; has been best advice shared by some seasoned pros and cannot emphasize enough how important said computer should not only have fast processor, but also two 7200 rpm hard drives or conversely prices of solid state drives are coming down; one fast hard drive for O.S. and DAW and other for recording to and is pragmatic to even have an external SSD or 7200rpm HD to back all projects up. The price of RAM has fallen considerable and your average laptop is not going to have in your price range memory in minimum speed of 1600, let alone 12GB to 16GB (Windows 7 allows even higher RAM). Nothing is "future-proof" but you certainly can plan accordingly and have at least double the RAM required under system requirements for your DAW and third party or otherwise plug-ins, several USB 2, USB 3, (even eSATA is pretty useful and fast for external drives).
Your laptop budget is realistically what a really good Audio Interface can cost you and that's not even brand 'RME', but you need to determine on say a signal flow-chart on paper to determine how many inputs/outputs you will need then if you can swing it, add 2 or 4 beyond your projections as far as inputs and determine if your need to have Firewire connection on your computer or if you just plan on using USB 2 for your Audio Interface.
Way too many people have learned the hard and expensive way by working in reverse and if you get the computer and Audio Interface right as well as proper monitor speakers, THEN save from Pro Tools, you will have no problems with great DAW, whichever you choose. A great analogy is knowing you need to buy a truck to tow a horse trailer, but only purchase a truck with limited budget that realistically will only tow a row boat! Save your money and plan accordingly through a lot of research to know you will not have 'bottlenecks' in a thriftily put together set-up so you are not having to keep re-purchasing had you not did it accordingly to your needs--and this is not 'style of music specific'. It's kind of like the often futile posts of people asking "Will this (fill in brand) of synth (or device) be good for (fill in blank) style of music?" Your talent, abilities, and imagination can make any guitar or synth perform ANY genre of music.
You could easily use Reaper more than likely on what you possibly have NOW, while saving your money to purchase a great set-up. Remember, a slower hard drive and minimal RAM and mediocre CPU is going to limit you even in vst instruments in number of tracks you can build-up, play, and record at same time.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Did you just blatantly spew out of your mouth some random crap, cuz you have no clue? Yep, I will discount this for any new members who may take this as fact.
Stay in school, learn to spell, and don't believe everything you read....
@ Redlad:
Please try not to be so judgmental when giving advice to those who are looking for good advice. I am sure you were trying to help, but you only gave an opinionated recommendation, based upon your obvious limited knowledge of other options.
There is no 'right' DAW for everyone. That is why there is a market for multiple platforms. To tell someone what is right/wrong, is almost a racist type of comment. Only the user can decide for him/her self, by trying demos of each. We can give direction, as to which DAW may be best suited to a particular genre, but to discount software, that of which you have no clue, as to how it performs, is just bad advice.
Please keep your opinions limited to your actual experience. THX.
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Redlad_
New member
Did you just blatantly spew out of your mouth some random crap, cuz you have no clue? Yep, I will discount this for any new members who may take this as fact.
Stay in school, learn to spell, and don't believe everything you read....
@ Redlad:
Please try not to be so judgmental when giving advice to those who are looking for good advice. I am sure you were trying to help, but you only gave an opinionated recommendation, based upon your obvious limited knowledge of other options.
There is no 'right' DAW for everyone. That is why there is a market for multiple platforms. To tell someone what is right/wrong, is almost a racist type of comment. Only the user can decide for him/her self, by trying demos of each. We can give direction, as to which DAW may be best suited to a particular genre, but to discount software, that of which you have no clue, as to how it performs, is just bad advice.
Please keep your opinions limited to your actual experience. THX.
i never sad there was.....
And as a matter of fact I have all f these packages and have studied them in college. So yeah i have all the facts relating to what i said
I also have the highest sound engineering qualifications,
If you are going to say i have no clue then at least be constructive in your cryticism, otherwise you are the one looking like they have no clue.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
i never sad there was.....
And as a matter of fact I have all f these packages and have studied them in college. So yeah i have all the facts relating to what i said
I also have the highest sound engineering qualifications,
If you are going to say i have no clue then at least be constructive in your cryticism, otherwise you are the one looking like they have no clue.
I will just do the respectful thing here, and let you be the winner, as obviously you know everything. Good luck to you. Just try to be less arrogant in your opinions k?
I didn't mean to judge your experience man. I just had issue with your giving personal opinion, that might give false facts to someone who has not yet had the chance to build one of their own.
None of the devoted members here, would ever say 'That Sucks', because that would be counter productive. Direction by advice, not judgment by familiarity.
Oh, and you should probably look into your grammar and typing skills, because you failed this class, and it could possibly be perceived as someone who does not care enough to speak clearly, while trying to prove a point. Just sayin...
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Redlad_
New member
what grammar
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
i never sad there was.....
And as a matter of fact I have all f these packages and have studied them in college. So yeah i have all the facts relating to what i said
I also have the highest sound engineering qualifications,
If you are going to say i have no clue then at least be constructive in your cryticism, otherwise you are the one looking like they have no clue.
If you studied different DAW packages at school then surely you should also realise that there is no single "best" option. They all...including Ableton...have different strengths and weaknesses. Ableton/Ableton Live has very useful features for use in live and semi live situations but that doesn't make it best for somebody with lots of MIDI keyboards in a small home studio, especially when you start to consider budget.
Oh, and I just visited the Ableton web page and notice that they're pushing their version 9 because it has convolution reverb. Good for them...except the DAW I use most has had convolution reverb for the past 4 or 5 versions and around ten years. Guess they managed some development while sitting on their throne, eh? Note that this is NOT me suggesting Audition is "best". In fact, earlier in this thread I gave reasons why it might NOT suit the OP as much as it suits me.
So...what are the "highest sound engineering qualifications" that you have and from what university? I do suggest a bit of caution on such claims--you'll find that the HR forum includes quite a few people with excellent engineering qualifications plus a lot of experience on top of their degrees.
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
Well, for example, the above should probably have been written as:
Unless you wanted to express curiosity in which case it could have been:
Or perhaps you wanted to congratulate Jimmy69's excellent grammar in which case this might be appropriate:
Sorry, just having fun!
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Redlad_
New member
i never said there was a best option. This forum is: "Please suggest a DAW software for a beginner" not "what is the best DAW", so they are suggestions.
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
Well, you may not have used the word "best" but when you said:
...the implication that none of the other DAWs have done any development in the past ten years can certainly interpreted as a belief that Ableton is the best.
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Redlad_
New member
there is nothing that any other daw does that you cant do in ableton. thats true
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
Nothing?
Please send me a screen grab of your Spectral Frequency Editing facilities. In Audition, I can go to a spectral frequency display, draw a freehand box around any sound that is unwanted, press a button and eliminate the unwanted, filling the gap with surrounding sounds. I recently helped somebody with a wedding video marred when a passing ambulance siren messed up the vows.
Now, again I'm not pushing Audition--it would be the wrong choice for the OP. However, I happen to know it well and know that Ableton can't do everything I can do. At the same time, Audition is useless as a sequencer which is a strength for Ableton.
So...making claims that there is
is just plain wrong. All the DAWs I know have different strengths and weaknesses...and that includes Ableton.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Redlad, you just been served. Dance off Tuesday at the rec center! lol
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LouMian
New member
I am a newbie at this but from what I have learned so far, I would say if you are serious about learning these stuff and will be buying a laptop too, go with Mac. It is better built to run these type of things, more compatible and more user friendly (once you get use to it). Anything that is creative/artistic, Mac is the way. I would also go with Logic. If you have done Garage Band, Logic would probably be easier to learn and it's a pretty awesome DAW. Pretty competitive with Pro Tools and other standards of the field. Good luck!
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LouMian
New member
I support this suggestion too. I recently started learning Reason, and I fell in love with it. Agreed, Reason its awesome and I can't wait to get it myself! I found it very user friendly and intuitive too. The possibilities are endless with Reason. If you want to make music, this is definitely a good program for it, and Reason 7 from what I heard will now have Audio capabilities as well, which will make it more competitive with the other programs often used for this. But definitely as they said before, get a good laptop that can run whatever program you choose. It's the single most important thing. Your computer needs to support it. The most affordable, yet best option (if you are going the Mac way, which is mostly recommended) is the MacBook Pro OS X starting at about $1,500 when I purchased it last yr. I'm in love with Mac, so intuitive as well. Gather all these opinions/suggestions, get more information, balance everything out and then make a decision. Don't rush into anything, these are big investments, it's not cheap to do these stuff. Good luck again!
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
I get the feeling you are in love with Mac no?
"I am a newbie at this but from what I have learned so far, I would say if you are serious about learning these stuff and will be buying a laptop too, go with Mac. It is better built to run these type of things, more compatible and more user friendly (once you get use to it)."
More compatible with what?
You state that you are a newbie to this, yet you make a recommendation as to what is best for something you know not much about? Sorry, but that is not cool. Please have a basis for making a suggestion, before posting it to others, who may have even less experience to form opinions from.
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gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
You really think so?
People will express their preferences for using one application over an other, and have very good reasons for doing so.
But their credibility is seriously called into question when they make outrageously untrue statements such as "all the others have been sitting on their thrones doing nothing for the last 10 years".