What's a good DAW to switch to from Cakewalk?

[3ptguitarist]

Do you guys think I should go for cubase or ableton? Will ableton work well for recording guitar and vocals?

[zzz00m]

You can use Ableton Live for straight audio recording. It has audio and MIDI tracks, and plenty of effects that you can chain into effects racks. And it has the traditional "Arrangement" view with tracks on a timeline.

The thing that sets Ableton apart is that it also has the "Session view" with clip cells containing audio or MIDI clips that you can launch and loop, etc. You can switch back and forth between these two views with one click.

You can record directly into either view.

If you choose to record directly into audio or MIDI clips in the "Session view", then you can improvise "live" by launching and looping those clips and performing them "live", and even record the resulting "performance" into tracks on the "Arrangement" view. That's a different way to arrange clips than with a traditional DAW. But you can still go old school and arrange things in the timeline view as well.

If you think you will just want to record on a traditional track timeline, with a traditional mixer, then Cubase should work just fine.

Ableton will lack some of the recording studio metaphor, and deep DAW tricks, but will allow for a very different creative and live workflow.

But both will record your music. And you might even want both someday!

Learn Live 10: Arrangement View

[beatmangler443]

If your looking for a DAW more modern, and up to date (Plus focus on workflow) get Studio One.

[THE INTRANCER]

Do you guys think I should go for cubase or ableton? Will ableton work well for recording guitar and vocals?

I don't think anyone really cares, it's taken you a month and a half to investigate all the possible DAWs' that you think you would be interested in. Forget about what everyone thinks, test one, choose one and get on with making music. You should know within an hour of using a DAW, whether you want to buy it or not.

I bought Reason way back in 2001, I bought it within a few days of using the demo and used it for well over a decade.

In 2014, I moved from Reason to Studio One 2 and have not looked back since, and after an hour or so I bought it.

Right now, isn't really a good time to be buying a DAW, you're likely to be outside the grace period for any upgrades that there might be for them, and if money is a concern then.. really the doors to save money were around the Black Friday period.

[TheSteven]

I don't think anyone really cares, it's taken you a month and a half to investigate all the possible DAWs' that you think you would be interested in. Forget about what everyone thinks, test one, choose one and get on with making music. You should know within an hour of using a DAW, whether you want to buy it or not.

+1000

Doesn't matter how highly anyone recommends any DAW if that DAW doesn't match your style (the way you work/think).
The other reality is that any of the major DAWS (including Cakewalk) will serve you just fine if you take the time to learn how to use it and master it..
If you never get past the initial learning curve then whatever one you use will appear to suck because of the PEBKAC factor.

[3ptguitarist]

You can use Ableton Live for straight audio recording. It has audio and MIDI tracks, and plenty of effects that you can chain into effects racks. And it has the traditional "Arrangement" view with tracks on a timeline.

The thing that sets Ableton apart is that it also has the "Session view" with clip cells containing audio or MIDI clips that you can launch and loop, etc. You can switch back and forth between these two views with one click.

You can record directly into either view.

If you choose to record directly into audio or MIDI clips in the "Session view", then you can improvise "live" by launching and looping those clips and performing them "live", and even record the resulting "performance" into tracks on the "Arrangement" view. That's a different way to arrange clips than with a traditional DAW. But you can still go old school and arrange things in the timeline view as well.

If you think you will just want to record on a traditional track timeline, with a traditional mixer, then Cubase should work just fine.

Ableton will lack some of the recording studio metaphor, and deep DAW tricks, but will allow for a very different creative and live workflow.

But both will record your music. And you might even want both someday!

Learn Live 10: Arrangement View

Appreciate the advice.

What does ableton lack in recording studio metaphor and deep daw tricks? If I'm recording heavy metal and acoustic guitars and vocals will ableton be sufficient compared to cubase's traditional recording features or would I be missing some important features that cubase and traditional have?

I do want ableton for the live clip feature. I want the ability to make live playing videos and play live on youtube.

[3ptguitarist]

If your looking for a DAW more modern, and up to date (Plus focus on workflow) get Studio One.

I've thought about it and it may still be an option for me, but I want integration with the kontrol s61 mk2 keyboard which I'm getting soon and so4 doesn't have that right now. Also, I want a more popular daw and I feel as if so4 isn't there yet compared to ableton, cubase, logic etc. There just seems to be a lot more community, support, and tutorials for the more popular daws.

[3ptguitarist]

Do you guys think I should go for cubase or ableton? Will ableton work well for recording guitar and vocals?

I don't think anyone really cares, it's taken you a month and a half to investigate all the possible DAWs' that you think you would be interested in. Forget about what everyone thinks, test one, choose one and get on with making music. You should know within an hour of using a DAW, whether you want to buy it or not.

I bought Reason way back in 2001, I bought it within a few days of using the demo and used it for well over a decade.

In 2014, I moved from Reason to Studio One 2 and have not looked back since, and after an hour or so I bought it.

Right now, isn't really a good time to be buying a DAW, you're likely to be outside the grace period for any upgrades that there might be for them, and if money is a concern then.. really the doors to save money were around the Black Friday period.

I didnt know it's been that long haha. I haven't really sat down and really tried some of the daws. I've been researching online. I have briefly tried so4 and cubase and I have ableton live lite. I'll have to just sit down and record a song.

Money is an issue for me so I don't want to buy a daw and then regret it because I can't return it and selling it will not get my full money back. So I want to get a daw that I'll be satisfied with based on my criteria. I've narrowed it down to Cubase and Ableton.

[rlared]

Ok so seems like you have made up your mind... Just pick one of those and move on. They are all fine.

[zzz00m]

That's why I picked two: Studio One and Ableton Live.

Because there ain't one perfect DAW.

My decision criteria came down to choosing one well supported traditional DAW, plus Ableton Live.

There really is nothing that compares to Live except maybe Bitwig, but that was started by some former Ableton team members. The session view/clip launcher view is their strong point, and you won't really find useful implementations of that idea anywhere else.

I also think you may underestimate the popularity of Studio One. It is up and coming, and offers quite a lot of cool features like chord track, arranger track, scratch pads, samplers, instruments, drum pattern editing, step sequencing, and effects. It may lack a few things that Cubase has (Cubase is an institution), but Studio One is newer and a few of the original developers came over from the Steinberg Cubase team, and got to start over with a new DAW design and a clean slate.

But demo each of them for at least a week or two, in depth. Record, edit, and mix some of your stuff. Then decide what works best for you. Not everybody needs or wants the same DAW, that is why there are so many.

[3ptguitarist]

That's why I picked two: Studio One and Ableton Live.

Because there ain't one perfect DAW.

My decision criteria came down to choosing one well supported traditional DAW, plus Ableton Live.

There really is nothing that compares to Live except maybe Bitwig, but that was started by some former Ableton team members. The session view/clip launcher view is their strong point, and you won't really find useful implementations of that idea anywhere else.

I also think you may underestimate the popularity of Studio One. It is up and coming, and offers quite a lot of cool features like chord track, arranger track, scratch pads, samplers, instruments, drum pattern editing, step sequencing, and effects. It may lack a few things that Cubase has (Cubase is an institution), but Studio One is newer and a few of the original developers came over from the Steinberg Cubase team, and got to start over with a new DAW design and a clean slate.

But demo each of them for at least a week or two, in depth. Record, edit, and mix some of your stuff. Then decide what works best for you. Not everybody needs or wants the same DAW, that is why there are so many.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll try to test these daws a little more, though I'll probably focus on cubase and ableton. I may end up getting ableton for clips and recording and may use cakewalk by bandlab for more deeper recording. I wouldn't mind getting two new daws, but money is a factor.

Maybe I am underestimating studio one. I'll admit it looks attractive and I've thought about buying it or buying the presonus atom with studio one artist or pro bundle. I have the demo right now so might try it out more. I am concerned about its lack of kontrol mk2 integration though.

[zzz00m]

Maybe it's just me, but basing your DAW choice on the hardware available for it is like the tail wagging the dog. Yes, you may like the hardware a lot, but if that means you may be locked into software that potentially that isn't well suited for your style of workflow, then what's the point?

You can usually get other control surfaces that are compatible with your DAW of choice. Maybe research that a bit more. Regardless, the NKS system should still work with your NKS compatible plugin instruments in any DAW.

[xbitz]

That's why I picked two: Studio One and Ableton Live.

Because there ain't one perfect DAW.

My decision criteria came down to choosing one well supported traditional DAW, plus Ableton Live.

There really is nothing that compares to Live except maybe Bitwig, but that was started by some former Ableton team members. The session view/clip launcher view is their strong point, and you won't really find useful implementations of that idea anywhere else.

I also think you may underestimate the popularity of Studio One. It is up and coming, and offers quite a lot of cool features like chord track, arranger track, scratch pads, samplers, instruments, drum pattern editing, step sequencing, and effects. It may lack a few things that Cubase has (Cubase is an institution), but Studio One is newer and a few of the original developers came over from the Steinberg Cubase team, and got to start over with a new DAW design and a clean slate.

But demo each of them for at least a week or two, in depth. Record, edit, and mix some of your stuff. Then decide what works best for you. Not everybody needs or wants the same DAW, that is why there are so many.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll try to test these daws a little more, though I'll probably focus on cubase and ableton. I may end up getting ableton for clips and recording and may use cakewalk by bandlab for more deeper recording. I wouldn't mind getting two new daws, but money is a factor.

Maybe I am underestimating studio one. I'll admit it looks attractive and I've thought about buying it or buying the presonus atom with studio one artist or pro bundle. I have the demo right now so might try it out more. I am concerned about its lack of kontrol mk2 integration though.

S1 has a rent-to-own construction too, https://splice.com/daws/38650984-studio ... y-presonus

[CoolColJ]

Oh there is a Reaper theme that looks a bit like Calkwalk

[CoolColJ]

Glad that it works for you, I was not trying to over-generalize my statement and obviously user needs are different. Are you working a lot with MIDI / plugin instruments? I had these discussion a lot of times and people who hailed Reaper where often those who mainly used it for tracking / recording external audio sources (eg instruments, vocalists). Reaper might be sufficient for that purpose.

But for MIDI / plugin based sequencing it's really a pain in the ass. Every other DAW I know is better in that discipline (better = offers a more straightforward, efficient and consistent way of doing it).

Could you point me to a video (or if you have: your own video) of someone doing MIDI - based instrumental compositions (eg a Beat, an electronic music song etcetera) in Reaper that doesn't sound absurdly unprofessional and amateurish?

I'm frequently searching for such a video, but the only ones I can find are videos of people dragging prerecorded audio samples around in Reaper, trying to create an arrangement that way (eg one channel with bass drum audio filed being put on each hit 1/4th, 3/4th and another snare audio sample on the next channel playin 2/4th, 4/4th, then maybe a synth that plays MIDI notes which were drawn by mouse etcetera).

My guess is that it's just not possible to use Reaper as an efficient tool for compositions that evolve around recording virtual instruments from a Midi Controller, the way it's done 9 times out of 10 when modern music (electronic, hiphop, trap, house, neo soul etcetera) is produced today.

Last year I did my entry in the MPowersynth only competition here in this forum, with trial versions of both MPowersynth and Reaper and worked out ok. All loop pattern based

Probably not the best way to do it, but I recorded all my main patterns at the start of the tracks and created a region further down for arranging.
I put the whole thing into a folder track

click for full size image https://i.imgur.com/laY5GCv.jpg


And my entry

https://soundcloud.com/coolcolj/coolcol ... on-entry-1