What's the proper DAW most like Audacity (ie: easy to use)

S

subversive

New member
Hey all, I'm getting into home recording for music, and hoping to do some podcasting in the near future as well. I've picked up a Soundcraft Signature 12 MTK (I did a bunch of research and the thought of a mixer + an interface was less appealing than 1 device which can do both). So far I am happy with it, but I am not yet settled on a DAW. I have used Audacity a bunch before and I find it super easy to use. It just makes sense to me. Now that I need a proper DAW which can support ASIO so I can get all the channels in from the mixer.

So far I have tried the following DAWs... Cubase (GAH! Too complicated!) and Reaper (not as complicated, but still finding it a pretty big learning curve). The mixer also came with a copy of Ableton Live Lite, which I have installed, but not tried yet. I'm on Windows 10, FWIW.

What I really want is a DAW which is as close to Audacity as possible, while supporting the ASIO drivers for the Signature mixer. I have seen Mixcraft mentioned here, is that one a good choice? Others? Please share your experiences!
 
All decent DAWs will have a learning curve...and they all pretty much do the same things, but usually each have their own approach to that.
Find the DAW that appeals to you for other reasons (the features, the GUI, etc), and then just suck it up and get past the learning curve. :)

If you have a budget...use that as your starting point.
 
This question comes up at least once a week, especially in the newb section.
Often it is buried in a general gear/room/"do I REALLY need to spend this much?" type question or is tacked on the end as a sort of afterthought. IF! There was a simple answer you can be sure we would all know it by now!

Son (he played, I earned and paid and soldered) and I found MAGIX Recording Studio Generation 6 over 10 years ago (£9.99 W.H.Smiths!) We struggled but eventually got it pretty well sorted but its limitations soon became obvious. Only 16bit support and MIDI was borked (win 98se not XP!) . Then, WHAHEE! Computer Music Magazine gave us Samplitude SE8 for free. I was 24 bit capable, MIDI worked but best of all it was very similar to Gen 6. You can still get Samplitude Silver Pro X free and it is great but limited to 8 tracks.

The moral here is, as told, pick a DAW and stick with it. We have Cubase EL 6 and son worked it out to the degree he needed. Same with Sonar Ess x1. If you really want to do it you can.

Dave.
 
Don't limit yourself because you are looking for "easy". Take the time to learn the craft properly and you will get much better results. That applies to not only learning a DAW, but to recording in general.

Here's a old rule I just made up: If it doesn't have a steep learning curve, then it isn't worth the time to learn it.
 
I have Mixcraft and find it to be very easy to use. In fact, I have several other DAWs-- Live, Cubase, Studio One, Tracktion, etc.-- and Mixcraft is the one I generally prefer to use. It isn't perfect (nothing ever is), but my complaints about it are few and far between.

HOWEVER, I absolutely concur that you need to find whichever DAW works best for you. There are many sides to that question, and different considerations have different degrees of importance to different people-- e.g., the number and quality of included instruments and effects, the degree to which MIDI is supported and how easy or difficult it is to do specific things with MIDI, the overall organization and layout of the GUI, etc. Most DAWs let you install a trial for free so you can see what you think of it, and some DAWs even have a free edition (which is usually considerably more limited than the various paid editions), so there's no reason why you can't install a number of different DAWs and see which one fits your needs best.

And as Chili says, take the time to learn whichever DAW you decide to try out. Easier doesn't mean better; but harder doesn't mean better, either. No matter which DAW you decide to try out, you're going to have to spend some time on it so you can figure out (1) how to do the basic things that you want to do, (2) whether there are any things it can't do that you need it to do, or (3) whether there's something it does in a way that creates an issue for you.
 
If you bought yourself a 12 channel mixer because you need all those inputs and outputs concurrently, then learning a DAW is going to be a snap compared to other challenges you will face. Pick one. It doesn't matter.
 
As somebody said, every worthwhile DAW will have a learning curve. As you add extra features (and you want more features than Audacity, right?) you also add complexity.

On top of that, everyone has a different idea of how a User Interface should work. Lots of people love Pro Tools--despite several years using it daily I always felt like it was fighting me rather than making my job easier.

My suggestion? Most of the common DAWs offer a free trial period. Download a bunch and, if you're lucky, you'll find one that just makes sense to you. My other suggestion? Make Reaper one of your demos. If you happen to like the interface, you'll find lots of people on here who can offer support and the price if you decide to purchase is only $70. (No, I don't use Reaper but it's always worth a look.)
 
Thanks all. I am working my way through trying a bunch of them. So far Mixcraft is definitely winning the 'easiest to get started' battle. I found basic editing and whatnot very simple. As far as the 12 track mixer, I don't likely need quite that many, but some friends and I have started playing the odd bit of live music and between mics and instruments, we need close to that many. So this mixer will have a dual purpose.
 
With modern recording in a daw, you'll get lots of anti -mixer sentiment around here.
Granted, nowadays no one 'needs' a mixer to record in a computer.

However, for those who either 'want' or 'need' a mixer, you can never have enough channels. You'll always wish you had more.

I'd say that the 12 would be fine, but 16 is better.
:D

Now for the daw, pick one and learn it. It's as simple as that.

Reaper is a big fave around here for a couple of reasons.
1) it's cheap.
2) there's lots of instructional videos
3) it has a 400 some page maual
4) they have their own forum (cuckos, i think)
5) almost all aftermarket plug ins work with it.

So there's a bunch of reasons for a pro-reaper stance around here. Lots of people willing to help you as well.

But anyway, pick one and learn it. Expect to get frustrated. They're all a bitch.
I know, I've been learning both reaper and protools
:D
 
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I use both Sonar Platinum and Adobe's Audition CS6. They both had learning curves but are fairly easy to operate now. Both have things that the other doesn't. Sonar records midi, Audition doesn't, Audition has a Phase Meter and correction tools, Sonar doesn't. So don't be surprised if you end up with a number of programs over time.
 
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