most versatile DAW?

I

ImaDroppa

New member
I'm looking to get an actual, full on DAW sometime soon. Thing is I make nearly every possible genre from hiphop to trap to drum and bass, the list goes in. I'm thinking either Cubase or Ableton at the moment. I don't understand FL and Reason is too limited for me.

I have demos of both and I'm starting to figure them out, I got a pretty good feel on both of em and my workflow is pretty similar.

Never mind my rambling, basically I just need to know the differences, pros and cons of both. Plugin support and whatnot.

---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:04 PM ----------

Forgot to mention, running on PC so no Logic.
 
A big pro for me is that FL Studio accepts VSTs and Reason not. I tried alot of other DAWs such as Cubase but in my opinion is FL Studio the best DAW and very user friendly.
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I've use every daw except logic and they are all nearly the same and can produce the same quality but i prefer fl because the work flo fits me, and to me it's limitless. I left reason alone because the lack of vst support but it has everything u need in the box. Try them all and pick the one that fits you best. Check out studio one too. great daw. Quick tip..... Get ozone five for mastering: makes a big difference.
 
Ableton:
- Session view: As an ableton user the session view is what stands out to me. It enables you to get down ideas incredibly fast, mix them up and provides an easy way to arrange by playing the clips as you want them laid out.
- The stock plugins are good, and incredibly easy to get into (I guess the latter part being the most important for me, but they still sound good)
- Makes getting an Ableton Push possible :D I'm in love with mine
- Superfast sampling (better then cubase imo)
- One window interface, less clutter
- Very versatile routing which is easy to understand

Cubase: (I've used Cubase to some extent before, but I know ableton better)
- The midi editing in Cubase is really good, however, for my needs I don't need anything more then the basic piano roll, which ableton does well too
- Good stock sounds/effects
- Audio editing, ableton doesn't feature an on board audio editor, however most actions (that I need at least) can be performed by just slicing and dicing an audio clip in the arrangement view
- Mixing console, I've heard good things about the new mixing console

Bottom line: I'd go for ableton, to me it looks cleaner, has a better workflow and is easier to learn/operate (might be harder if you know a classical daw really well from earlier). Either is a good choice though. GL
 
If you "make every possible genre" and are any good, the last thing you need is advice, you've gotta already have a workflow and know what features you want.

Just try demos and look up vids on the products that interest you. All people are gonna refer you to is what they use. All this stuff does the same thing. Reason doesn't take vsts, big deal, it has tons of refills and Rack extensions. Neither does Logic, it takes AUs, neither does Pro Tools, it takes RTAS and HDM.

Make you own decision thru research and demoing.
 
DAWs aren't really tied to a genre. I would suggest looking at Reaper or Studio One. I think they will be THE DAWs to have in a few years. I have yet to hear a single person complain about either but I hear complaints about every other DAW out there. Right now I use Ableton but that is because I don't want to learn a new DAW and I only kinda know Ableton. I been using it for a year.
 
FL10 and Reaper.. Liimitless as far as im concerned.. I havent hit any walls telling me I cant do this or that.. Maybee somepeople, but not me and my workflow.. Back when i was all hardware, i started with sonar, and then was heavy into cubase.. the midi was great, but now im all software and im right back where i started.. FL for the win here.. and reaper for recording with ease..
 
Albeton Live is hands down the most "versatile" DAW...no discussion at all. Not the "BEST"....of course that goes to Cubase.

Every DAW has it's ups and downs. What this don't do that does and blah blah. Cubase is doing too much if you ask me. Melodyne type of vocal editing? You kidding me...


lmao at yall.......

Leave the FL Studio talk for easy to make beats.....O.K. I would love to see these advanced midi editing capabilities that make FL better than Cubase......(kind of funny to think that even if they did advance they would have to use Cubase's thinking). Primitive......

But for real though.........stick to one DAW. Because all of them play catch up with each other. Everybody complain about what they would like......then they end up with a bunch of unnecessary shit. Only difference is Cubase is always ahead of the rest....once one steps ahead just a little bit...they hit you with a 7.5 upgrade immediately. lmao! Steinberg is in it to win it.

The only thing that FL advances on any DAW is free upgrades. That is GREAT by itself. That and a step sequencer upon opening.

Prove me wrong..........you don't want those problems.

I'll save you some time on one messed up thing with Cubase 7.........Rewiring Reason 6 - 7. Not a biggie to me anyway though.

---------- Post added at 11:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 AM ----------
Xabiton said:
I would suggest looking at Reaper or Studio One. I think they will be THE DAWs to have in a few years. I have yet to hear a single person complain about either but I hear complaints about every other DAW out there.
Click to expand...

I complain about both. Primitive. They cool.....don't like their workflow. Reaper is straight for rewiring Reason. Studio One? I didn't see anything special with it.
 
stillfunkin said:
just curious... what toolz do you use now to make "nearly every possible genre from hiphop to trap to drum and bass"? and what are the short comings of those toolz?
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I use Nanostudio currently haha. The short comings are that it is an ipad and not an actual PC, so whatever is "in the box" is what i'm stuck with, unless i can find it in .wav format. Also i can't get very in depth and detail every little parameter like i would like to.

I get drums & other sounds from fatloop, producer loops, primeloops, etc.

and my mind, of course. A producer is only as good as their creativity takes them. I try to blend genres when possible, which lead to my versatility.

---------- Post added at 02:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------

Also, thanks for your input, everyone. I have tried many demos and can't seem to find which one i feel best with, so i'm going to hop back into them and see how things are again.
 
Most DAWs end up with similar features due to what could best be described as an evolutionary arms race, for example the way Cubase is laid out was far more logical than Notator so they copied Cubase and called their new program Logic, years later Cubase came out with VST which was also adopted by Logic who then came up with the freeze function which was in turn adopted by Cubase.

On the other hand there are things you can do in an ancient version of Cubase running on an old Atari ST from the 80's that you can't even do in the latest versions of FL Studio or Live, because they never bothered to implement those features.
 
901_Rice_Street said:
Albeton Live is hands down the most "versatile" DAW...no discussion at all. Not the "BEST"....of course that goes to Cubase.

Every DAW has it's ups and downs. What this don't do that does and blah blah. Cubase is doing too much if you ask me. Melodyne type of vocal editing? You kidding me...


lmao at yall.......

Leave the FL Studio talk for easy to make beats.....O.K. I would love to see these advanced midi editing capabilities that make FL better than Cubase......(kind of funny to think that even if they did advance they would have to use Cubase's thinking). Primitive......

But for real though.........stick to one DAW. Because all of them play catch up with each other. Everybody complain about what they would like......then they end up with a bunch of unnecessary shit. Only difference is Cubase is always ahead of the rest....once one steps ahead just a little bit...they hit you with a 7.5 upgrade immediately. lmao! Steinberg is in it to win it.

The only thing that FL advances on any DAW is free upgrades. That is GREAT by itself. That and a step sequencer upon opening.

Prove me wrong..........you don't want those problems.

I'll save you some time on one messed up thing with Cubase 7.........Rewiring Reason 6 - 7. Not a biggie to me anyway though.

---------- Post added at 11:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 AM ----------



I complain about both. Primitive. They cool.....don't like their workflow. Reaper is straight for rewiring Reason. Studio One? I didn't see anything special with it.
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NewTone

Newtone does the same. Has been in FL since back when i used to use it. Maybe 9 or 10 at release? Variaudio has been around a while as well for Cubase, this is just an upgrade on the tool. You have similar features with not quite the same type of interface in other DAWs as well...or you could just use Melodyne. It's a vst/rtas/au after all.

Everything you just stated was directed from personal opinions. If I wanted to, I could paint any DAW on the market out to be "the best" by listing the functionality it has that doesn't exist in the same form as it appears in other DAWs.

Example, what other tool on the market has the functionality of FL's step sequencer(excluding MOTU BPM that no one uses anyway)? I'm talking the pan of individual notes, cutting 1 sound with another(great for 808s that need to abruptly stop when a kick or clap comes in), pitch control for each note, a step-piano roll, pitch and shift control, ect. If that's one of your main tools and you never found use for melodyne(even though that's in FL as well)there is NO other program(other than BPM)that comes close.

I still use Redrum over Kong in Reason for drum programming capabilities that don't come close to those in FL(one can only dream).

Again, "best" is opinionated.
 
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deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup said:
what other tool on the market has the functionality of FL's step sequencer(excluding MOTU BPM that no one uses anyway)? I'm talking the pan of individual notes, cutting 1 sound with another(great for 808s that need to abruptly stop when a kick or clap comes in), pitch control for each note, a step-piano roll, pitch and shift control, ect. If that's one of your main tools and you never found use for melodyne(even though that's in FL as well)there is NO other program(other than BPM)that comes close.
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Cubase running on my 1987 Atari ST.......it's called the drum editor. :p

It's just not as easy to look at in comparison to FL Studio's virtual representation of TR-808 style step buttons.

Does FL Studio have drum maps?
 
As far as versatility is concerned, Studio One Pro is one of the most versatile. You can produce any style or genre of music with it. Open the project page and master and burn or publish your song(s) to the web and if you are a deejay, you can record your continuous mix, open it in the project page, add track markers, label each song, tweak and master each song in the mix, and then burn it to a cd with track markers intact but keep continuity of the mix. It has good plugins, and good instruments as well as sounds and drum kits. Chopping samples is very easy and has numerous workflow options. It is very easy to learn. It was my 1st daw coming from hardware. Peace be with you.................Rob Mixx
 
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