what are the best other DAWs to consider?

Want to talk about music hardware or software that doesn't include Reason?
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Faastwalker
Posts: 2281
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: NSW, Australia

02 Sep 2019

guitfnky wrote:
26 Aug 2019

which have the best workflows? Reason
which are easiest to use? Reason
which are the most inspiring? Reason
best looking? Reason
biggest bang for your buck? Erm ........ Reason

and to all those questions, why? Reason, Reason

I can't believe I'm posting this in the Reason General forum. :lol: Me neither!

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guitfnky
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Joined: 19 Jan 2015

03 Sep 2019

boingy wrote:
28 Aug 2019
zoidkirb wrote:
27 Aug 2019

That's right, arranger track/blocks is another thing similar between the two daws.
The arranger track in Cubase (and in Studio One and probably others) is a world away from the blocks thing. Blocks are clunky, confusing and badly thought out. Arranger track is instantly understandable and usable. I wish the Props would spend more time looking at how other DAWs implement things rather than trying to invent stuff in isolation. With Arranger tracks you don't have to switch into a different editing mode or display or anything. You essentially just name sections of your song then make a playlist containing those names.
I tried the Arranger out in Studio One the other day, and must be missing something...it lets me move sections around pretty quickly, and in that regard, it’s useful, but it wasn’t taking into account the transitions (like having a clip start before the downbeat of the section)—in those cases, it wouldn’t take the clip as a whole, but only the section that was selected. makes sense, logically, but not ideal if you’ve got a lot of parts with lead ins/outs, because I kept having to manually clean that up after moving stuff. is there a setting or method that makes that easier to manage?
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

Andy
Competition Winner
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Joined: 03 May 2017

04 Sep 2019

Something about Bitwig just does it for me. Its so damn beautiful to look at and seems to jell well with the Rack plugin. I will trial it a bit longer though and maybe hope to catch a sale. Problem is I have bought other DAW in the past only to always just using only Reason.

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guitfnky
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04 Sep 2019

decoder wrote:
27 Aug 2019
I noticed that no one has mentioned Tracktion... Anyone have any opinions about them?
I decided to check it out. I love it so far. so many really interesting/innovative things you can do in it. per-clip effects are really cool. I’m really looking forward to trying the Edit Clip feature, which basically lets you create self-contained sections of a song (called Edits, each with their own tracks, effects, etc.), and then embed those into another master Edit for arranging. the cool thing is, you can close out of the Edits you don’t need to work on, which frees up CPU, and if you do need to work in them, they’re easy to pull back up.

there’s also a sort of modular thing going on, but I haven’t gotten that far. looks like you can do a lot of the same sort of stuff you can do in Reason with it.

the biggest downside I’m seeing so far in the software itself is the quantization options don’t seem to allow for a % of quantization if you’re quantizing individual notes, but does, if you’re quantizing a whole clip. sort of weird...but the biggest downside overall seems to be that the documentation isn’t great. the 500+ page manual isn’t very comprehensive (for example, it tells you the Edit Clips feature I mentioned is available, but doesn’t say how to do it). luckily, they do have a fairly robust set of how-to videos on their youtube page, and those are pretty well done. but I doubt they cover everything you might need, so I’m guessing some stuff will fall on the shoulders of the user to figure out on their own.

it’s got a strange workflow, but it’s a good strange, that (to me) calls out to be played around with. I recommend it. I think you can get an earlier version for free to try it out, and I thought I saw something about the current version being made available as a free download if you buy a recent issue of Computer Music magazine, though I’m not sure which.
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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diminished
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Posts: 1880
Joined: 15 Dec 2018

04 Sep 2019

Tracktion OEM comes free with a lot of Behringer, Roli and Mackie products - I think I got a license, too. Maybe I should check it out, can't hurt..
:reason: Most recent track: resentment (synthwave) || Others: on my YouTube channel •ᴗ•

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guitfnky
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Joined: 19 Jan 2015

04 Sep 2019

yeah, it’s cool. I think it helps to watch some of the videos beforehand, to get a taste of what it’s like. it can be a little disorienting at first, since like 95% of the stuff you can do is right there on the screen, instead of buried in menus—everything is context-dependent. if you click on a track, you’ll see options specific to working with tracks; it you click on a clip, the options are clip-specific, and so on/so forth. definitely takes some getting used to, but it’s more interesting and fun than a Studio One or Reaper, for example (at least for me).
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

VariableX
Posts: 564
Joined: 02 Apr 2018

04 Sep 2019

well Studio One is off my list.
I might check out my licence to Ableton Live Lite 10.
Its limited to 8 tracks I think but if most of those tracks have Reason VST running that would be killer? maybe?

I will also check out Bitwig just for fun.

If i can work with Live Lite it would cost me nothing but the upgrade cost ( which is bloody steep considering )

VariableX
Posts: 564
Joined: 02 Apr 2018

04 Sep 2019

fretshot7 wrote:
04 Sep 2019
well Studio One is off my list.
I might check out my licence to Ableton Live Lite 10.
Its limited to 8 tracks I think but if most of those tracks have Reason VST running that would be killer? maybe?

I will also check out Bitwig just for fun.

If i can work with Live Lite it would cost me nothing but the upgrade cost ( which is bloody steep considering )
Also I think I read the new little Arturia midi keyboard comes with Bitwig 8 Track

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hurricane
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Joined: 14 Oct 2017

04 Sep 2019

Garageband is free, if you have a mac.

Justice used Garageband to produce their album "Cross". And they still use it.

Boom.
Soundcloud | Youtube
Logic Pro | Bitwig

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way2cool
Posts: 61
Joined: 29 Aug 2019

05 Sep 2019

well I don not like protool any more I buy reason now and that’s not working to, even in my new computer so now I will try to buy a music desk myself to use the hard ware instead but is very expense of too many colones and this will take much time to collect pieces to add for my new studio so I begun to work more my grandfathers farm and my other friend

kinkujin
Posts: 206
Joined: 01 Mar 2018

11 Sep 2019

guitfnky wrote:
04 Sep 2019
decoder wrote:
27 Aug 2019
I noticed that no one has mentioned Tracktion... Anyone have any opinions about them?
I decided to check it out. I love it so far. so many really interesting/innovative things you can do in it. per-clip effects are really cool. I’m really looking forward to trying the Edit Clip feature, which basically lets you create self-contained sections of a song (called Edits, each with their own tracks, effects, etc.), and then embed those into another master Edit for arranging. the cool thing is, you can close out of the Edits you don’t need to work on, which frees up CPU, and if you do need to work in them, they’re easy to pull back up.

there’s also a sort of modular thing going on, but I haven’t gotten that far. looks like you can do a lot of the same sort of stuff you can do in Reason with it.

the biggest downside I’m seeing so far in the software itself is the quantization options don’t seem to allow for a % of quantization if you’re quantizing individual notes, but does, if you’re quantizing a whole clip. sort of weird...but the biggest downside overall seems to be that the documentation isn’t great. the 500+ page manual isn’t very comprehensive (for example, it tells you the Edit Clips feature I mentioned is available, but doesn’t say how to do it). luckily, they do have a fairly robust set of how-to videos on their youtube page, and those are pretty well done. but I doubt they cover everything you might need, so I’m guessing some stuff will fall on the shoulders of the user to figure out on their own.

it’s got a strange workflow, but it’s a good strange, that (to me) calls out to be played around with. I recommend it. I think you can get an earlier version for free to try it out, and I thought I saw something about the current version being made available as a free download if you buy a recent issue of Computer Music magazine, though I’m not sure which.
Thanks for this tip. I just ordered that CM issue so I'll give it a go. If I don't like it at least I get the magazine. Always liked it.
Do I need another DAW - nope? I just love to see how other workflows go and see if I'm missing something.

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SB1
Posts: 4
Joined: 14 Jun 2016

12 Sep 2019

If you haven''t checked out Cakewalk by Bandlab yet you should give it a go (It's free) Seems to translate the best from Reason's workflow tbh (for me anyways) I have only been using a few days but it has alot of what reason is missing. Did I mention it was free? :D
:reason: :re: :refill:

kinkujin
Posts: 206
Joined: 01 Mar 2018

12 Sep 2019

I used Cakewalk for year and years. That ship has sailed for me. Thank for the idea though.

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guitfnky
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12 Sep 2019

Cakewalk is pretty great. It makes more sense than Studio One, to me, but still is as deep as you need it to be. the challenge there for me will be figuring out how to easily test out different arrangement ideas, since I'm so used to the flexibility of Blocks in Reason to audition arrangements.

Tracktion is full of great ideas, but it's finicky, and way too prone to crashing, and some design decisions seem even more baffling than the stuff that's still missing from Reason. got my eye on where it's headed, but right now, it's just not a great experience.
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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motuscott
Posts: 3420
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Contest Weiner

12 Sep 2019

Not many peeps singing the praises of Reaper. $60 and infinitely customizable, what's the hangup? Just perusing the vids myself and hoping Reason Studs have not abandoned us steamprop diehards.
Who’s using the royal plural now baby? 🧂

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

12 Sep 2019

motuscott wrote:
12 Sep 2019
Not many peeps singing the praises of Reaper. $60 and infinitely customizable, what's the hangup? Just perusing the vids myself and hoping Reason Studs have not abandoned us steamprop diehards.
I’ve tried it a couple of times in the past, but it’s never stuck for me, for some reason. seemed like getting a handle on it was going to be more trouble than it was worth. how easy is it to customize, and is it mostly visual customization, or can you customize functionality too?
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

reggie1979
Posts: 1181
Joined: 11 Apr 2019

12 Sep 2019

@Bitwig/sale. You can probably pick it up on the cheap at KVR if a proper sale doesn't happen.

@Tracktion/waveform: To buggy for a lot of people. Most common issue is something called the "poof" crash where there is no way for the company to know what the problem is. I've seen many people complain about this. Too bad too because the paradigm is terrific.

@Cakewalk/Bandlab: I'm over it for many years. Plenty of battle scars dealing with the crappy company that was Cakewalk. Yeah it's free, but I'm not going through that mess again. If they've fixed their issues, cool.

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

12 Sep 2019

FL Studio, Cubase or Studio One.
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

16 Sep 2019

I have to say, I’m really starting to like Cakewalk by Bandlab *a lot*. it took me a bit to get around the curve, but that was mostly down to my own poor decisions (starting a new idea in an unfamiliar DAW). now that I’ve gotten over that hump-of-my-own-making, I’m finding it’s nearly as intuitive and inspiring as Reason.

the Prochannel track strip available for every track is every bit as good as (maybe better than—it’s certainly more flexible than) Reason’s SSL channel strip. and the entire interface is super customizable, including the look and feel. after about 20 minutes searching, I found a perfect theme for me, and had it installed. it’s strange how big a difference the visual presentation makes, in terms of wanting to open up the program and just mess around—at least for someone who’s only used one DAW that’s not very customizable for the last 9 years or so.

kind of insane that it’s free. it’s so good.
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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way2cool
Posts: 61
Joined: 29 Aug 2019

17 Sep 2019

maybe protool but I don’t like much protool any more, I think reason was best to me and now it not working to I will attempt to the fruit loop one next

Lov2sing
Posts: 278
Joined: 15 Nov 2015

17 Sep 2019

1. Logic
2. Harrison Mixbus
3. Studio One-4

The rest are good but those work kinda like Reason.
We make music for a reason

2chris
Posts: 40
Joined: 15 Mar 2019

27 Sep 2019

VALUE:
If you're broke and on PC - try Cakewalk. It's free! It might not be my thing, but it's free and featured. If you're on Apple, the value proposition of Logic is immense. I find Logic to be overall excellent but I don't use it anymore because I'm mostly on PC. Finally, FL Studio can do a lot while getting free updates for life. That is great value, but I just am not a fan of the workflow in FL Studio - but many are - so demo it. I feel that Live, Bitwig, Cubase, and Studio One don't have low value - but you're paying materially more and not getting updates for life.

WORKFLOW:
Everybody has a different style, so if you record sessions with Live instruments I have to say that Studio One, Cubase Pro 10, and Logic are excellent for mixers, pro-audio setups, and traditional recording. If you work with a lot of midi, Cubase specifically may be the very best DAW for you because it can do traditional tasks and sequencing on a very high level. It's just harder to learn where you need to invest time to get the most out of it, and you can't work quite as fast as something like Ableton Live or Bitwig. If you are an in the box producer, Ableton Live IMO has the very best workflow out there. Between clip launching, audio handling, drag and drop interface, previews, included tools, capable midi tools/handling, excellent FX, racks, time correction tools. It works incredibly fast, but isn't as deeply featured as other options which is why I say workflow depends on how you work obviously.

PRO LEVEL FEATURES:
If you want pure features it's hard to beat Logic and Cubase. They have been around so long and are both fine wines that get better and better. Studio One is pushing innovation quickly, and they are catching up - so the amount of Pro Level features is becoming close. Live is about the workflow more than features, and Bitwig is similar doing there own thing in a cutting edge way - but not catering so much to traditional "pro" features for recording and mixing - more toward producers. FL Studio also caters to in the box producers, and they tend to do some interesting updates.

My favorite DAW? Ableton Live, which is my primary DAW. The best overall? Probably Cubase or Logic. I use Reason more as a sketch pad so I'm stoked about the rack opening up to other DAW's.

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