What DAW are you using?

  • Thread starter Thread starter joey2000
  • Start date Start date

Well?

  • GarageBand

    Votes: 8 2.1%

  • Logic Pro

    Votes: 37 9.9%

  • Mixcraft

    Votes: 11 2.9%

  • Pro Tools

    Votes: 23 6.2%

  • Reason

    Votes: 7 1.9%

  • Sonar

    Votes: 24 6.4%

  • Reaper

    Votes: 96 25.7%

  • Studio One

    Votes: 44 11.8%

  • Cubase

    Votes: 46 12.3%

  • Ableton

    Votes: 15 4.0%

  • FL Studio

    Votes: 16 4.3%

  • other

    Votes: 46 12.3%
  • Total voters
    373
I use Reaper, Digital Performer, and Pro Tools. I started getting paid for editing tracks for a professional studio, when he found out I had taken classes in Pro Tools. I clean up, fix phase issues, time align, and do some tuning. I’ll send that file back but, he also has me do a some mixing too.
 
I use Studio One version 4 and from time to time I use Cakewalk.
 
thewonders said:
I use Samplitude as my go-to DAW - I'm on the latest Pro X3. I also use Logic 9 on occasion. I also own an older version of Studio One - it was one of the easiest DAWs to learn, in my experience.

I started on Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 many years ago, and stayed with Cakewalk until Sonar X2. Around that time a mastering engineer friend who used Magix Sequoia did an audio test between Sonar and Samplitude... the difference was quite obvious, and I moved to Samplitude after hearing that.

I've used Linux for a long time and several years ago I set up a Linux audio machine, using Ardour. It worked and sounded good, but the hassle of setting it up and updating it wasn't worth it - too time consuming. Also limited support from hardware and software companies.

I've tried a lot of DAWs - I didn't care for Reaper, and it's not as full featured as the big DAWs, but of course that's why it's so cheap. I didn't care for Cubase (a version ago) either, but I got along a bit better with Nuendo (several versions ago). I still own the first version of both Reason and Audition as well as Cool Edit Pro, Tutuapp 9apps Showbox which was nice for its time. I've even used Kristal, N-Track, and Wavosaur. ;)
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I use Kristal, N-Track and Wavosaur vet it works very well with me without any remarkable problem
 
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I started out in something called N-Tracks, but it wasn't very stable. Aelyth used GarageBand. I started with Reaper in 2008 and, apart from a year when I went back to physical hardware (multiple BOSS 16 tracks chained together) I've stuck with it. For me, the biggest boost has come in moving away from Windows. I worked on Linux for awhile and Reaper was great there ... but most of the plugins I'd bought wouldn't run. In the end we bought a Mac Mini with an i7 processor and 64GB RAM, and it's been smooth and inspirational sailing since.
 
It literally stuns me how Cakewalk is not the tripled over favorite...it looks SO much more polished, pro and sophisticated and has an enormous amount of power. Cubase being neck and neck maybe. Just amazes me, otoh, everyone probably just got used to whatever they were using and that is their favorite,etc.


cakewalk.webp
 
I use Samplitude Pro 4X Suite. I have been using MAGIX DAWS for the past 15 years
 
guitz said:
It literally stuns me how Cakewalk is not the tripled over favorite...it looks SO much more polished, pro and sophisticated and has an enormous amount of power. Cubase being neck and neck maybe. Just amazes me, otoh, everyone probably just got used to whatever they were using and that is their favorite,etc.
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I agree that people will tend to nominate the DAW they are using because it's the one they are familiar with, and will back away from others because they are not familiar with them. However, I started with Logic, and though I became reasonably adept with it, I was never comfortable with it. When I tried Reaper, I slipped into it so easily and never felt that sense of unease.

I think there are two reasons for that easy transition. The first is that the way Reaper does stuff is the way my brain thinks it ought to be done. The programming rationale will vary from DAW to DAW, and people will like or dislike one depending on that. The second reason is that my grounding in Logic, even though it was difficult, paved the way for a comfortable graduation to Reaper.

I agree that Cakewalk looks polished and sophisticated. Reaper's GUI is frequently criticised for being bland. However, Reaper's GUI is highly customizable, and there are hundreds of themes you can apply, even to a Cakewalk look-alike. In moments of idleness I load up different themes and try them out of a while, but I end up reverting to the V4 default skin (even though I'm on V6), precisely because it's bland and boring. It works for me because it is effectively invisible, and what is left is high functionality. The theme does not distract from nor hinder my ability to get things done.
 
Back when I started recording and also when I knew almost nothing, I used with Cubase LE in 2006 because it came with the Presonus Firepod that I bought. A year later, I upgraded to Cubase Studio 4, and it was truly a massive step up in functionality. Over time, my computer, interface, and some other equipment I owned either died or got left behind because I moved around a lot.

I got back into recording a couple years ago and realized that Studio 4 wasn't compatible with any OS anymore. So, I decided to shop around for a new DAW. My friend told me about Reaper, and I was extremely hesitant to try and learn a completely different platform. However (and I don't record full time by any means), after a few years of tinkering, I can genuinely appreciate what a $60 piece of software can accomplish. The price was absolutely a factor in my decision, to be honest. ;-)

I have no experience with any of the other big names, ie. Pro Tools, Pro Logic, Ableton, etc. so it's unfair for me to make any kind of comparison outside of my use of an antiquated version of Cubase and Reaper. And even that's unfair because of the advancements that Steinberg has made with their software. My two cents. :-)
 
JarrodMO said:
And even that's unfair because of the advancements that Steinberg has made with their software. My two cents. :-)
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Two thoughts emerge from this:

1 Learning a new DAW may not seem as hard as learning your first DAW, and it may seem that the new DAW is therefore better than the old DAW. However, it may be that the act of learning the old DAW gave you a big boost when it came to learning the new one.

2 When comparing a DAW you used in the past with one you use now, you may come to think that the new is way better than the old. Which it probably is. However, the old is not normally immutable, and will also have changed for the better over time, so the fairer comparison would be comparing the new DAW with the old DAW in its current iteration.
 
For sure, gecko zzed. I suppose there really is no fair comparison because I haven't used anything Cubase related in quite a number of years. Probably close to a decade. :-)
 
The differences seem to boil down to how you like to create music - in a linear manner, or based on repeating patterns and loops. What I do know is that Cubase is so different between users. If I watch somebody on youtube, I stop watching their video and thinking instead - why does their screen look like that? what did they just do that did that? Oh - THAT'S how that feature gets used etc etc. Too feature filled for anyone to know everything, so we all know our own favourite tricks.
 
Started on garage band (if that’s even considered a daw) and move into Ableton
 
Started on some version of N Tracks my first dive into digital. Used Cubase and Samplitude until going in the box with ProTools. Still have projects in Samp and PT but moving everything over to StudioOne and/or Cubase

Update: nah...

PT still the king. Everything else has bell and whistles to the point of distraction. I’ve gotten 4 tunes done, from concept to completion in 2 days in ProTools...takes me 2 days to decide anything in anything else.
 
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I am using:

- FL Studio
- Samplitude Pro X5
- Renoise

This is how it is now.

P.S.:

For many years it was:

- Samplitude / Renoise
- Symphony (Amiga)
(and I didn't even own FL Studio)
 
Used cubase for years, few years ago switched to studio one. It has its quirks and bugs but I still love it. Not upgraded to 5 yet, no new features I want/need.
 
I started with Mixcraft for a year. Then I started using FL Studio and have been using it since. I have personally found it difficult to change to other DAWs because I like FL Studio in the same way I would like a video game, almost. It's incredibly fun. I might learn how to use Reaper for recording.
 
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