KVR Audio

MadAnthony81 · Post by **MadAnthony81** » Thu May 15, 2014 11:45 pm

The cheaper version of the M audio track , audio interface comes with Ableton Live. I love Ableton.

Note the more expensive version of the M audio track PLUS is good for laptop batteries.

yessongs · Post by **yessongs** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:48 pm

depends on if your recording midi or audio.

if midi I recommend Sonar

if audio only pro tools

you need an interface to record with and certain interfaces come with lite versions of these programs,

Tascam and Roland have interfaces that come with Sonar LE

Maudio and or if you play guitar snag an 11 rack it comes with protools full version free with the purchase of an 11 rack.

whatever your favorite daw is for midi you will probably benefit from acquiring protools to be able to transfer your work to be worked on in studios and or work with other musicians who have protools.

Sonar is popular in the USA, Cubase is in Europe. Were you live matters because if your going to collaborate you need to use the same daw. If your on a MAC protools and logic are the way to go.

That all being said use reaper and try it then when you outgrow it and you will, just like I did then move to Sonar and or protools via upgrade. I want to add protools via an 11 rack but I am using sonar x3.

Sonar has the most in the way of fx and synths included with it and there is no other DAW out there that is developed as fast. It seems every year they have a new version. Every year they have new software included with it. LIke this last time they added melodyne, nomad factory FX bundle, 2 AAS session version synths, addictive drums 2. Before that it was TH2 and Breverb they added into the mix and pro channel fx.

upgrades are usually cheap and worth it just to get the extra software they bundle with Sonar. To have purchased melodyne and addictive drums I would have had to have spent more than it costs to buy producer when it is on sale let alone an upgrade to producer x3 from x2 producer. The economic reality is you are going to continue to spend money if you are in this game for a long time and no other DAW has a history of bundling as much bonus software with its product than sonar and if you need to add the extra bells and whistles they offer why not get them through such a situation and save yourself a lot of money.

Sonar LE is the best lite version it allows you to record more tracks and comes with full functionality such as you do not have to upgrade in order to use third party vst's and synths. It is your best bang for the buck moving forward with the most bells and whistles that you may want to acquire. upgrading to full versions of the software included are also going to be less expensive for instance as a sonar producer owner my cost to get AAS modeling collection is $299 you can shop for that to see how much I save. Similar deals on melodyne editor exist and proper upgrade planning will save you more on that.

With free versions of Sonar le you have a discount available to you when you want to move forward into studio and then again into producer. Over time you can save up and make the jump to the next level of this daw.

I would look at getting as high a quality interface as you can afford and make it a tascam or roland depending on what version of sonar le come with it. Then you get yourself positioned to use sonar LE and then you can get the discount when you upgrade to full and producer versions with the extra bells and whistles that you will one day want.

Another point to consider is how are you going to learn how to use a daw. The power book by Scott Garigus is very good but the forums at cakewalk are full of helpful people and the free video tutorials are very robust. Berkley has courses as do others.

the matrix is a tool you might want to learn about so you can use loops and that sort of thing. Abelton does not have anything on cakewalk in using loops. Go on cakewalks websites and watch the videos on that feature.

ZiggDubstep · Post by **ZiggDubstep** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 7:25 pm

Reaper. Trust me.

Kaboom75 · Post by **Kaboom75** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 4:31 am

Think Ableton has a free version of Live 9.

TheNickC · Post by **TheNickC** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 3:48 pm

julioelgenio wrote:FL will be cheap in the long run, with other programs you may add up upgrade costs. and it's does everything + plus comes bundled with a lot of feature, try demos for all products, whichever you click with the most is the one!

Agree with FL on cheapness. It might cost more than some of the $80 DAWs out there, but you'll never have to pay for it again.

That said, I find recording(mostly MIDI in my case) kind of frustrating with it. The way the windows behave at times, the fact that the metronome toggle isn't a global key and trying to use it with the piano roll focused causes a file browser to come up, doesn't have proper MIDI mapping(this would solve the aforementioned problem if I could map the metronome GUI button to a MIDI button...actually if I could map my record button to that and record that would be perfect...). Honestly, if you have any intention of spending a lot of time making music, don't be too cheap, find something that works well for you

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 4:08 pm

I already made a huge list in another thread but there are many. Basically any big version has a stripped down one, as well as:

Mulab
Tracktion
Ignite
Podium
Temper
Energy XT

Edit: Here:
FL Studio Fruity Edition
Reason Essentials
Studio One Artist
Reaper
Sonar X3 (currently $69)
Renoise
Mulab
Mixcraft
Cubase AI
Ableton Live Lite
Magix
Tracktion
Ignite AIR
Energy XT

Pacific05 · Post by **Pacific05** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 7:55 am

I use Live, but I like to recommend Reaper.
Pros: continuous implementations, friendly and helpful forum, little price, powerful DAW.
Cons: the learning curve can't be so simple (but it isn't impossible).

Many people speak highly of Podium Free, I never used it though.

e@rs · Post by **e@rs** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 1:34 pm

Pacific05 wrote:I use Live, but I like to recommend Reaper.

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 1:46 pm

arkmabat wrote:Basically any big version has a stripped down one

In your lower list I'd probably list Ableton Live Intro rather than Lite as that's more in the same ball park as Tracktion, Reaper etc pricewise. And more functional too of course.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 2:07 pm

Whoops. Good point.

Pacific05 · Post by **Pacific05** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:12 pm

e@rs wrote:
Pacific05 wrote:I use Live, but I like to recommend Reaper.

Well, you're right, I had to explain better

I started with FL and now use Live, however, since the OP asked for a cheap or free DAW, I think it's better for him to try Reaper, which has a great potential. I must admit that its workflow is not my cup of tea, though....

e@rs · Post by **e@rs** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:04 am

Hey man, just say Live Intro and it makes more sense. 79 euro seems pretty cheap to me.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:29 am

Pacific05 wrote:
e@rs wrote:
Pacific05 wrote:I use Live, but I like to recommend Reaper.

Well, you're right, I had to explain better
I started with FL and now use Live, however, since the OP asked for a cheap or free DAW, I think it's better for him to try Reaper, which has a great potential. I must admit that its workflow is not my cup of tea, though....

Reaper is cheaper

Pacific05 · Post by **Pacific05** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:21 pm

e@rs wrote:Hey man, just say Live Intro and it makes more sense. 79 euro seems pretty cheap to me.

Sure it makes sense.
But:

arkmabat wrote:
Reaper is cheaper

excessional · Post by **excessional** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:07 pm

Ignite comes free (and integrates seamlessly) with several popular starter midi controllers (it's more a really cool sonic sketchpad than a full DAW though). So if you are looking for a controller too, you can pick up a controller and Ignite from around $50-$60

Sonar X3 you can pick up for about $50 at the moment. Absolutely unlimited audio and midi tracks - full commercial use licence. Stable, nice clean 64 bit engine. Comes with full VST 2 & 3 compatability, comping and Session Drummer 3 (plus a cheap upgrade path to some very nice additional stuff like Melodyne and Blue Tubes FX). Probably best value in terms of what you get in the budget range.

Reaper is $60 for a non-commercial use licence and is again a very nice full DAW.

Fruity Loops Studio Edition is $99 it's true and they do offer free lifetime upgrades - it has great workflow - but it's pretty crippled in some respects - most noticeably it has no audio recording - so if you might want to record vocals/guitar etc. you need to spend $199 to get the fuller version, and that's well out of budget range...

If you have a Mac, there is always Garageband to get started for nothing of course...

Cheap or Free DAW