What DAW do you use?

[immure]

I just started recording and I started using the program Reaper. I'm curious what other peoples opinions are about the program. Should I stay with it, or should I switch to something else, seeing as I'm still fresh and not used to a particular program? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[MLG Audio]

I use ProTools 9. I got a student discount on it when I was in audio school, and it was the DAW we used in class, so I just got really comfortable with it. I have also used Presonus studio one which seems pretty decent.

 

[MartinCliffe]

Sonar X2 Producer. I've used Sonar (and previously Cakewalk Pro Audio) in its various incarnations since about 1997 (Pro Audio 6). Never seen any reason to change. Used Pro Tools at college a decade or so ago (at the time it was very limited by comparison, although I understand it's come on a lot), and taught Cubase in school (very counter-intuitive IMO, and the included plugins are lacking).

If I was starting out now, I'd probably go with Presonus Studio One. I've used it a couple of times and it makes sense. But I've got too much time and energy invested into Sonar to change. But if you're getting to grips with Reaper, stick with it. Plenty of people doing good work in Reaper, powerful bit of software.

 

[Pitar]

Garage Band. I've used a couple others in the past but this came with the iMac computer and does what I need it to do. I'm strictly acoustic and keep it basically dry so I don't need the FX suite.

 

[loudboy]

Cakewalk/Sonar, for a long, long time.

 

[straticus]

Been using Samplitude for years. Love it.

 

[immure]

Sonar X2 Producer. I've used Sonar (and previously Cakewalk Pro Audio) in its various incarnations since about 1997 (Pro Audio 6). Never seen any reason to change. Used Pro Tools at college a decade or so ago (at the time it was very limited by comparison, although I understand it's come on a lot), and taught Cubase in school (very counter-intuitive IMO, and the included plugins are lacking).

If I was starting out now, I'd probably go with Presonus Studio One. I've used it a couple of times and it makes sense. But I've got too much time and energy invested into Sonar to change. But if you're getting to grips with Reaper, stick with it. Plenty of people doing good work in Reaper, powerful bit of software.

What about Presonus Studio One seems easier to get into than say Pro Tools or another program?

 

[MartinCliffe]

What about Presonus Studio One seems easier to get into than say Pro Tools or another program?

Just seems very intuitive from what little I've used of it. It was written with ease-of-use as the key thing (partly, I think, because it's quite new so hasn't had to worry about computing power), whereas a lot of the older DAWs have developed over time and while they're fantastically powerful, that does come at the expense of being easy to use. For me, Studio One has the friendliness of something like GarageBand (not a Mac user, but I've seen other people use it), but in a big-boy-pants piece of software. Just IMO.

 

[Empros]

I used Pro Tools LE8 when I started, moved on to other versions of Pro Tools, got tired of the hardware restrictions on some stuff and finally moved on to Reaper this year. I love it. I find myself so much more comfortable with Reaper than with Pro Tools. I'm not a professional, and Reaper works great on any laptop, something that Pro Tools does not!

 

[jrjones]

What about Presonus Studio One seems easier to get into than say Pro Tools or another program?

I am one that doesn't care for studio one. It's either super limited in it's function or I can't figure out how to do 75% of the things I want to do. I use it for playback with a band only. Anything else I'd much rather use something simple like audacity. If I were spending money, I'd look at pro tools and logic before studio one. I'm about to change to PT11 and can't wait.

 

[Elmer]

I use Reaper, Logic, Tracktion (yep, the updated one - I loved the old version and couldn't resist supporting the developers of the new version), and GarageBand. I have Logic 9 now and someday will pony up for Logic X (Drummer is so cool), but for now 90% of what I do is in Reaper. No complaints, it works beautifully for what I need. I have Studio One but never really bonded with it for some reason, so it sits mostly unused. I had PT10 and didn't care for it in the least, but that's just me.

Reaper takes a little getting used to after using other DAWs, but the same can be said for going from, say, Logic to PT. If you have a grip on the basics it's not too bad. Reaper is hard to beat for the price.

 

[swen]

+1 for reaper!

 

[Shane Sanders]

FL Studio and sometimes Sonar X3.

 

[Pat Healy]

+1 for Reaper. My first DAW was Pro Tools, after starting off with 2" analog tape in the 90's. The studio console experience helped me pick up Pro Tools, which can be challenging for a recording newbie. But I didn't want to pay to upgrade Pro Tools for Windows 7, so I switched to Reaper. It's great. Quite powerful and very easy to use. There are a couple of clunky things about the UI that I wish they'd fix, but aside from that, I love it.

 

[imaxeman69]

I've been using Cakewalk products for years. I'm currently using Sonar Producer. Haven't made the jump to the X versions yet since my DAW is a bit long in the tooth. But it works really, really well. [knocking on wood].

 

[Footbutt]

i used SAWPro from 1998 to 2014.
just started using Logic Pro X when i made the switch to Mac.

 

[Scott Peterson]

Reaper and Harrison Mixbus.

 

[jonathansuhr]

I seem to be the only one using Propellerhead. Pretty pricey for the proprietary plug-ins, but well worth the money.

 

[DanR]

I have always used a stand alone recording unit. Within the last month or two, I bought a laptop, an inexpensive interface (M Audio M Track) and downloaded Reaper. I've already paid for it, so I guess I like it. It is fairly easy to learn. I can't compare it to any other DAW, though.

 

[Motterpaul]

I use PT 10 and will probably upgrade to 11 soon. The thing is, it comes with so many plugins I am already overwhelmed with options. The only thing I would prefer is a better reverb.