Which DAW?

**Jingr** · 09-05-2011, 09:10 PM

So I've been into beat production for some time now, using mostly and emx1, I've used some sequencers and have messed around in FL a bit. But now I'm looking to step up a little bit and get either maschine or the new mikro, but what I'm really wondering is what DAW would compliment it best? Testimonials or anything of the sort would be helpful. As I am purchasing the daw, please dont tell me to just try them out until I find one that fits best. Just looking for some quality advice.

Thanks in advance!

**ksandvik** · 09-05-2011, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by Jingr

So I've been into beat production for some time now, using mostly and emx1, I've used some sequencers and have messed around in FL a bit. But now I'm looking to step up a little bit and get either maschine or the new mikro, but what I'm really wondering is what DAW would compliment it best? Testimonials or anything of the sort would be helpful. As I am purchasing the daw, please dont tell me to just try them out until I find one that fits best. Just looking for some quality advice.

Thanks in advance!

Logic. Ableton Live. New Reason. Cubase. FL is pretty good nowadays, too. Oh and Pro Tools, too.

**greatwhitedope** · 09-05-2011, 09:43 PM

Since you have a dell Logic isn't an option. I would say that if you don't own any vst's Reason is going to have more variety in the box versus just Ableton Live. That being said, the instruments you do get with just Live are quality and able to produce a variety of sounds. For a first DAW I would recommend Live, especially with the session view which makes programming your own loops really easy and offers a more "free flow" workflow. Pro Tools and Cubase can't really comment on since I've never tried either.

**Jingr** · 09-06-2011, 01:21 AM

Cubase is deff out. I've used it before and I hate the interface. I've toyed with Live so that would be easier to start with. However would I find myself looking to move to Reason in the near future? Or will Live suit my needs for some sustainable future?

**nicoga3000** · 09-06-2011, 08:41 AM

Reason and Live are excellent pieces of software. FL isn't bad, and if you liked the demo (which you should have downloaded for all of these if you're intending to purchase one), it's a good start. Most DAW's offer a lot of power and creativity once you get intimate enough with it, but the workflow is what's going to be your biggest concern.

**Tarekith** · 09-06-2011, 09:18 AM

Another vote for Ableton live.

**greatwhitedope** · 09-06-2011, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Jingr

Cubase is deff out. I've used it before and I hate the interface. I've toyed with Live so that would be easier to start with. However would I find myself looking to move to Reason in the near future? Or will Live suit my needs for some sustainable future?

Not to take anything away from Reason, but I find it more of a distraction with constructing and routing my own racks rather than doing anything constructive. I don't see any reason you would move away from Live especially now that 8 is way more stable than the initial few releases. Plus, you're on windows so they're plenty of free vst's to try out and find a few you would like.

**ksandvik** · 09-06-2011, 06:16 PM

Ableton Live is a mightly good DAW and I've used it since 2.1 days but my biggest gripe -- and the reason I switch to Logic from time to time -- is the lack of comp takes.

Comp takes mean that I could set a let's say 8-bar loop and improvise line after line and then pick pieces I want for the final production. The MIDI region comp takes don't work as well as the audio ones but are still useable. Anyway, then I could just take the eight or four bar take, copy it multiple times, switch between the takes to make it more human or select one of the takes I liked more. Perfect for bass line improvising, different hihat patterns, multiple takes on pads and leads and so on.

If anyone knows how to do that quickly in Ableton Live, let me know. Been studying the 8.x manuals on my iPad from/to work and I have not yet found a nice workaround to do this. Which is sad as clips would be perfect for this if I could record clip after clip with a four-bar range.

The lack of more MIDI editing tools in Ableton Live is another story but just now I could live with the ones that are inside Ableton Live. But let's say narrow the range of velocities to a range of 90-110 which has tools in Logic, can't find that in Ableton Live either.

The other reason I used Ableton Live quite a lot before was the elastic loop support, now in Logic with flex time there's less need to use Live. I think most DAWs now have elastic time support in one flavor or another. Live is still wicked fast when assembling pieces together for a final product.