Mac users, what is your DAW of choice ?

[jazzmonkey007]

I'm on a Macbook Pro and I'm going to purchase a small interface. I was looking at the M-Audio Fast Track II USB. Cheap and comes with a version of Pro Tools M-Powered. The only thing I need to do with this is record some vocals and guitar. Don't need lots of outputs either. I would like to have something around that price tag (about 150$) with the software included.

As I understand it the Essential version of PT is good enough for me, the virtual instruments and the guitar simulation software seem to cover the bases. But I would like to know if anyone has another they could suggest or if you had any issues with running PT-M-Powered or M-Audio interfaces. My Mac is intel and running Snow Leopard. I'm going to be doing some composing and recording my guitar and vocals, but not for serious projects or demos.

I want to be sure, because I know from past experience that learning a new DAW takes a lot of time. I've used Logic Studio in the past and never felt comfortable. I've also used PT with an M-Box and liked it, but not sure if it would be the same with M-Powered. The other one I was looking at is Ableton Live. It seems like loops are easy to use with it, but I've never used it.

So if anyone could share their experience with the DAW you're using that would help me a great deal...

Thanks a lot.

 

[Somniferous]

I tend to use either Logic or PT. Pro Tools does all my recording, editing, and most of my mixing. It is layed out more for an engineering mindset, and it makes certain tasks much easier. Logic gets a majority of my composing, some of my mixing, and some of my video work. While PT 8 has gotten a lot better in the way of MIDI, Logic just works better and has much better stock sounds. I still don't like they way logic makes you work (all one window is kinda stupid, the 2 window thing in PT is actually faster and yes I know about the screensets in logic) and I absolutely detest editing in Logic (it's very unLogical) Each have their strong points, and each have weaknesses, it's more about which one you can put up with more.

Pro Tools M-Powered will run the same as Pro Tools LE. They are the same program, M-Powered just allows the use of other hardware.

 

[DaveNJ]

I use Logic Pro and an Apogee Duet firewire interface.

 

[bronco1891]

logic 9 pro

 

[Rocket Brother]

Logic

 

[Dr Git]

Currently i'm trying Reaper with a Focusrite Saffire DSP24 Pro..I just started laying foundation with no loops...

 

[gomez1856]

I've been a logic pro user for about a decade. I've recently switched to Ableton Live 8. It's much more aligned to my needs than Logic was.

To clarify, I'm not as much recording songs as I am trying to use software to help me write songs, create quick backing tracks, incorporate new sounds and rhythms into my playing, etc. Ableton makes this much easier for me because of its non-linear approach. Unlike logic or any other DAW that I've used, Live allows you to record audio and midi clips at will and immediately, without stopping the song, arrange them anywhere you want in the tune. It's hard to explain, but once you get it... it's tough to go back to having to work linearly.

I think that, if I had a fully baked tune and wanted to record it with a live band with the end goal of producing a quality track or even an album, I'd definitely use Logic Pro. To use on a daily basis to write, be creative, have fun, and make music... it's Live all the way for me.

Rick

 

[drgonzoguitar]

LOgic

 

[Elmer]

I've been using Logic for 5-6 years now. I had never really used a DAW before getting Logic, so I can't really compare it to others. I like the workflow of it well enough, and for my relatively simple needs it works great. After reading what gomez1856 has to say about Ableton Live, I may give that a go. I have a "lite" copy of it somewhere that I have never tried. It sounds like it may be a nice adjunct to Logic.

 

[xjojox]

Jazzmonkey

I've been using cubase on a pc for a few years, never really liked it. So I broke down and finally bought my first Mac, long overdue.

Plugged it in. Turned it on. Plugged in my Presonus Firebox (Macs just "see" Presonus stuff, the drivers are already there). Opened Garageband and recorded some tracks. All this in less than 20 minutes without cracking a manual.

I don't think Garageband has any decent mixing capability, and it's certainly not a serious studio solution. But it's so easy for recording scratch tracks that I'm using it a lot. It fires up in seconds and I can get my ideas recorded before they go away. For really basic stuff I can actually get a pretty decent mix and burn it. I just thought I'd mention that since the you noted that you're not doing anything really complicated.

For more involved stuff.... I'm thinking of going to Logic only because the files are compatible with Garageband. That way if I get one of those magic one-off takes, I can maybe run with it in Logic. But I've never seen Logic so I don't know if I'll love it or hate it. (Not that I'd go back to Cubase either....).

But back to the subject at hand, ... Macs seem to like Presonus stuff and that's a huge plus. I think the newer Presonus stuff is firewire 800, which your macbook probably already has and is faster than USB2. And Presonus have those multi-inputs that can accept a 1/4 phone plug or an xlr, which is really convenient. Once you get your sounds in there, you can use any software you like.

 

[Powderfinger]

+1 on previous reply. Have you tried Garageband? Comes free with your Mac and is more than adequate for just laying down non-commercial tracks.

 

[kludge]

Reaper, a carryover from my PC days before switching platforms to Mac (my PC fried while I was finishing two albums. The conversion to Mac, using Reaper, went very smoothly and only took a couple of days).

But I'm now seriously considering switching to Propellerhead's Record (and Reason). I have fooled with the Record demo and I'm very impressed with it. There are certain VSTs I'll miss (although I can get to them via Rewire/Reaper if needed), but it'll be worth it for the workflow advantages.

 

[jazzmonkey007]

+1 on previous reply. Have you tried Garageband? Comes free with your Mac and is more than adequate for just laying down non-commercial tracks.

Yes I did, but like Logic I was uncomfortable with the layout and the DAW in general. I'm currently trying a version of Live. It seems really different from the others. Still can't figure out, how to edit the midi files in a bigger window...But the browser is great and how to access the loops is really intuitive.

Thanks all your inputs are appreciated!

 

[gravy]

garageband for quick song sketches is sweet. when inspiration hits and you need to capture now.

 

[gomez1856]

Yes I did, but like Logic I was uncomfortable with the layout and the DAW in general. I'm currently trying a version of Live. It seems really different from the others. Still can't figure out, how to edit the midi files in a bigger window...But the browser is great and how to access the loops is really intuitive.

Thanks all your inputs are appreciated!

In the session view, if you double click on a midi clip, you see the midi notes below that are available for editing. Grab the frame of the window above the midi notes and drag it up. You can make the window as large as you want. Also, if you click on the "fold" option in the top left of the midi edit window, you'll collapse the view to show only rows or keys with midi information on them. This really helps to isolate the material you're looking for. For example, if you have a midi drum pattern with 4 midi notes (high hat, snare, kick, and crash), clicking fold shows only those midi notes and not the empty space between them. Hope that helps


Rick

 

[razorbladeSD]

I've got Cubase 5, Live Eight and Reason/Record.

These days I am mostly using a combo of Reason rewired through Live.

 

[pharmacybear]

Does anyone recommend a good interface to pair my Logic 9 with? I have a Yamaha Audiogram 6 that I use to record with. I plugged it into logic and the amp modeling sounds like garbage. I thought maybe it was just awful modeling but there's a really bad hiss as well. Is my interface just wretched? Or am I just using it wrong. Thanks.

 

[kludge]

Bad hiss probably means some sort of impedance mismatch or other gainstaging problem. Have you tried a direct box?

 

[Nelson89]

If you're doing mainly guitar stuff, i would recommend the Apogee GiO, it'll give you control of some of the parameters and stuff as well.

 

[dsw67]

Logic 9 user here. I've never used anything else so I can't compare. I use it to flesh out ideas, etc.