Daw Comparison

sei046

This just kind of struck me as something everyone should get involved in and maybe it could get stickied?

If everyone could keep adding info to they list of DAWS and prices of packages etc.

That way users can look at this and Check out the daws and see which one suits them best or what package is in their price range. Then after a while we can just compile all the info.

We dont want anything too subjective or no morals or anythin involved, just experience and Technical info.

Il Get the Ball Rolling With some of the Daws I have tried out, Keep adding.

From Cakewalk through to Sonar XL
Great Daws But have kind of fell back from the competition at this stage
Use to have a nice enough UI but not a touch on some of the newer stuff
Works on Vst and Directx for plugins
Had some unstable moments but overall a good Experience using it.


Cubase Vst 4 to Sx3
SE is a nice little package for the price but if your going serious it has some limitations like Fx and Track counts to be wary about.
The Cubase packages implement Vsti's possibly the best of all DAWS?(anyone)
As it works on Vst you have a massive range of plugins etc to choose from.
Great midi editing abilitys( it was originall Nuendos lil midi bro) but apparently some programs like Logic Or DP can be better.
Freeze Tracks is a fantastic CPU saver for anyone with a less than ideal machine.

Could go on forever but want to get the ball rolling....


Ok so PT, DP, Logic, Nuendo, etc? anyone?

jtsuited

Nuendo:
Don't go near it with a barge pole. An absolute nightmare to do editing with. Although the mixer is quite nice.

Logic:
Extremely brilliant program. Infinitely better than PTLE when it comes to midi. And the mixer section is fantastic in the way you can have multiple mix windows and with a bit of tweaking have an autoload template that saves you hours in the mix. Excellent for the creative flow.

PTLE:
Today's controversial hot topic!!
Pros:
1.Identical to HD for editing etc. (in fact there's not a huge difference from a practical point of view.
2. HD Compatibility which means you can be droppin into pro studios the world over and work on your project.
3. Excellent plugins. The digirack plugins that come as standard are remarkable considering the price.
4. Good preparation for HD. If you can use LE well, you can probably do the same with HD immediately. Good for people who aspire to working in professional studios where protools HD (for better or worse) is the industry standard.
5. Excellent sound to picture facilities.
6. Extraordinarily stable (probably because of the dedicated hardware.
7. Idiotically easy to use

Cons:
1. Digidesign are cnuts
2. Digidesign support are useless
3. Must use digi hardware (mbox 1/2/mini/pro, Digi 002/003
4. Track count limited to 32

sei046

Jt can you elabourate on the Nuendo one so people can jump in there. One mans blah is another mans bleh etc. so why did you find that. Same with Logicabout the midi.

sei046

in on the Pt.

Hd often too expensive for a lot of people.
Run a mile from the lowend hardware (Pres, ADA)
Once your Digi your staying digi so you better keep paying!
Their upgrades are stupid money

Some of Digis stock stuff realy nice out of the boc like SMACK!. Ampfarm i think is exclusively Digi and its the best Amp sim i have ever heard. Entire albums have been based on it.

Pt is brilliant for transferring files once your going to another PT rig. Defo something to keep in mind if your planning a lot of work with other studios.
I work a lot with PT studios and there was never an ounce of hassle with SX but i hear PT have some pretty cool transfer function to send entire projects.

In HD remember you dont have to worry about latencys or any of that at all. Its a bit of a dream to work on in that sense. There are issues alright but its a great system for getting rid of those headaches. LE will give you latency problems up the wazoo however so be careful of that.

Nuendo is brilliant for channell routing. Its Mixer Function is Defo pretty snazzy.

jtsuited

well as far as nuendo goes, it doesn't have the usual way of cutting/splicing/duplicating stuff and really doesn't do it as well as protoolsle/logic/sonar.

I am aware some people swear by it (particularly over on gearslutz), but everyone i know that has used it agreed with my feelings on it.

I spent a full 4 days of 10 hours recording and mixing on it. I thought at the start it was only because it was new to me etc., but having used every sequencer out there (probably) on windows and mac, I can honestly say I'd never go near it again.
Sonar, Logic, Ableton (yes it's great as a basic DAW), and PTLE all have an ease of use which Nuendo lacks.

Oh the logic thing: pro tools isn't great for midi (probably because they expect that most users will be rewiring in ableton or reason). In fact it's rubbish for midi.
Logic is great for midi ie. looping, splicing, editing midi cc data, are much easier to access in logic.

Hope this makes sense

sei046

Everyone should check out Reaper. Its a brilliant sequencer which has some excellent features and a development team that still give a crap. Read into it!

jtsuited

sei046 wrote:

in on the Pt.


Run a mile from the lowend hardware (Pres, ADA)

Genuine curiosity here Sei, but what are you comparing the pres, ad/da's to?
Only ten days ago you didn't really know what a 002 did, so did you instantly hear the 002 pres and go yuck!!?
Seriously i'm not havin a go here. (we'll keep that for the other thread ;-)

sei046

I got a setup and ran it side by side for just over a week and used it on all my sessions. They are not a whole lot worse than the Projectmix's pres which are not the best in that range either. When you consider than the digis are an entire interface in one there had to be a trade offs in the name of Value for money.

jtsuited

you do realise that the projectmix is made by a company owned by digidesign?
The pres in the 002 are a hell of a lot better than the projectmix.

sei046

the pres are almost identical. Them M-audio pres are feck all better if at all!

jtsuited

i'm not going to argue with you anymore sei. I get the feeling you're out of your depth and have limited experience in recording. I've made my points.

sei046

Good choice!

Baz_Masterplan

Anyone try ejay? or dance ejay

Very Pro and Loopy!

squibs

FL Studio
It's capable of audio recording, but this was bolted on in a pretty clumsy way and it doesn't work so well. The UI is clumsy and intuitive, and very dark.

Having said that it comes woth some great effects and instruments bundled as well as access to about a gig of downloadable samples. Only consider FL Studio professional - the lower end products are too crippled to be useful.

If you are a dance, hip-hop or ambient freak, this is a great choice. For others with an existing DAW, you can use FL Studio inside it as a VSTi, giving you some great creative possibilities.

I would say buy this as your second DAW, for when inspiration runs thin. I pair it with Sonar 6 Producer edition.

eoin5

How do you people rate Adobe Audition?

I've been using it for ages now. I find it very easy to use. I like the effects it comes with, and the compressors work well I think. The noise reduction is quite handy too for home recording with average gear. Took ages for them to get ASIO drivers but now theyve sorted that out and I cant complain.

frobisher

I think a thread where people can share their experiences on the various DAW's is a great idea but no one should treat it as final word in any way shape or form. It's such a personal choice and in order to really know the true differences you really need in depth use with all of them. Which very few of use have. I've worked with Logic, Pro-Tools and Cubase and my favourite is Cubase. But then a huge proportion of the pro audio world completely disagrees with me. Am I wrong? Heck no, it's just my choice.

sei046

the Fro thats the point of this here. If we bundle all the experiences of the Daws together as just that, experiences, and list the features and prices etc we should be able to get a nice list.

Its really important that people get as in depth about the features as possible though and what they think really stands out in the daw.

condra

Ableton Live
Fun and user-friendly, yet feature packed and extremely powerful.
A one-stop-shop for electronic music.
That is all.