I'm contemplating a new DAW

[24MTS]

Did you have a look at Podium?

There is a ton of good things about it, the best of them being you get a free version that is really a full DAW with just one restriction - multicore processing disabled.

It might fit you very well, I know I tried Studio One before, as well as Reaper and Cubase, Tracktion demoo too, but this one has the best workflow for me.

You can check: http://www.zynewave.com

It is well worth having a look.

[mutools]

Checkout MuLab: Low price, great features!!
And includes top sounding synths, samplers, ... EQ, echos, reverbs, distortions, filters, ...

All details on http://www.mutools.com/mulab-product.html

[spaceman]

If you're a Windows user, you might want to consider Podium as well.

And it's very much worth checking out MuLab, and possibly the very soon to be released Tracktion 5 as well.

[tapper mike]

I went to the zynewave website and checked out the video.
Absolutely atrocious sound quality.

No sparkling highs, no punchy mids, No bass whatsoever. It was like they started with 5.6 k sample rates and then squashed every ounce of life out of it. I've heard better synth quality out of a casio vl-one

There was not even the hint of dynamic range on the synth or the sampled instruments.

[Burillo]

Studio One Artist won't allow you to use 3rd party plugins, so i don't even know why it exists (Reason at least can be ReWired, and now got Re's).

As another long time (since early 2.x days) REAPER user, i can tell you that it's certainly not for everyone. Think of it as Linux of the DAWs world - it's not always pretty, easy to use, featureful and attractive, but it's easily the most powerful DAW out there. Mind you, it may be exactly the kind of power you seek to avoid having, and that's perfectly OK - some people don't like to have too many choices and customization. So demo is the way to go. Can't say anything meaningful about other DAWs - tried a few of them but they never really clicked with me.

For zynewave, there was talk on their forum about how the author doesn't see PC as a viable platform any more and would like to concentrate his efforts on an iOS port. Don't know if that's still the case.

[tapper mike]

Yeah, Hibidy has made the same assertion about Studio One Artist.

Regarding included Virtual Instruments.... Not on the top of my priorites. I've got plenty of vsti's. Of course if the DAW doesn't support them well.... that's a no brainer.

Regarding VST instrument effects. No don't have a lot of them...have some...not a primary concern in regards to individual instruments.

Regarding mastering effects. More important to me as well as how well it handles mixdowns. Samplitudes - Multi-Max even the outdated one that I have is first rate. izotope ozone is impressive with a high price. I'm not going to go for Mixcraft Pro unless I can test the version of ozone that's included. I don't want to walk into a product so limited that it's useless. A limited version of anything is usually a far cry from the full version.

[werp]

When does Fish come out?
I haven't seen it in the net but I have all the others and nothing is as good as Fish will be.

[vurt]

bitwig.

[spacedad]

i still swear by eXT1+2

[Tricky-Loops]

No fl, mu labs a Real Daw for a real musician/engineer

MUX is for professionals, and MuLab contains great synths & effects to make top notch music!

(says a REAPER user)

[gamecat666]

StudioOne 2.6 producer - in marketplace for $80

[Guest231427]

My frustration with my outdated version of Samplitute has no end. Abelton live doesn't work with my workflow. (and I only have the lite version)

I'm tired and or frustrated enough with all my older daw's not to look back. I'm on a budget.

tapper mike, I was in the same situation as you. I used Samplitude 10 for some years and though the workflow wasn't bad at all for me, I wasn't prepared to pay their pricey upgrade cost to Pro X (£255 !) when I went 64 bit

So I started looking for an alternative. I tried a few demos and actually bought Sonar X2 at a reasonable price. I soon gave up with that as I found that it was a real grind to work with

I ended up getting Presonus Studio 1 Pro for less than the cost of the Samp upgrade. I love it. The workflow is ridiculously simple, it just lends itself to making music. It does most of the stuff Samplitude does, but with nicer workflow, is rock solid and very stable

Try the free version or the demo. I would seriously consider the Producer version at least, so that you can use third party VST plugins. The stock S1 plugins are not shabby either. Look out for deals on S1 Producer and they still may do a cross-grade from other DAWs. They did earlier this year.

S1 just works for me. Magix have lost me for good.

[cryophonik]

When does Fish come out?
I haven't seen it in the net but I have all the others and nothing is as good as Fish will be.

It's still in baita.

[m0j0byrd]

I went to the zynewave website and checked out the video.
Absolutely atrocious sound quality.

No sparkling highs, no punchy mids, No bass whatsoever. It was like they started with 5.6 k sample rates and then squashed every ounce of life out of it. I've heard better synth quality out of a casio vl-one

There was not even the hint of dynamic range on the synth or the sampled instruments.

Sorry to say, but that is like judging an actuallly excellent book by a photocopy of a crappy cover.

Podium Free is certainly worth the download, probably being one of the most capable free DAWs

[zerocrossing]

My frustration with my outdated version of Samplitute has no end.

It's hard to give a good answer to your question without asking why you're frustrated with Samplitude and why you just don't update it to the latest. I'm not plugging Samplitude, in fact I've never used it, but I know the investment in time and money to learn a DAW is considerable and whatever you end up going for is not just going to cost you money, but time in learning it.