Best and worst DAWs?

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Minus annoying automation and no 64 bit support, Temper will always have a special place in my heart. The red midi bars. The easily searchable plugin database. The no-waste GUI. Many developers could learn from it.

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Proof!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... (I'm talking about Live ;) )

To me Live is like Audacity, ugly as hell but it can get the job done... so people stick with it, I guess...

P.S: I don't use Live... a music app with that GUI should belong in Microsoft office suite. ;)

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Regnas wrote:To me Live is like Audacity, ugly as hell but it can get the job done... so people stick with it, I guess...
Not at all... I like how it looks... better than logic and cubase etc. the Live GUI is simple, clean, doesn't have extraneous eye candy that strains the eyes after hours of use.

The only change I would like to see is making it retina capable.

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pdxindy wrote:
Regnas wrote:To me Live is like Audacity, ugly as hell but it can get the job done... so people stick with it, I guess...
Not at all... I like how it looks... better than logic and cubase etc. the Live GUI is simple, clean, doesn't have extraneous eye candy that strains the eyes after hours of use.

The only change I would like to see is making it retina capable.
Agreed, I think it looks just fine. But it grows on you as well, I briefly demoed Bitwig a while back, and while it looks ok, it felt like there was too much going on. Which I guess comes from growing accustomed to Live's GUI.
The main issue for me with Live, GUI-wise, is the representation of groups and busses in the Session view. It just feels a bit messy somehow.

Re. retina, I thought Ableton had implemented that? Maybe just partially then.

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edited, nvm
Last edited by Ingonator on Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ingo Weidner
Win 10 Home 64-bit / mobile i7-7700HQ 2.8 GHz / 16GB RAM //
Live 10 Suite / Cubase Pro 9.5 / Pro Tools Ultimate 2021 // NI Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk1

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Best...those that work not just on my system but my workflow as well.

Worst....those that continually crash and even when not crashing did not seem to work too well. Sonar...do you hear me?
Barry
If a billion people believe a stupid thing it is still a stupid thing

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I'd have to say worst for me has been Cubase 8.

Got the 30 day demo for it and gave up after like 2 hours. Completely nonsensical workflow, can't figure out how to setup custom output routings, claims it has surround capability but has no panner for 5.1 tracks, configuration/preferences window leaves a lot out and makes it a guessing game, simple tasks became impossible, mix window seemed like a joke, and probably the most ridiculous one was that Cubase won't run with a Windows user desktop theme. You actually have to switch to a default Windows theme in order for the program to run. Seriously? lol Oh, and you have to have a Steinberg USB key just to run the demo.

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Akanishta wrote:I'd have to say worst for me has been Cubase 8.
Got the 30 day demo for it and gave up after like 2 hours. Completely nonsensical workflow, can't figure out how to setup custom output routings, claims it has surround capability but has no panner for 5.1 tracks, configuration/preferences window leaves a lot out and makes it a guessing game, simple tasks became impossible, mix window seemed like a joke, and probably the most ridiculous one was that Cubase won't run with a Windows user desktop theme. You actually have to switch to a default Windows theme in order for the program to run. Seriously? lol Oh, and you have to have a Steinberg USB key just to run the demo.
I thought it was just me. I had the exact same experience with cubase 8. I didn't mind paying the $600 or whatever it was, I spent hours trying to get some sort of flow going and just gave up. Heard others raving on about its great workflow. Not the case for me. Every aspect of it, way too slow from launching plugins to assigning automation. Faster workflow in Protools.

On the subject..Pro tools now would have to be one of the worst out there on the basis they haven't even bothered to update their midi editor since 2008! That, in my books puts it behind nearly everyone. They had the chance to tap into a whole new market of edm enthusiasts but its kinda come and gone. Now its just musicians and studio owners. Which direction is music going? Electronic.

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Kinh wrote:I thought it was just me. I had the exact same experience with cubase 8. I didn't mind paying the $600 or whatever it was, I spent hours trying to get some sort of flow going and just gave up.
I did the same thing for years. Over and over. I finally kind of got used to it, but then came Studio One. I feel terrible because Cubase Pro 8 is an outstanding DAW (barring the few built in bugs that at this juncture, will never be fixed) and I wanted to really immerse myself into it. I just can't. The workflow is just way to fragmented for me.

.-.
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Alienware i7 R3 loaded with billions of DAWS and plugins.

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vintagevibe wrote:
vespesian wrote:Best - Cubase 8 (stable, does everything, midi (!), control room, arranger track)
Worst - Sonar (pretty-but-idiot GUI, the bus vs track thing, still no gapless audio, horrible forums policed by vicious cheerleaders)

Ditto on the Sonar forum!
The worst DAW in their history and trading sets of bugs for other bugs and weird GUI glitches and, of course, no gap-less audio...STILL!! They have to be defensive. :borg:
Barry
If a billion people believe a stupid thing it is still a stupid thing

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Reason is the worst, it's just a pain in the ass. The best i've found is Logic X for simplicity mainly, but second best is Bitwig studio, it's amazing.

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sbj wrote:MuLab :love:

Great workflow. As simple or complicated as you want.

Gets updated all the time.

Worst: I wouldn't know.
I downloaded the trial version (restricted to only 4 tracks) yesterday and I'm impressed with the ease of use and clarity of the sofware. Switching back to Cubase is like the text you were reading has suddenly changed into Chinese. Mulab is very intuitive except for maybe the way it handles multi-timbral instruments like Kontakt or drum computer VST instruments that have multiple outputs. I was also very impressed with the lack of latency when using effects, which is precisely the reason why I stopped being interested in Mixcraft (another simple to use DAW). The few instruments that come with it actually sound surprisingly good, especially that synth bass in the demo template. Now I finally have that moog bass sound of Imagination! Incredible!


Alex

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Alex Cremers wrote:
sbj wrote:MuLab :love:

Great workflow. As simple or complicated as you want.

Gets updated all the time.

Worst: I wouldn't know.
I downloaded the trial version (restricted to only 4 tracks) yesterday and I'm impressed with the ease of use and clarity of the sofware. Switching back to Cubase is like the text you were reading has suddenly changed into Chinese. Mulab is very intuitive except for maybe the way it handles multi-timbral instruments like Kontakt or drum computer VST instruments that have multiple outputs. I was also very impressed with the lack of latency when using effects, which is precisely the reason why I stopped being interested in Mixcraft (another simple to use DAW). The few instruments that come with it actually sound surprisingly good, especially that synth bass in the demo template. Now I finally have that moog bass sound of Imagination! Incredible!


Alex
+1
totally agree :tu:

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pdxindy wrote:
Orbit-50 wrote:It makes total sense. I figured it out though, what it is, is that Live GUI needs more contrast. Every skin looks as if though there is a haze over it. It just freaks me out. If it were made with sharper graphics then...

.-.
No haze here... Live is clear and easy to see... no fake 3d crap cluttering things up. Simple and clean and easy on the eyes even after hours looking at it.
I'd agree with that on the whole though I understand what Orbit is saying; a lot of the text is too bold imo, could do with less anti-aliasing as well to sharpen it a little. Though I still use it fine for hours on end...

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Best-Studio One
Worst-Cubase 8

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