Help picking a main DAW

3

3nigma

New member
I'm down to 3 options. Over the wintertime I'm going to be extensively learning how to create music, messing with things, etc. The question is, which DAW should I devote all of my time into?

1. Cubase SX 3
2. FL Studio 8 XXL
3. Ableton Live 8

Of course, pro-tools would probably go to top priority if I had any access to it, but for now I don't (Until I buy some M-Audio equipment maybe next year). The one I know best so far is FL Studio. I've got a pretty good understanding of it already, I just have to learn some more from tutorials and mess with some minor stuff. But yeah. Opinions? I've heard Cubase is extremely good, and Ableton is amazing as well.

But, I plan on switching from these 3 as well. I know lots of people that rewire things and using them to their preferences, so I might end up doing that, but I still need to really extensively learn one program. Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
if i could make a suggestion, i think you should give acoustica mixcraft a fair try. i use it and absolutely love it.

if it has to be from your list i'd say go with cubase.


just the opinion of one person :D
 
You would think that by the way they run things with protools that it would end up being the betamax to all the other program's VHS approach...you can buy better and less expensive interfaces for almost everything else than protools.

Id think a good mastering house would gear up for many of the other programs to be used too...that would open up protools to that many more people if they had to compete on the same level as everyone else.
 
3nigma said:
I'm down to 3 options. Over the wintertime I'm going to be extensively learning how to create music, messing with things, etc. The question is, which DAW should I devote all of my time into?

1. Cubase SX 3
2. FL Studio 8 XXL
3. Ableton Live 8

Of course, pro-tools would probably go to top priority if I had any access to it, but for now I don't (Until I buy some M-Audio equipment maybe next year). The one I know best so far is FL Studio. I've got a pretty good understanding of it already, I just have to learn some more from tutorials and mess with some minor stuff. But yeah. Opinions? I've heard Cubase is extremely good, and Ableton is amazing as well.

But, I plan on switching from these 3 as well. I know lots of people that rewire things and using them to their preferences, so I might end up doing that, but I still need to really extensively learn one program. Thanks in advance for any replies.
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I understand that you have done your research which has led you to the three you mention. However, you might like also to consider Reaper, which is very powerful but very cheap.

It is difficult for anyone to advise you because:

1 What you choose depends, in part, on what your musical intentions are. All DAWs do pretty much the same thing, but they have strengths in different areas. Without knowing the type of music you want to pursue, it's hard to match the intention with the best application.

2 But even knowing this may not help either. People will express preferences for one DAW or another. That doesn't necessarily mean that one is better than the other. What it means is that either the user has developed a comfortable familiarity with one (which makes the others seem foreign), or the way the application is written suits the way the user thinks about things.
 
gecko zzed said:
1 What you choose depends, in part, on what your musical intentions are. All DAWs do pretty much the same thing, but they have strengths in different areas. Without knowing the type of music you want to pursue, it's hard to match the intention with the best application.

2 But even knowing this may not help either. People will express preferences for one DAW or another. That doesn't necessarily mean that one is better than the other. What it means is that either the user has developed a comfortable familiarity with one (which makes the others seem foreign), or the way the application is written suits the way the user thinks about things.
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This is all true.
I use Cubase 4.5.
I like it as it has a nice sequencer set-up so I can compose step by step.
Plus it integrates with my Yamaha n12 mixer.
 
Kinda strange mix...by including ableton and FL together it would imply that your more beats orientated?

If so ableton is prolly the better tool purely because it offers two for the price of one...the scene view and the more traditional view

The scene view is an excellent way toward getting ideas down and building them into a more coherent track..then flip the screen and you've got a fully functioning audio/midi DAW

I havent really tried FL..I know its cheaper and there are plenty of plugins but does it offer the more traditional DAW or is it solely beats orientated?


That being said Cubase will do the lot...Abelton just takes a different route


Wish Id tried reaper though before I bought Sonar (which is great admittedly)...at that price, $0-50, it seems a no brainer
 
It depends

It depends how much you want to do as said above reaper is cool, but I found it maybe a bit restricting when compared to Cubase SX3 but its only $50? So depends.. but I would recommend cubase to any body for its usability and versatility, second get m-powered protools for quality if you just want to record with not much midi protools is cool...
 
kcearl said:
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I havent really tried FL..I know its cheaper and there are plenty of plugins but does it offer the more traditional DAW or is it solely beats orientated?
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FL is basically useless to me as a DAW.....any beats I make in there get rendered to wav files and exported to Reaper for mixing and recording vocals and or real instruments over top.


Adam
 
Maybe asking the right question might attract people who reflect your style...and then find out what they chose...sound quality isnt an issue since that pretty much depends on what you are using for input converters...you can go a long way with the cheaper stuff...but it will give you less options...

protools is the high end...use it and you can take it to pretty much any studio to be mixed and mastered without any problems and you can take advantage of almost any plugins you want...downside is, you have to pay for it...like Final Cut Pro to video...if you have the means...get it.

I have used Sonar and Abelton Live...both are pretty decent and more interfaces are compatable...including the tascam 16 input one I like the best.
 
gecko zzed said:
However, you might like also to consider Reaper, which is very powerful but very cheap.
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RAMI said:
Another shout for REAPER right here.
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tc4b said:
Reaper. Don't be fooled by the low price, it's for real.
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Thanks for the recommendation. I downloaded the Reaper demo and it looks amazing. Messed around with some automation and recorded some stuff, and I gotta say this looks good. It's faster than Cubase, and it's only 5mb? Wtf?

One problem though. It doesn't seem to be very "mainstream" as far as DAWs go so I don't see any tutorial packs out there. I've got several for FL, AL, and CX3, but I can't find anything but a few flimsy youtube videos for Reaper. Any help on that?
 
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