Looking for best recording software

[HardWorkinSteve]

Hey, I'm a guitarist whos new to the world of recording... I've been researching tirelessly for the past week on what the best software to get is and I've narrowed down my choices between Sonar and Cubase. I've obtained a demo of Sonar and can see myself using it but I have no means of trying out Cubase, though it seems to be Sonar's main competitor. Which one do you guys think is the best for music sequencing / recording?

 

[scrubs]

Just pick one and learn it. They are very similar in functionality. Some folks prefer the layout of one over another, but there is no clear concensus on which is "better." I'm a Cubase guy, and I like it alot. Others prefer Sonar, or ProTools, or N-Track, or Reaper, or Vegas, and on and on.

 

[studiomaster]

Check out the demos of the most popular recording softwares and see which one works best for you and what you are trying to accomplish.

 

[fraserhutch]

And don't forget to ask Big Ray for his opinion, and unfortunately Manning1 isn't here anymore, or you could ask for his.

 

[aaroncomp]

Actually, Audition 2.0 is the best there is... 'cause I said so. Actually, I use it, I like it. Does everything I need (which is just about everything except MIDI sequencing).

 

[Monkey Allen]

For what it's worth, I think Guitar Tracks Pro 3 is the best recording software.

 

[flamin-gitaur]

There obviously are many options to choose from, but from a users prospective, are you going to just be recording yourself, full bands, midi sequencing, loops, etc. Most softwares are capable of doing just about everything you can throw at it, but some do certain things better than others. I think the biggest difference is going to be "workflow". Some hosts are very cluttered and complicated and there are some that are straight forward. For me, the easier something is to use, the more productive I will be using it. It sucks when you got a killer idea that is interrupted because complicated functionality. To me it just seems to defeat the purpose. But whatever host you decide to go with, as long as you stick with it and learn how to use it fluently, you otta be good to go.

 

[HardWorkinSteve]

I'm planning on using midi sequencing and having electric guitar and bass accompany it. I've narrowed the choices down to Sonar or Cubase... I'd be suprised if something else catches my eye.

 

[altitude909]

Tracktion would be another one to check out for midi and audio.

 

[OhSh1rt]

As everyone said, all a matter of choice, Personaly I like ProTools, but I never deal with MIDI, ever, and its logical to use, I used Cubase for a second and could not understand the routing for sound inputs, ProTools makes sense to me, but thats me.


-jeffrey

 

[JeffLancaster]

I'm planning on using midi sequencing and having electric guitar and bass accompany it. I've narrowed the choices down to Sonar or Cubase... I'd be suprised if something else catches my eye.

Sonar has a reputation as one of the best daw programs for handling midi. I use it for both midi and audio recording and am very satisfied. I've been through several upgrades and am now at version 4 Studio edition - hope to upgrade to ver. 5 Producer edition soon. I have not used Cubase so can't comment on how they compare, but for your purposes it sounds like Sonar would work fine, and once you start using it you won't care how it compares to the others anymore because you'll find it does everything you need it to.

 

[HardWorkinSteve]

the only thing making me reluctant about Sonar is the horrible reviews it gets on amazon. Everywhere else it seems to be praised, though.

 

[JeffLancaster]

the only thing making me reluctant about Sonar is the horrible reviews it gets on amazon. Everywhere else it seems to be praised, though.

You know, while Amazon might be a good place to look for user reviews on something like a mystery novel, I don't think I'd use it as a place to look for reviews on high end DAW software. Just a guess, but I would imagine the kinds of people who really put these programs to hard use are not going to bother putting up a review on Amazon - I'd be a lot more apt to trust the opinions on a forum such as this, where the real power users hang out.

As a case in point, I recently read a review on Amazon for a 119 dollar "electric guitar pack", which came complete with an amp, strap and a pick. The reviewer gave it five stars for it's excellent sound and quality. Do you suppose you'd get that same review if you asked about it here in the guitar forum?

 

[fraserhutch]

the only thing making me reluctant about Sonar is the horrible reviews it gets on amazon. Everywhere else it seems to be praised, though.

Yeah, Amazon - the hotbed of recording pros. I don't blame you.

 

[flamin-gitaur]

Tracktion would be another one to check out for midi and audio.

Thats what I use! It's a killer program IMO

 

[Minion]

I second the Vote for "Mackie Traction", For me it is the easiest and most Intuitive recording Program I have ever Tried.....

I was able to Figure it out to the Point of arming several Tracks for recording in just a couple minutes were with Programs Like Sonar and Cubace I couldn"t do anything with them even after several days of Trying to figure them out.....

Traction is set up very simular to an Analogue Recording set up so it is very easy to use especially if you are new to computer recording, Pluss it is not very expensive compared to some other Recording Programs.....


Cheers

 

[pipelineaudio]

Ive made the switch to reaper from 7 years of vegas...hard to leave home, but its just too compelling

 

[jkokura]

I use Cubase right now, and I'm eventually going to try a demo for ProTools M-Powered...but I love Cubase. The basic's have been easy to learn, but I've recently watched a series of Educational video on Cubase and it's been unbelievable how much I learned. It's a deep program, very powerful, and probably much more than capable of doing all the things you're wanting to do.

Jacob

 

[HardWorkinSteve]

yeah, looking back on it, it does seem pretty ridiculous that I was giving random amazon users any credibility, especially ones who professed to be new to recording.

 

[djchris73]

Hardworkingsteve,
I started about five years ago with Cubasis (baby Cubase) it came with my old Tascam US-428, it worked great. A friend about four and a half years ago converted me to Sonar. I still use Sonar 2.2. I went to recording engineering school. The studio there uses ProTools TDM. Final analysis. All three work great.
Cool thing about M-Audio Delta 1010 interface is that it works for both M-Powered ProTools and Sonar. If you are not going to use soft-synths or a lot of plugins get Sonar Studio and not Sonar Producer. It is cheaper because it doesn't have all of the Plugins and soft synths, but the actual recording software are exactly the same. Or if you have to work with snobs who say they will only work on ProTools, go M-powered ProTools. This way you use protools and have a great audio interface with 10 inputs and ouputs. MHO.