Which DAW does WATMM recommend?

[Twelvetrees]

I've been considering buying myself a DAW but there's just so many to choose from. This will be my first time using one, but I'd rather buy one that will be useful in the long run rather than go for an entry level DAW. Music making probably won't ever go beyond a hobby for me which makes the free lifetime updates offer of FL Studio tempting, but it seems that it isn't the most popular program around here. You guys obviously know your shit so if you were to explain why you believe a certain DAW is the best that would be great help.

[Brisbot]

It doesn't really matter I think. I've used FL, Reason, and Max and get around fine. I'd just look up videos of people using the DAWs, check out which features are visible at the forefront of things, as some stuff in FL in order to use them you have to dig a little while other things are immediately available to you, and not all shortcuts are convenient. This is where DAWs differ the most I think, in terms of what's easily accessible and what you have to dig for (more mouse clicks).

 

If someone wants to argue the ultimate superiority of a specific DAW then they are missing the point, considering there are people that have made awesome tracks in things like Soundforge and Audacity.

Oh yeah, I suppose I should mention the most difference would be in a sequencer, such as FL verses a tracker, such as Renoise. There they offer very different approaches to doing ultimately the same thing. But sometimes what you are prone to do relies on the kind of tool in front of you. Check them out.

[Allize]

Your face is annoying

 

Ableton Live 9

+1 it doesn't make a difference
because the difference is in yourself

[logakght]

+1 it doesn't make a difference

because the difference is in yourself

 

It really doesn't matter at all which tool u use. I read somewhere a cool example: "

 

-Hey that carpenter build a fucking neat house.

-Yeah, I want to use the hammer he used."

 

capicci? FL Studio is "hated" in my opinion, because of its fucking stupid name (Fruity Loops). Really, that's the only reason why people hate it, again imo. So it really doesn't matter which DAW you use, what matters is you.

 

BUT, I would really recommend Ableton Live because it's funnier to use, it's more inspiring, and, best of all, the best for experimentation (Max For Live). It's like the perfect blend between FL Studio and Reason.

 

So yeah, first decide by yourself, but I recommend Live.

[purplegoat]

I've been using FL for awhile and I enjoy it but I'm trying to get into more break chopping/filtering/stops/etc. and it's not working so hot. anyone know if Bitwig is better tooled for intricate tweaking?

[MisterE]

yeah fruity loops always got hate because of the name and some parts of the presentation, but anyone who would actually suggest that its not powerful as hell would be a total idiot. i haven't used every daw out there but flstudio has the best ability for modulation of parameters out of any i've used. you can have however many lfos, envelope followers, key followers, note triggered envelope generators, and other modulation sources, as you want, and you can hook them up to just about any parameter in flstudio itself or inside most plugins.

 

so in other words, its a lot more like a modular synth as far as modulation of stuff is concerned, and imo every daw should be more like that because it allows for more advanced sound design possibilities. i imagine max is probably even further in that direction, although i reaaaaaally dont think max is for beginners and gets more on the custom programming side. so thats another thing about flstudio that i would say is in it's favor for beginners- its not too hard to figure out, and there are plenty of vids on youtube to show you how to do the basics. but on the other hand there is plenty of room for striking off in your own directions, finding your own ways of using it, and coming up with custom 'systems'/uses etc. if you ever want to get more advanced.

 

edit- didnt see purplegoats post but it made me wanna say that yeah, if you have specific goals in mind, there may be this or that particular daw that may be more suited for that. like i keep hearing that reason is great for chopping drum loops. i dont know as i've never used it, but its what people keep saying

[usagi]

lol wrong thrad

[modey]

I've been using FL for awhile and I enjoy it but I'm trying to get into more break chopping/filtering/stops/etc. and it's not working so hot. anyone know if Bitwig is better tooled for intricate tweaking?

I'd say Renoise would be best for super intricate, precise edits. Also, I've never heard anyone get sounds like this in anything other than a tracker:

(ie. the precise portamentos/vibrato/arps on the melodic instruments, probably possible in non-tracker software but would be extremely time consuming)

 

That said, Orange Dust does some pretty complex stuff in regards to break/reverb cutting and automation in FL.

[MisterE]

ahh right RENOISE is what i was thinking of, not reason

yeh i always hear people say renoise is great for that stuff

(havent used either)

[logakght]

yeah like if you want to create breakcore or whatever use Renoise. Though I heard Tycho made Dive on it :O

[awepittance]

Cubase is still my go to. I use ableton a lot for fiddling around and starting the groundwork for a track but the piano roll is so abysmal and watered down ultimately it doesn't cut it for finishing something. there are also slightly irritating work arounds for basic stuff on ableton like putting an insert effect pre or post fader.

[logakght]

Cubase is still my go to. I use ableton a lot for fiddling around and starting the groundwork for a track but the piano roll is so abysmal and watered down ultimately it doesn't cut it for finishing something. there are also slightly irritating work arounds for basic stuff on ableton like putting an insert effect pre or post fader.

 

the only Reason (lel) why I still use FL Studio is for its glorious piano roll

[modey]

yeah like if you want to create breakcore or whatever use Renoise. Though I heard Tycho made Dive on it :O

I use it to make cosmic disco, prog, skweee and ambient music without any problems!

[Adieu]

I like Reason, but it's hardcore pay to play compared to the other DAW's out there.

[rst]

as some people already said, it's a question of taste mostly. if you're a control freak (like, sadly, i am) you should take a look at reaper. it's got a bit of a learning curve, but is customizable as fuck, extremely powerful, and you get a lot more than your money's worth ($ 60 WTF!!!). same goes for renoise, if you're into trackers. there are pretty liberal trial versions of both (unrestricted even, in reaper's case), so you could just try them out?!

 

that said, i think live is a great music making tool. but, as john already mentioned, some very basic production tasks like editing multitracks, routing stuff etc. are just a pita, which is why i switched to reaper as my main (post-)production tool. then of course restrictions can produce wonderful results...

 

btw. someone mentioned max. i love max to death, but i don't think it qualifies as a DAW in the traditional sense. without at least a capable editing software it would be rather tedious to actually edit and mix tracks (not saying it ain't possible though).

[modey]

as some people already said, it's a question of taste mostly. if you're a control freak (like, sadly, i am) you should take a look at reaper. it's got a bit of a learning curve, but is customizable as fuck, extremely powerful, and you get a lot more than your money's worth ($ 60 WTF!!!). same goes for renoise, if you're into trackers. there are pretty liberal trial versions of both (unrestricted even, in reaper's case), so you could just try them out?!

 

that said, i think live is a great music making tool. but, as john already mentioned, some very basic production tasks like editing multitracks, routing stuff etc. are just a pita, which is why i switched to reaper as my main (post-)production tool. then of course restrictions can produce wonderful results...

 

btw. someone mentioned max. i love max to death, but i don't think it qualifies as a DAW in the traditional sense. without at least a capable editing software it would be rather tedious to actually edit and mix tracks (not saying it ain't possible though).

yeah Reaper is wicked. I've been using it for my hardware based tracks. such good editing capabilities

[yshf]

I use both Reaper and Ardour, and I'd definitely recommend Reaper. Ardour is interesting, and it does have potential, but it's quite buggy and lacks some key features. I prefer the overall UI of Ardour much more though - Reaper feels a bit clunky to me. rst is right about Reaper having a learning curve. It can take some time to figure out how to get things set up the way you want.

 

But anyway, both of these daws are cheap af, so try em out for yourself.

[BCM]

gotta be logic if you're on a mac. if on a PC then not so much.

[iococoi]

phfunny enough, i like Tracktion for mixing & cutting..simple, cheap & cross platform..otherwise Usine for the more spicy stuff

[Guest]

Few years ago I had fun reviewing Sequel from Steinberg, can imagine it has only gotten better with the newer versions, relatively cheap too at 79.99 (http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/sequel/whats_new.html).

[hoggy]

FL is easy to use and does a lot - I find using different plugins with makes you work differently though they might have similar capabilities technically

 

Trackers are cool too because you tend to work completely differently - it suggests different things to you

 

I'm not sure precisely what the drawbacks of FL are yet - it's a bit ugly though

[gunnar]

I can only speak for myself...

 

Renoise for fast jungle and drill&bass beat programming. really great for sampling and sample manipulations. Nice for midi sequencing too, but not so neat for recording long audio takes from your hardware, though it is possible. you can always rewire to record on another DAW.

 

very powerful once you learn all the keyboard shortcuts. the pattern matrix is really cool for arranging the song structure, saves tons of time copying/paste-ing things between patterns.

 

Then

 

Ableton Live 9 i use all the time to record my external synths/drum machines/effects and then arranging/post production. I use it mostly as a recorder, i don't do much of sequencing with it. i leave that to my hardware boxes.

[sweepstakes]

I used to use Renoise this way but I haven't in a while. It's not really a DAW in the typical sense - it can record audio but you have to manually sync it up with notes. It's almost more like an MPC in that way. But you can do tons with it, and the modulation options afforded by the latest version are really powerful. There's definitely a learning curve, especially if you haven't used a tracker. Once you get in a flow with it you can move around really quickly, with it being so keyboard-driven.

 

I also use Reaper to record hardware jams. It's very configurable but it can be fiddly to get it set up how you want. It has a scripting engine called Jesusonic that you can actually code plugs in and it recompiles them in realtime. I wrote some a delay and a MIDI processor in it - the latter was laggy. I mostly just use it as a simple multitrack audio recorder and audio arranger, to do the things Renoise isn't good at.

 

Ableton is looking good from where I sit and the kind of workflow I like (chopping up & arranging samples, recording melodies in realtime) but I haven't played with it much and I don't want to fork out the cash for it.

[chim]

I started out with Reason. I don't think there could've been a better way to start. Quick to sketch out tracks with, completely self-contained. Working with the same couple of synths for every track really teaches you the nitty-gritty of synthesis and sound design. The visual interface is soo pretty, and there's also a lot of complex routing behind each unit.

 

Back in the day you couldn't add new modules to Reason, so after a year or so I went through Acid, Cubase and eventually settled with Live.

 

It took some time to get past the initial hurdles, but I eventually found myself really comfortable with it, and I have never found my needs extending beyond the tools, even as my method and work process became very complex (autistic). I started using hardware with it very early on and it's easy to link up with your audio interface, as well as analog/digital re-routing for outboard gear treatment. Most of the stuff I need to do on a daily basis is ridiculously easy and intuitive - midi, browsing, chopping up and stretching audio, automation. The track freezing and flattening is a lifesaver when you've got 100+ tracks of complex VST work, and also for resampling without having to bounce anything as you can just drop the frozen audio into a new channel.

 

For me, it continually hits that sweet spot in which you are able to do more advanced stuff than you would expect from a lot of DAWs out there, but not so difficult that you have to learn to make your own synth modules and programming bullshit (no offense, max & pd users etc). I honestly can't see myself working with another DAW. Haven't upgraded to 9 yet though.

 

Never liked the workflow of trackers, and I didn't get a good impression of FL studio back in the day, although now I see it's a force to be reckoned with. You'll probably be able to make your own impression after going through a few demos.

[Stock]

The only DAW I could really handle and make cool stuff with was Jeskola Buzz which is free and really great imho (always new machines ie. synths/effects/etc to download and discover, new techniques to experiment) but sadly it doesn't exist on Mac and I never really got into Renoise or Live.

I love Live, its interface etc. but I don't know, I never managed to achieve a track entirely in it...What I love doing tho is chopping breaks in its sequencer because it's really simple and fun to do.

Same goes with Renoise, I started using it but never got into it really. I'll reconsider that DAW tho because it looks like it has a real potential, I just don't know how to use it properly I guess !