Members Anderton Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Just curious...so you're using a particular DAW, and presumably enjoying it. But, maybe you could enjoy it more if only...[fill in the blank] What kind of features do you find missing from your current DAW? Or what feature in a competing DAW is making you think twice about maybe changing? For example, Cubase's Arrange function is very cool, and for certain types of music (particularly songwriting) it might be enough to get someone to switch. Or someone who was thinking of ditching Acid might stick with it if a version came out with algorithmic composition tools. Then there are the people who would be interested in switching to Sonar if only its notation capabilities were improved... What's your wish list for your current DAW, or features in other DAWs that you find very, very tempting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Well Craig, I have 12 years of Pro Tools and a good 3 years of Logic now. I've dabbled in a bunch of other's and I do Like LIVE for some things but at this point, I have what I need in PT and Logic. No one DAW has all the features that anyone might want. I like the Idea of drag and drop that Presonus Studio One has and that can be quite liberating. I would like to see Pro Tools have some kind of Offline Bounce capability and Logic's Instruments and Plugs need an upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted December 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Good answer, but let me ask a follow-up question: What makes you decide to use Pro Tools, and what makes you decide to use Logic? Different types of projects? Different workflow? Or...just what you feel like using that day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Lack of functionality in an important area would make me switch. I don't care much about customer support, because I'm sort of stubborn. If something doesn't work out of the box - screw it. I don't want to hassle with it. Example: A lack of MIDI functionality has made me switch from Cubase already. I've got Cubase VST 5.0, the so-called "Educator's Edition". Basically, I stopped using it. Its MIDI functionality is not ready for prime-time. In fact, its MIDI functionality would not be ready for prime-time in the year 1995. My problem and the problem of many other users, is the inability to get MIDI playback. It is not an isolated problem. People have emailed me about the same experience. THE TEST THAT MADE ME SWITCH DAWS: I tested Cubase 5.0 & old Voyetra Record Producer (Digital Orchestrator Pro) on the same notebook computer. I had my USB MIDI 4x4 interface running to my gear. Cubase dongle inserted. I booted both programs. Then I load the same MIDI file into Cubase & Voyetra. So I was using the same notebook computer, the same MIDI interface & playing the same MIDI file. What happened? Voyetra played it back flawlessly. Cubase? Nothing but dead silence. I'll post that test on my Youtube channels one of these days. A battle between obsolete Voyetra & state-of-the-art Cubase 5.0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alndln2 Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 What Would It Take to Make You Switch DAWs? Something drastic like an OS change. For the last few years Iv'e been locked into building my own Windows machines and using Cakewalk/Sonar and am very comfortable, but if Windows started taking a turn for the worse(like Vista) and I had no choice but to switch to a Mac OS I'd have to consider something over there. As it is, they all have more features than I'll ever use anyway, so at this point it's more a matter of comfort and familiararity. I've used Steinberg's Nuendo in the past so I'd probably consider Cubase or Reaper, but not because of any feature that one may have or another, but rather whatever is up to date generally and stays out of my way creatively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted December 16, 2010 CMS Author Share Posted December 16, 2010 I want something that's indistinguishable from a recorder and console. I don't want it to look like a computer. I don't want it to work like a computer. I want a full set of knobs (not just a fader, one rotary encoder, and switching to make that encoder into whatever knob I want to turn at the moment) for a reasonable number (24 will do) of channels - I can live with bank switching if I ever need more channels. When it comes to editing, I can deal with a computer, in fact I like that applicaiton. So it needs a place to plug in a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, but they shouldn't be an essential part of tracking and mixing unless I need to call on a special function. Same goes for plug-ins. I can appreciate the flexibility of having a wider range of EQ, dynamics, and effects than I can justify owning in pure hardware form, but I want the built-in defaults to be usable enough so that I'm not tempted to spend time picking out the perfect compressor for every track. If I do MIDI at all, I'll do it either with dedicated hardware or a separate computer. I guess about half a million dollars to throw around would be a good start so I could experiment hands-on with various options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ggm1960 Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I was quite content using Cakewalk's line of programs from MSDOS Midi through Sonar until I decided to begin using sequencing on live gigs. The PC is just "clumsy" to use in the heat of gigging and I couldn't find a program that would que up songs for a live situation. That's when I "discovered" Digital Performer which allows one to put as many songs into a project file as needed. I had to switch over to Macs for it of course but after getting my whole midi system together and learning the program I had a great solid backing track system for my band. The whole live scene got to be too much work for too little reward so I'm out of that, at least for now, but having made a switch of sorts to Macs it was a good opportunity to try Logic so I started learning Logic Express 8. I was pretty fumbly with it but went ahead and upgraded to Logic Pro 9 and at this point it's going to be my main program for the forseeable future and the only one I'm currently current with as in, I'm using the latest version. Earlier this year I bought Ableton Live 8 but just haven't taken any time to try and get anything out of it. I know I know! I'm also a big fan of Reason 5, and now Record 1.5 as well. I'll be using these programs off and on as the mood strikes me also. At this point in time I won't be spending as much of my free time working on new music while I attempt to learn more about animation and video production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 DP user since 2000 here. I have considered switching several times in the past decade but nothing has really kept my interest long enough. However, RECORD looks enticing but as long as it remains a closed system, I will remain with DP. The only thing that would get me to run from DP was if I started to notice MOTU dropping the ball. They seem to listen to users (much like Propellerhead) so as long as each version improves or clears up something, I`ll stay with them. No sense in disrupting the workflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I'm happy to switch DAWs temporarily. I began with Performer in late 1990, and I began using Sound Tools in late 1992--back when Performer was just a MIDI application and Pro Tools' predecessor was just an audio app. I added to Logic when it added audio back in 1994; and by 1995, I had Digital Performer, Pro Tools, Logic Audio, Studio Vision, and Cubase XT running on my rig. Around the time that OS X became a good audio platform, Pro Tools became a decent MIDI application; and I began to settle into just using Pro Tools. The new version 9 is mature in every way, and it has everything I need on a regular basis. It would take a major shakeup in the industry or in the way I work to make me switch away from Pro Tools permanently. That said, I'm happy to boot up Logic Pro if I want to use Sculpture in a track or use Digital Performer to access a plug-in that's only available in AU format. Then once I've finished that portion of the work, I'll import it back to Pro Tools and continue in my comfort zone. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 It would take a LOT to get me to switch. In most cases a particular feature would not motivate a switch because it is likely to become available as a plug-in or be added to the next revision of the DAW I use soon enough. I greatly value the way I don't have to think much when using the basic features of an application that I know well. I have only switched twice in fifteen years or so. The first time was when I reluctantly started using Digital Performer when Studio Vision became obsolete. Then when Apple moved to OS X I realized that the company was getting too arrogant and their products didn't offer the best performance for the dollar, I switched to the PC and Sonar. Another major factor in moving to the PC was that I had to use PCs in my day job and I developed skills at troubleshooting them. At the same time, most of my Apple knowledge and skills (and hardware) were becoming obsolete with the move to OS X. If Digital performer was available for the PC I would still be using it, I never had an issue with it, just with Apple. I chose Sonar because it seemed to be the closest in layout and logic to Digital performer and Anderton's praise of it was also a major factor. My last experience with buying a PC convinced me that it is the best option. I was able to keep using XP Pro which is stable and I know well, and I was able to buy a very fast customized computer at half the price of an equivalent Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I tend to stick with something for a while unless I cannot easily accomplish what I'm trying to do. I use Pro Tools. I started because 1.) a recording engineer that I trust strongly recommended it to me, 2.) it is compatible with so many other engineers' setups, 3.) their sessions are backwards-compatible to a ridiculous degree with older sessions, and 4.) it was really easy and intuitive for me to edit and record, the two functions that I need. It would admittedly be difficult for me to switch at this point because I've been using it for ten years, do not want to learn something else, and have a lot of mixes that I need access to occasionally. However, I would consider using something else in conjunction with Pro Tools, and possibly slowly weaning off Pro Tools to that one over the course of time. I do value building a rapport with equipment so I can just simply get on with creating and not learning and fiddling. The DAW is a means to an end, and I have no desire to fiddle, learn another DAW, or anything when I am trying to simply create music intuitively and easily as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Extreme Mixing Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I almost always use Pro Tools. I'm an engineer who also uses midi and I need fast access to samples and musical elements. I get that from Pro Tools. I also have Logic and DP and can get around on them pretty well. But if I need to get something up and sounding good and be creative, I'm always going to do it in Pro Tools. I'm a power user and it comes very easily for me. There just isn't a whole lot of features that we NEED anymore. It's time to make music now. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I tend to switch things when a company pisses me off. I switched internet providers when my former provider dicked me around on a simple request for three straight weeks. I switched TV providers when my former one was charging me more than what I'd signed up for. Since most DAWs these days offer pretty small differences in terms of what I need to accomplish with them (mostly acting as a tape recorder), I find it likely that I won't switch until given a reason to, usually through poor policies or service capabilities rather than anything to do with the feature set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Well, I currently use a standalone 16-track So the thing that would make me change would be a working knowledge of computer-based digital recording Thing is, I'm quite happy with the way things are. I'm in my comfort zone with my hardware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I tend to switch things when a company pisses me off. I switched internet providers when my former provider dicked me around on a simple request for three straight weeks. I switched TV providers when my former one was charging me more than what I'd signed up for. Since most DAWs these days offer pretty small differences in terms of what I need to accomplish with them (mostly acting as a tape recorder), I find it likely that I won't switch until given a reason to, usually through poor policies or service capabilities rather than anything to do with the feature set. Yes, there is this reason. Poor customer service would make me switch. Or poor policies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 My needs from a DAW are pretty simple, so I could use just about any DAW and it doesn't matter much to me, all other things (price, hardware, etc.) being equal. But it'd be pretty hard to get me to switch from Reaper, because it's not a resource hog, it integrates amazingly easily with practically any hardware or software, sounds great, is extremely low cost, and it can be configured just about any way you want according to your workflow. If someone came up with some completely different system that sounded way better to me, I'd consider switching for that reason. It's all about sound quality to me. I'm more likely to want to switch hardware than software anyway - I'd like to have a better control surface (e.g. the new Allen & Heath desk ) and/or some completely new interface that's even more intuitive and fun to use. And yeah, I agree with Jeff and Ken that a crappy business model and/or crappy customer service often makes me abandon a product. That's another thing I like about Reaper - if there's some new feature that everyone wants, it usually gets added pretty quickly. Kinda hard to beat their philosophy from the end user's perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members djwayne Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I have no desire to switch away from Sonar X1. With it installed on an ssd, and the vst scan disabled, it loads up in 2-4 seconds, then I can load up a preset session with my Ivory II program all loaded and ready to rock and roll and record in about 16 seconds. So from dead closed to fully ready to record it takes me 3 mouse clicks and about 20 seconds set up time. It would be pretty hard to beat that for convience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mudcat007 Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Lee wrote my post for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 If I were starting to record right now, I'd look into Reaper, that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 DAmn, I can't get the hang of qoting on this BBS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Good answer, but let me ask a follow-up question: What makes you decide to use Pro Tools, and what makes you decide to use Logic? Different types of projects? Different workflow? Or...just what you feel like using that day? Pro Tools allows me to be more creative because frankly, it's so easy to record with. I like to have the least amount of buffer between me and recorder so I can get my ideas down fast. I got into logic because at the time Pro Tools was lacking in tools for the songwriter/composer and Logic had a good set of instruments that let me get in there and write and create fast. Pro Tools 8 came out and changed that and I Started to use it again plus is LOVE the Elastic Audio! Logic's isn't as good..That said, I'm also working on new album that we laid basic tracks on a PT HD3 system and I was able to downsample from 96K to 48k, take the sessions home and do all the post production work, adding parts etc then when it comes time to mix it in the studio, I just have to import session data from my sessions and all my edits and changes will apply to the original 96K sessions..Easy as pie..If I were still on Logic only it would have been burning stems, working at home, them back to PT etc..Pro Tools works better for this album...Also Pro Tools 9 is a game changer in that I can use my other interfaces and I have most of the tools and tracks I lacked in LE. I see myself using PT more than Logic now. The editing is more intuitive and I can just get things done faster for the type of music I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 I think I'll stick with Reaper. It does everything I need, a lot of stuff I haven't yet needed, and they do not have an insane update/upgrade policy (e.g., another year, another $200, ad nauseum). The only thing I wish it had that it doesn't is a full featured wave editor. Sure it's easy to call one editor up (or select from a few), but having an integral part of the DAW would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members veracohr Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 If someone released software that was a combination of Digital Performer and the looping part of Live, not limited in either respect, I'd consider switching. Otherwise I'm fine with my Digital Performer 5 and Live 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Wel... considering that I was a CakeWalk / Sonar user from 1995 to 2002, until I got this job at M-Audio and the company's software was Reason + Ableton's Live... and that I used them until the only official software was Pro Tools (8) ... and that I currently find that I can do everything I need with Pro Tools 9 ... ... I don't know... perhaps unless another DAW company hires me, I'm staying with Pro Tools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted December 17, 2010 Members Share Posted December 17, 2010 Wel... considering that I was a CakeWalk / Sonar user from 1995 to 2002, until I got this job at M-Audio and the company's software was Reason + Ableton's Live... and that I used them until the only official software was Pro Tools (8) ... and that I currently find that I can do everything I need with Pro Tools 9 ... ... I don't know... perhaps unless another DAW company hires me, I'm staying with Pro Tools So, you`re finally admitting that you`re a homer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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