Hey Guys,

In your mind,what is the best Daw that uses the lease amount of Computers CPU Power..

Thx
Rob

 

For serious DAW, Ableton Live (as long as you'll don't load Max4Live devices).

Depending your platform (not specified, as usual), DAW usage, budget, music style, etc...

Consider seriously... REAPER, it's an excellent DAW for cool price, light "as feather", CPU fair, stable, huge community, serious support.

 

Last edited: Feb 8, 2016

FL Studio has excellent CPU usage and multicore performance because it has a feature that it automatically turns on and off all plugins when not in use. Other DAWs can only do this with supported plugins.

Come on, Ableton isn't a "serious DAW" (And neither is Bitwig, FL, or Reason). Because you'd rather shoot your foot then record vocals or mix in them, they are what I consider "novelty DAWs", they're good but not serious. Slow-tools, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper are "traditional DAWS" which makes them more "serious".

 

Depends on what you produce.For 200+ tracks and serious work i wouldnt trust anything else but Cubase.
Its not just the amazing midi implementation but also rock solid stability and great cpu usage.

 

For me out of Cubase and Reaper. Reaper is the best I have found. Reaper is extremely fast and efficient and stable. My latency is lower also with reaper.

 

200+ tracks you'll can consider Pro Tools instead. Of course, it's your opinion. I agree about Cubase and its MIDI implementation, don't choose PT for this. However, for serious mix, PT is the Rolls Royce.

 

REAPER is one of my favorite DAW (see my signature).
Ableton Live (even Lite/Intro) to trigger events (clips) useful in particular for live performance. Cantabile 2 (for performance) as plugin rack, but sometimes unstable, regardling some plugs (even legit, oups... often legit).

 

Last edited: Feb 10, 2016

Ableton is a serious DAW and so are Bitwig and FLStudio.
Also know that whole EDM genre is dependent on these DAWs beacause they are one of the best for production. I am not saying that these are better than the other. What I am saying is these contains everything to produce, mix and master a whole song. I know recording in FLStudio is missing but you should know that it is the most selling DAW.

CPU efficient DAW:-
Reaper (around 10mb in size) (created by the creator of WINAMP) (Cheapest in price) (Unlimited Capabilities) (Ultra customizable workflow)


If you tell what your DAW can do, Reaper users are like - "I can also do this in reaper in 4-5 different ways" .

 

Reaper for sure. Handles every audio device I ever connected to it going back to version 4.
Midi handling is very good and getting better. Good audio engine and handles multiple projects
being open (tabs). Ability to construct large complex projects.

Project Tabs can also be used as SubProjects (see manual) which reside a a track in the main project.

Was also one of the first to allow multiple takes.

 

Last edited: Mar 21, 2016

Yea,reaper is probably the lightest on cpu,of them all,but when you do 200,300,500 tracks,movie scores you need everything,stability,cpu friendliness and once again stability and that is where Cubase shines,along with PT and Reaper.
I think those three are rock solid for heavy,heavy usage.

 

I do not think Cubase is any more stable than Reaper, in my use. I can say that the 32 bit vst bridge in reaper is way Superior than Cubase.
and my latency is way better when recording my guitar

 

Well, not Logic Pro X – which, ironically, is what I use primarily. I surmise that the reason for LPX's devoration of CPU resources is that it's loaded with so many features and proprietary effects instruments. I got into Logic because all that stuff was convenient, and although I have since immersed myself in third-party effects and instruments, I meanwhile got used to the workflow of Logic – though the Space Designer and other effects are great, and the new addition of the Alchemy synth is most welcome.

I've found that DAWs which have less of that stuff built-in run a lot more smoothly (less prone to hang/crash/overload). In my own experience (which is more limited than most), I find that Cubase and Studio One 3 are lighter on the CPU, but Reaper and Ardour even more so. Also. I recently got into Bitwig, and loved how smoothly it ran, with CPU to spare. Anyone getting into using a DAW should consider whether they want to go with one with a lot of "stock" plug-ins and such, or one which doesn't have all that stuff and is lighter-weight.

 

I didn't say they were good or bad, my problem was with the term "serious". Anyone thats "serious" about working in those DAWs will start there but transfer files to one of the other DAWs I mentioned to finish the track.

 

I don't know, but I have no problems with Live and Logic X on my Mac mini with 200+ tracks (orchestral template) / 16Gb Ram / 8Core i5 etc... When you have good configuration every DAW is great

 

I recommend REAPER for low CPU usage. As a Cubase user, i can say REAPER is a good one, a little irritating sometimes by the time it takes to adjust anything, but is realy "serious" if that's what you're worried about. In my opinion I would avoid Ableton Live. Good Luck.

 

Im curious to know if anyone has ever referred to you as being the personification of a douchebag?

 

Thx guys for chiming in,all of you..Reaper Uh..May give the Reaper a Go....

 

Really, to be serious, how many guys here are using 200+ tracks in their projects?

For me, max is 4, because it's default when I start Ableton Live (2 MIDI + 2 audio), using max 3 tracks, one MIDI for live performance, one for drums (or drum machine), one for bass (MIDI or samples). Maximum I've used from REAPER is 10-track project (Jean-Michel Jarre Oxygene II), all VSTi, 1 aux buss, EQ (Pro-Q 2) on master.

You are a Cubase fan, and I respect your choice, but Cubase is not "my cup of tea", not Cubase itself, sure it's an excellent DAW, but I hate Steinberg policy in particular about expensive upgrades, also don't want any e-Licenser (or iLok/PACE for other products) sh*ts who polluate my computer with own device drivers and running service (good for CPU save)...

I've bought REAPER v5.04 for 60 bucks only, can benefit all updates until v6.99, (is Steinberg does this? sure! for hundred dollars or euros), demo version is unlimited (only 4-second nag screen at start, but no restrictions), stable DAW, have ton of features, good MIDI implementation, excellent & intuitive MIDI and audio routing, entirely customizable, huge community, efficient support, excellent Rea FX plugins (but ugly, without GUI), have excellent PDC, low latencies for 3rd-party plugins, light on HDD (10MB) and RAM, etc... be sure it's not ridiculous against Cubase (or other expensive DAW)!

Many people love Waves plugins, but why? because they're expensive => snoberry !

Some (rare) people can buy Ferrari, other only Traban, but in both cases, they're cars, with engine, four wheels, steering wheel, brakes (important), for same usage: to go from A to B.

Hope your post is a joke or something like... I've seen more serious posts/topics from you.

 

Last edited: Feb 10, 2016

Oh no im not dissing on other daws.Not at all.Yes, i am enthusiastic about Cubase and it shows.
Steinberg sure needs to listen a lot more to its users,that is where DAWs like Reaper and Studio One have an advantage,they listen and implement.
Steiny did post a reply in the forum,not long ago,that they will implement more of their users requests and wishes from A to Z including known bugs that havent been adressed so far.
I do believe Reaper can handle large projects very well,not dissing your setup and your choices,at the end DAW is just a tool,if you can achieve your goals in cool edit pro then thats it.

 

Process, then bounce to audio - playing audio is low cpu in any daw. It's the old school way. Is also a way (I am assuming you are beginner/not making money from music since you don't have a powerful PC) that eliminate that "doubt" that very often arises. Once you have the audio bounced, you may settle with what you have and instead of fiddling aroung between mixing, arranging, editing midi, adding one little fx here, a little one there - and awfully extending your music making process for a track.