KVR Audio

mild_peril · Post by **mild_peril** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:18 pm

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction here.

My situation is that I record vocals over pre-recorded music. For the last couple of years I've been using Ableton Intro - and it's been fine for my needs so far - but now that it's getting slightly more serious I need to have more control over the acapella and Intro doesn't really give you that. I can't splice audio, and I don't have complex warp modes, which would benefit me massively.

I was all set to upgrade to the standard version, but at £250, it seems a bit steep simply to have access to those 2 functions, and a lot of the other features that come with the upgrade will be lost on me.

So my question being, is there a DAW out there that would give me access to these or similar features, and at a reasonable cost?

I mean, I'm happy to shell out the £250 if needs be, but if there's an alternative route I can take, then I would love to hear about it.

Thank you!

mgw38 · Post by **mgw38** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:28 pm

There is a DAW that specializes on this sort of thing. It is mainly marketed towards applications in podcasting and radio but could be used for what you are doing as well.

https://hindenburg.com

It is not exactly cheap either though (but they do have regular sales).

You could also go with a cheap DAW such as Tracktion or Reaper or with a multitrack audio editor such as Adobe Audition. You don't seem to need all the Midi stuff.

Zexila · Post by **Zexila** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:34 pm

Be sure to check Cakewalk, it's free.

https://cakewalk.bandlab.com

dellboy · Post by **dellboy** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:46 pm

mild_peril wrote:Hoping someone can point me in the right direction here.

My situation is that I record vocals over pre-recorded music. For the last couple of years I've been using Ableton Intro - and it's been fine for my needs so far - but now that it's getting slightly more serious I need to have more control over the acapella and Intro doesn't really give you that. I can't splice audio, and I don't have complex warp modes, which would benefit me massively.

I was all set to upgrade to the standard version, but at £250, it seems a bit steep simply to have access to those 2 functions, and a lot of the other features that come with the upgrade will be lost on me.

So my question being, is there a DAW out there that would give me access to these or similar features, and at a reasonable cost?

I mean, I'm happy to shell out the £250 if needs be, but if there's an alternative route I can take, then I would love to hear about it.

Thank you!

Presonus Studio One Prime is free and would probably be all you need.

https://shop.presonus.com/products/stud ... ne-3-prime

mild_peril · Post by **mild_peril** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:57 pm

mgw38 wrote:There is a DAW that specializes on this sort of thing. It is mainly marketed towards applications in podcasting and radio but could be used for what you are doing as well.

https://hindenburg.com

It is not exactly cheap either though (but they do have regular sales).

You could also go with a cheap DAW such as Tracktion or Reaper or with a multitrack audio editor such as Adobe Audition. You don't seem to need all the Midi stuff.

Thank you.

Hindenburg looks interesting, although I'm not exactly sure that it's geared towards what I'm looking for. I've downloaded the demo anyway, so will soon find out.

I've checked the others out as per your recommendation, but Adobe is on a monthly plan, which just is not cool. Tracktion looks interesting, especially as it runs on Linux which is my daily driver.

mild_peril · Post by **mild_peril** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 2:09 pm

Zexila wrote:Be sure to check Cakewalk, it's free.

https://cakewalk.bandlab.com

Downloading, thank you!

mild_peril · Post by **mild_peril** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 2:10 pm

dellboy wrote:
Presonus Studio One Prime is free and would probably be all you need.

https://shop.presonus.com/products/stud ... ne-3-prime

Looks interesting. Got lots to try out now, thanks for the reply.

Tappistry · Post by **Tappistry** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:24 pm

+1 for Reaper

Fully capable for what you’re doing, and will be able to grow with you. $60 (US) for a personal license is hard to beat.

Later on, in terms of “extra” vocal plugins, you can usually pick up a license of Nectar 2 Production Suite here for about the same price. Then you’d have a pretty versatile and comprehensive setup for vocal production.

So at that point, you’d still be at less than half the price for what you were originally considering.

baaz · Post by **baaz** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 10:40 pm

I’d say get a free(Tracktion/Cakewalk) or cheap (Reaper) DAW and spend $ on melodyne if vocals are what you will be working with most of the time.

Zexila · Post by **Zexila** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:08 pm

Good point, think Cakewalk got Melodyne ARA support and nice comping.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Fri May 04, 2018 2:27 pm

It you're simply talking about sound, the console in Mixbus makes vocals sound great with minimal effort.

generaldiomedes · Post by **generaldiomedes** » Fri May 04, 2018 6:38 pm

baaz wrote:I’d say get a free(Tracktion/Cakewalk) or cheap (Reaper) DAW and spend $ on melodyne if vocals are what you will be working with most of the time.

Looks like Reaper support for ARA2 is imminent https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php ... 97&page=13

So I'd say look at Cakewalk/Melodyne or a Studio One/Melodyne trial for now just to wrap your head around it, but probably Reaper + Melodyne Essential is your cheapest most future proof option right now.

Ableton is simply never going to be good at vocal recording until they support takes/comping and ARA. Actually recorded live music in general is not Ableton's strength.

Best DAW For Vocals?