In search of a perfect DAW

matekatymka

New member
Hi!

I've been playing in a all-girl punk band for couple years and now I'm trying to start making electronic music. I'm using Reason 5, but recently I found out that it's not enough. I'm searching for something that:

- I can record instruments in, like for example guitar
- supports VSTs
- has a lot of good built-in effects and MIDI instruments (just like Reason)
- has good quantizer that works with external instruments too (I mean, like bass guitar or drums)
- Is good for mixing and mastering
- is relatively easy to use
- is good for playing live-sets

As you see, I'm noob. Sorry for my english, guys. I hope you understand what I mean.
 
You can record vocals and instruments into FL Studio, along with VST virtual instruments...it is my go-to DAW and it very good for making electronic music.

But you could also check out Reaper. It is a lot cheaper and you get a generous free trial to check it out. You'll need to get your own VST plug-ins, but then the world is your oyster.

Two options, but there are hundreds (if not thousands) of others :)
 
reaper is my suggestion for those looking to expand out - it has a lot of good plugins and lots are made for it as well

lots of good free instruments and fx at kvr audio

in addition to the sw you will need a hardware interface to make sure you get the best out of the system
 
It doesn't matter what DAW you use. It's whatever you personally like the most. Anybody who says otherwise is a consumer, not a producer.
 
no perfect daw but you described all of them including reason 6+

For what you described, bitwig or ableton would suit you best although fl studio has a performance mode too.
 
Ableton is what I use.

It can do live sets. it's really good at that.

It Mastering isn't that good but I recommend waves.com for that.

Number 9 Ableton can turn audio into midi, but not on the fly so beware of that. But it's still your best shot.
 
I like FL Studio because it's pretty straightforward, and lets you turn your ideas into music really quickly.
 
You should use Cubase because it's what I use and I am frickin awesome.........but seems how one of your criteria was playing live Ableton Live would probably be OK, I mean Steinberg used to sell it back when it was a toy so it must be sort of all right now. :p
 
Ableton is best for you. I've been using Sony Acid Pro and FL Studio and tried even Studio One. Now I've used Ableton Live for 5 years and never look behind. It's easy to use, perfect for live recordings ect.
 
It doesn't matter what DAW you use. It's whatever you personally like the most. Anybody who says otherwise is a consumer, not a producer.

This. "The DAW doesn't suck, you do."

Nah i'm just kidding, but really it's all about preference, though there's different stock eq's and compressors in every daw, so that's still just your own preference. 3rd party plugins do exist for a good reason too --- they're excellent and will work in any DAW :).
 
I remember those days, thinking a daw was the reason everything sounded choppy hahaha wow. Then I learned about quantize, no quantize etc synthesis, sound design blah blah blah.
There are features that daws have the other ones might not have and vice versa however, but it holds no bearing in terms of getting things done.

There are workflow differences most definitely. However I will say I doubt any one daw can do everything, that's just not plausible. Each one has different focuses and such, different methods and systems that work certain ways for a reason.
 
Digital performance, is like have all daw in one , the problem is not much peoples uses but if you feel confortable with you will love it
 
Well Ableton Live has everything you said you needed. I personally love Ableton more than anything but as they say, it's not the DAW, it's the producer. For me, Ableton is so much easier for me personally. That's all I can say. I highly recommend it. :3
 
Ableton

Its interface is pretty intuitive and if you haven't used any other DAW before, I would recommend to at least consider it. I know that some people find the switch up from their DAW to Ableton quite difficult.
 
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