Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, Captain Ned

 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

DAW workstation preferences.

Thu May 14, 2009 9:18 pm

I'm curious who else out there is either a professional or maybe just a hobbyist digital audio creator. My dream is to one day have a perpetual music thread like the photography one in the Visual Haven, but I'm not necessarily the most creative person on earth so I'd leave that for someone to start off with a bang. But at any rate, I'm always interested in what other folks are doing with audio and what your workflow/setup is like. I'm sure some of you are aware that I am - was - a big proponent of Logic on OS X, but I've become frustrated with some limitations imposed on Logic in general, and Logic Express in particular, and the increased leaning on Garage Band's half-hearted software instruments, which really don't have a place in a serious audio app. So I started digging around wiht the release of the Win7 RC first to see if I could handle going back to Windows, and second to see what kinds of sequencers I could get my hands on.

This is not a user review, but first impression of Cakewalk Sonar 8 Studio from a Logic Express user's perspective. I’ll also say that since I’m self-taught, I’m probably going to use the wrong terminology for certain things. I also do very, very little recording – my work generally involves creating accompaniment tracks for everything from a modern praise choir to classical pieces that I play live on my clarinet.

I evaluated demos for FL Studio and Sonar 8 because both of them had demos (Cubase either doesn't or hides it really well). I ended up settling on Sonar 8 I liked Cakewalk's interface better. Many of the features of either app are available in both - they are both VST/VSTi hosts. But I'm an OLD Cakewalk user - I first got exposed to it with a demo for Pro Audio 2 or 3 for Win3.1 (included on a Gravis Ultrasound demo disc) when I was in high school, and then Home Studio 9 in 1999 or so. Then in college, I took a DAW class and it was taught on Logic...and now we're here, and I'm talking in circles. And 8 years after first learning Logic, notation-style entry via a MIDI keyboard STILL sucks ass. I actually bought Finale PrintMusic as a MIDI entry method, export to MIDI and import to Logic. Oddly enough, it seems that much isn't going to change.

Anyway, it's not fair to compare the $170 Logic Express with the $350 Sonar 8 Studio (which I got for much less than that on Amazon) other than to say they're both one tier from the top. However, Apple makes a big divide between LE and Logic Studio (extra apps like Soundtrack, extra library content with the Jam Packs and additional EXS24 sounds, more effects and effect processors, etc.) and Cakewalk, while making the jump to Sonar 8 Producer, still makes Sonar 8 Studio well worth your cash. Anyway, here's a rundown of features:

Logic Express 8 comes with:
The Garage Band soft synth library
A decent library of effects processors for echos, band filtering, flanges, delays, modulations, etc.
30-ish EXS24 instruments
Ultrabeat - a pretty excellent drum machine with about a dozen drum sets
Apple Loops - these can either be analogous to REX loops, which are recorded sounds that have points matched to beats, or they can be MIDI data that plays through the soft synth instruments.
A soundfont sampler (which if anybody still uses SFZ sounds could be handy)
Probably the best thing about Logic Express is the Apple Loops library, especially the drum loops. It's very easy to get realistic-sounding rhythms going with your music.

Sonar 8 Studio comes with:
64-bit binary - this is the biggest reason I skipped Home Studio XL in favor of Studio
Dimension LE - VSTi/DXi soft synth with a ton of different high-quality instruments. This kills the Garage Band library for believability, just based on my use
Garritan Pocket Orchestra - kind of a Personal Orchestra Lite, with some awesome orchestral instruments that again slay Garage Band's orchestra if you don't want to pony up $100 for Jam Pack Symphony Orchestra (that's 1/3 of what I spent on the whole package)
Rapture LE - a wavetable synth that I don't know a whole lot about yet
Session Drummer - a drum machine for programming loops, has several kits
Cakewalk TTS - a General MIDI soft synth. Not as high-quality as Dimension, but a larger library than Garage Band that I can see using parts of. Pretty light on CPU usage compared to Dimension, but my E7300 is overclocked to hell and back.
Cyclone - another "groove sampler" (drum machine) with its own step sequencer
A soundfont sampler like Logic's (well, that’s built into Dimension LE)
RXP - REX player, like the REX drum machines available in Propellerhead Reason
Roland GrooveSynth - some real Roland synths have been sampled, and it includes a real TR-808 and TR-909. I like them to give a bit of flavor to some of my arrangements, and I think this is going to be a VERY flexible
A couple other synths I haven't had time to play with.

I’ve had an awesome time with it so far. The notation entry is just as easy as I remember, although I’ll probably stick to Finale – the human playback plugin is a quick shortcut that for my amateur-level tracks is something I don’t mind relying on, though I can hand-tune note durations and velocities on the piano roll. Also, entering a drum track using a general MIDI drum machine is very easy compared to Logic, since the notation entry doesn't hold me back.

The built-in synths are very, very good, although I would like some more variety. Since I’ve now in the last 10 days given up OS X entirely in favor of Sonar, I think I’ll end up selling it and picking up Kontakt (only $335 at MacMall, and even though they collect sales tax, it’s still the cheapest I’ve found it). That’s kind of outside the scope of this thread though. Might also bump myself up to a Core 2 Quad and a bigger monitor

Sorry this is rambling a bit, and I’ll cut it off now, but it seems like I’m happy and that’s really all I’m concerned with. :p

So my getup looks like this:

Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 3.2GHz
8GB DDR2-800 (2x2GB Crucial, 2x2GB OCZ)
Gigabyte EP45-UD3L
Raden 3850
1.1-ish TB drive space (500GB + 640GB)
X-Fi Xtreme Gamer (ASIO support is very nice)
Win7 RC 64-bit
Sonar 8 Studio
Yamaha PSR-290 connected via Yamaha UX-16 MIDI USB interface
Philips 2.1 speakers, Sennheiser eH250 headphones
Hanns*G 17" 1440x900 (ehem) monitor. This needs to get bigger.

Once I clean off my desk, I'll post a pic or something. You guys should feel free to do the same.

So again, I reiterate, what do you do with your digital audio?
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Thu May 14, 2009 9:37 pm

Going through the webpage for that software has me wishing that real MiniMoogs weren't $3,700 on eBay.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Thu May 14, 2009 10:00 pm

Cakewalk has a MiniMoog pack for Rapture that would fit the bill, assuming you own Rapture with a VST host or Sonar with Rapture LE. :p

Still, way less than 3700 bucks. The advent of very powerful CPUs and software synths has made music production a much more inexpensive (not to mention less space-consuming) hobby.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
morphine
TR Staff
Posts: 11600
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:51 pm
Location: Portugal (that's next to Spain)

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 4:46 am

I've started looking around at more serious stuff since I've joined a band as a guitarist. ATM we don't have a drummer, so the drumtracks are made in Cubase, which probably has the worst interface at the face of the earth for sequencing drums, IMO. Having come from a tracker background many, many moons ago, I'm amazed at how ineffective it is in terms of interface and yet so many people use it. I'm trying out Renoise and it works tons better, but well, Renoise is a tracker which is great for drums but not really a DAW.

Anyone happen to know any good drum-sequencing software that's not just the old "16-beat pattern loop" variety?
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 5:01 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
what do you do with your digital audio?

I compose it in one way or another using FL Studio 8.5 (beta available to customers) XXL. I've always chanted "hobby, hobby" relentlessly, but now I'm beginning to eye making an album out of what I (will) have.
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 5:04 am

morphine wrote:
not just the old "16-beat pattern loop" variety

You might want to try changing the bar length. A DAW should allow such a thing. Then you can deviate from 4-to-the-floor bars and related section lengths.
Unless you meant something else.

By the way, I have seen people make complete and highly competent music with just trackers. It's a rare sight though.
 
morphine
TR Staff
Posts: 11600
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:51 pm
Location: Portugal (that's next to Spain)

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 5:13 am

Oh, it's not about the fact that a drum machine will only allow X bars. I just find it hard to get around the fact that drum machine interfaces are usually big-button affairs that aren't of much help when you want to do a few bars plus a few rolls and fills. That's why a tracker still works much, much better than anything I've seen for doing drums. It's just not good for doing much else (*)

(*) - ... much else for actually performed music, that is. I grew up with trackers and the demo-scene, I even launched a "music-disk" back in the day with my own graphics and a few of my songs.
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 6:56 am

Tracker software, like Scream Tracker (Future Crew 4 Life, or something) was born out of real drum machines. The interfaces are similar, but the one thing ST3 has that a drum machine doesn't in a pitch setting (which allows a tracker to play pitches for melodic instruments)

Also, every drum machine I've ever seen has allowed you to set a pattern resolution, so if you wanted, each step could be a 32nd note rather than a 16th note. At a tempo greater than, say, 72-76bmp, the individual hits disappear and a smooth roll is left in its place. And even though they're "big-button affairs" they do usually have something like 3 levels of velocity so you can have that roll get softer or louder (or be softer than the rest of the drum line if it's a single-stroke "bounce" roll something like this).

That said, I prefer a general MIDI interface because you get 128 steps of velocity and 480 ticks per beat. I also find it's easier to create a "base" (or starting point) drum line, loop it out, and then change up that loop a bit. A real drummer isn't going to use the same fill over and over, so so I don't want my music to get repetitive, either.

When I first started this endeavor of making accompaniment tracks, I wanted to figure out how to make my drums sound as realistic as possible (instrument aside; that MP3 above was recording using the Cakewalk TT1, which has a very nice piano and bass, but the drums aren't my favorite. Session drummer apparently can be mapped to GM but I haven't figured it out yet) so I turned to professional drummers (or people who claim to be so on the internet). Here are a couple links I found very useful:

http://www.loopers-delight.com/LDarchiv ... 00225.html
http://www.blamepro.com/mwn/tips/DrumSeqs.htm

The MP3 I linked above uses info especially from the second link...the whole drum line has been offeset by a few ticks (I NEVER offset more than 10-12 ms and this is more like 5). The 16-note hi-hat has a VERY light swing (set to 55% in Sonar, where 50% is neutral) and the velocities have been tuned so the beats are strongest, the half-beats are a little lighter, and the quarter beats are a bit lighter still. Finally, a real drummer only has two arms, so I'm careful to make sure that, unless it's a hi hat, kick drum, or tambourine (which in theory could be played by another person) no more than 2 sounds are playing at once.

Actually, I really like that drum line. I'll probably toss it into a project with a similar feel at some point.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
morphine
TR Staff
Posts: 11600
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:51 pm
Location: Portugal (that's next to Spain)

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 8:20 am

That MP3 was pretty good, I only found the snare drum a little too loud in relation to the track.

The acoustic guitar needs a player behind it, though :). I'd gladly send you a track of those chords, but I don't have an electroacoustic, just electric and a classical guitar.
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 8:46 am

Yeah, I really need to adjust the velocity on the snare, but you get an idea of what I'm trying to do with my drummer.

I'm slowly learning guitar. Pretty soon I'll be "that guy" at parties that knows 3 chords and thinks he needs to play for everyone. :lol:

Seriously, though, you're right. I need a real guitar player. Right now I've got a cheap-o student instrument and I'm working through a method book, but it's obvious to me that I'm going to need lessons. Maybe this summer. I won't allow myself to buy a real instrument until the student instrument becomes a hinderance (which probably won't be until I'm good enough to record, as it doesn't have any kind of output and it probably wouldn't sound the greatest anyway).
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
Da_Boss
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 242
Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:27 pm

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 9:53 am

I'm gonna love this topic.

So I haven't tried Sonar, and I don't have much experience with Ableton/FL/Cubase, but I'm a whiz using Acid Pro :D

So far, I've found it to be the nicest and easiest to learn sequencer out there. I used to produce on a Creative X-Fi (!!!) and got some pretty decent sounds quality out of a headphone jack. Since I started taking this music thing more seriously, My Production setup now has an Mbox Mini (only for ProTools).

By the way, If you're looking for some awesome hi-quality drum samples, I'd go with the Akai XR-20. Though it seems to be geared towards hip-hop, It's got a great variety of drums with some nice sounding reverbs and effects built-in. I've been using it over a year, and have loved every minute of it. With a little work (and some clever mixing), I can get a very "live" sound out of it.

In terms of VSTs, I use a TON of random synths and pad VSTis and waves platinum for mixing. I also play guitar, which I find there are NO good plug-ins for. Typically, there is no substitute for a live instrument EVER, but with some work (and the right sounds), you can get close. My MIDI controller is a simple Remote LE 25.

I've been thinking about switching to Cubase to record as it looks to be better for that stuff. But most pro engineers in the industry are more familiar with ProTools.... I guess standards can be a bad thing too sometimes.. *cough* IE6 *cough*
2011 15" MacBook Pro Ci7 2GHz, 8GB DDR3-1066, Intel 510 256GB SSD
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 9:59 am

Da_Boss wrote:
Typically, there is no substitute for a live instrument EVER

Ever tried any Applied Acoustics Systems plugins?
It would be about time to.
 
morphine
TR Staff
Posts: 11600
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:51 pm
Location: Portugal (that's next to Spain)

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 10:01 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
Seriously, though, you're right. I need a real guitar player. Right now I've got a cheap-o student instrument and I'm working through a method book, but it's obvious to me that I'm going to need lessons. Maybe this summer. I won't allow myself to buy a real instrument until the student instrument becomes a hinderance (which probably won't be until I'm good enough to record, as it doesn't have any kind of output and it probably wouldn't sound the greatest anyway).

What type of guitar do you have? There are some cheap instruments that can work against you. For example, buying *any* cheap electric that has a tremolo system will work against you, because (a) tuning that thing properly will be impossible and (b) as soon as you use the tremolo, it won't go back to tune as it's supposed to.
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 11:37 am

It's a cheap-o acoustic, can't even remember the brand. Here's now numbnuts n00bish I am about guitars: is there a difference in technique between electric and acoustic? If so, what would I be better off starting out with?

I'd love a recommendation of something in the sub-$200 range (to start out with) that isn't going to make my life hell. There's quite a bit second hand on CL but I'm wary of second-hand instruments. I figure I should probably be buying new.

Da_Boss, is this something you do professionally, or even semi-professionally? Just curious what folks are doing for a living vs. what they're doing in their free time (like me).

Edit: Meadows, the Applied Acoustics stuff sounds pretty darn good (bottom of the page), based on the MP3 samples on their site. I still think I'd rather learn to play, though. Clarinet, trombone, and piano just aren't enough. :p

edit2: Just looking at the tour, it looks like I need to know how to play in order to program it properly and make it sound good anyway. Their scenario of "your guitarist is gone and you need someone to play!" doesn't make sense if you have to decide what's an up-strum and what's a down-strum, what's muted and what's not.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
morphine
TR Staff
Posts: 11600
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:51 pm
Location: Portugal (that's next to Spain)

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 12:00 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
It's a cheap-o acoustic, can't even remember the brand. Here's now numbnuts n00bish I am about guitars: is there a difference in technique between electric and acoustic? If so, what would I be better off starting out with?

A classical guitar is the usual student instrument. The main reason being that the neck is fairly wide and the strings take some pressure to hold down. There are also a lot less variables like the amp's coloring to the sound, distortion, cables, pickup height, etc, all of which can fool the unlearned student and create some bad habits.

Note: this does _not_ mean that classical guitar is harder or easier than electric. They're the same instrument, with a different kind of expression possible with either flavor. It's simply a matter of fact, IMO, that the technique required to play the classical guitar is harder for a new person to pick up, and that's precisely why it's used for teaching.

Obviously, there are techniques which are suited for one flavor or the other. Finger-picking and its associated techniques arent' used that often with electrics (particularly the 2-finger rapid picking of flamenco, for example). Tapping is pretty much electric-only (with a few exceptions, Andy McKee for example). Pinch harmonics you can only hear on the electric with copious gain/distortion. As mentioned, there are exceptions to everything, and those are only some examples.
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Fri May 15, 2009 1:07 pm

Thanks, morphine. Acoustic/classical it is!

I have a pretty intensive background in music theory and know my way around chord inversions, the way they're expressed as part of a lead sheet, and what you need in a chord for it to work musically. All I should have to pick up on are fingerings and technique (admittedly, the difference between workable technique and proper technique on any instrument are generally oceans apart, so I have my work cut out for me), and learn how to read guitar tab notation. You probably won't see me doing any solo work soon, but it's not like starting from scratch like it would be with a kiddo.

I have a feeling my brain is going to be working WAY faster than my fingers.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:13 pm

Well, I'm getting closer to having a setup I like. I bought my laptop and I have my Sennheiser headphones. My Yamaha UX-16 attached to a PSR-290 carried over from my desktop. I really like the results so far. I've talked via PM with a couple of you re: ASIO hardware and at least for the moment I'm going to pass; I've had really good luck with ASIO4All with the onboard Azalia-family Crab codec and I'll use it while I save up to buy a new interface; it looks like my need for real-time processing of live instruments (as opposed to keyboards playing soft synths) is going to change in the relatively near future, so I'll want a decent audio interface anyway.

I'm also going to have to put some money into a decent speaker setup. Anybody want to make any suggestions? I'm stuck between a nice 2.1 set like Logitech's Z-2300 and a real monitor setup, but I really want to keep it under $150-$175, which is why the Logitechs came to mind.

Oh, and guitar lessons start on Thursday. Wish me luck!
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
KeillRandor
Gerbil
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:51 am
Location: Leicester, Leics., England, UK
Contact:

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:42 pm

Hi... I just got used to using cubase at college a while ago, so when I got my DAW 6 years ago, that's what I got. Add to that that I use software instruments exclusively - (no chance of recording my violin properly around here) - and it seemed the best choice at the time for the money I had, (along with Reason/2.5).

I had a P4 2.4GHz 2GB RAM, with an Edirol DA24-96 and an Evolution MK249C controller. I eventually got a pair of basic monitors too - (not perfect, but they'll do). (Downside of that audio card - (which cost me £500 at the time!) is that it's XP only...).

Unfortunately, almost a year ago, the M/B died, so I'm currently trying to save up for another computer. OF course, it had to die at the worst time...

Although I'd been writing music on my DAW since I got it, it took me a while to get some virtual instruments/samples/refills etc. for the sort of music I wanted to write, which didn't help. Then it took me a while to figure out what to do to make it SOUND good, and then it died before I'd finished the album I was working on :(

I'm currently saving up for either a core i7 920, or one of the new intel chips that are due in september - (depends when I can get the money together - got £300 atm, need about £550).

Anyway, as I said, my music isn't finished, (unfortunately), but you can listen to (some of) it here: http://www.myspace.com/darrentomlyn
It's 15 parsecs to Kessel, we've replaced the negative power-coupling, it's dark and we're wearing welding goggles. Hit it.
 
FubbHead
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3482
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 9:04 pm
Location: Borås, Sweden

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:48 pm

No Reason love in here, huh. :-)
Amiga 1200, 68020@28MHz, 4MB+2MB RAM, Conner 80MB harddrive
 
morphine
TR Staff
Posts: 11600
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:51 pm
Location: Portugal (that's next to Spain)

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Sun Jun 07, 2009 7:43 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
I'm also going to have to put some money into a decent speaker setup. Anybody want to make any suggestions? I'm stuck between a nice 2.1 set like Logitech's Z-2300 and a real monitor setup, but I really want to keep it under $150-$175, which is why the Logitechs came to mind.

I haven't auditioned any monitor, but from my very extensive reading in the past, the best value-for-money was by far the KRK RP5. But two will set you back $300. Also, when shopping, pay attention because powered monitors tend to come list in singles, not pairs.

Even still, if you're up to it, saving up and getting good speakers is one of the best, if not _the_ best investment you can ever make. The speakers, besides being one of the most important items in your signal chain, are by far the most reusable item in your setup, bar none.
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
Skrying
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1792
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:37 am
Location: Missouri

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:18 pm

Eh... I would think using headphones would be better for the task to be honest. Especially with such a limited budget. You're going to get much higher quality for your dollar and your options are much better in that price range anyway.
 
morphine
TR Staff
Posts: 11600
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 8:51 pm
Location: Portugal (that's next to Spain)

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:37 pm

Skrying wrote:
Eh... I would think using headphones would be better for the task to be honest. Especially with such a limited budget. You're going to get much higher quality for your dollar and your options are much better in that price range anyway.

That will depend on the intended usage. Mastering music for release has to take into account the simple fact that a good portion of the population will not be hearing it in their headphones, and that's why one needs speakers as well. Besides, it's not so comfortable to spend 6-8 hours with the 'phones all the time.
There is a fixed amount of intelligence on the planet, and the population keeps growing :(
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:24 am

FubbHead wrote:
No Reason love in here, huh. :-)

Reason and the accompanying software are expensive, difficult to use, and most of the time even the interface is either buggy or inflexible. (I stopped trying the evaluation copy as soon as I realised I can't maximise the program window)
I think the only people who advertise it are the "Linux types" who are different for the sake of it. Other DAWs offer a much better usage experience and more value.
 
FubbHead
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3482
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 9:04 pm
Location: Borås, Sweden

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:02 am

Wierd, my personal, albeit rather amateur opinion is that it is one of the most stable piece of software I've ever used. It's ease of use and stability is just awesome, IMO. And it's fun to drag "cables" between the stacked "devices" in ultra-wierd combinations for ultra wierd sounds. :-) I guess the fixed window can be an annoyance to some, but that's mostly because of the stack, just detach the sequencer and violá, maximize or resize it to your hearts content. By the way, what accompanying software do you mean?

And is $500 for software and lots of professional sounds really that much? What ballpark are we in?
Amiga 1200, 68020@28MHz, 4MB+2MB RAM, Conner 80MB harddrive
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:07 am

FubbHead wrote:
Wierd, my personal, albeit rather amateur opinion is that it is one of the most stable piece of software I've ever used. It's ease of use and stability is just awesome, IMO. And it's fun to drag "cables" between the stacked "devices" in ultra-wierd combinations for ultra wierd sounds. :-) I guess the fixed window can be an annoyance to some, but that's mostly because of the stack, just detach the sequencer and violá, maximize or resize it to your hearts content. By the way, what accompanying software do you mean?

And is $500 for software and lots of professional sounds really that much? What ballpark are we in?

I can't name it right off the bat, but Reason has a synth or extension that costs at least 200 USD extra, while some other DAWs have the same functionality built in for free.
It's just basically things like that. The best value that I recommend would be FL Studio, while for professional applications, Logic is an extremely widespread choice, but Cubase or Sonar hold their own just as well.
All I can say is that Reason is bad value in the grand scheme of things.
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:40 am

I used the Reason 2.5 demo that came with a 25-ish page "intro to Reason" book and found it needlessly complicated.

1.) The ReWire interface is "cute" but if you've never been in a studio, you're going to be lost
2.) Things you had to manually wire in Reason were done automatically in Logic (and that's a fair comparison since Reason is a Win/Mac app). Logic and Sonar are both far more abstracted - and easier to use as a result. You click on a drop-down and choose your output. Despite digging around, I couldn't find a way to assign two tracks to the same synth in the rack.
3.) No staff view. For me that's a total no-go.
4.) The insistence on making Reason work like a "real" synth rack made it impossible to use on wide-screen monitors. It's a vertical app that, AFAIK, you could never stretch horizontally and certainly editing MIDI data is best done side-to-side. And besides, the sequencer was just not friendly.

I can't figure out why anybody would voluntarily use Reason.

edit: from the Propellerheads website:

The Reason sequencer has matured. Fully grown and fully featured, Reason's music production environment now comes with vector and tempo automation, count-in, multiple lane tracks.

Wow! Welcome to the 1990s, guys!
Last edited by derFunkenstein on Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
FubbHead
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3482
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 9:04 pm
Location: Borås, Sweden

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:49 am

Well, most devices is already "wired" when you add them, to what depends on if you add them in a group or stand alone. But you get much of the flexibility you'd get if you had the actual synths physically in a rack. It's not just cute, it's awesome. And, what other than the sequencer would you need to resize? Just detach the sequencer and you can make it full screen if you want. Oh well, I find it child-play to use it anyway, but maybe it's just me that have it easier whan I see and can control what is really happening. :-)
Amiga 1200, 68020@28MHz, 4MB+2MB RAM, Conner 80MB harddrive
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:51 am

You just don't know what you're missing. I guess I can't blame you.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
FubbHead
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3482
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 9:04 pm
Location: Borås, Sweden

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:42 am

I guess. But the notion of Meadows' that it's some kind of Linux thing and just to be different or whatever, it certainly is not. But then again, since we're talking about all-in-one DAW I guess Reason doesn't really classify anyway, since it isn't meant as one, and doesn't have that kind of recording capabilities. Still, there are applications better than eg. Sonar or Cubase in that department as well (which, to be fair, weren't that hot 6-7 years ago either).

But the synths and the sheer amount of presets that is included in Reason is almost worth the price by itself.
Amiga 1200, 68020@28MHz, 4MB+2MB RAM, Conner 80MB harddrive
 
Meadows
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3416
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Location: Location

Re: DAW workstation preferences.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:12 am

FubbHead wrote:
But the synths and the sheer amount of presets that is included in Reason is almost worth the price by itself.

For that price, you get the XXL edition of FL Studio complete with half a dozen synths and awesome presets, and still have money left to buy 3-5 more Image-Line synths as extras, ending up with nearly 2000 presets and an easy-to-use, easy-to-learn, powerful interface that also has a large support community. Lifetime free patch/version upgrades for all your synths and the DAW itself.

The "almost" in your quoted sentence is a very, very fat almost.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On