So thats it.
I'm at that moment in my life time where i have to drop my good old daw

It's almost obsolete now .

I'm on XP sp3 and i have a Core 2 Quad 2.4ghz with 4gb DDR.

I have only 3 Daw in mind right now and i realy need you guys opinion on them.

I wont change my OS and i need to be able to use all my VST's in them ( Kontakt, Uhe Diva, Waves plugins etc...)
Also, i do Electronic House music....and a lot of ''tropical Genre'' music .


Please, give me your opinion on those 3 and wich one would YOU choose and WHY !!

1- Presonus Studio One
2- Cockos Reaper
3- Acoustica Mixcraft

Thanks guys

 

depends on the money you want to spend,
please forget the Acoustica Mixcraft.

for me Presonus Studio One and Cockos Reaper are both good, i will not start a debate about DAWS (for me it´s subjective), it all depends which one suits your workflow and needs, and also the one that has less bugs with the vst´s that you will be using.

have you considered Live?
for me, if you are coming from Nuendo it will be a bit different to get used to Live, but it has some unique features that enhance the creation of Electronic Music

 

I tryed Ableton ( i think this is what Live come from , right ) and i'm not able to get use to it.

So yes , i thought about it in the past and its not an option anymore.

 

yes Ableton Live.

this might help you a bit, don´t know if the site is reliable but you can get an idea.

Code:

http://sound-editing-software.findthebest.com/compare/39-57-72/Mixcraft-6-vs-REAPER-vs-Studio-One

 

It seems like a Cockos reaper publicity, they say Presonus studio dont support WAV hahaha...it doesnt make sense at all.

But thanks for sharing, if i had to base my opinion on this review, we can both agree that Cockos Reaper is WAY BETTER hahaha.

 

true

check your messenger,

if you are coming from nuendo , maybe Cubase? or is it to much to your budget?
i´m sure other users can give you some good advices

 

Mate, why are you dropping Nuendo 4.3 in the first place? Is it unstable for you? I dropped Cubase many years ago because I couldn't stand even occasional crashes. It was Cubase 2.1. However, it is a solid DAW in my opinion, and your OS, and the combination of instruments you mentioned is pretty solid. ;) I'm really interested in what makes you want to change the DAW. What do you hope to gain from that?

My DAW is Reaper for years now, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it, especially now. V4 of Reaper is really stable, full of features, great DSP [SRC conversion, pitch shifting, native plugins], lots of plugins, great app for mastering a whole project/CD. The only little problem I still have with it is that arranging MIDI is not yet perfect, or rather not entirely to my taste. People in general don't complain that much about it any more. I get a little help from a little app/DAW that works as VST inside Reaper called EnergyXT, so I do some MIDI in EXT, some in Reaper, I combine things, and Reaper has great routing capabilities, and connectivity with other DAWS within the same computer or other computers, it's your choice. You can also use other computers as spare DSP for your main Reaper DAW... it's absolutely versatile and I love it for that. I don't think I will ever want to change. But it's all about establishing your "workflow", and this will be rather new to you, all the new features and possibilities that Reaper can give you. There's lots to learn, mate, be prepared for that, no matter what DAW you choose. Reaper's great advantage is also that you can easily download it, install it in portable mode, try it properly for as long as you please, and then just deinstall it if you don't like it. There won't be a trace of Reaper left in your Windows. I find that really commendable also.

Oh, one more advantage is that you can run a VST plugin as a separate app, so it can use whole 2GB of memory for itself, unlike Nuendo/Cubase who can only address 2GB of memory.

Cheers!

p.s. I also happen to use lots of other sequencers/rhythm machines for MIDI outside and inside of Reaper, like EnergyXT, D16 Nepheton, D16 Phosycon, Phrazor etc. so having great MIDI editing is not really essential for me. What I find essential is stability and efficiency of the DAW, and to keep all the sequencers' timing working perfectly.

 

I'll be dropping Nuendo because its becomming slowly obsolete ( as for the version ) and i wish i can try a more reliable audio engine in another Daw. ( Nuendo bounce wav with a lack of clarity compared to whats in the daw ).
Also, i'm having more and more unpredicted crash ( visual and audio ) because of new plugin.

I want to try something fresh that aim at Home production studio's....not at multi million dollars studio like protools and Nuendo.

I need to control my Midi CC more easily and still have the same kind of piano roll to draw my midi sequence.

I want something that can be handed easily but that is also user friendly.
In that last aspect, i heard that Studio one is REALY user friendly reguarding Bus routing and Aux FX as you only have to drag and drop an FX at multip-le place to make it link together .

This for me is like Unbelivable as i usualy have to do a group channel in Nuendo and rout all my ( lets say, Drum sound) channel to that specific channel then do my FX chain for all of them ( and that still take A LOT OF CPU....TOO MUCH )

So what i wish i can get is :
1- a reduction in DSP processing threw a more stable and refreshed Audio Engine.
2- a more ''sound wise'' reliable Daw when bouncing my project in the final stage.
3- an easy to use interface so i can fasten my workflow in the mixing/fx adressing stage.
**4- a feature that would permit to switch easily between already sequenced sound. ( example : i do a drum sequence and in the end i want to change that specific hi hat line...so i dont have to erase the hi hat sequence and re do it all with the new sound)....just like a sampler would be used with a keyboard sequence. ...you keep your midi sequence but just switch the sound on the sampler.
Nuendo dont do that....so that REALY slow my work flow and my only option is to use a VST sampler that ( AGAIN ) use some CPU juice.

So thats it.

 

If you´re used to work with Nuendo the most obvious choice would be Studio One!

1: Its actually build from the ground by the same ppl who made Nuedo, and therefore you have a sequenser simular to Nuendo, when it comes to where the features are etc!

2: Studio One is the very best sequenser IMHO, so give it a try! ...... Studio One not reading Wavs !?!?! Odd statement!

 

I agree, if you a user of Nuendo then best choice of same workflow is S.One, S.One is great piece of software...

If you want to change logic and become a rocker then you move to Ableton...

I presonaly hate Ableton until 2010 when I learn how to use it (there is a tons of video materials on youtube) and now, it's my top DAW software

It's always like that, in life, when you hate something...

 

with both

* ableton
* studio one

you get library and great integrated plugins

 

Studio One is definitely also a great choice, and easy to use. You should absolutely try it, too. As far as drag&drop is concerned yes - Reaper has it, too. It's really easy to mix in Reaper. You can just drag&drop VST and VSTis between the racks/channels. I tried Studio One, and my only problem with Studio One is that it's still a "young" application, and its audio engine is still not yet entirely polished. You know, stuff like some VST plugin not being recognised by it and stuff like that. It is also not as efficient as Reaper's audio engine, but it is a feature that some people just don't need, depending on how many plugins you run usually, how much memory you use etc.

Both Reaper and Studio One a great choices, and if you ask me - try both and see which one fits your workflow the best. ;) They both have great Presonus Faderport support, too, if you plan on controlling the DAW from an external MIDI controller. I have it and love it. It works flawlessly with Cubase, too, when I visit people who use Cubase/Nuendo. It's 110$ so well spent.

Regarding changing the instrument that plays a certain sequence, well Nuendo can also do that easily. You just press f11, load new instrument, and change the MIDI output of a track to that instrument. However, in Reaper you can have an instrument per *part*, not just track, and you load them into a "rack", so when you want to assign some sequence to a different instrument, you just load the instrument either as a track or part VSTi, turn off the checkmark from the other instrument, and you have another instrument playing the same sequence, or both of them playing the same sequence. I love Reaper's racks! ;) The racks are also multichannel, so you can pretty easily have a multi-channel sampler in the rack and follow it with, say, 8 compressors, all on different audio channels, and route all these channels into the mixer quite easily.

 

Coming from Nuendo and Cubase 6.5 I say definitely Studio One. After trying it I eventually just bought it because I wanted to make sure I had tech support... (anything that I use a lot must have tech support! The DAW is solid and you can export xml files from Cubase to Studio One... not sure if they had the xml format in Nuendo. Anyways since I got it I had 3 persons try it out and they too bought it because the workflow speeds up significantly and the sound is great. Automating is a piece of cake and man just get Studio One 2.5.1 It's the way to go

 

Superb, i was also prety much convinced about Studio One Pro, but now that you all agree, i must say that i feel even more confident about taking the time switch and learn it.

Is there anyway to layer some drum sound on the sequencer ( as sample from a sound library....not a vsti) and then keep the same sequence but just change the sound used.

So lets say i layer a Kick every bar.....is there a button/menu that allow me to just switch fastly between another kick sound in the same sequence.

Does any DAW have this kind of option ?

 

@ Martel80,

It seems that you was already talking about something similar in one of your previous comments.
Most of the DAWs (to not say all !) that can handle 'MIDI' functionalities can be used for that purpose. You simply need to write 'Program Changes' at the desired moment that you want a change of sound(s). This is done within their respective 'MIDI Editors'. Of course, this is valid ONLY for 'MIDI' files that contain the desired Instruments (Kicks, Snares, Toms,... ) in form of 'MIDI Sequences' ('MIDI Notes' : e.g. C1, E1, D2,... , each one corresponding to a particular element of your DrumKit).

As an example :

You have a 'MIDI Sequence' that contains a 'MIDI' Beat of 4 Measures (or Bars). In case that you want a particular 'Kick' sound for the 2 first Measures (or Bars), then a different 'Kick' sound for the following 2 Measures (or Bars), you can use (write) 'Program Changes' within that 'MIDI Sequence' (via the 'MIDI Editor'). Of course, your Drum VSTi Plugin(s) used must to have more than 1 'Kick' sound to make that example effective.
The same applies with any other 'VSTi' Instruments (Synths,... ), that by essence, contain hundreds of different Sounds/Presets.

 

Ok, so nothing like that is possible within a DAW without using a Vsti.

That was my question and i think you understood it and answered it.

So no daw ever created a sequencer ( not midi piano roll ) that can be used just like a hardware sequencer is used with a sampler hardware.

If anyone ever hear about something like that, i would like to know.

This is a realy important feature i would love to have inside a future daw .

PS. remember, ....not vsti included in that exact audio track ( so not a midi track at all )

 

@ Martel80,

I think that I identified more precisely your request because, at a first glance, I found your request for that purpose a bit confused or ambiguous... at least in my mind ! *yes*

I don't think that a particular DAW can then do exactly what you're looking for, by cons, some 'VSTi Drum Machines' Plugins can certainly do it the way you're looking for. *yes*

Do you have tried some 'VSTi Drum Machines' like : 'FXpansion Geist', 'Arturia SPARK',... among others ?

By programming the desired sequence(s) within these 'Drum Machines', I'm pretty sure that you can afterward change the sounds at a given moment during the playback of these sequence(s), thus leading to get what you're looking for :

You must simply to browse through the several provided 'DrumKits', and above all, the desired sounds (Instruments or specific DrumKit Elements) during the playback process of your sequence(s) till you find the desired one(s).
As some of these 'Drum Machines' also give you the possibility to have several separate 'Outputs' in place of just the 2 'usual' Left & Right, you can then route these several 'Outputs' through your DAW, and make more or less complex routing schemes, and also use these options to layer several sounds together, mute/unmute,... , some elements of your DrumKits during the playback of sequences, if desired... *yes*

 

Studio 555 you're back. I was actually wondering just the other day what ever happened to you.

 

Studio One
Ableton *yes*
Cubase
ProTools *no*

 

Personally Martel I would stay with nuendo or go to cubase. Just for the input gains and you don't have not got go though learning a new DAW,
so you workflow will not be affected.