The DAW Poll 07/08

cornbb

ICN wrote: »

We'll agree to disagree Squid - We're right & you're wrong.

I will have you know that I have been using sequencers since the year Nineteen hundred and forty three.

I was based in Bletchley Park in Great Britain (during WWII..), where along with a team of Boffins - I was involved in the construction of a top secret super-sequencer, which was hooked up to a Nazi Enigma machine to make what you young 'un's would now call "tunes".

... or am I just a waffler?

I'm done with this thread.. Oh no!

Easy now, lets keep this friendly and on-topic. Its only software after all.

squibs

Why do I care enough to reply? Why can't I let it go? Who knows...

ICN - you and your 10 odd posts have been hugely illuminating. Cite your technical issues with FL if you know what you are talking about. This is not AH.

Helix -

no arp? no chords on piano roll?

I never said that. I said:

piano roll support for chords, splitting, strumming, arpeggiation, and lots more

meaning the piano roll makes it easy to instantly apply that stuff. Sonar doesn't do that, and last time I played with cubase it didn't do that either. Of course Sonar does chords, but fl will let you select a m7 chord, click f# and paint in an f#m7. Sonar has an arp, but it's bult in as a midi plugin, and doesn't integrate nearly as well. Furthermore - I think you are knowlegeable enough about the different DAWs to know this, and I think you're nitpicking for sh*t and giggles.

ICN

Gotcha!;)

Helix

squibs wrote: »

I never said that. I said:

re-read your wording in the original post and youll see why i thought you meant that, a misunderstanding there is all

also, there is a chorder in cubase

Helix

empirix wrote: »

Helix out of curiosity are you using Reason 4, theres a patch that james Bernard has made for production purposes, its available on the website for free - "Multiband toolbox, check it out

sweet, shall check that out

squibs

re-read your wording in the original post and youll see why i thought you meant that, a misunderstanding there is all

Reread, and I'm still not sure how you read it, but fair enough - I have a few typos in there.

I love to read: "DAW X sucks because...<insert genuine moan here>"

I get riled when I read:"DAW X sucks (cos My mate sez so/I read it in a magazine/I don't like the color scheme/I downloaded it on limewire and the copy protection hack makes it crash)", even if I have used DAW X and it does indeed suck.

I've invested enough time in the main DAWs to know that they are all perfectly fine for D&B, trance, techno, orchestral, etc. and the people who say otherwise never had had to put a razor blade to tape or pay £300 for a basic spring reverb sound which would be unacceptable on a free flash remix app today. I nearly wept when I saw cakewalk pro audio play back it's single audio track in sync with MIDI and that was only about 15 years ago.

I need to get out more.

empirix

squibs wrote: »

Reread, and I'm still not sure how you read it, but fair enough - I have a few typos in there.

I love to read: "DAW X sucks because...<insert genuine moan here>"

I get riled when I read:"DAW X sucks (cos My mate sez so/I read it in a magazine/I don't like the color scheme/I downloaded it on limewire and the copy protection hack makes it crash)", even if I have used DAW X and it does indeed suck.

I've invested enough time in the main DAWs to know that they are all perfectly fine for D&B, trance, techno, orchestral, etc. and the people who say otherwise never had had to put a razor blade to tape or pay £300 for a basic spring reverb sound which would be unacceptable on a free flash remix app today. I nearly wept when I saw cakewalk pro audio play back it's single audio track in sync with MIDI and that was only about 15 years ago.

I need to get out more.

I am actually with Squibs with this - even though i have only used Reason, Ableton Lite and Renoise, i personally think its the man(or woman) behind it that brings out the so called pro sound i.e. you need talent!

Malice

I use FL Studio simply because it was the first application of it's type that I tried. I had been using older programs such as Impulse Tracker and Fast Tracker on and off before that. I got a demo of it a few years ago and was immediately blown away. I imagine the same would have happened had I picked up Sonar/Cakewalk or whatever.

It's the person that's using the software that makes the difference, not the software. Ever heard the saying "A bad workman blames his tools"? That's what arguing over software is like. Everyone has an opinion and often people get caught up pointless arguments rather than spending time recording/mixing/making music.

Helix

malice_ wrote: »

It's the person that's using the software that makes the difference, not the software. Ever heard the saying "A bad workman blames his tools"? That's what arguing over software is like. Everyone has an opinion and often people get caught up pointless arguments rather than spending time recording/mixing/making music.

oh i agree with that completely, i just think that certain programs make it a bit more time consuming/difficult/drawn out to get the results i require

jtsuited

maybe it's worth pointing out that this is a poll about DAW's meaning digital audio workstations.
Personally I think that there should be a separate poll for midi/synth/sampling packages which would include the likes of Live, Reason, and FL. Now I know these programs have great DAW potentials but they are primarily aimed at being good at midi/synth/sampling stuff.

Oh and anyone bashing FL should probably realise that there's a surprising number of respected producers using it. Deadmau5 for one.

Helix

why exactly should there be a different thread for midi/synth/sampling stuff?

cornbb

Feel free to start a new thread, but in my opinion FL, Live and Reason are DAWs. Every piece of software under discussion here has a huge amount of features in common with all the others. I know FL's userbase would differ vastly from that of PT but both would find a lot of common ground in Cubase or Logic for example. There's far too much overlap between everything to make it possible to divide everything into 2 camps. In my opinion, of course.

Helix

completely agree with you

reason however i would agree probably doesnt fit into the DAW category

cornbb

Helix wrote: »

reason however i would agree probably doesnt fit into the DAW category

Never used it myself, but having heard it doesn't support audio I guess thats accurate to say.

ICN

Its a poll - One DAW / System etc.. has been destined to win since this was posted.



Its competitive.. Dont forget it.

Please don't start hugging eachother just yet Guys!! :rolleyes:

Some peoples opinions might get "virtually" trampled on a little, but let the best DAW win.

Helix

cornbb wrote: »

Never used it myself, but having heard it doesn't support audio I guess thats accurate to say.

great bit of kit for what its good at like

jtsuited

it's just that each nomination has a completely different strength.

If I'm doing a bit of musical sketching, mash-ups, djing, or glitch I use ableton.
If I'm doing Electro/tech-house/dub/etc. I use Logic.
If I'm recording a normal band I'll use Pro Tools. I also use it for mixing sometimes. And mastering.

To have one winner of a DAW poll seems silly because many of them are better for different things. A poll like this doesn't recognise that fact.

One of the main problems on certain forums (this one included) is that people don't realise that your DAW choice should be dependent on what you are actually doing.

They are not all the same (thank god) and so aren't competing in the same race.

This is why I thought a second poll for the likes of Reason/Live/FL would have been relevant. Because to compare something like FL to something like PT is just crazy. It's like comparing a ferrari to a racing bike.

Moojuice

Anything goes. What ever you need to get the sound(s) you want. If you want to get technical about which has the best mix/audio engine then that is an easier argument as you can refer to technical specs, DSP theory etc. But talking about sounds and workflow etc is all very subjective. I have done a few tracks in Reason as it did what I wanted but I also only use one or two instruments in it at times. If I want a sound that I think Reason can give me then Ill use it. Its all about personal preference and skill. A skilled producer can produce gold from tin pans and a piece of string on a stick. No amount of top spec gear will polish a turd. If you dont have the skills/ability/imagination no DAW or piece of software will give it (them?) to you. I use PT as I think it sounds great and I record a lot of live instruments (guitars etc). Thats just the way I work. Ill be moving up to 24bit 192Khz soon enough, using PT HD system with full Digi Console (think it will be a command D) but its just a tool I use to get the sounds I want. If a killer track is made on Reason, it is no less a killer track because of it. It might technically sound better if mixed/recorded on a high end PT system but that is a technical consideration and doesnt make the music better. Its a distinction between music and sound.