Want a switch of DAW

[Meffy]

However to be fair the cubase manual is the least user friendly and most difficult to decipher piece of literature I have ever come across. Yes, even worse than Melville.

Even after reading a whole chapter on rendering my captures, I still don't understand how to use Cubase's "Flensing Knife" tool. It just makes everything less phat. Accursed leviathan!

[shaulhadar]

My vote also goes to Cubase. I worked with impulse tracker, reason, fruity, logic, live, and more, and I must say, In my opinion, Cubase is the best.... I assume it's learning curve may be a bit slower than fruity, but ofcourse they work on the same concept, just need to know the layout and work technique.
I hope you find your DAW of choice

[hibidy]

Now, go back and read the post before yours.......do a google if you must.......sometimes it's important to get the joke (hint, though I might have missed something, somewhere, I don't think meffy uses cubase)

[jancivil]

If you got some money burning a hole thru your pocket just do it, it's good for the economy.

if you are concerned with being instantly compatible look and see if FLS exports as OMF. It's just a bit quicker for importing audio into any host that does and a host should IME. An OMF contains information about your audio that's useful for you and other people working with it. Google it if unfamiliar and curious.

One might expand their horizons learning another host. the kind of general comment eg., 'FL does the same things cubase does' might not be actually true. That you don't notice you're missing something doesn't mean you aren't missing something potentially that could inspire you. But if the money's dear to you, well I would hold off, if for what you're doing what you have is satisfactory as you report.

[jancivil]

Deafmau5

[Stabbman]

Do not underestimate FL studio. You wont be able to make better music just by changing DAW.
You will not be able to maintain the same workflow with another host, you will get a different one.

I think the one that comes close to FL is Ableton Live, at least I think it is the "smallest change"

I went from FL to Logic myself, and I am happy

[tapper mike]

Seriously Abelton Live.

I was a cubase user for many years and was unimpressed. Cakewalk, acid(pre sony)magix/samplitude all blew cubase out of the water.

Abelton live puts things together fluidly in ways that all the above mentioned cannot match.

[ford442]

i am in the Cubase camp - i have tried Ableton on and off because my friend swears by it - here is my impression - Cubase is an overall arranging tool for detailed and precise MIDI and audio arranging - Live is geared a little more toward post processing and mangling of existing audio tracks and loops - if your work is geared right now toward deep modulation and processing of audio then Ableton has certain niche features for all that loop based, sample crazed stuff - meanwhile, i am more of a traditionalist and i just work with MIDI sequencing of VSTs with normal VST effects rather than applying a whole series of stretchings and warpings to that mix and Cubase does all of that with ease as well as having standard audio editing tools..

am i making a bad comparison? i have not used Live for any length of time..

another option is to pick up REAPER for not much money and have access to virtually all of the Cubase features in a different package..

[stimresp]

I went from FLStudio to Reaper and back to FLStudio. The big draw for me is Edison and it's tight integration. Record snippets while tracking and drag them directly to the playlist. So quick and easy. FLStudio has massively improved recently.

[b7uzer]

If you got some money burning a hole thru your pocket just do it, it's good for the economy.

You're right (it helps the economy ), but there are demo versions and they are free

[Ether Trogg]

I've been a FL user for 6+ years, and what it all comes down to is preference. If there is a function you need, find a work around~ I just recently switched to Ableton for the handling of multiple timing signatures, etc but I still run FL through it via Rewire. Once I ended up with many things I needed to do that proved to be difficult in FL, I looked at adding another DAW. I'm most familiar with FL and it's workflow and I had trouble switching too; getting out of your comfort zone, essentially.

In learning your tools, you'll be the best to make the choice of doing so or not, it all depends on how you want your workflow.

[DiscoiD]

I'm another person whose going to chime in with stay with what you know, but if you want to learn something else, why not?

I had a new DAW experience of my own last year, of sorts. After knowing how to maneuver around Logic 6, I decided to upgrade to Logic 8, which was completely new to me in some ways. Certain key commands didn't do the same things, double-clicking that wouldn't do the same thing, etc. I had to learn new ways of working, but the same basic functions where still there. This is what you would encounter with any other DAW.

I've also had the experience of helping a friend work with Sonar, and Pro Tracks. Again, as long as you know what you're doing in one, you can probably figure out some of the same basic functions in another.

[AstralExistence]

surprised nobody mentioned this. one of the really negative things about switching daws is project compatibility! when you switch daws your entire project files don't work anymore. your forced to export all your projects to midis and have to redo all your drums and everything. its awful. if you have a host you understand then why switch. i see people switching hosts all the time and for the wrong reason.

the most popular reason is, "my host isn't used by the pros,its a toy. that and i just need a new change of scenery. "my host is ugly' just stick with what you know best. lastly, once you make the mistake of, (yes its usually a mistake that sets both your productions and your creativity back a couple years) once you do switch host your spend the rest of your music time serching for the holy grail. usually switching hosts is a lose/lose situation. that and, its like a marriage, you have a honeymoon period where you get all this work done, then a month later, your wondering why your new host doesn't work like your old host. BAD IDEA.

[tommyzai]

I've been down this road for years. My conclusion . . . Presonus Studio One is by far the best in terms of user friendliness conducive to the creative process! Tell them Tommy Zai sent you.

[dalor]

Cubase: Complex -and- very powerful but comes with mouse click and window clutter madness. IMO, 2 screens would be preferred (in case you run it on 1 screen).

Studio One v2: My choice for all the opposite reasons above - still run it on 2 screens but would work as nice and without all the window clutter on 1 screen.