What could replace cool edit pro?

K

Kleudde

New member
Hello everyone,
I'm new to this forum.

Long time ago I was doing a lot of music and recording it with cool edit pro. I stopped playing (moving to an appartment, got a kid etc) but I miss it too much so I got myself a place to jam and record with a laptop and my babyface sound card.
My problem now is that I don't know which software (DAW) to use to record my music. I'm looking for something easy to learn and use (or even feel like if possible) something like cool edit pro but with better sound effects (I remember some of the effects were a bit cheap in cool edit pro) and that is good with midi keynboard too.

Any suggestions ?

Please don't tell me Ableron Live. I got it with my midi keyboard and really gave it a good try, following the tutorials etc. I just don't like the interface.

My friend is using the new Cubase and told me it's the best with midi. I almost bought it but I saw there was only things for midi in there artist version and it was a bit expensive. Is it worth it ?

Any other suggestions? And why? (Sonar? Reaper? )

I used Fruity Look as a drum machine and wouldn't want it to record other things with it. I'm not doing electronic music, I'm doing black metal.

My laptop is not a Mac, it has windows 7 pro. It's a i5 with 8 gigs of ram.
My Midi keyboard is a M-AUDIO Axiom 61
It's to record guitar, bass, vocal and a midi keyboard.
I want also to install it on my PC which is more powerful to edit and add effects etc. and I think some DAW let you install it only on one computer?

Thank you in advance for your help!
JD
 
Hi,
Have you looked at Adobe Audition? As far as I know they bought CEP a long time ago.
I'm not super familiar with either but I expect they've made some improvements over the years.

Failing that, Reaper is the default cheap+good advice around here. :)
 
I have looked at Audition and had the impression that is now mostly to make music for videos...
Already in the version 2.1 of cool edit pro after they were bought by Adobe the program didn't feel the same, i still liked it but not as much.
I will look at Reaper, thank you Steenamaroo
 
Yeah if you want to check out the "new cool edit pro" its now Adobe Audition. I used to really like cool edit pro and Audition is pretty good but Reaper is better IMO. It's straightforward enough to get going on recordings with in minutes but deep enough to do anything you could possibly need. It's a full featured demo as well so nothing to lose by trying it out.
 
Kleudde said:
I have looked at Audition and had the impression that is now mostly to make music for videos...
Already in the version 2.1 of cool edit pro after they were bought by Adobe the program didn't feel the same, i still liked it but not as much.
I will look at Reaper, thank you Steenamaroo
Click to expand...

No worries.
I think once adobe bought it up it became Adobe Audition so any versions of Cool Edit Pro come before that.
Not certain but that's how I thought it worked.

You might be right about it bing geared for video; I honestly don't know.

Can't go wrong with reaper though. :)
 
I use Audition CC2015 which is CEP about 20 versions on. It is indeed improved (though I never had the problems you describe with the CEP effects) BUT...

Two things you need to know:

First of, like some other software, Audition is now only available on a subscription basis, not for outright purchase. You'd be spending about $20 per month.

Second (and possibly the deal killer), like CEP even the newest Audition doesn't do MIDI or VSTi's. Its a purely audio product.

That said, if you want to look at it, there's a 28 day trial available for download.

...Which probably brings you to Reaper. I've played with Reaper and, although not the same as good ol' CEP, it'll be way more familiar to you than Ableton. Reaper also does MIDI and VSTi plugins. Cost wise, there's an unlimited duration free trial and, if you decide to buy it, the cost is $60 all in.
 
I don't get "poor MIDI " with the lighter Cubase versions? I have Cubase Elements 6 and son did shedloads of stuff with it.

You can download a trial of the lighter Cubase and that could be all you need. If you splash 20 quid or so on the dongle you can trial the full Cubase 8 for a month.

There is also Sonar Cakewalk to try, good MIDI in that (I could not get on but son did) . Studio One gets a good rep. I am presently downloading Magix Samplitude Pro X for Win 10 (cos almost FA else will work!) Sam Pro X is excellent but pricey.

Actually thanks mate! I am presently stuck because my 2496 card won't run on ASIO drivers in 10 and the DAW softwares that could help me won't run either! The latest Cubase might give me some insights!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
I don't get "poor MIDI " with the lighter Cubase versions? I have Cubase Elements 6 and son did shedloads of stuff with it.

You can download a trial of the lighter Cubase and that could be all you need. If you splash 20 quid or so on the dongle you can trial the full Cubase 8 for a month.

There is also Sonar Cakewalk to try, good MIDI in that (I could not get on but son did) . Studio One gets a good rep. I am presently downloading Magix Samplitude Pro X for Win 10 (cos almost FA else will work!) Sam Pro X is excellent but pricey.

Actually thanks mate! I am presently stuck because my 2496 card won't run on ASIO drivers in 10 and the DAW softwares that could help me won't run either! The latest Cubase might give me some insights!

Dave.
Click to expand...


Hi Dave,
I said that Elements doesn't do MIDI because I looked and compare the 3 at that page : Line-up :  | http://www.steinberg.net/
If you go to instrument and FX part, both Artist and Pro have 18 MIDI plugins but elements none.. that's why i though you couldn't use MIDI with Elements but i might be wrong since I never tried it.
Can we add plugins to elements? Is it expensive?
 
Kleudde said:
Hi Dave,
I said that Elements doesn't do MIDI because I looked and compare the 3 at that page : Line-upÂ*:Â*Â*|Â*http://www.steinberg.net/
If you go to instrument and FX part, both Artist and Pro have 18 MIDI plugins but elements none.. that's why i though you couldn't use MIDI with Elements but i might be wrong since I never tried it.
Can we add plugins to elements? Is it expensive?
Click to expand...


I would assume this means that it doesn't come with VSTs pre-installed. If it does MIDI and allows for VST(i) then all you would need to do is go find some MIDI plug ins. There are many free or you can purchase as needed. The plug ins can really get expensive.

I like Reaper and recommend it. I use it mainly for tracking on a low end laptop. It comes with the basic plug ins to get one started, but you will need to find VSTi's

I mix in Ableton. It is a difficult concept to grasp. Its primary focus is on live work, but the arrangement view gives you the traditional DAW mixing capabilities. The Suite gives you lots of plug ins. But I will be honest, I have purchased a few plug in packages and do not use the Suite bundles as often. But it would keep you busy for at least a year or two while you grasp some basic concepts.

What ever you look at, look to see what it comes bundled with. That can help determine what DAW and version you will buy. Plug ins are very important not just for instruments, but for effects and sound processing for your mix. The cost can add up quickly when purchased alone.
 
DM60 said:
I would assume this means that it doesn't come with VSTs pre-installed. If it does MIDI and allows for VST(i) then all you would need to do is go find some MIDI plug ins. There are many free or you can purchase as needed. The plug ins can really get expensive.

I like Reaper and recommend it. I use it mainly for tracking on a low end laptop. It comes with the basic plug ins to get one started, but you will need to find VSTi's

I mix in Ableton. It is a difficult concept to grasp. Its primary focus is on live work, but the arrangement view gives you the traditional DAW mixing capabilities. The Suite gives you lots of plug ins. But I will be honest, I have purchased a few plug in packages and do not use the Suite bundles as often. But it would keep you busy for at least a year or two while you grasp some basic concepts.

What ever you look at, look to see what it comes bundled with. That can help determine what DAW and version you will buy. Plug ins are very important not just for instruments, but for effects and sound processing for your mix. The cost can add up quickly when purchased alone.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I will look the prices of VSTs. I want good sounds for my midi keyboard, orchestra but also keyboard synths. And of course good reverb. :)
 
Thank you all,
I followed your advice, i installed reaper on both my desktop and laptop.
I also installed Sonar LE on my laptop and wrote to Cakewalk to try to get it registered. Finally I already had Cubase 5 with some plugins on my PC.

I'll try them and have a better idea where I want to spend my money after (either buy the reaper or upgrade one of the other two programs to an up to date version).

It's great to have a forum like this where you can get great advice from people who are more knowledgeable than you. It's quite confusing to determine what software is the right one.

And I can't wait to record great songs :)
 
You might want to consider trying out a free DAW, such as PreSonus Studio One 3 Prime (the free edition of Studio One), to see if it would be sufficient for your needs. If it isn't, you won't be out any money and you can look at buying a DAW. Reaper (which is extremely popular around here) has very affordable licensing.
 
That page takes you to elements and it says
Supports 64 MIDI and 48 simultaneous audio tracks with up to 24-bit/192 kHz
Click to expand...
Have I missed something. Cubase has ALWAYS done MIDI pretty well, and all the cut down version do a pretty good job of it! Elements has loads of decent VSTis too - what am I missing.

A cubase user for over 20 years
 
Thank you Rob, Like I said in a previous reply was i based my self with the steinberg page where they compare the versions. In the two bigger versions there were plugins for midi but there were none in the cheapest version that is why i assumed you needed at least Artist. Thank you for your information now I know I could do midi with the cheapest version.
I have the version 5 on my computer right now, never used it except following a tutorial. I will try it eventually for editing since i will record with my laptop. If i really like it now I know I could get the Elements 8 version, thank you again for your input.

Since a lot of people told me that I should use Reaper, I installed it and will give it a try. I just discovered that creator of Reaper was the one making my favorite MP3 player!!! Winamp! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfaQrOeb_F0) That got me a little more than interested :) I will give it a real try next week-end.

I'm still waiting for a reply from Cakewalk, it's been several days so someting tells me their support is not really good... So not sure i want to try the Sonar LE that I have.

Thank you SeaGtGruff. Is the prime version enough for recording/editing/midi ? How many tracks can you have in a project? It's good to know that there is a good software available for free! I will definitly want to try it if I don't like Reaper.
 
Kleudde said:
Thank you SeaGtGruff. Is the prime version enough for recording/editing/midi ? How many tracks can you have in a project? It's good to know that there is a good software available for free! I will definitly want to try it if I don't like Reaper.
Click to expand...

I imagine you'll like Reaper, but it's always nice when there are free alternatives. It's true that when a company like PreSonus gives away a free edition of their DAW, it's not going to be as feature-packed as the non-free editions, but that doesn't mean it isn't any good-- after all, they want you to like it enough to want to buy one of the non-free editions! Anyway, they have a comparison chart here:

Compare Versions | PreSonus Studio One

There are a number of other free DAWs, but I mentioned Studio One 3 Prime because PreSonus is a well-known name in audio products.
 
I tried a two different tutorial of Reaper and so far I love it. Really easy to use and intuitive. And I saw it came with lot's of plugins too. And using MIDI with it is really easy too.
I'm sure I will have much fun with it.
 
Kleudde said:
I tried a two different tutorial of Reaper and so far I love it. Really easy to use and intuitive. And I saw it came with lot's of plugins too. And using MIDI with it is really easy too.
I'm sure I will have much fun with it.
Click to expand...
You'll love REAPER, mate. Its great. I can't understand why any amateur home recordist would choose anything else really.
 
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