For all the people whining, you're pissing in the wind. This DAW was around before ProTools and will continue to thrive in its target market. It's not for hobbyists, musicians just looking to get sound in the computer, or even small project studios. Samplitude is great for SERIOUS mobile rigs while Sequoia is a staple in mastering houses. The object-oriented workflow can make things appear cluttered at first glance, but spend 10 minutes with the program and you'll figure out how to hide uneccesary UI elements until they are needed. Make no mistake: this is the Autodesk Maya of audio programs. Complex but extremely powerful.

Would bezier curves be useful in automation? Yeah, but using a Faderport with an automation resolution of 32 samples is more fun and musical. Would a better midi editor speed up my compositions? No idea. I'm an audio engineer/drummer, not a computer musician.

I've been loving this X4 update personally. As others have stated, CPU efficiency is greatly improved. Honestly that's all I really care about. Plugin browser is handy. The new version of the Carbon skin looks nice. Automation lanes are cool I guess.

If you're like me and focus on recording and old-school mixing techniques (getting a good performance and fucking with it as little as possible), this is an excellent program that just got an excellent update.

 

Very interesting this comparison.
So we can say all DAWs don't sound exactly the same.

 

Could have kept going but, sometimes less is more. Those of us who have used MixBus know that there is a tonal
difference right away. Done purposely to emulate their console.

Have always liked Samplitude going way back. Just needed more MIDI & editing features. Back then it was Cakewalk for MIDI & Wavelab fir audio editing. Now Samplitude is getting close to rounding out the best featyres that help creativity & workflow.

 

Do you use vsti instruments or you mix two samples quantized to beat? If you use vsti there will be difference if you use this in same project in one daw.

 

How do you get that analog mixing vibe in Harrison mixbus if they perfectly null with other daws? You use those built in saturation on channel strip? If any daw had that built in emulated channel strip they would same as mixbus, ssl, neve etc desks. Or?

 

SD3 for multi-channel drums & Predator 2 for Bass fed into the same Buss for controlled dynamics.

Bounced from PT & Sam, loaded into Reaper for one pass each with Voxengo Span Plus on the Master.

 

MixBus alters the tone right away in very subtle ways. Then EQ, Compression, Saturation together & separately further alter the tone.
Using plugins that emulate analog characteristics will get you closer yet.

 

As a Samplitude user since the middle 1990's, I can confirm that it is without doubt the most flexible DAW available. The possibilities in editing independently each audio object (which can simply be pieces of a larger object if desired) are ideal especially for detailed work. The surround audio capabilities are also very very effective (Sequoia even better with a maximum of 12 outputs... SAM has only 6) allowing, again, non-real-time detailed designing of any sort of audio trajectory desired. I do a lot of "spatial counterpoint", several audio trajectories simultaneously, and SAM-Sequoia are unbeatable.
The only reservations are: the best MIDI editor was in Samplitude 10, for some reason they simplified it in subsequent versions ... they seem to have wanted it to look like Nuendo ... which is not to the user's advantage. And the impossibility of using 3rd party surround plug-ins (except for those very few that manage to figure out how SAM works), for which I have to resort to Reaper.
Other than that, it is simply the best one out there. Learning curve is a bit steep, but definitely worthwhile.

 

That's the answer! It is not the sound engine of daws! You used vsti, play 100 times one note and you will 100 different waves which will not be nulled/cancelled. Try mix loops in both daws without any plugins. This will be proper test. Another reason to get different results with plugins and instruments - may be different implementations of plugin delay compensation, so small timing issues will cause small difference.
Also,don't forget that your vsti may cause different velocity if you play midi there and there. Maybe midi velocity for predator in pro tools is different than in samplitude

 

I don't know how it alters in your case, but there was proof that summing in mixbus and in another daw NULLED/CANCELLED into -inf dB.
It means there is absolutely no any difference in mixing engine of mixbus and another daw. I think they just emulated eq, comp, saturator from channel strip. Not the summing.

 

MixBus vs Reaper = same mixing/summing, bit in bit, sound in sound.

 

MixBus sound different because it uses build-in tape emulation. That's all mix bus emulates. Sorry, I can't find the youtube video where the Harrison engineers explain what they do. But it is only some track tape and master tape. No real console emulation or anything magical or fancy.

Not again, please. DAWs sound the same except they are programmed to alter the sound with purpose like mixbus.

(Not going into paning laws ...)

Watch this 3 videos. That guy did the work for you ...

 

Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2018

Of course you get audible differences if you export vsti because synths (as @mild pump milk said) never sound the same when you press a key,because the oscillators' phase is played randomly(even though you click on the "trigger phase" button you can find on some synths,I'm not sure a synth will sound exactly the same 2 successive times).
And like @mild pump milk said velocity can be also a problem;some daws show velocity values in midi cc values(0 to 127),and some (like Studio one) have internal midi cc converters,it shows 0 to 100 values with decimals.

Try the same test with audio loops,and maybe with 3rd party FX plugins but with the same preset.

 

Last edited: Dec 21, 2018

I have licens to ´Pro3, but annoying workflow, so i stick with cakewalk bandlab - still the best of them all, and i tried alot daws

 

3rd party fx plugins also give randomness in many cases. Yesterday I noticed one shot playing from -9.3 to -9.5 dB peak (eq, saturator, compressor), with long silence between (no crossing/layering for samples). So it is better just to test mixing/summing of dry samples.

 

So, they write that they emulated analog console vibe, but in reality no magic console, but clean summing and emulated tapes? Brainwashing and brainkilling sounding info (no pun intended) for people?

 

disappointing, there's no real benefit either for Pro X3 users or any other DAW users to jump into this one unless craving for latest piece of software

 

I think they mean with console "vibe" the workflow. And with analogue sound - tape. The EQ and the build in compressors probably add analog characteristics too.

I remember I was surprised that there is not even crosstalk implemented.
The guy in the interview said it is some mix of track and master tape that makes the special analogue sound of mix bus. Nothing more.

Mixbus sounds pretty damn good. In my opinion its one of the better "console emulations". So who cares what they do if it sounds great.

I think it was mentioned in one of theese interviews. But to be honest I don`t want to watch hours about mixbus again. So I am not 100% sure. If you are interested here they are

But now enough off topic

Back to SAM.
This weekend I finally have time to test x3 vs x4. If the performance is really that much better in 4 I might have to buy it.

 

I'm a studio one user, before been using Sonar for 14 years. Currently, use Cubase and sometimes Logic for recording and Studio One for mixing. Occasionally need to work with Pro Tools.

I have been using X4 for 2 days now, only play around with the demo project comes with it. And bear in mind, currently, I don't have any audio interface, so I run it directly using windows native driver and onboard card to my ATH-M30 head. So I can't use my speaker.

at first I do believe I hear sound are different, in some way I feel better.. but I don't want to believe that, so I export the demo project to studio one and imitate the exact setting... it actually sounds quite the same... and of coz I didn't do the null test coz I don't need it and I don't really care about it.

the only difference is the metering reading, headroom counting.. with the same setting studio one get more headroom by 2db least.

And here the thing I feel catch my fancy, somehow Samp X4 run way smoother than my studio one.. And I think that is the reason why I still feel X4 better than studio one. Or maybe because it something new and I'm unfamiliar with, so here and there it kinda makes me feel excited so it enhances my happy mood, that's what makes me feel it is better.. placebo.

And I notice, as I run using windows driver, X4 comes with its own Asio, it will load automatically when u power up X4. so obviously it handles plugin load better than studio one.

last but not least, it brings me back some nostalgia.. the UI, really reminds me the good old days of Sonar 8.5 and earlier version.. somehow I really like the mixer view, besides I cant maximize the windows because it only resizes based on how many channels u have.

And of coz, the thing I like the most is... thin border of the plugin windows... I seriously hate those daw with the thick and unnecessary border when u open a plugin. I mean logistically it just consumes lots of space and not neat at all.. at least Logic pro u can hide it.

it also opens and loads faster, oh yeah I like their essentialfx plugin, so I grab em and install it in studio one.

my conclusion, I'm not gonna move away from studio one, coz I love it, all my controller and midi mapping already set to it, my workflow comfortable with it.. but maybe I wanna give Samp X4 the benefit of a doubt, will gonna using it for Mastering only.. coz somehow mastering in Studio One quite not exciting and always make me feel boring, not inspiring.

and to this DAW wars, I just got one thing to say, I treat my DAW like a console I never get to own back in the days, and back in the days, barely hear anyone complaining about why their Neve does not sound the same like our SSL console, or vice versa. And of coz, some people think Neve sound better than SSL, but isn't it that the whole point of personal preference and option? If someone believes one sound better than others, then let their work speak for them self. What we should be worrying about is where the next job gonna take us to.

Yes, the summing could Null all daw, but daw is not just all about summing, there are so many other things why certain daw makes u feel and sound better.

Many of us share the same teacher, system and curriculum at school class, yet not all of us perform the same.

 

Last edited: Dec 22, 2018

Your perception of Sam X4 is similar to what I am experiencing. I find that headroom in PT 12.5 & Sam X4 are comparable, slightly different in tone to my ears. I use phones & speakers. Speakers mostly for checking audio.

The test I did was not to start a discussion about DAW null test & accuracy, I just noticed a slight difference while setting up a SD3 template in Pro Tools & Sam X4 that was originally created in Reaper 5.

I have decided not use the latest version of Studio One 4. Still too many short comings & the one you mentioned. Do not like it's mastering system results.