Your favorite Daw

Used to be mac and Logic. Had it out with Apple. I had a computer die 1 day after warranty and they wouldn't back it then they started gluing all the parts on newer systems so mods were difficult. Years later I had 2 ipads die 1 day out of warranty. lol. very suspicious.
Now windows and Studio One since version 3.

I won't even get into the fact that different daws sound different inherently.
 
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Really loving the new mix console user interface! Excited to play around with the new compressors and vocoder too. But for some of the other new features I'll have to see. The vocal chain stuff sounds cool if you record vocals but I rarely do.
I've installed, but haven't had a good look around yet.
 
I've been using Cubase for ages and that's likely a large part of why I'm still using it lol. But I really find it easy to use and the midi editing for drums is great. There are a few little things that annoy me from time to time, but overall it's really good. Version 12 seems to be more stable for me than the 8.5 I was using before the upgrade.
 
MOTU Digital Performer user here. I started waaay back when it was just Performer (1985!) so I guess I'm a lifer. I also use Logic and Cubase/Nuendo. I lamented the demise of Opcode's SVP and still resent Gibson for that.

I have owned/used Pro Tools in the past when it was Digidesign but after some oppressive forced hardware upgrades permanently jumped ship to DP exclusively. At first I used DP as the front end DAW using Digidesign's Audiomedia card. Our studio bought into the very expensive full PT Mix then Mix Plus systems with expanded ProControl.

I remember Pro Tools having non-existent midi fuctionality so it was easy to NOT use it for songwriting/composing. Once DP audio recording matured I never looked back.

Digital Performer was the DAW of choice when I was in NY and Cubase in Los Angeles. Now Logic is everywhere. New DAW users seem to be gravitating to Abelton.
 
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Abelton even if you're not synth based?
Or is it that all new users are synth based?
Younger musicians are fully immersed with samples, drums loops etc. and Abelton seems to be geared for that style of production.

I briefly looked at Abelton but don't use it so my conclusion is highly subjective but based on what I hear people talking about locally.

But, as I said I haven't used Abelton so I could be way off on this.
 
Younger musicians are fully immersed with samples, drums loops etc. and Abelton seems to be geared for that style of production.

I briefly looked at Abelton but don't use it so my conclusion is highly subjective but based on what I hear people talking about locally.

But, as I said I haven't used Abelton so I could be way off on this.
Definitely true outside the guitar world, not sure inside it.
Some folks play with an actual band still, I'm pretty sure :)
'm definitely not in the younger musicians demographic though, to put it mildly, so what do I know.
 
Definitely true outside the guitar world, not sure inside it.
Some folks play with an actual band still, I'm pretty sure :)
'm definitely not in the younger musicians demographic though, to put it mildly, so what do I know.
You raise a good point. I think guitar is not as popular as it once was and the software reflects that.
 
Abelton even if you're not synth based?
Or is it that all new users are synth based?

Yes.
And...kind of?

Ableton's big feature is the clip view, which is kind of loosely based a tracker, and you probably think of clips as being loops. But, it's probably more flexible than you think. Clips can be audio or midi, any length, don't actually have to loop, etc.. They can have follow actions to stop or move on to the next clip in the channel, and a bunch of other stuff.

Yes, a lot of people use it for electronic music based on synths & samplers (the big version comes with several good synths and a couple very good samplers), but not exclusively. It's also a really great workflow for sketching out songs when you have pieces but not the whole arrangement. And whether you're recording audio or programming synths, you can play the sections in real time (and record the "controls" to be edited later) and jam along with them (while recording). It's a different way of making a song out of pieces than dragging them around a timeline.

You also don't have to use clip view at all. It also has a normal linear timeline view and can work with audio just fine.

I don't know if they're still doing it, and it's probably not the best example, but Depeche Mode at least used to run their live show off Ableton Live. My understanding was that it was largely for flexibility - they could play samples or recorded parts and keep things in time easily. Plus, clips don't actually have to contain audio or MIDI notes - you can use them just to fire off automations. So you can do things like record the automation for a reverb throw...start it with one key/midi press...let Live keep it in time with the master time...which you can adapt to a live drummer via tap tempo...while processing all the sound for the live show....and you can let the band do things like repeat sections (e.g., "hey, let's play this chorus again") at a moment's notice even when you're playing with "a tape" for some of the parts or effects automations or anything else it can do. And instead of just reverb throws...you can do that with literally any bult-in or plugin effect...or anything else that is recorded audio or can be controlled via MIDI.

It is (or at least can be) a different way of working, but it's really flexible.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there were more commercial controllers made to work with Live than Pro Tools.
 
If it's a mixture of audio tracking and MIDI, and I need granular, easy to use control it's Cubase. If I'm just trying to capture an idea or a sound then Reaper. Used to use Pro Tools because that's what the other people in my band had and I got it to share tracks. But as soon as that band went under I dropped PT and went to Cubase for any complex workflows. I could probably go with just Reaper. There are just a number of things that you need to really fuss with to get going in Reaper and for Cubase you just google what you want to do along with "Ondo" and there it is. 30 seconds or less.
 
For folks using Reaper, what's youe virtual instrument library of choice? I use logic pro largely because of the vast collection of free plugins and instruments it ships with
 
I don't use Reaper but personally own/use Digital Performer and Logic, and work in places with Cubase/Nuendo and Pro Tools. There's no question in my mind that Logic is an incredible value for the price.

As far as VI's there are so many that one needs to narrow it do to genre etc. In my studio I use VI's from the big names like Spectrasonics, Spitfire, Arturia and NI, and also a lot of lesser know stuff from UVI, Kilohearts. My latest favorite company is Cherry Audio.

Other favorites are anything from U-He, GeForce and for really wild stuff check out Dawesome Novum and Kult.
 
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