Was going with Cakewalk, but should I give Live 5 or other a chance?

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jbroad572

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Well, I have been very sparingly been working with Adobe Audition. I recently planned to purchase Cakewalk Sonar 5 to really dig in and make my choice of software. I can't afford Cubase at the moment. Now, in a few days I will be purchasing my projectmix and it comes with Ableton Live 5. I haven't read too much on it though. I hear it is definitely easier than Sonar 5. Should I give it a try or just dig into Sonar 5 and get started? The reason I ask now, is because whatever the choice it will be my software to get a handle and start learning the skill behind recording. I was also considering M-Audio Protools as well. Opinions please?
 
If you buying the project get the m-powered pro tools. That software and interface will work together without little hassel. Also pro-tools is the industry standard.
 
For ease of use and convenience in arranging, Live takes the cake. Imagine being able to record a ton of different loops, then play them in any order and any combination. It's 10x better than the more linear recording programs, like Nuendo or ProTools.
It's hard to describe how amazing the software is, but if they have a demo, give it a shot ASAP. I was extremely reluctant to try it out, as I've been using Nuendo for quite some time now, but I regret not using it sooner.

And don't be fooled by the "protools being an industry standard" remark that people tend to say. It USED to be industry standard, but that was only because there weren't many other options. Now, you've got Nuendo, which beats Protools in most areas (except wave editing), Ableton, which is in a league of it's own, Logic, SAW Studio, etc.

In the end, go with whatever you like best. Try demos, find places that use it, etc, but only buy because you like it, not because other people use it.
 
I Find that Cakewalk and even Abelton Live seems to be Best if you are Recording Mostly Midi Stuff and useing a Lot of VSTI"s ect...

I found the Interface of both of these Programs a Little to Complex and awkward to use especially if you Want to Start recording Right away and not wanting to spend the First 2 weeks learning how to use the Program....

I Find For Recording mostly Non-Midi sources that "Mackie Traction 2.0" was the Easiest to Use and Learn with "N-Track Studio" being the Next easiest ,For me anways as I was allways used to recording Analogue and the Interface for Traction is simular to an Analogue Recording set up....

I haven"t Tried "Pro Tools" yet cuz I haven"t been able to Find a Cheap Version or Maybe an Older or Used version as It costs as Much as My Whole Studio Costs But I can get Mackie Traction 2.0 for under $150.....

You can download Demo versions of all of these Programs so you Can figure out which one bests suits your Recording Environment....

Cheers
 
Well, I will be making a decision tonight. I'm leaning towards M-Audio Protools. Just beacuase it'd only be an advantage to learn on something that is very popular in the industry. I was also considering Sonar 5 Studio. I'm just ready to get learning on something and do it the right way and not borrow software from friends. Anyway, I am going to try a few demos I suppose and see what I think.
 
You know what, Protools is still the industry standard. Regardless of what anyone tells you, PT is used by more professional studios than all of the others...period.

That doesn't necessarily mean its right for you though. If you already have the M-Audio interface or were going to get it anyway, download the M-Powered Demo and try it out.

Live is awesome for what it is, a loop based recording and arranging medium. It is not as well suited for recording though as Protools, Nuendo, Cakewalk, Logic, and etc. Live makes for a really sweet Rewire instrument into Protools though, and I am sure it does the same through the others.

Just my thoughts,
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WTF?

Who left this negative rep point?

Go back to you ProTools forum where you can be with like-minded losers.

What an ass and a coward.

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If anyone cares, I saw the M-powered for $150 brand new and jumped on it. So, this will be what I learn on.
Thanks for the replies so far.
 
One of the things about pro tools LE that bothers me is I keep on hearing you can go to a PRO studio and use your files. This is not entirely true. If you have not printed your effects the upper ended software wont see them. If you go to a studio with say a TDM system there are some differences to be ironed out.Some studios might be using older Pro tools systems and there is a chance for incompatibility. The norm is fast changing in upper ended studios that Pro tools isnt always the last word,and what about Logic? Logic is also a staple in many high end installations. If you go to them with Pro tools you are out of luck.
Pro tools went low end I think because they seen the market potential and they seen the future of recording.
The truth of the matter is a lot of the big boys use Cubase and Sonar too. There isnt a program out there that can't import a wave file and sync to something else so we dont have to be brand loyal,hey if you have the money they will take whatever you have. :D
I am not against co-producing an album,in fact it is usually best to get a second opinion and some fresh talent in the studio. But the big boys would have you believe you can't do without them. If you are a talented engineer you most likely need very little outside help.
 
Timothy said:
One of the things about pro tools LE that bothers me is I keep on hearing you can go to a PRO studio and use your files. This is not entirely true. If you have not printed your effects the upper ended software wont see them. If you go to a studio with say a TDM system there are some differences to be ironed out.Some studios might be using older Pro tools systems and there is a chance for incompatibility.
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That's not correct. Pretty much all versions of Pro Tools (LE/TDM and M-Powered) can be opened on eachother. Newer versions can open older versions and older versions can open newer versions as long as you save it correctly.
The sentence about effects is true...but that's not a Pro Tools limitation, its just the studio not having the plugins you have at home. If you are just using the basic Digi plugins, there's no problem there...but if you have the Waves bundle at home and the studio does not, the plugins show up as inactive. But you can always go back home and they'll be right there for you. This is true for any recoridng program out there.

The biggest benefit of being able to edit at home and then bring it to the studio is that all your edits are still there if you need to go back to them. You can open it up at the studio and see all your regions, automation, effects, pans, track names, takes lists, playlists, I/O setup etc. You can't do this when just simply bouncing out a wave file with a sync point.
 
jbroad572 said:
If anyone cares, I saw the M-powered for $150 brand new and jumped on it. So, this will be what I learn on.
Thanks for the replies so far.
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Congratulations! You'll enjoy it.

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bennychico11 said:
That's not correct. Pretty much all versions of Pro Tools (LE/TDM and M-Powered) can be opened on eachother. Newer versions can open older versions and older versions can open newer versions as long as you save it correctly.
Click to expand...

Well if I'm wrong on that one it would be the first time ever :D
I have heard(maybe incorrectly) that compatibility isn't as easy as some would have you to believe. Since I am not a regular Pro Tools user I can't comment, but I don't believe that you are "up the creek without a paddle" if you choose not to use pro tools.Neither do I believe that its all smooth sailing if you go to a studio that uses Pro Tools. I'm not knocking pro tools but neither am I supporting it as the best or only option. You will find many fine albums cut in Logic and Cubase and Sonar.Anyways whats this editing stuff your talking about, we dont ever need any of that :D
 
If by any chance your plug-ins won't work at a studio, stick your iLok in and download them. Every studio that I've worked in had no problem with that.

I use Pro Tools because I like it, I'm quick with it, and almost every studio in my town uses it. Because of this, I can offer cheaper rates to clients since I can do all or the majority of editing and scratch tracking at my house, and do the final tracking and mixing in a studio. Without Pro Tools, it would be a major pain in the ass for me to do that.

In the long run, it really dosen't matter what software you use, just how you use it.

I also highly recommend Ableton. I sat down with it for a weekend and re-mixed some projects with it for shits and giggles. Most fun I've had in a long time with software. Between ReWiring Ableton and Reason into Pro Tools (or any other ReWire compatable software), you can do some very nifty tricks.
 
I don't know what your budget is, but download the Samplitude 8 demo from http://www.samplitude.com. If you're doing mainly MIDI, you probably won't like it, but if you laying down lots of audio or VST tracks, you will love it!

It's not cheap.....You can get a new copy from ebay from $350, but normal street price is probably around $1100. I used it back when I had an Amiga, but sadly, I cannot afford it presently, or I would be using it myself. I'll continue to use Cubase LE until I can afford a nice new copy of Samplitude version......huh v10 probably before I can buy it. DOH!
 
I understand Magix recording studio is the little sister of Samplitude and its only 79 us dollars,has anyone used it. Apparently it has rewire and vst support.seems better than N-tracks,interface looks good. In europe they are selling Magix home studio 11,here in the states I have only seen 10.
 
Tuo I have to admit I dislike monopolies and I hesitate to adopt everthing the larger studios have just because they have it. I am sure you are correct and it makes life much easier. I must just be a trifle anti-establishment. Since I haven't been to many of the larger studios I probably don't know how nice this is. I keep reading article upon article about how this album and that album were mixed in Logic or Cubase etc. so I have a hard time accepting that pro tools is the only major player at these studios.
I am near a major university and they use Pro tools LE for their projects, but maybe thats because someone told them all the high end studios use it.
If in fact all or most high end studios do use PT then maybe I should be taken aboard the enterprise and be assimilated.Does PT allow VST instruments?
 
Pro Tools cannot use VSTs right off the bat, and to get (limited) functionality you need to use a VST wrapper. Some VSTs work fine, some 'kinda' work, and some don't work at all.

It's one of the most limiting features for me, as I love the wide selection of VSTs, and it's one of the reasons I don't currently use Pro Tools
 
Fireal402 said:
Pro Tools cannot use VSTs right off the bat, and to get (limited) functionality you need to use a VST wrapper. Some VSTs work fine, some 'kinda' work, and some don't work at all.

It's one of the most limiting features for me, as I love the wide selection of VSTs, and it's one of the reasons I don't currently use Pro Tools
Click to expand...
That's disappointing.
 
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