I dont think so peghead, it's just each one is answering with his experience.

 

@peghead - wouldn't have been my intention. It's nice to be able to compare and contrast with people who know the ridiculous power of Samplitude though

 

Please understand that my post above was not intended to be offensive nor argumental

The problem with comparing DAWs is that much depends on the way the user works, the material handled and the tools required for a given job. Rarely 2 are the same so in the end it is nearly always a case of "try and see if it fits you".
Most DAW can do most things and most things they do nearly always in the same fashion, where more often than not the only difference is the GUI. Lately we've seen that all DAWs designers are looking at the competition trying to incorporate new features of others into their own, thus levelling somehow what this and that DAW can or cannot do.
Back to Samplitude... what it does very well is recording and editing, with (one of) the most powerful "object editor" around.
MIDI was never a forte but recently, particularly with last 2 updates, also MIDI editing has been pushed forward and now is au pair with everything else on the market.
Someone mentioned that it comes with very good plugins as standard... well it bloody well should, considering the asking price.
Reaper, mentioned above, might not come with the same quality VST but with all the money you save, compared to Samplitude, you can buy 3d party top quality plugins, like T-Racks, for example. So, in the end, they level out again.

It can be said without doubt that Samplitude is not a beginner's DAW.. often there are many ways to do the same thing and this can be confusing... the manual is almost useless You would need a manual's manual to understand it. It takes time to get around Sam's many features but remember that Samplitude was created (originally) for professionals, used to the complexity of big consoles whom did find most features of Samplitude quite common with their way of working.
Reaper or Studio 1 are next generation DAWs. They are designed from the ground up with the newbe in mind but are powerful enough to suite the pro studio too.

 

For me Samplitude was easy from the beginning, Almost every thing is under a right click, left click.

 

I wish I could say that. It might be that I was also a noob regarding computer music.. was coming from a 8 track digital standalone recorder and never ever used the PC to make music so when I started on Samplitude I literally had to figure out just about everything. Took me a good year to become comfortable in using it but still to this day (11 years later) there are features I've never used and a few I am sure I don't know about.
A couple of tricks I've learned by watching a Protool's tutorial a couple of years ago. I thought "hey.. that might work with Sam too". And it did!.
That shows how much all these DAWs are or can be similar in many ways.

 

I'm just giving my opinion. REAPER is not the best or worst DAW - that's a matter of opinion. If a DAW has the options you need, and a GUI, and workflow that suits your needs as well as outboard connectivity w/ proprietary hardware connections (Protools) then that's the best DAW for you. If your an audio guy, SAMPLITUDE may be right. If you compose Glith/Future/Step etc.... (all in the box) Live is a great option. Do you like modular? Do you enjoy programming your own macros/tools? Are you on a budget? Do you own a pro studio and cater to multiple paying clients? Do you operate on OSX or Windows?

Personally, I have 18 different hardware synth modules/keyboards routed using soundcraft (1/4" unbal), MTPs and powered USB hubs, PUSH, Maschine, 2 racks full of outboard pres, comps, EQs, 500s, and mix-buss, 16 ADDA, reamping capabilities, 4 tube heads, 13 guitars, 5 basses,etc... so, I use different DAWs for different purposes, and each DAWs workflow ultimately gets me different and unique results. Could I only use 1 DAW? Yes, but like I've stated the obvious, each DAW is easier to complete a project depending on what third-party tools I'm working with.

At the end of the day, as stated by many, ......pick one and write music!

 

your impression is incorrect. no one is talking about what is the 'Best'.
the header "Samplitude forum on audiosex" tells you what this thread IS about.
shame you don't read the threads before posting.

 

Sorry, I was actually replying to another poster and forgot to direct who I was replying to.

But, I will say that my "impression" (whatever that is) is completely valid regarding my reply.

 

Perhaps filtersweep post above was referring to my "impression" and not yours, bluerover.
But "impressions" are just that... impressions. Thery are not facts nor opinions and are often based not on facts but feelings.
I went back and read all the comments again and yes I indeed had that impression. Hopefully I was/am totally wrong, which is great. "

it is in itself an accusation not based on facts (you don't really know what I read) but on impression... just like mine.

 

OK, guys let's get back to the DAW thing, as we can benefit from each other experience.
I arrived to Samplitude coming from FL Studio, and before, my experience was much of an analogue one, with a 32 track desk, and as a first computer experience was the Notator on Atari. May be this explains why Samplitude was so easy for me.

Given the problems I explained before, I finally work with Reaper and Studio One this last one is too recent for me to have an opinion.
But Reaper really have a big point with the customization so it's easy to adapt , say, fonts of the mix desk to your needs, only this is so important to work flawlessly. It's very stable too.
What I miss in Reaper would be higher audio level output, that's one of the reason I'm trying with Studio one, it has a higher output level, which is important to me because my soundcard (Focusrite Scarlet 18i20) have a low output gain on headphones. Yes it's totally situation related.

 

I wanted to ask you what audio interface you got in the end. The Scarlett! I've read very good things about it

 

Yeah Ableton is my producing DAW, and I have no plans of switching that. Though I may learn to rewire it with FL - I really like the way some things work in FL. Just a brilliantly engineered workflow.

I use samp for my needs associated with recording. @Olymoon I would def encourage you to give Studio One a go, too. REAPER is probably deeper and more powerful (based on what I've heard), but throughout the last song I've been recording/mixing in S1, I gotta say, for something that's so fast and intuitive, it packs an awful lot of power.

I saw someone somewhere talk about Event FX in Studio One. I thought it was this thread but I just searched both pages and, no go. I briefly looked into it last night. Open the track inspector (F4) and go to Event FX -> enable and I think it lets you insert plugs for an event/object like in Samplitude(kind of).

Between S1 having Event FX, copying Ableton's racks, and just generally being fast and smooth as hell, I'm gonna give it a closer look. There are times I'm painfully aware I'm not in Samplitude though (like when I have to open RX4 to do spectral editing ). But it helps that the learning curve for S1 is almost zero. The time stretch (bend tool) is the most ridiculously convenient thing I've seen in a while. I always felt Samp's time stretching was kind of a pain in the neck to access/use.

Edit: btw peghead. Nothing to worry about (as far as having offended anyone) As the thread starter, I hereby declare your post inoffensive.

Second edit: @Olymoon I'm not gonna make another reply for this but.. off topic doesn't matter much to me. If you wanna discuss your interface you won't be bothering me.

 

Last edited: Aug 2, 2015

@peghead yes I have only the Scarlet 18i20. I'm happy with it, but I must warn that (and it's a supposed conscious Focusrite policy to protect us, idiots, of distortion..bla, bal, bla) that the headphone preamp is very weak, so if you use a high impedance headphone (I use a Beyerdynamics DT880 pro 250 ohms) , you may run out of power.
The truth is that I bought this one because it's a good compromise price / quality, to give time to the connection war to be cleared (Usb 2, USB 3, Thunderbolt) and then buy a more professional one, but it's good enough so I can wait comfortably. Again I precise that I don't use to record live instruments, even though I play guitar and bass a lot. I dont say more 'cause it's already off topic.
You could star a topic for this question.

 

Last edited: Aug 2, 2015

i totally agree with that. it is one of the fastest apps i have ever picked up...
and sorry, peghead. i wasn't trying to be offensive to you. it's just that going on about the 'best daw' is very tiresome after a while. this thread is directly about samplitude and that's refreshing to me at least.
all the daws mentioned have great strengths, you just go with the one that fits best.
i personally belief that sam is one of the hardest to learn, but it is absolutely worth it if you are so compelled.
i confess, i use everything so i am no real authority. i just know what i like...
peace

 

Question for Samplitude/Sequoia users:
do you know if there's a way to set the mixer channels metering to show the levels before fader?

 

Not that I know of. If just need it for a couple tracks you could send pre-fader audio at 0dB to another track...?

Obviously if you want to monitor everything pre-fader that'd be impractical, but on a track-by-track basis it might serve as a workaround. I'll dig into the settings and get back to you if I see anything

edit: actually I think the 'pre' is pre-plugins. I recorded my last couple tracks in Studio lately so I'm a little rusty on my Samplitude

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2015

if 1 is not careful, adding plugins can lead to overload the output of a track and it might not be visible if the track's volume fader is down by a few db.
So far the only way that I know of to keep this in check is to always have 1 metering plugin at the end of the chain or to set the volume fader to zero.
Fine if you need this on just 1 or 2 channels but if you have 20 or more audio tracks to keep in check when mixing it becomes tiresome because you have to continuously open and close such metering plugins, unless you have a gigantic monitor that lets you keep everything open at once.
A simple switch pre/post fader on channel's output should be easy to implement, I'm sure

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2015

What about just disabling all the plugins at once by clicking the little button next to "Plugins" on the track/mixer?

 

Thanks Cav but for what use?
I need to know if the track's level goes into the red with the plugins ON. I know the tracks level before I add any plugin is ok because, when I start a mixing session, the first thing I do is gain-staging.
I do that not with the tracks mixer's volume faders but with the "object Volume" handle on each object in the mix, making sure that nothing gets over -5 or -6 db.
Then I move all tracks faders down until the Master Level is near but below -5 or -6 db. Then I start working on tracks.
At this point some tracks mixer volume fader might be down a few db.
Lets assume that by adding plugins like compressors and eq I raised the track's volume to +2.0db (before fader).
If the mixer volume fader is down to, say, -6 db it will show an output of -4 db. Most plugins don't much distort when pushed into the red but some do and not all plugins have an output metering to show it. Having the option for a pre-fader meter would make life so much easer.
Hope this is clear.

 

liked this so much had to see you say it again m8,

Was curious about how you used FL studio in concert (no pun intended) with reaper, do you only export midi you programmed in FL then into reaper or ..?