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Musicians: What DAW say you?

superhawk

superhawk

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So I got to wondering what DAW do you guys/gals use to record your music?

I've used Sonar, Cubase, Acid, Studio One, and SawStudio. I've been checking out Reaper lately which is a STEAL for the price and I can see myself continuing to use it.

However, I'm SERIOUSLY on the verge of finally making the jump from Microcrap Windows to Apple and am really thinking of going with Digital Performer. They have a SOLID history and are a stable company with tried and true products. And even though the new DP can be used on Windows, I've had it with Microsoft......Windows 8 is the last straw for me.

Also, how many of you use multiple DAWS on one machine?

.....
 
You mean like to steal music? Or you are an artist?
 
NBCgolfer said:
You mean like to steal music? Or you are an artist?
Click to expand...

No No No.....

These are recording music programs. DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation.
 
I'm surprised none of the musicians on this site have posted here.
 
I've used Cubase, Cakewalk and Reaper. Mostly Cakewalk and Cubase, though I have all 3 on the same PC. I have an 8 track digital recorder, so I tend to do a lot of work there then "master" (I use the term loosely as I suck at it) the songs on the computer. I have a couple friends that really like Sony's Acid. It's one I'd like to try. If I were going mac I'd probably go to a protools setup, but that gets pricey.

My question to you...is there something you can't do with your current setup that you are looking for? I understand windows 8 is frustrating, but it's not like you *have* to upgrade to it if you've got a setup you like. My current setup is still on XP. And even then if you had to upgrade due to the software, you can tweak windows 8 and make it less frustrating.
 
I was just curious as to what folks liked to use. Any of the major programs work great. I'm REALLY liking Studio One. I downloaded the free version and man is it cool....and easy.

Yes, a Win8 computer will work...that's what I'm on now. But it took me two days to "clean" it up of all the junk, etc. I'm just tired of the usual Microsoft crap that I've been dealing with since '95. A buddy of mine uses Studio One on his 27" iMac and dang if it ain't COOL.

But, I am getting into video and need a solid program to handle that with audio.
 
Makes sense. I've just used what was easiest to get my hands on. In the next year I'll rebuild my setup and reassess what I'm using, but till then I haven't found anything I couldn't do with the older rig I have so it suffices.

Personally, if I were going to be doing video as well as music, I'd go to a Mac.
 
10 years ago when I played in a group a couple of the guys had a studio set up in their house and used Pro Tools on a Mac. Awesome Software $$$$$$ Now I have a business wife and two kids so I play once in a while and my old music room is now a playroom so I just use garage band that comes with Mac os I have some other loops that I imported to garage band and a Oxygen keyboard I use to build loops. I play guitar and have Amplitube software that works with garage band and is awesome my fender amp is in storage. I usually play at night when everyone is asleep and just plug my headphones into the Mac and jam. Garage band is great to jam with some bass and drums......or do some recording
 
I used to have a lot of fun when I played in bands using Sonic Foundry products (Vegas Audio, Vegas Video, ACID and Soundforge). Sony bought them out and combined the audio/software shortly after I was using them. We had a PC based setup using Vegas Audio and the input/Digital converter was 2 M-Audio Delta 1010's and an Alesis Studio 32 mixing board that had 16 direct line outs so we could capture 16 tracks at a time. We paid for the equipment with band money and by recording demos for some of the local bands. The first few we did were pretty rough and sounded basically like live demos. For what we were charging the bands were more than happy to just get a live demo. As time went on we started getting better at the recording/mixing but shortly there after the band split up and the equipment was parted out. I kept the mixing board and 1 of the Delta 1010's but from there didn't have the time or facility to do recordings and it just became a part time hobby, plus I didn't really feel like reinvesting more money to get everything again.

The times have definitely changed and there is some really cool equipment that can be affordably had for the home studio enthusiast. I had always hoped to have a nice home studio one day, but really have lost the interest I once had. I still browse the catalogs and think about it a bit though, but never enough to spend any money. I use Vegas video at work for some simple video work, I chose to use Vegas just because I knew all the hot keys and was very familiar with how it worked.
 
I'm using Pro Tools 9 right now, it works well for my needs and if I ever need more out of it there's plenty there to pull from. I have a rack pc from Sweetwater and together they work great.
 
I've been using Reaper for a few years and like how it performs for me. My PC is just a standard Windows one I bought a few years back, and it handles it well.
 
Is reaper easy to navigate? Pro tools is too complicated sometimes.
 
Trout Bum said:
Is reaper easy to navigate? Pro tools is too complicated sometimes.
Click to expand...

I think so. And it doesn't seem to take huge amounts of processing power.
 
I use Audacity. It's great for someone like me, who records for fun
 
I find most DAWs to be pretty similar, just depends on your personal likes/dislikes. I'm a cubase guy myself. I also feel that the biggest differences come with the gear you use outside of the DAW. Mics, mic pres, comps, eq, and conversion all play a bigger role than the DAW itself. Some come with some nice plugs but there are a ton of great free plugs out there that counteract that selling point anyway.
 
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