Your favorite Daw

bradlake said:
Logic, and also Bitwig, which I am somewhat surprised has not been mentioned ..I like it for the deep integration with the modular/Eurorack world.
Click to expand...
Bitwig does a few things extremely well, but IMHO it hasn't quite lived up to its promise of being a Live killer. It has pretty much the same story as Studio One. A few Ableton/Steinberg engineers have some good ideas they couldn't get into the old product they worked on, so they start a new company with a DAW that has those few cool new features, but is missing important features from the old DAW. Years later, Studio One and Bitwig still haven't caught up to their elder brethren :).

A couple of other notable DAWs that I haven't seen mentioned (my mistake, a couple of people did mention DP): Digital Performer and Waveform. DP still rules in some segments of the composer market. Also for automating live performances. (fyi DP was first with support for CV integration with eurorack gear long ago). Waveform is chock full of cool ideas. The problem is it's very difficult to get people to switch to a new DAW, no matter how good it is.
 
Last edited:
GlennO said:
Bitwig does a few things extremely well, but IMHO it hasn't quite lived up to its promise of being a Live killer. It has pretty much the same story as Studio One. A few Ableton/Steinberg engineers have some good ideas they couldn't get into the old product they worked on, so they start a new company with a DAW that has those few cool new features, but is missing important features from the old DAW. Years later, Studio One and Bitwig still haven't caught up to their elder brethren :).

A couple of other notable DAWs that I haven't seen mentioned: Digital Performer and Waveform. DP still rules in some segments of the composer market. Also for automating live performances. (fyi DP was first with support for CV integration with eurorack gear long ago). Waveform is chock full of cool ideas. The problem is it's very difficult to get people to switch to a new DAW, no matter how good it is.
Click to expand...
You're right about DP, still used by some composers.

A couple of folks mentioned DP in this thread:

Me: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/your-favorite-daw.192735/#post-2397604

@markwayne: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/your-favorite-daw.192735/#post-2397473
 
Never used an easier DAW than Studio One, so that’s what I’ve been on since 2017. I’m being promoted at work which means I have to become familiar with Pro Tools… not looking forward to that one…
 
We have most of the major DAWS here at our studio so that we are able to accommodate our client’s wishes if they have a preference. However, if our client has no preference I prefer to use Universal Audio’s Luna because the workflow is as close to an analog studio workflow of all the DAWs I use. I also find that I can obtain a very realistic analog sounding recording using Luna.
 
Daveporter33765 said:
We have most of the major DAWS here at our studio so that we are able to accommodate our client’s wishes if they have a preference. However, if our client has no preference I prefer to use Universal Audio’s Luna because the workflow is as close to an analog studio workflow of all the DAWs I use. I also find that I can obtain a very realistic analog sounding recording using Luna.
Click to expand...
For reasons still unknown to me, all my attempts to use Luna, which does sound great when it is not freezing , panic-restarting , or doing other undependable behavior , have been most frustrating ……..
 
bradlake said:
For reasons still unknown to me, all my attempts to use Luna, which does sound great when it is not freezing , panic-restarting , or doing other undependable behavior , have been most frustrating ……..
Click to expand...
We have found LUNA to be rock solid on both our Intel based iMacs. What Mac hardware are you using? Both of our workstations are described in my signature…I can attest that these combinations of hardware and software work fine with Luna and are very powerful recording workstations. Those that have issues of the type you describe with Luna typically end up being caused by outdated hardware, operating systems and/or plugins. If you are not a member of the UA forums you may want to do so, the users there are very helpful. The two best companies that produce audio recording and performance hardware and software are Fractal and Universal Audio in my opinion…..both have great products and service far beyond all others I have done business with in my 50 years in the music business.
 
Dave Merrill said:
What's your job, out of curiosity?
Click to expand...
It started out teaching private lessons and directing the guitar ensemble of a local performing arts high school. My role as a “resident artist” has evolved over the years as opportunities arose. Next school year I’ll be running a class teaching recording basics (what is a daw, VO, foley, etc.) to more advanced topics (recording instruments, drum micing, mixing music, etc…).

The best part will be working on the console. They recently purchased an SSL S300 that I’m in the process of figuring out. I don’t intend to do much teaching with it right away - will probably stick to simple interfaces in protools. But i do have some projects that will provide the opportunity to spend some time with it.
 
rokzleon said:
Pro Tools. I feel out numbered! :)

Started with a Digi001 and stuck with PT ever since.
Click to expand...

You're not really outnumbered in the grand scheme of things, and least it doesn't seem like it. I mean...I strongly prefer other things, especially when you take Avid into account. But I liked PT a lot while I used it, probably because I used it the most while I was learning.
 
I started with Protools in 1990. I think it was V 1.14 with the Session 8 interface. I used it mostly for mastering tasks once I the album was on tape and mixed into the session 8 with Protools. I used pro tools until they started forcing subscriptions in 2014 or 2015. I switched to Studio One during the V 5 days and upgraded to V6 a little while ago. The switch from Pro Tools to Studio One was seamless and the work flow was very similar if not a little quicker for me. I was also on a Mac until 2018.

I also tried the Harrison Mix bus 32C and it was just too buggy for normal use. It sounds great, but just not ready for prime time, even the new version is still buggy and crashes often.
 
jamesmarshall said:
I started with Protools in 1990. I think it was V 1.14 with the Session 8 interface. I used it mostly for mastering tasks once I the album was on tape and mixed into the session 8 with Protools. I used pro tools until they started forcing subscriptions in 2014 or 2015. I switched to Studio One during the V 5 days and upgraded to V6 a little while ago. The switch from Pro Tools to Studio One was seamless and the work flow was very similar if not a little quicker for me. I was also on a Mac until 2018.

I also tried the Harrison Mix bus 32C and it was just too buggy for normal use. It sounds great, but just not ready for prime time, even the new version is still buggy and crashes often.
Click to expand...
Definitely too bad about MixBus.
Buggy, and its midi side is, uh, weak.
Really does sound good though, and I kind of like the way it's laid out and that workflow.
But I waited a long time for it to mature, didn't happen, so Studio One for me.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Definitely too bad about MixBus.
Buggy, and its midi side is, uh, weak.
Really does sound good though, and I kind of like the way it's laid out and that workflow.
But I waited a long time for it to mature, didn't happen, so Studio One for me.
Click to expand...
Yes I totally agree with you. The issues with Mixbus were too many to overlook. I had midi issues, issues with both the Euphonix daw controllers and the avid Mc control. I even have my Neotek Elan with the Elite automation and Midi control. None of them worked the way they should or they would just hang. Don't get me started with Waves plugins crashing most sessions via Vst3.

Yeah Studio One is so much better. I just use the plugin Alliance SSL plugins with the UAD2 Studer tape deck emulations. This gets me real close and when I throw the Pultec Pro on a channel with nothing else touched it is so close to mixbus. The Neve Emulation and Focusrite console from Plugin Alliance also work instead of the SSL 4kG, but have a totally different sound and feel when exporting a mix, but still the classic Analog tones. I feel like I never got rid of my Tascam MS16 decks (2 x 16 track 1"). Also the Kramer Tape plugin at $29.99 is great too.
 
Personally I really like the airwindows stuff for mixbus, console and tape emulations.
Patreon funded, open source, great dude at the center.

I am not a professional, though.
 
Samplitude man myself. Buffoon-proof on so many levels. And a wav is a wav, meaning that the stuff I record loads in all the other DAWs with no problems whatsoever. And vice versa of cours…..
 
Will Schut said:
Samplitude man myself. Buffoon-proof on so many levels. And a wav is a wav, meaning that the stuff I record loads in all the other DAWs with no problems whatsoever. And vice versa of cours…..
Click to expand...
“Buffoon-proof”…I like that. As I have been following this thread and even hearing about one or two DAW’s I haven’t heard of I began to think I should try another and see if it’s a better fit. Even though I think Cubase is great for many reasons I still become flummoxed at times trying to implement some of the deeper aspects of the program. Especially since at my state of music making I can go for periods without using it. DAW’s are definitely something where the more I use it the better I get. I guess in many ways it’s the case of “parameter paralysis”. With all the possibilities it’s so easy to become sucked into spending loads of time trying to get something just right. If I had a crew of assistants to take care of the small stuff while I concentrate on bigger things it would probably be more practical, but alas it’s just me and I wish there was a way to streamline aspects, yet still have the deeper aspects available.

I have so much invested into Cubase, both financially and time that moving onto something else seems futile. They all seem to be similar in the sense of having the same complexity. I remember a program that I haven’t seen mentioned and isn’t available anymore. That was Cool Edit Pro. That was a straight forward program that was basically a way to get multitrack wav recordings down with its own FX, etc.. I don’t believe it ever got into using third party plugin. I did a good bit with that software. Maybe I will have check out Samplitude.
 
Another Cubase user here. Because I've been using it for about 20 years now. I've done some projects in Logic and ProTools over the years and liked them when I was using them. But yeah, it really is just the fact that I have so much time invested into Cubase and it is just second nature at this point. Makes it so I don't have to think too hard, I can just get down to recording.
 
I’m a PC guy… I started with Logic when it was a part of a package deal with a Roland digital mixer.

I moved to Sonar Platinum back around 2014-15. Gibson in their infinite wisdom killed it, then BandLab took it over. Now it’s free.

I started using Reaper about 2 years ago.

I’ve been passively shopping for a new DAW. Here are some things I’ve learned, through research or trial and error.

Pro Tools though has been the industry standard for years, is really only holding on to that title because so many pro studios are based around it. Feature wise, it’s really falling behind many DAWs out there.

Ableton is great, but better suited for applications where you are integrating pre recorded and sequenced tracks in with live performance.

Cubase and Presonus are about equal.

Reaper is surprisingly good, very customizable but lacking in included goodies and it’s midi could be much better.

Cakewalk (formerly sonar which was formerly Cakewalk) is basically the red head step child of the DAW world. It’s kind of regarded as a joke or a step up from garage band. But the thing is that a lot of the features I’ve seen DAWs touting in their latest couple of versions have been in Sonar since before the dump. This means they were easily at the very least 5-6 years ahead, a decade in some cases. It’s a shame that it doesn’t get much real development any more, for as good as it can be it’s aging and having some stability issues.

I honestly think that DAWs, with the notable exception of Reaper are all over priced.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom