Which DAW do you use?

[starr]

Reaper, Protools, Logic, Sonar, Cubase, etc? Trying to find one to use, mostly to load audio tracks recorded with my Zoom H4n and then edit and burn to cd.

[RustyAxe]

Reaper. Can't beat it for just $60. Full functional, and even does video.

[moon]

Ardour (linux and mac only).

[aschlip]

You should try Audacity for free to see what kind of features you need. After that, you will have a good idea of exactly what you need to get out of your DAW. Since you are only doing basic editing and rendering, something like Reaper would probably work well.

I use Logic Studio for the entire process. I also use a lot of MIDI in conjunction with digital audio. For me, Logic is extremely easy to use as a creative tool.

Have fun with it.

[dragonfly66]

Logic (not intuitive enough for me, but I haven't tried the latest version)

Ableton Live (easy to use)

[rmyAddison]

THe Zoom H4n comes with Cubase LE, have you tried that first?

I use ProTools for just audio, and Soundforge (which comes with Sony's Vegas Movie Studio suite) for DVD's.

Simple is fine, most packages are overkill unless you really want to dive in and "get fancy".

[alohachris]

Aloha,

I was DAW shopping for a couple of years before I finally settled on Logic Pro 9 last year. Cost $400 on sale. I tried out every free download from the 12-15 most common DAWS to get a sense of each's workflow. Started w/ Audacity & GB. Limited but ok & a decent place to start.

My first commitment was to Pro Tools LE. But it didn't work well with my PC, was limited & buggy, with too many crashes & error messages. The Pro Tools that people speak of as being the "industry standard" is not PTLE but PTHD - a fantastic DAW but also with a pro price tag of over $10K & that's without everything you'd need. PTLE is not that PT!

Additionally, the quality of the Pro Tools hardware - which everyone needs to use in order to even use PTLE - is inferior to others & inhibiting, IMO, in all but the top levels of HD. To upgrade to better quality (pre's, clock & interfaces) for PTLE hardware means a fair amount of cash outlay. I also hated Avid's "customer service."

Went back to the drawing board and settled on Logic because of its stability and integration with Apogee interfaces.

Logic and Pro Tools HD are the only two truly professional DAWS, with all the features. The quality and variety of plug-in's is professional. And all the samples are free. You don't have to pay to use them (hundreds of thousands).

I wanted the DAW with the best quality, fullest integration with Apogee interfaces, and a workflow that made sense to me. I wanted one with the fewest crashes out of the gate. For my purposes, that turned out to be Logic Pro 9.

Not a single crash in 10 months of daily use!

Check 'em all out. Go with the one that makes the most sense to YOUR sense of workflow.

BTW, you can get some decent info out of Sweetwater Pro. Their free catalog has a lot of info and you can also call them with questions as well. But try the free downloads first.

The only other one I considered was Digital Performer, another one that works w/ Apogee.

One final thought, no matter which DAW you choose, to keep problems to a minimum, you should use it in a dedicated, recording computer and save your files to an external disk.

Of course, there are other, simpler recording options than DAWS. As Rich said, you could use a small personal recorder or one of the stand alone workstations like the Boss', Tascam & Fostex's.

Although the learning curve has been steep for me and my aging brain, I have found the newest Logic Pro 9.1.1 to be very intuitive and useful for my purposes.
Good Luck!

alohachris

[rick-slo]

Ableton Live

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by starr

Reaper, Protools, Logic, Sonar, Cubase, etc? Trying to find one to use, mostly to load audio tracks recorded with my Zoom H4n and then edit and burn to cd.

Are you on Mac or PC ? and what is your intended use for the CD's

[starr]

Thanks for you replies. Alohachris, very thorough answer!

I have a PC and, if I was playing with a buddy or two and decided to record it, I'd like to be able to make a CD so they could listen to how we sounded. I had difficulty loading Cubase LE5 onto my computer and after going back and forth through emails with Steinberg Support was able to load it onto my computer. While looking for some troubleshooting tips on the Cubase Forum, I noticed, it appeared, so many people were having all sorts of trouble with Cubase (I guess I'd see the same at other DAW forums as well). Having the trouble I did getting my soft e-licensure for Cubase, I thought it might be a sign of what's to come.

Then I started thinking about using Reaper (30 day free full version trial) or Audacity (free) instead.

Being a total beginner in this, the main importance would be ease of use. I'd like to load the recorded tracks, be able to take a listen, and maybe cut out the beginning of the recorded track (maybe take out talking before we played) or to add a little reverb. Nothing too crazy although I'd suppose once I start using it, I'd probably do more and more with it.

[rhancox]

I've used CuBase LE, that came with the Lexicon Omega I had. Then I bought my Focusrite unit and it came with Abelton Live.

I found Abelton to have a ton of features that I want to take advantage of but I've had trouble getting off the ground. I keep going back to CuBase because I know it, but Abelton Live is where I'd like to be.

I'm intrigued by the Reaper full version demo so I'm going to give it a go on my next project. I didn't find anything on their website, though, about it doing video.

I've used Audacity as well. Easy enough but I've always had problems recording multiple tracks.

[RustyAxe]

Originally Posted by rhancox

I'm intrigued by the Reaper full version demo so I'm going to give it a go on my next project. I didn't find anything on their website, though, about it doing video.

Look here ... http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=189497

[chas52]

I use and love reaper.

[mondoslug]

Originally Posted by alohachris

Logic and Pro Tools HD are the only two truly professional DAWS, with all the features.

Don't forget Nuendo.

[hillzz22]

Another very happy Logic 9.1.1 user here! And I must agree, the work flow and degree to which Logic aids and fosters creativity is what sold me.