What Makes A Good DAW?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jude2010
  • Start date Start date
J

Jude2010

New member
What makes a DAW good?
Is it the plugins/virtual instruments/vsts that come with it.
Or the ease of use ?
I'm picking one to use for mainly just vocal work and need advise on which one.
I have the money for most out there bar pro tools HD,which is all good because it just looks too complicated to use i'll just stay clear of Pro Tools for now :)

So any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
IMHO. Screw the plugs, just do your work. If you need plugs, there are plenty of them out there to be had.

I assume by "DAW" your referring to the NLE software part of a computer-centered DAW. They all do the job fairly well. It's which one seems to fit your mentality the most comfortably and lets you do your work with the minimum of resistance.

There's a double-edged problem with that; first, unless you've had a chance to try several different ones that friends or co-workers have, it's not easy to compare them. However, on the other side, if you're not used to one particular DAW already by doing that, then the chances are whichever one you pick as your first one will be the one that you learn on and get used to, and will wind up being your favorite anyway, for a good while anyway.

Or, to put it even more simply, if you are in a place to ask the question, it doesn't matter which answer you go with. Just pick one and go with it.

G.
 
IMHO. Screw the plugs, just do your work. If you need plugs, there are plenty of them out there to be had.

I assume by "DAW" your referring to the NLE software part of a computer-centered DAW. They all do the job fairly well. It's which one seems to fit your mentality the most comfortably and lets you do your work with the minimum of resistance.

There's a double-edged problem with that; first, unless you've had a chance to try several different ones that friends or co-workers have, it's not easy to compare them. However, on the other side, if you're not used to one particular DAW already by doing that, then the chances are whichever one you pick as your first one will be the one that you learn on and get used to, and will wind up being your favorite anyway, for a good while anyway.

Or, to put it even more simply, if you are in a place to ask the question, it doesn't matter which answer you go with. Just pick one and go with it.

G.
 
Yeah in know what you mean
Ive tried Adobe Audition 3 and feel like I know it inside out now
I'm just not sure it professional enough
It may sound stupid but that's just how I feel haha
I actually can't see myself getting as used to any other DAW as I did with Audition
But I'd love to get PreSonus Studio One
I've seen tutorials on YouTube and it seems so easy to use
Probably on top of my list now
 
the new sonar X-1 looks interesting...it would seem theyve nicked some parts from Studio One which itself had from cubase

It also has some specific plugs for vocals which may or may not swing it for you
 
Ha well I've seen sonar producer 8 or 8.5 not sure and I can say it's not the best looker
It's not that I'm ruling it out but
It just looked too dull so I hope X1 is a good improvement not only in visual terms only of course
 
I use/used sonar studio 8 and its not my favourite...but theyve improved the GUI in X-1 and made the components pretty customizable..

Not thats it looks to far from 8 but Studio One comes in grey or grey, Im more interested in its use of the pro channel and how that may save on CPU usage...not that Im going to replace anything, I still havent opened Logic yet :)
 
I use Sonar 8.5.
X1 looks impressive but has many bugs right now. Might aswell be a beta.

I am also fluent in Logic and ProTools.

A good DAW is in the eye of the beholder.
I look for:
Unlimited tracks
Unlimited inserts
(rules out Protools pre 9)

I couldn't care much for plugins, at all for instruments. I use all seperate purchased instruments. The plugins that come in Sonar are nice.

Must be able to make 'drum maps' because I use a lot of custom virtual kits with many patches and instruments etc and like to have names visible and arranged on MIDI editor/piano roll view in a way which works for me.

Flexible routing

Workflow is obviously a bonus, but I am not 'working' so it isn't too important.

As for Sonar looking dull- took me just an hour to make the sexiest DAW scheme I've ever seen :) X1 is indeed bland though.


Necessary features will vary for everyone. The elastic audio features of Protools are wonderful and much more efficient than Sonar. If I was doing remixes this may be important to me, but it's something I'll never use.
 
The first DAW I tried was Ableton Live. I went through the built-in tutorials and thought I had a pretty good grasp of it, but when I got ready to start using it, I found I'd forgotten everything I'd just learned. The onscreen pots are a right pain to turn with a mouse. I set up a BCR-2000 control surface to "learn" the controls, and the oddest thing happened. A pan pot that should only turn about 270 degrees would turn and turn in a complete circle! I don't know if it was a bug in Ableton or a bug in the controller, but I should think Ableton would disallow nonsensical parameter settings. I concluded that DAW recording wasn't "all there" yet and ditched it and bought some Fostex multitrackers instead. Haven't touched a DAW in a year until now.

I'm evaluating Reaper now and liking the customization options a lot. I also like that Reaper treats channels and buses identically, doesn't write to the Windows registry or hidden files, and generally appears trustworthy (i.e., like open source software rather than commercial bloatware). As I'm making more progress with it than I did with Ableton, it will probably be the DAW that I get used to and the one that will become my favorite.
 
I love Ableton, and it will always be my main recording tool...but its an acquired taste for sure...others Ive tried all share a certain workflow that seems to translate pretty well between each, Live doesnt...thats great if it works for you, but I dont argue with folks who are, or get, frustrated with it....
 
kcearl said:
I love Ableton, and it will always be my main recording tool...but its an acquired taste for sure...others Ive tried all share a certain workflow that seems to translate pretty well between each, Live doesnt...thats great if it works for you, but I dont argue with folks who are, or get, frustrated with it....
Click to expand...

I didn't know DAWs from Adam at the time. Ableton was recommended to me by a friend, and I hadn't heard of any of the others yet. That thing with the pan pot is something I believe should never happen in such an expensive program. It kind of soured me on the whole idea of DAWs for awhile.
 
Jude2010 said:
yeah i'll have a good look at sonar again
thanks
Click to expand...

id maybe give it a wide berth for now...I did a fair bit of reading on it last night over on the cakewalk site and its buggy, it also seems to have stirred up quite a bit of emotions for and against it

the fact that theres no demo to try out at the moment would make me walk away if i was in the market for a new one..I definitely enjoyed trying Presonus Studio One, it was quick and intuitive....needs a decent specced machine though unless you dont mind rendering and reimporting audio files (no bounce or freeze function)
 
I was talking about sonar producer 8/8.5 I wouldn't spend money on a beta product haha
Yeah my computer can handle it I'm sure ;)
 
yeah it does seem they've released it a bit quick...cant say I like 8, never tried 8.5, but theres far better workflow to be found on other DAWs, Sonar would be nearer the bottom of my list
 
He's actually right there lol
If I had two computers one with brilliant specs the other shit specifications
The high specced computer would make the DAW 'good'
While the shit specced computer would well....
You know what I mean
 
The code

but i do have to agree with the person that said a finely tuned computer with a great OS
 
PDP said:
A powerful dedicated finely tuned computer, and operating system.
Click to expand...

Ditto, make sure that your computer is optimized for audio (google it).

I started with Cubase and still use occasionally, but my main DAW is Ableton Live 8. I like workflow
and the interface did involve a learning curve, but well worth it, IMO. I didn't have any pan pot issues either
when I upgraded from Live 7.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top