KVR Audio

vegaron · Post by **vegaron** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 3:40 pm

Hi,

I'd like to set up a USB-Stick with a DAW and all my plugins and Softsynths, so that I can try things out, work on ideas, etc when I'm not at home, but where I still have access to a PC.

I work with Cubase, so I'm aware that I can't work in my "real projects" on that hypothetical setup I'm looking for. It's just for when I'm bored.

Do you know any portable DAWs, that don't need something to be installed on the target computer? Would be nice of course, if it had a decent GUI, I can understand.

mcbpete · Post by **mcbpete** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 3:45 pm

Reaper has a portable build - You download/install the normal version first and then in the install directory is a batch file with nice easy instructions to make a portable one which you point to a USB key and it makes it all for you

vegaron · Post by **vegaron** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 5:53 pm

I forgot to mention, that I would like to use a free DAW for this. Cubase (Pro) already cost me a fortune.

Sorry for that. ^^

Zexila · Post by **Zexila** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:23 pm

Than MuLab is perfect! http://www.mutools.com/mulab-product.html

Their forum here: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=79

It's really perfect for sketching ideas, it's simple and intuitive, built in MuX which is the heart of it is really top notch, you can use it on Windows, OS X and Linux (via WINE), support is best to none from the developer himself, community is really awesome, so many helpful and kind guys, it's like they aren't from KVR.

PTV · Post by **PTV** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:29 pm

Have no idea if it's decent but it's portable & free:

http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/lmms-portable

LawrenceF · Post by **LawrenceF** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 10:18 pm

Do you know any portable DAWs, that don't need something to be installed on the target computer?

Cubase will run without being installed. I have Nuendo here running from a USB drive, it's not required to install it on the system, just copy the installed program folder from your main system to a drive.

Licensing aside (eLicenser in this case), most workstations these days appear to work that way.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 10:22 pm

Reaper is the only "serious" portable DAW i could think of. Especially for free, you probably won't find much.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 11:08 pm

Mulab is the only free daw I'd mess with.

LMMS only has vestige vst support. Very limited.

vegaron · Post by **vegaron** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:31 am

MuLab surprisingly looks really nice, apparently comes with some free instruments and loads every VST I tried so far. This little piece of software is awesome!

That Cubase could run on a USB-Stick didn't even cross my mind and I really doubt, that it will be that easy. I think the licenser and the dongle will give me some problems, but I'll report here, if I ever get it to work.

Thank you guys!

LawrenceF · Post by **LawrenceF** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 4:33 pm

It really is that easy, or was here with Nuendo. But (obviously) eLicenser still has to be installed on the system to actually use it so that's the only real caveat, the licensing method.

A good bit of what the installer does for many of these apps is unpacking and writing / copying the files and making the common file associations in the registry, so when you click a Cubase song the system knows what app to open, etc, and writing uninstall data. Other than that, not much.

Studio One is the same. If you run portable with no install the CD burning likely won't work there though because it uses a system driver that has to be installed. Otherwise, everything else works.

Zexila · Post by **Zexila** » Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:08 pm

vegaron wrote:MuLab surprisingly looks really nice, apparently comes with some free instruments and loads every VST I tried so far. This little piece of software is awesome!

Yeah, would switch from Logic to it entirely if there were just better audio editing capabilities and few things here and there, but other than that, it's pretty awesome.

OB-XKeys · Post by **OB-XKeys** » Mon Aug 15, 2016 3:47 am

Zexila wrote:
vegaron wrote:MuLab surprisingly looks really nice, apparently comes with some free instruments and loads every VST I tried so far. This little piece of software is awesome!
Yeah, would switch from Logic to it entirely if there were just better audio editing capabilities and few things here and there, but other than that, it's pretty awesome.

I agree, I find myself using MuLab more and more, it's with me everywhere I go and has already produced some income for me in the field, on the fly.

Any decent, portable DAWs?