Program battle! What should I use?

[Deff Gordon]

my soft synths work great in DP4.6

[Tyler J]

Originally Posted by Stefan Anion

Ableton is great for sound design, especially in combo with NI Reaktor. It's a good sequencer, but it hogs your processor quite a bit after a while and the output is both muddy and a lot quieter, not when rendering though. for mastering you can use peak, or t-racks although i personally recommend izotope Ozone and the BBE Sonic maximizer

I heard this was nice.

[Sinner]

Originally Posted by nitetripp

my soft synths work great in DP4.6

Cool. Now that I think about it, I think the last time I was on DP was at 3.1.1. That was a cpl years ago.

There were some really bad ass means of viewing info in DP that I miss.

[Rod Cramwell]

Ableton is a cool toy. But its all loop oriented. If you want to compose...go with DP, Logic, or protools....Shit ...Garage Band is a good place to learn basics....and you already own it!!

[Blake]

Reason + Ableton for me..... some great explanations in the posts above

[Tyler J]

Originally Posted by C.A. jones

Ableton is a cool toy. But its all loop oriented. If you want to compose...go with DP, Logic, or protools....Shit ...Garage Band is a good place to learn basics....and you already own it!!

I am not going to argue with you much because I have seen some of the knowledge you have posted up here. Ummmm... ableton = toy?... no no no... Fruity Loops = toy. There are A LOT of producers out there that use live for there sequencing;hence loop based.... but we are making loop based music, right? Live is a great tool to use considering Re-Wire capeablilities.

[SeanSparks]

Awesome, I'm going to check out those videos stat.

Then I'm going to b(it torrent)uy the software I decide on. I may go with DP or Logic, from what I'm reading.

-Sean

[Darren Afrika-ka-ka]

Originally Posted by SeanSparks

Awesome, I'm going to check out those videos stat.

Then I'm going to b(it torrent)uy the software I decide on. I may go with DP or Logic, from what I'm reading.

-Sean

come on brother buy it legally

[david austin]

you cant torrent logic pro just fyi. theres a usb key that is required for start up.

i believe logic express is available... but its in a much simpler form.

honestly everything mentioned in this thread can be used for producing.... you just have to master every element to get the most out of it.

a prog like reason my feel cheap and easy, but just as an example... Sona has made many released tracks on it. hes also been using ableton a lot with great success.

logic and protools may be the biggest and baddest for the most advanced users, but you certainly dont need a 1000$ program to start.

[Sinner]

Originally Posted by C.A. jones

Garage Band is a good place to learn basics....and you already own it!!

[juandingo]

Originally Posted by SeanSparks

Awesome, I'm going to check out those videos stat.

Then I'm going to b(it torrent)uy the software I decide on. I may go with DP or Logic, from what I'm reading.

-Sean

bwahahaha!

[Soccer Mom]

Originally Posted by Stefan Anion

Ableton is great for sound design, especially in combo with NI Reaktor. It's a good sequencer, but it hogs your processor quite a bit after a while and the output is both muddy and a lot quieter, not when rendering though. for mastering you can use peak, or t-racks although i personally recommend izotope Ozone and the BBE Sonic maximizer

Yeah, that bit about muddy and quiet output is basically not true at all. As for being a CPU hog, AL6 consumes the same amount of resources as Logic or Cubase, but that is where the deep freeze capabilities come into play. Use what you want, but I dare anyone to find a cheaper easier alternative to Live 6.

[BigBallinColin]

I would check out a few before buying since it they are all quite expensive. also there are many free vsts out there. I dont know much since I have a pc but I have been quite amazed with some of the free stuff lately. also there are some free sequencers as well buzz is, and renoise is I think. so you could check them out as well.

[Stefan Anion]

Originally Posted by Soccer Mom

Yeah, that bit about muddy and quiet output is basically not true at all. As for being a CPU hog, AL6 consumes the same amount of resources as Logic or Cubase, but that is where the deep freeze capabilities come into play. Use what you want, but I dare anyone to find a cheaper easier alternative to Live 6.

Let me rephrase that a bit:

When i work in live the master out usually clips pretty hard, so i have to turn the volume way down or stuff starts distorting - who knows, maybe it's my soundcard (Delta 44)?

I guess i just have sensitive ears, but when i hear stuff coming out of Live compared to the same thing coming out of Cubase or Logic it just sounds slightly muddy. As for rendering audio out of Live, the sound is clear and not muddy at all.

I do agree with you about Live being a great all rounder. I've been using it since Version 1.5 and you can do just about anything with it, and quickly. Plus on the Mac you get the advantage of being able to use 3 FX formats, VST, AU and LiveFX.

so yeah :drink:

[PointBender]

ehhhhh,

Look sean, here's the reality. No program is "better" than another. As long as it processes in 24-32 bit float point which most of the aformentioned programs do (Except reason) then there is no one better program than another. The real difference lies in how you work as a musician. Here is the break down that I use for my trainees

Ableton- For graphic and object oriented people. Its very easy to use, it's a powerfull tool for remixing and people that like to use allot of loops and audio files.

Reason- It's a powerfull sketch pad for ideas but lacks in sound quality and functionality. Some of the draw backs include not being able to intergrate hardware, not being able to use vsts, and having very poor sonic quality.

Fruity loops- Is not a toy!!!! Jacob London still uses only fruity loops. I find it to be a ton more versitile than reason cause in the XL version you can record audio and use vst plugs.

Logic Pro- Most bang for the buck! 37 instruments and 110 effects with a comprehensive enviroment you can use to taylor the DAW to how you work. Also if you have a mac book this is one of the best software packages out there. But like david said PRO can't be hacked becuase it pings its usb dongle every 4 minutes. Logic express is all you need to make dance music.

Pro Tools- Industry standard, a cumbersome bore to use but a powerfull program none the less. Its propriatary design makes it difficult to grow with the company and when compatibility becomes an issue dont hold your breathe for an upgrade or bug fix. Pro Tools is not a great program for dance music production. its a better program for film, live bands, etc....

Nuendo- Post production tool only now!!!

Cubase 4- A great program equal in every way to logic except for the amount of plugs it comes with. These two programs tend to represent both sides of the spectrum. Cubase beats logic only in one functionality and thats using multi channel plugins that you need to map to seperate midi files and to individual channels. However, it is not the best program to use with external hardware.

Sonar- You can't use this on a mac, but I will say with confidence that this is logics equivilant on the pc. It is the best pc based platform period!!!!

Digital Performer- Is a great program for people that come from a notation based background. Its interface caters to the musically minded and those that deal well in a very linear enviroment. Loop based recording such as in dance music can be cumbersome becuase you have to learn to work in "Chunks" which is a concept that is unique to DP. The plus side is that DP has amazing effects and once you learn the enviroment it is truely a great DAW software.

Garage Band- Might as well buy logic express, its more or less the same program with more features.



Also, im tired of hearing the word VST to describe logic. Logic uses AU or Audio Unit plugins, not VST's. It is a much better programing protocol soo stop stuping au's down to vst terminology......

Hope this helps!