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david.michael's Ultimate Software DAW Guide
(This post reserved for updates)
david.michael's Ultimate Software DAW Guide
Last Updated: March 07, 2007
Since probably half of the questions in this forum look something like "Which sequencer should I buy?" or "Which is the best DAW for trance?", I decided that this forum could use a sort of software DAW "buying guide" which can be referenced and used for feature comparisons, system requirements, prices, etc. Maybe this will help to reduce the plethora of repetitive questions that this forum gets pelted with daily. I will try to keep this guide as up-to-date as possible, and mods are welcome to update/correct it as necessary. Please note that I obviously don't use every single piece of software listed on here, so I don't personally know the ins and outs of each studio suite. All I know is what I have researched and experienced. Feel free to correct me or help to fill in any blanks.
General Info
- There is no "best" choice. This guide is intended to help YOU decide which software would suit YOU best.
- Cheaper options are not necessarily poor ones.
- There are more options than those listed here. I am trying to combine a list of the most used/asked about ones.
- Most companies provide a very capable demo of their software. When in doubt, try it out.
- This post is a continual work-in-progress. Feedback/additions welcomed.
DAW Comparison Chart
code:
MANUFACTURER PRODUCT PLATFORM SEQUENCING METHOD # OF TRACKS PLUGIN FORMATS FEATURES PRICE ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______ Ableton Live 6 Windows, Linear, matrix Unlimited VST, AU Realtime $499 Mac OS X (special), pattern time-stretch, flexible routing, drag/drop sampling ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______ Apple Logic Pro 7 Mac OS X Linear, step, 255 TDM, AU 34 included soft $999 v10.3 + pattern instruments ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______ Cakewalk Sonar 6 Windows XP, Linear, pattern 64 DirectX, DXi, 24-bit/192KHz, $139 Home Studio Vista, x64 VST, VSTi, ACID loop/MIDI ReWire groove clip supt. music notation Sonar 6 Windows XP, Linear, step, Unlimited DirectX, DXi, 64-bit engine, $369 Studio Ed. Vista, x64 pattern VST, VSTi, Roland instruments, Rewire Sonitus FX Suite, Lexicon pantehon LE, SFZ, Cyclone Sonar 6 Windows XP, Linear, step, Unlimited DirectX, DXi, 64-bit engine, $619 Producer Ed. Vista, x64 pattern VST, VSTi, Surround support, ReWire Video support, Convulution reverb, assignable FX, REX, PSYN II ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______ Image Line FL Studio 7 Windows 2k, Linear, step, 64 VST, VSTi, DXi, Speech synth, $149 Software Producer Ed. XP, 2k3, pattern Buzz, FL, 10 incl. synths, Vista, Intel ReWire 25+ Integrated FX, Mac w/Bootcamp Sample Library, Lifetime updates ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______ MOTU Digital Mac OS X Linear, step, Unlimited TDM, MAS, AU, 50+ incl. plugins, $395 Performer 5 pattern, loop Premiere MasterWorks 64-bit ProToos DAE support ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______ Propellerhead Reason 3 Windows XP, ReWire Intuitive "rack" $499 Software Mac OS X interface, very complete studio suite ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______ Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Windows 2k, Linear, loop, 48 VST, DirectX, VST System Link, $159 XP, Mac OS overdub, step, punch ReWire 24/96 kHz audio X v10.2 Cubase Windows XP, Linear, loop Unlimited VST, VSTi, 47 plugins, 2 $499 Studio 4 Mac OS X instruments. audio v10.4 warp, freeze Cubase 4 Windows XP, Linear, loop Unlimited VST, VSTi, 66 plugins, 6 $999 Mac OS X instruments, v10.4 external inst. & FX, Surround support ________________ _____________ ____________ _____________________ _______________ ________________ __________________ _______
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Official System Requirements: Macintosh System Requirements * Any G3 or faster (G5 or Intel Mac recommended) * 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended) * Mac OS X 10.2.8 (10.4 or later recommended) Windows System Requirements * 1.5 GHz CPU or faster * 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended) * QuickTime 6.4 or higher * Windows 2000/XP * Windows-compatible sound card (ASIO driver support recommended) |
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Official System Requirements: * Macintosh computer with PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo; Intel Core Duo, PowerPC G5, or dual PowerPC G4 processor recommended * Logic Node applications require PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity * 512MB of RAM * Mac OS X v10.4.3 or later for PowerPC-based systems; Mac OS X v10.4.4 or later for Intel-based systems * QuickTime 7.0.3 or later * 8GB of available hard drive space * DVD drive for software installation * Available USB port for XSKey (copy protection) * Low-latency multi-I/O audio hardware and MIDI interface recommended |
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Official System Requirements: * Intel Pentium 4 1.3GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+ or higher (Pentium 4 2.8GHz or Athlon 64 2800+ recommended) * Windows XP (x64 edition required for 64-bit edition of Sonar) * 256 MB of RAM minimum (1 GB or higher recommended) * 1024 x 768 16-bit display or higher (1280x960, 24-bit recommended) * 100MB free space ("multiple gigabytes" recommended) * DVD-ROM drive |
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Official System Requirements: * Minimum Pentium III or Athlon XP (any processor supporting SSE instructions) or Intel Mac with Bootcamp (running Windows XP) * Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista * Minimum 256MB ram * 200MB free harddisk space * Windows compatible soundcard with DirectSound drivers, ASIO drivers required for audio recording (FL installer comes with generic Asio4All drivers) |
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Official System Requirements Unknown-- feel free to submit |
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Official System Requirements Windows * Intel Pentium III 600 MHz or better * 256 MB RAM * 2 GB free hard disk space * CD-ROM drive * Windows XP/2000 or later * Monitor with 800x600 pixels resolution or better * 16-bit windows compatible audio card, preferably with DirectX or ASIO drivers Mac OS * G4 or G5 processor * 256 MB RAM * 2 GB free hard disk space * CD-ROM drive * Mac OS X 10.2 or later, 10.3 or later strongly recommended * Monitor with 800x600 pixels resolution or better |
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Official System Requirements Mac * Mac OS X Version 10.4 * Power Mac G4 1 GHz or Core Solo 1.5 GHz * 512 MB RAM * Display Resolution 1024x768 pixels * DVD drive required for installation * CoreAudio compatible audio hardware * USB port required for Steinberg Key (copy protection device)* * Internet connection required for license activation PC * Windows XP Home or XP Professional (both with Service Pack 1 installed) * Pentium/Athlon 1.4 GHz * 512 MB RAM * Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware (ASIO compatible audio hardware recommended for low latency performance) * Display resolution 1024x768 * DVD-ROM drive required for installation * USB port required for Steinberg Key (copy protection device)* * Internet connection required for license activation |
Feel free to submit additions/corrections. I don't have direct experience with all of these programs, so I may need help. 
I'm basing a good deal of it off of research and not experience. Also, let me know which hosts you would like added to the list.
nice thread, one small remark after a quick look: c4 doesn't support dx anymore.
nice post for sum1 willing to choose his DAW
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DeZmA nice thread, one small remark after a quick look: c4 doesn't support dx anymore. |
Great post for newcomers. You should add Reaper to that list, it's a DAW, it's 40$ bucks. I just recently started using it, and I am thinking of moving over from cubase after so many years. It's that good. It's something I would advise anyone to try. It's 2.1 megs, small ehh, yet it runs better than my cubase sx 3, my RME audio driver has some insane low latencies not possible with other hosts I've used. It's an eye opener for sure. And audio quality, let's just say it's on par with the big boys... Eaven surpassing some of them...It has support for dxi, vsti, vsti, rewire, support for multiple processors and more, it has some insane routings not possible with a lot of the expensive hosts, and it's making a stirr in the pro audio community. Check it out for yourself.
http://www.reaper.fm/feat-techspecs.php Technical Specialifications
http://www.reaper.fm/features.php Features
After using it for few days, and learning the diefferent features of this program, I just can't belive it's this good..
And here is an example of a post I have got from one of the reaper users, showing all 8 cores at work 
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I recently sold Cubase 4.02 to go full with Reaper. Its not perfect but the things it does already just slay cubase. Unlimited sends/inserts, total flexible routing and the big one for me, dual quadcore support.... Check this out... http://homepage.ntlworld.com/t.engl...6k32samples.jpg This is a picture of 10 instances of NI's Massive all playing 16 note poly at the same time (patch 4AD) in ultra high mode. Now, the project is 96k and my scard buffer is 32 samples (thats 0.33ms latency!!) And all the instances of massive are playing back perfectly, no audio glitches or anything. Absolutley AMAZING performance, Cubase would DIE at this sample rate/latency with just a couple of instances running. |
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| Originally posted by DJDIRTY Great post for newcomers. You should add Reaper to that list, it's a DAW, it's 40$ bucks. I just recently started using it, and I am thinking of moving over from cubase after so many years. It's that good. It's something I would advise anyone to try. It's 2.1 megs, small ehh, yet it runs better than my cubase sx 3, my RME audio driver has some insane low latencies not possible with other hosts I've used. It's an eye opener for sure. And audio quality, let's just say it's on par with the big boys... Eaven surpassing some of them...It has support for dxi, vsti, vsti, rewire, support for multiple processors and more, it has some insane routings not possible with a lot of the expensive hosts, and it's making a stirr in the pro audio community. Check it out for yourself. http://www.reaper.fm/feat-techspecs.php Technical Specialifications http://www.reaper.fm/features.php Features After using it for few days, and learning the diefferent features of this program, I just can't belive it's this good.. |
Very nice post. Now I know where to direct people when they are starting out
Awesome Thread man!!!
Thanks for taking the time to summarize this as I noticed continous requests for information regarding chioce of DAW's.
This really breaks it down for those making the initial leap in to midi/audio recording! It gives the opportunity to glance over the different features and options of each in order to investigate further in more details themselves instead of asking the same rhetorical questions "What DAW should I use?" or "What is the best DAW Software" and getting the same answer "There is no Best" or "It's personal Preference". Although in essense these answers are somewhat correct, you lay it on the line!!!
inb4dasticky
nice post here. should help
really cool, amd a great read. thanks
nice post, should definitely get thrown in a sticky
hopefully it helps eleviate some constant questions
Please check your PMs!
Adding to stick now
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| Originally posted by Allied Nations Please check your PMs! Adding to stick now |
Excellent post! A sticky indeed. And DJDirty bringing attention to Reaper... That is some impressive shit! Dual quad core support?! 
Thanks for this. I'm going to put this into the FAQ as well, seeing as how this is one of the specific questions.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DigiNut Thanks for this. I'm going to put this into the FAQ as well, seeing as how this is one of the specific questions. |
Nice post..
You forgot about Tracktion3 and Project 8.
Great thread. Maybe you could add an "underdogs" section for less popular DAWs like energyXT, Reaper and Podium.
Nice one!
Why not check out energyXT as well? I�d consider that as a good alternative to those mentioned above. Link: www.energy-xt.com
Weird, I thought I sent you one.
Name changed, sorry about that
Just came across this thread from another forum. The Cakewalk DAWs should be updated to reflect the substantial MIDI improvements (e.g., new MIDI tools, step sequencer) sidechaining, mastering tools, Z3TA+ synth, etc. that are included in Sonar 7.
Also, there's no mention of Cakewalk Project5 - it's an excellent sequencer package that is actually cheaper than FLS and includes a bunch of great synths, plugins, and a killer arp. Dead simple to use.
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| Originally posted by cryophonik Just came across this thread from another forum. The Cakewalk DAWs should be updated to reflect the substantial MIDI improvements (e.g., new MIDI tools, step sequencer) sidechaining, mastering tools, Z3TA+ synth, etc. that are included in Sonar 7. Also, there's no mention of Cakewalk Project5 - it's an excellent sequencer package that is actually cheaper than FLS and includes a bunch of great synths, plugins, and a killer arp. Dead simple to use. |
Cool! This is a great resource for all those "which DAW should I buy?" threads. I've bookmarked it for future reference. Thanks, David!
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