....hmm..a common question BUT important

C

Chris Buyze

New member
Hey everyone I have quite a common question...
I'm in the market for a good DAW...I'm not a newbie with DAW's but it's been awhile since I sat down and fucked with one. So...any suggestions which one to grab? I took the the FL Studio, Reaper, Audacity, Reason, Cubase etc pathway...and not taking anything away from them buuut I want more/different ?. I use a PC, the main purpose would be me tracking my guitar riffs/songs (I play metal, but have a love for industrial/darkwave)
Then in the future adding base lines, drum lines, maybe a synth layer or 2* and other music layers. I'm liking the interface + DAW combo and would prefer going that direction but not exactly necessary. Price isn't much of an option if I find the one that works for me and it costs $70 or $200 I'll pick it up.
Anyway all suggestions and opinions are welcome, I appreciate and thank all for there help.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "more/different"... It sounds like you would be just fine using just about any of those DAWs you listed, with the exception of Audacity.

Personally, I use Cubase and do just about the same as what you're describing. Track guitars, VST drums (usually), bass, multiple synth layers, and whatever else I can use as a sound source. I've got a project somewhere that I mic'd up a set of heavy forks that ended up sounding a bit like a triangle...point is, Cubase will do all of that. Other side of the Cubase token is that, for what you'll be doing, you most likely won't even begin to scratch the surface of what it's capable of - I only say that because it's true for me after using it since the SX versions of the early 2000's. Obviously, if you go with an interface/DAW combo pack, you'll probably end up with a limited version of the DAW but that doesn't mean that there won't be more than enough features to keep you busy for a while.

All of that to say that many people here tout Reaper as a great DAW program. If it were me, now, I would go the Reaper route and get an inexpensive 2-channel interface to go with it. If you're planning on going with a full version of any DAW software you'll end up saving quite a bit of $$ in the long run with Reaper.

It really all comes down to which GUI and workflow suits you best though. Try a few demos out and go from there.
 
The one place where Reaper is a little weak is in the variety/utility of included instrument plugins. Just about every other DAW comes with a drums and synths and stuff to get you up and running right away. Reaper comes with a lot of great plugs that you can kind of string together to get halfway useful sounds and a perfectly competent sampler, but you have to provide your own sounds, so you really can't do all of what the OP is talking about in Reaper without adding other software.

Course, there's a lot of great free and cheap VSTis out there and I think you could get to about that same basic functionality of most other DAWs without actually spending any more money, but it does take a bit of searching and third party installation.

Then, like I said, the tools are all there. There's some weird and wonderful stuff amongst the JS plugins, and if you look at it more like a modular synth, you can do all kinds of cool things. If you're super nerdy (like me), you can modify or write your own JS plugs. I understand that kind of thing isn't for everybody or every situation.
 
It looks like you have a pretty good setup already, but if you want a different DAW, you can never go wrong with Pro Tools. I would also suggest Ableton Live, but if you're looking for something for around $200 it might be out of your price range. However, if you're looking for something cheaper, you might want to take a look at Studio One from PreSonus. It's cheaper than most of them out there, and the workflow is excellent.

I hope that helps.
 
Give Samplitude Pro X a do.

V expensive but if you like the demo there is Sam ProX Silver for free. Limited to 8 tracks but that should be enough for a one man band?

Dave.
 
I'm not even sure what I meant when I said something more/different...I guess i want to be surprised? One DAW that does everything! Drumline/base line/vocals/synth layers/recording/mixing etc, ALL in one?...maybe =/ I'll reply to some of your comments

Scifiwriter4 - i was actually looking at Studio One from PreSonus, I'm digging the audio interface it comes with. But after reading a bunch of user reviews they all said the samething, easily over loaded preamps and constant clipping regardless of audio levels, So that made me second guess my decision.

ecc83 - samplitude pro x eh?...alright sweet I'll look into it.

Out of all the ones we all mentioned i know my choice probably lies somewhere in there lol. It's good to get suggestions from others who know more about this shit so, I appreciate everyone's comment and keep'em coming if you got anything else ?

ONE more thing I've had my eye on...does anyone have any experience with the Line 6 Sonic Port VX? I don't care about it being so compact and mobile but seems like it could be a good fit for me...
 
Reaper will do everything, but does not COME with the VSTi's I think you are talking about - but there are tons of free ones available.

The L6 device - if you want an interface/microphone combo, it's the only one I know about (other than stand-alone recorders like the Zoom H series that also function as interfaces). I haven't heard of anyone actually using one, though. Looking at the design, it looks like getting it in the right position for recording would be a PITA (maybe there's an attachment to put it on a mic stand?)
 
Can't find it now, but saw a chart the other day and I believe the line 6 had a long(the longest of the group tested) round trip latency.
 
Ya I'd like interface/microphone combination cuz at some point in time I'd like to add vocals to my joints. Maybe not ME singing but someone else haha.
Focusrite has 3 interfaces I'm looking at, just hard to finally pick one ugh
 
Most DAWs are good...some specialise more in live audio and some are biased towards MIDI with some in the middle.

For the me biggest thing is always the User Interface. It's always amazing that with some I just "click" and others seem to fight me at every stage. What suits me might not suit you so any and all advice is to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Most DAWs offer some form of free trial of some sort. I'd suggest you download a bunch and see which you feel at home with and which just don't work for you.
 
threeheavens said:
Can't find it now, but saw a chart the other day and I believe the line 6 had a long(the longest of the group tested) round trip latency.
Click to expand...

That would be most odd if true! I have never tried the Line 6 gear but it has been around a long time and mentioned in several forums. Never have I read of the latency being high and since the whole point of the hardware is to enable real time guitar processing I would think low latency would be a a paramount design objective?

I infest a mainly guitar centred forum and will ask there.

Dave.
 
Chris Buyze said:
Ya I'd like interface/microphone combination cuz at some point in time I'd like to add vocals to my joints. Maybe not ME singing but someone else haha.
Focusrite has 3 interfaces I'm looking at, just hard to finally pick one ugh
Click to expand...
I'd think you'd have to look harder and maybe spend more for an interface that has only line inputs without at least a mic pre or two, but really most modern dynamic mics don't really need a preamp. Plugging into a decent line input - especially if you maintain the balanced connection with a XLR>TRS cable - is often good enough to get the signal into the computer where you have all the clean, flat gain you could ever want. Unless there's something really wrong with the interface, it's usually true (esecially in home recording) that the room noise will swamp any electronic noise floor, so S/N isn't really compromised. 57s and 58s are really weak mics, and I try to avoid them when I have other options, but even they usually work without gain.
 
I don't know which other DAWs were lumped under "etc.," but a few that you didn't mention and that haven't already been mentioned by other people are Acoustica Mixcraft, Bitwig, PreSonus Studio One, and Tracktion.

Of those, I really like Mixcraft because of how simple it is to use, how well it works with just about any plug-in (including both 32-bit and 64-bit), and the fact that it has a performance panel (clip launcher) like Ableton Live. Note that I'm referring to version 7, since version 6 wasn't 64-bit and didn't have the performance panel. My only two gripes about it are that it doesn't do SysEx yet (someone said they were told that's coming in version 8, but I don't know if that's true), and also that (as far as I know) you can't create or import a patch list for your keyboards (if you play keyboards) as is possible in some other DAWs.

Bitwig is another DAW that has a clip-launching feature similar to Ableton Live, but I haven't played around with it yet.

As for PreSonus Studio One, one thing I like about it are that when you assign an external keyboard to the MIDI Out of a track, it has a window of graphical controllers that you can pop up for changing the various CC settings.

I'm new to Tracktion, and haven't had time to really play with it yet, but I'm looking forward to testing it out thoroughly after things settle down again.
 
threeheavens said:
This is made by a member of homerecording. It isn't the exact same interface but should give you an idea of how line 6 performs Round Trip Latency Roundup

@Dave-Thanks for motivating me
Click to expand...

Tis as I suspected. The Line 6 gear does not have a latency problem in the vast majority of cases. I have have 1/2 doz, very quick responses from peeps at "the fretboard.com" and they all agree. NO latency problem.

Dave.
 
The threshold for human perception is around 5ms. For me I'm happy with 10ms or less. The only point I was trying to make is it might be something to consider if you play very fast.
 
presonus audio box bundle.. mic,hp.studio one artist3,cables and very easy workflow with tons of extras. under 200 dollars
 
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