What's the best DAW for the money?

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rnb259

rnb259

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Im in the market for a DAW and i was wondering what exactly would be the best for digital recording. Im working with $2,000-$3,000 and need a little advice in this area, so far i have looked into the VS-1824CD Digital Studio and like the way it sounds.

What do ya'll think
 
Why not try...

Hi,

I've never tried anything from Roland, other than fiddling around in a store. I like the ability to hook up a keyboard, mouse and monitor screen, and I like the way they look. They do have a good reputation.

As far as sound goes, almost all digital recorders should sound alike, except for the quality of the preamps. I'm no expert for sure, but that seems to be the case. In the end it all comes down to the old saying, "It's the pilot not the plane." Most experienced engineers could probably do a hell of a lot more with a cassette portastudio than a newbie could with all the latest fancy digital gear.

I use a Korg D1600 and love it. It has a touch screen so moving around is so simple. I would love the ability to hook up a mouse, keyboard and a monitor screen, but you can't always get what you want. When I have the $$ I'm getting a second D1600 to expand my studio.

At the high end of your price range you could go with Korg's newest, the D32xd. 32 tracks total. You could also go with Korg's D16xd or the D1600 mkII.

Roland also has a couple models in that range as well. I'd love to afford their top of the line VS2480, but that's outta my reach for now.

I'm assuming you want an all-in-one unit. Akai and Fostex also have some offerings as well as Tascam.

Basically you have tons of options out there in your price range. You could always go the computer route, but it seems like you get more for your money with an all-in-one. To have a serious computer setup, you'd ideally want the Apple G5 Mac with the dual processors. That alone would eat up just about all of your budget.

One piece of advice: don't settle for less than what you think you might be able to use in the future. I saved and waited until I could afford a 16 track unit. I'm glad I did.

Anyway, just my two cents. Hope this helps. Check Ebay. You can get some good deals there.

Good luck,
Brian
 
In the end it all comes down to the old saying, "It's the pilot not the plane." Most experienced engineers could probably do a hell of a lot more with a cassette portastudio than a newbie could with all the latest fancy digital gear.
Click to expand...


Aye! That's the reason I started lurking around the Forum.. so that I could slowly learn how to use my shoddy equipment better. :p


I'm no expert (.. and probably proved that in another thread around here already) but I would vote that ad/da and preamp quality is the first thing to seek in a sweet DAW. That and more and more are coming out with drink holders. You press a button and a tray slides out where you can rest your beer.

//AdrianFly
 
Those drink holders only work if you initialise the machine for beer holding first, which you do by holding it upside down and pouring some beer in through the little slots provided for the purpose. And by the way anybody who claims they can tell the difference between 16 bit and 24 bit beer doesn't drink enough of it. :)
 
I can tell the difference.
The 24 bit beer has a richer fuller taste! ;)
 
You need a 50% bigger glass for the same amount of beer (sorry rnb - I'm sure some sensible replies will come along soon ;))
 
ya'll are great, thanks for the info, but i wound like some more so if anybody else would help that would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
 
Have you considered software/hard disk as an option?
A traditional DAW is an upgrade-able dead end.
Once you have it, that's all it will ever be.
 
raddo said:
To have a serious computer setup, you'd ideally want the Apple G5 Mac with the dual processors. That alone would eat up just about all of your budget.
Click to expand...

Yes, it would. But for about half the money you can get an 64bit Athlon PC that eats G5s for breakfast when it comes to raw processing power. You can literally run at least twice as many plugins on PC than you can on a Mac.

Not trying to start a platform war. It's just a simple hard fact.
Hop on over to the Digidesign user conference and see for your self. A couple of performance tests have been run by both the PC and Mac bretheren, and the PCs are smokin the Macs to a stage where it's quite embarrasing.

But look, it's all about the music, so you buy what you are more comfortable with and therefore can create the best music on. All systems perform well and are stable. So it all comes down to personal preference.
 
Garry Sharp said:
You need a 50% bigger glass for the same amount of beer (sorry rnb - I'm sure some sensible replies will come along soon ;))
Click to expand...
Yeah, but these days glasses and mugs are cheap!
 
Personally, I have a Korg D16 which is ok for basic demos, but have recently upgraded to a PC system, and the quality of audio is much better. I would go with a good pc and a good soundcard like the Echo Mia, Delta 24/96, or a Firewire interface. Software that is comparible or better to any stand alone can be found for cheap these days. Don't get me wrong, I like stand alone units as well, but a pc you can upgrade and add to as your needs grow. If you are planning to buy an all in one, I would go with a used model instead of new. A Korg, Yamaha, Fostex or Akai 16 track can be found for cheap on E-Bay. Use the rest of your money for a good mic and mic pre. Once you outgrow your 16 track, you'll get closer to what you paid for it in resell, and still have a good mic/mic pre, which you'll always need. My 2 cents. :-)
 
Yo RNB! My experience with VS1824CD is extensive. It's not a bad machine, but has a number of flaws, many of which are corrected in VS2000. VS2000 gives you more faders, more XLR inputs, and the ability to export tracks to a PC. The preamps suck, and the A-D conversion is so-so. The mixer is rather good, and it never blew out a button in 2 years of tracking. I still use the VS1824 for remote recording, but I give it a digital stereo signal, bypassing its preamps and AD conversion completely. I can tell you, if you want to export the tracks on an 1824 for mixing, you're in for a bit of a pain in the ass. All in all, it's a pretty good machine, but the VS2000 is a much better one.-Richie
 
I use an AKAI DPS16 and am happy with it, except for limited connectivity. The sound is pretty nice. Well, make that fantastic. I have it set up to make a transfer to my computer, where I edit and burn. It uses no data compression schemes at all. The sound quality drops once I'm monitoring from the computer, probably because of my soundcard limitations. Anyway, it might be worth a close look at the much improved DPS24 for delivering bang for the buck. Make sure you understand about resource limitations when recording at 24 / 96; it's a problem just about everywhere except for the very new dedicated units.
 
I've been using a Roland 2480 for the past two years, with little trouble. Before that, I used a Roland 880EX. With that being said...

Although the sound and options are top notch, if I were you, I'd try to find something that's a bit more user friendly. After all, having tons of options doesn't mean squat if you have to bang your head learning how to access/use them.
I'm not knocking Roland too much, but the 2480 isn't exactly the most ergonomically intuitive DAW out there. Thus, if you're a novice, prepare yourself for a learning curve, and a lot of "WTFs?"
And then there's the price... it's high. Sadly, Roland seems to have acquired a fetish for overpricing it's stuff, "becuz we're Roland dammit!"

All of which leads to the question... if I were in your shoes right now, would I buy another Roland DAW? The answer is no.

Interestingly enough, the previous poster brought up the Akai DPS24. I've heard from lots of people that it's a lot easier to use than the 2480. Even the guy who sold me my 2480 says that using the Akai would be like kid's play to me; based on my experience with the 2480.

And finally, the poster who said that a DAW is an upgradable dead end is absolutely correct. Using a computer with software always leaves the door open for upgrading.
(I just wish I would have thought of that before getting my 2480) : )

Best of luck to you with whatever choice you make.
 
I've been looking into getting a Akai DPS24 since Febuary and will most likely get one in september. I've done alot of research on it and it seems like the best deal out there and really good quality. Theres updates for it too that add major fetures, and a great community that is friendly and very helpful.

Check out the DPS24 Forum at:

http://p206.ezboard.com/fdpsworldfrm3

You can get the DPS24 for $2,500 at Musicians Friend, sometimes cheaper too. It was $2,400 in Febuary.


It can record 24 tracks Simultaneously
 
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