Please help me choose a DAW setup

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Rawkus81

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Jun 24, 2009
Sorry I know, this old chestnut. :rolf:

So far I've tried FL studio and Reaper. I liked FL Studio but just couldn't get the hang of making my beats sound right. Picking up Reaper seems to have helped me getting over this but people I hear people talking about how Reapers's Midi sucks (not that advanced to know if it sucks or not).

From what I've seen most people seem to use Reaper for mixdowns and real bands/instruments, is it possible to get the most out of using Reaper to make DnB or will it really be a secondary program?

I was thinking of getting to start using Reason to ReWire to reaper to make up for its short falls but then I'm getting into the sort of cost where I could just buy Cubase or something and have it for most things arn't I? How good/bad is the Cubase essentials 4 package, has anyone used it, it's noticeably cheaper?

Also I don't hear much about pro tools in this forum, is it just not needed?
 
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Rawkus81 said:
Sorry I know, this old chestnut. :rolf:

So far I've tried FL studio and Reaper. I liked FL Studio but just couldn't get the hang of making my beats sound right. Picking up Reaper seems to have helped me getting over this but people I hear people talking about how Reapers's Midi sucks (not that advanced to know if it sucks or not).

From what I've seen most people seem to use Reaper for mixdowns and real bands/instruments, is it possible to get the most out of using Reaper to make DnB or will it really be a secondary program?

I was thinking of getting to start using Reason to ReWire to reaper to make up for its short falls but then I'm getting into the sort of cost where I could just buy Cubase or something and have it for most things arn't I? How good/bad is the Cubase essentials 4 package, has anyone used it, it's noticeably cheaper?

Also I don't hear much about pro tools in this forum, is it just not needed?
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Mate just use FL, if Spor can make his tunes on there then anyone has some chance. (i only found this out the other day from slick(1/3rd of dexcell))
just practiseeee!

Protools is used more for actual audio recording and post production.
 
yeah, FL may be in certain peoples eyes a toy but you should definately continue with it just as not to confuse yourself. stick with FL for a year or two. also which edition are you using?
 
richie_stix said:
ableton for the win!
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I did have a quick look at Ableton and it looked quite nice I just get put off that it's still mainly marketed and used for live/creative work which I have no real intention of doing certainly in the foreseeable future.

That and it's pretty damn expensive.
 
well... get a cracked copy ;) also, check out my myspace for some tunes i made in Ableton ONLY (no VST's, no plugins... just pure ableton) (y)
 
Dan M said:
yeah, FL may be in certain peoples eyes a toy but you should definately continue with it just as not to confuse yourself. stick with FL for a year or two. also which edition are you using?
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I was using the producer edition when I was testing it. I liked everything about it but for some reason setting up a drum beat proved to be really un-intuitive for me. I think it's something to do with the beats just being solid blocks, doesn't give me as good a feeling as showing the waveform maybe but what ever it is I just can't seem to be able to generate good beats in FL. Everything else seemed pretty much spot on.
 
I thought just that about reaper, that working with midi kinda sucks. Now I've just understood that it's not meant to do things like FL's full midi implementation. Reaper (and other 'pro' programs for that matter) shines way brighter when you use more straight audio. The biggest downside in fruity is the lack of options in editing straight audio.

Version 3 of reaper has improved the midi editing by miles, but I still haven't seen a better piano roll than FL.

Some very professional people swear by protools over cubase, supposedly the workflow is way faster and more intuitive. I wouldn't know, but as it comes with the Mbox audio interfaces it sure is a good way of getting into production if you need an interface.
 
So FL and Reaper are the best partnership by the sounds of it. I was originally thinking Reason but much of a muchness maybe. Will have to look at maybe get them working together now, I have no idea why I couldn't get the hang of making drum loops in FL Studio but it Reaper it was just easy.

I like the idea of Pro Tools and cheap by comparison to other software at seemingly its level but put off my it's lack of use by more casual users, the need for hardware that I'm not even sure I'd use and lack of 64bit support.
 
Keep in mind when testing for different programs that it'll take time to get to know them, where to find what you're looking for, keyboard shortcuts etc. What might at first seem like a overwhelmingly complicated will turn into endless possibilities, and what might seems like a toyish simple solution will become a faster-than-light way of turning ideas into reality.

I mean to say that the first impressions from a DAW will almost always be underestimations, until you really work with it for hours and hours. And in the end you'll achieve the same end results with just different means.
 
kama said:
Keep in mind when testing for different programs that it'll take time to get to know them, where to find what you're looking for, keyboard shortcuts etc. What might at first seem like a overwhelmingly complicated will turn into endless possibilities, and what might seems like a toyish simple solution will become a faster-than-light way of turning ideas into reality.

I mean to say that the first impressions from a DAW will almost always be underestimations, until you really work with it for hours and hours. And in the end you'll achieve the same end results with just different means.
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There's a lot of truth in that post, doesnt matter what daw you use itll take a few months to get to know the ins and out of whatever workstation you choose (i will reccomend fl tho).

Couple your chosen DAW with some sweet vst's and youll have a grin on your chops.

In the end its the creativity of your own brain that makes the tunes.
 
at the end of the day you should find the app that best compliments your workflow as thats all that matters imo if you get on well with a peice of software then stick with it, i have gone further backwards since i started, i started out on cubase, fl, reason and now im using renoise, you should also check that out. takes a while to get ya head round and i have only learned the basics but it seems trackers suit me best, i never been able to work so quick and i reckon i will get quicker as i learn its tricks :D but really try and use every bit of software and see which one helps you achieve what you want the easiest and quickest.might be a long process but they are all aimed to help in certain areas and you just have to find your soulstation so to speak haha. demos are on their sites too so its not like you have no chance to do it. get it right and your music will improve as a result as you will make more, have more fun, and progress quicker. i used reason the longest and its a great app also, i rated fl but found it a bit uninspiring to work on. cubase just seems to kill my vibe as soon as i turn it on. ableton was really really good but i didnt work very fast as i spent too much time gettin distracted by unnecacary features i didnt really need to be using. havent used reaper but from what i have heard its a really really good sequencer. i had a play with record and that sounds top but its just too much scrollin around. i totally didnt get logic or sonar either, everything was just a mission haha. i had a quick play with acid wich is directly aimed at loop based construction (not for me). but basically yeah try em and see which best suites how you work:), dont get suckered in to the x sounds better than y because its bull shit tbh great tunes have been made in virtually every app by a lot of people, and it has more to do with them just gettin on with it as they are freed up to be creative without hittin brick walls.
 
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