My humble participation on this existential "does every DAW sound the same" question:

What is a DAW???
What the f##ck are you all doing in my bedroom, and who drank the last beer???


PS: no intention to be rude, but I felt like I should participate and didn't have anything to say that has'nt been said a gazillion times already... but seriously, who drank the last beer?

 

The only time I've ever seen a noticeable difference was back around 2002-2003 on someone else's setup. Cool Edit Pro vs Cubase SX.There was a massive difference in recording quality. Both were set to 16 bit 44.1.Cubase was cleaner, clearer, and had better dynamic range.

Nowadays however they pretty much all seem great,I haven't noticed much difference in audio quality with recordings.I record at a couple dif studios,3 home,and one professional,and they all use dif daws.One Maschine and Ableton,One Cubase and FL Studio,One Cakewalk Sonar,and the professional one uses Studio One.I get about the same result on all of em.I used to go to another professional studio that used Pro Tools and about same thing.I really dont notice much difference in terms of headroom,dynamic range,or clarity.They all use different mixing and mastering plugins and have slightly different mix styles so there's definite differences there once mixed.But premixed all seem about the same.

I've also used another more expensive professional studio that barely uses a computer at all.Everything is old school hardware.Neve console,timecode generator,48 Track Digital using adat,or 24 Track 2" Otari for Analog,outboard compressors,and effects.I personally like analog in that setup better than any of them.However its much more expensive and a whole lot more work.I only mention that because I notice a difference in the sound in that setup.But far as modern daws,all the ones I've tried in last few yrs give me about same result

 

DAW is only a Tool

 

The serious question is not "Who drank the last beer?", but,"Did it taste the same?"

 

'hook, line, sinker, rod and copy of angling times'
kryten

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2020

About taste I guess corona beer has a nasty aftertaste

 

I am Hindu. I am not offended but don't say this to any Religious hindu person because he will more likely feel enraged and say that you are racist.

 

I think choosing a DAW depends on how much money you have for CPU and RAM.

I started with a Quadcore 2.4 GHz CPU and 8 GB RAM. As soon as you start using 3rd Party Instruments, you start having CPU and memory issues. Logic Pro splutters and has all kinds of problems with that configuration.

Mixcraft worked well with that system, for a long time, not the best DAW imo, but it did the job.

Studio One was OK until I got hold of a couple of Ample Sound Acoustics and Miroslav Philharmonic. It got so bad when I had a big mix, that the computer just died.

I invested in a new motherboard (well, my daughter did) with 32GB RAM and an i7 cpu. It's like a whole new world for me. Sure I want the sound to be good, but ease of workflow, and speed is a big factor as well.Logic (on a Hackintosh) with my new board works like a dream. I gravitate to Studio One on Win 10. I find the ease of use better.

I can still add another 32GB RAM, if I could make any money from my work, but I doubt if that will ever happen. My taste in music is, well, music. I guess I'm just too old!

 

Thanks bud, and here I thought I was being the nice one correcting a stereotype.

I guess its best to just stay out of it all together.

Thank you for your candor.

 

They all suck equally.

 

Well, I don´t really know if all daws sounds the same. But I do know that whatever daw I use, my music sounds like sh!t.
So there you go.

 

yawn not this again

 

It must be due to inaccurate dithering.

 

I guess you got the best answar here:

 

hard to tell but it does rhymes with straws..

 

Perfect.
Also, have a look to the section of Ableton Live called Audio Fact Sheet,
32.2.1 Undithered Rendering
(here called cancellation).

It means a clean, perfectly nullable digital audio + deliberately generated noise, that in past the real Harrison (and all the other) tried to hunt like a rat in a lounge, only to add it back when at last digital tech dropped it to -90dB.

 

I like your style .... very eloquently put!

I guess it all depends on how good your ears are. If you don't have forensic hearing ability, which let's face it, the majority of people don't, then yes they probably all sound the same. (PROOF: some people think mp3 is acceptable, a few people would look disgusted at the thought of rendering in that format)

On paper, theoretically, yes they are all the same, however in practice it depends how the developers (and 3rd party developers) have written and implemented their code and routines.

 

how do you delkete a post? lol

 

Last edited: Sep 28, 2020

Do all DAWS sound the same ? I think is depends on the user as if you think your music doesn't sound good then you should go and buy a new DAW and new plugins don't forget to buy new speakers also. NO

WHAT is this crazy notion? just buy the best Interface you can afford dont worry about the DAW use something you understand the way its layed out just work on your music and enjoy the journey I like Cubase because i grew up with it check them all out and if your a young pro just go Pro tools must studios use it and learn that