So, I sent a mix to someone today and they were like "Hm, I guess it's OK but it also has that "FL Studio sound".

And I was like: "Yeah? Nope... GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWD. "

And after seeing stuff such as these threads over time:
http://audiosex.pro/index.php?/topic/18586-audio-recoring-in-depth-with-fl-studio/
http://audiosex.pro/index.php?/topic/17370-that-sound-vs-that-sound/
http://audiosex.pro/index.php?/topic/16343-sound-engine-improvement/

Then, I just had to do this test, although I've done it before and I should know better. Anyways... Here's how it is:

- The same MIDI file
- Same BPM
- Using Kontakt for playback (Perfect interpolation and put in Rendering/Offline Mode manually)
- Using ASIO4All @ 512 samples
- Same volumes/gains/values
- Same limiter
- All exported at 32 bit floating
- All using 512 interpolation

DAWs used:
- FL Studio 11
- Studio One 3
- REAPER (4)

Here are the master renders:
http://www4.zippyshare.com/v/dKdOKBD7/file.html [FL 11 Limited]

http://www4.zippyshare.com/v/aFHg73T8/file.html [FL 11 Turned Down]

http://www4.zippyshare.com/v/IVvRZEtE/file.html [Reaper]

http://www4.zippyshare.com/v/1bwacuMR/file.html [Studio One 3]

Stems:
https://mega.nz/#!Ec8GSbJA!F1JOIA7NxZFdX9N6dEaMNTBmMtYIkA5RnFeeYd8BER0

What I noticed:
- FL Studio seems to have a strange way of calculating gain - It starts all channels by default at -5.2 or -5.3 dB which it seems to consider as the typical 0 for whatever reason. I made them all 0 dB and it came out louder than the others. That's why I provided a turned down version which I think is still pretty much the same as the others. I did it by ear though (so it may be a tad softer) but you're free to try it for yourself.
- Studio One has a 64-bit engine (which I don't think really makes any audible difference but anyway)
- Reaper seems to have some trouble dealing with the doubled velocities after about 2:30 (That's the most important for me, although it's not directly related to the "quality" of sound)

So, apart from minor discrepancies in gain (which can be easily fixed/altered) they all sound pretty much the same to me.

I could add more DAWs but I don't think there's really any point in doing so.

PS If you think I missed something, tell me and I'll try to fix it

 

dawa should see as apple and oranges, just different.
About midi: Logic is the master of midi. I remenber when I swithc Logic 5 for Nuendo and Cubase 3... midi spend a lot of processing power, even in a simple task. Logic spends nothing unless you are using a vsti. So, be the master of Midi logic spends almost 30 years ( I deal with computer and midi before that). New daws could never achieve this kind of performance in just few years right?
Also its good to make a test with a real keyboard instead a vsti and show cpu stress

 

i'll make this as fast as possible,

anyway, people that loves FL Studio will hate what i'm gonna say now,

to answer your question : YES !

Fl Studio Sounds different from the rest of Daws, i tried Cubase, Ableton, Studio one, Logic pro 9/X(10) and in each time other daws sounds different, i don't have the scientific answer but i have experience, made music with all the daws i mentioned Best was Logic Pro X then Cubase then Ableton the rest it's just a bit better then FL Studio. (even the mixer sounds worst than the rest of daws).

this is the truth, and the truth that hurts, you ask me how do our beloved artist get a pro sounding sounds using Fl Studio ???

my dear friend, people like that export music Separated then send it to Mastering engineers wish do the mixing and mastering as well, so they get that big sounds...

i had a friend who told me all this before i did the tests my self, anyway i was a bit disappointed, but i didn't stop there, i worked hard to find a way around the problem, and i did, i found few solutions to get that High quality sound from Fruity, i'll post few of them below :

- Never uses Fl Studios Built-in Plugins, (only in a few cases) ( i use only the delay that comes with FL no more )

- Use the Built-in EQ (the one you find in the Mixer, Best Sounding EQ ever, i use it to cut low end and it sounds just too perfect )

- Turn the Master to -6dB not the Master on the Mixer, the one UP There where you see the toolbars.

- When you add a new plugin you will find it a -5.2/5.3dB as "Gramofon" said, put that thing to 0 dB, then send it to the mixer and try to get the sound you want using both faders the the one with -5.2/3dB and the mixer tu put the sound where it belongs...

- use Compressor, Compressors everywhere ( just for your informations for me Comrpessors dosen't mean bigger sounding... nah Compressor is made to put your sound in the right place in the mix ) use the some of waves simulated plugins for a better result...

- When working with Fruity export alwas with 32bit float ( what does 32bit float means you ask me ? hope i'm right with this but i'll explin sorry if i'm wrong and correct me later anyway : when exporting in 16 24 bit, when the sound passes the 0db it is just cuted but when 32bit float is on the export all the sounding including the one after 0dB, later when re-importing just use the normalize option!) it's magic

if you don't get the sounds you want after you export, try disabling EQs compressors, and export all the stuff seperated then do it again on another daw... i recommand Cubase Logic or pro tools (even Cubase 5.1 works just in case )

i still do have one big secret to how to get a really pro sounding and Pro quality stuff from FL, even i was amazed with the result, but i'll prefere not to share this one for the moment...

correct me if i'm wrong and i hope that i could help !

 

@ Mr Lyann Music

Yes, FL Studio sounds different... because your brain experience is just yours... not mine. Each one has a personal music taste, that's why (I am supposing...) I love the way Fazioli Piano play and you don't... It is a matter of taste, the taste you like the most (I mean the taste recorded inside your brain, of course).

 

Do you want to get a great sound, go this way...



then eventually process your Audio stuff this way...



if you want/need that your results sound a bit more 'analog'.

 

I can't judge based off a remake. To me I have the original in my head when listening to all 4 of your mixes. So I'm mentally comparing yours not to eachother but each to the original.

All in all they all seem to lack the dynamics in the mix. Nothing to do with the daw but your over compressing or limiting. Just ends up being loud and loses it's emotion.

Also watch that bump in volume you doing on the hook. It's too in your face and it shouldn't be that noticeable. I understand what your trying to do there letting the listener know this is a different part of the song etc but you have to find the sweet spot and actually that's something that can be done once there's vocals being mixed it.

Not sure if that helped but I think it's more the mix then the daws. FL does have a certain sound to it. It's hard to say what it is. I've used FL for a few years now and I think it does sound different. I know so many big records have been created in FL but they weren't mixed in FL when it comes to rap or pop. That's something that needs to be noted.

 

All DAWs "sound" the same. They apply mathematical formulas for summing. Differences in formula's may have different results.

However various plugins are going to sound different.

Also important will be how you yourelf work differently with different DAWs in terms of workflow which will in mixes differing.

More important probably than the DAW in terms of sound is the Audio interface.

 

Yes all Daws sound pretty much the same ! However Logic Pro X can handle a full house of plugs and vsti over any other Daw out there before bogging Cpu ect....

 

I love FL, but to be clear...i hate the mixer
Compose with FL, and mix with another good audio DAW (Logic, Studio One, Reaper, Samplitude... to name a few).

It is not, to me, a matter of DAW sound, but more bad audio workflow with tweaks "in the middle of the path".
I would NEVER mix or record a symphonic metal track on FL (a nightmare). But arrange/creative effects, yes. And export after for final mix.

On the other side, i never found (apart Reason) a more inspiring DAW for creation from scratch

 

It seems hard to bust this urban legend.

 

These threads tend to be full of superficial knowledge and bias and usually don't end well
This might be worth a read.

 

@Spacely
This was just for testing purposes. I wasn't concerned about the mix and this wasn't the mix I talked about initially. I'm not gonna lie. I also had these (psychoacoustic?) impressions.

I thought that:
- Studio One somehow "sounded better" (although I think I notice at times it seems to handle summing differently and will clip at master much more easily - haven't tested in depth yet but it seems more like just another unfounded impression, probably because the meter is more visible)
- Reaper has more "dynamic space" (doesn't clip so easily)
- FL Studio sounded "plastic"
- Samplitude sounded "best"/"truest"

But when it gets down to it, when I used each one I also used its built-in effects and made different choices that would have a much bigger and particular impact on the sound than any "audio engine" would. (And especially when they all use standards that shouldn't color the sound).

Also, "analog" is associated more with "coloration" than transparency. For me, it's more about what kind of coloration you like on your sound, not how "good" it is. Apart from build quality, materials etc.

@Mr Lyann Music

See, you talk about fx and mixing/gain staging, not the "sound of the DAW".

@Studio 555
That means nothing to me. I'll send you the files and have you run them through Sequioa. I'll try to hear that "analog" sound.

@Pipotron

Yeah, again, workflow. And, yes, I would mix a symphonic metal track in FL. Why not? Nothin's impossible.

Oh wait, I have:
http://www21.zippyshare.com/v/6hANTm6v/file.html

 

WTF?
There's no "DAW which sound worse than the other", it's just a matter of workflow choice and overall taste.
Even if you would use a marginally better DAW than FL, that doesn't mean your music will turn magic and you'll get signed by every major label overnight. Give a random-arse DAW to a talented Producer and
he'll come up with something on the fly which you'll hear tomorrow on the radio. These DAW threads are so funny... people get too serious about it and get too stuck over thinking it instead of working on actually making better music, not on using better tools to make the same music. Music quality comes with the hard work, practice, discipline which also generates experience over time, it doesn't comes with the better tools. I'm not even going to mention that ton of huge music producers who rock FL Studio, but there's really a lot of them!
I'm a StudioOne guy though.

@Gramofon: If they said it have that FL Studio sound, it's just a metaphoric way of saying that your music doesn't sound professional enough to them(or they're just hating on you, lol). FL Studio is well known for being abused by all the beginners/amateurs in the music production world so it spread that kind of a "quality tag" over time due to the number of amateurs and novices who released "Beats" on the internet and also mentioning the daw they used, but FL Studio would never alter the quality of the music of a talented music producer who can make records on anything you throw at him. DAW is really irrelevant. Be a great producer in the first place and you'll never ask anything regarding the quality difference between DAWs. Also even if a DAW is marginally better than the other, that doesn't mean your mix and master will sound better, i'm not even mentioning arrangements.. but you get the point. Just don't get trapped too much on this type of topic, spend your time on your music.

 

you can try this test your self

load in the same drum loop in fl/ studio one /live/cubase/ect

render it as a wave with a other name so you know what is what
them drop them all into fl or any daw you use and reverse the polarity for each loop
play them two at a time one polarity the same the other reversed
and you will hear no sound,
thats because each daw uses the same thing to render them and thats just numbers
1+1 will always = 2 no matter what daw you use to add them up
as long as all the daws settings are set the same it will still be the same loop you make
just as if you copy and pasted it with a mouse click.
there have been 1000,s of tests made to prove this,

And i would agree fl gets a hard time
but mostly from people that dont know how to use it or never tryed it them-selfs,
just use what works best for you.

ps, if you set the toolbar vol to -6dB or the mixer master to -6dB it will still be the same thing -6dB,

 

I think that may very well be the case. I guess blaming the DAW sound is a way for someone to say they don't like the production - when they can't pinpoint what it is exactly that bugs them. And I very much suspect it was their way of saying that it doesn't sound "organic" or that it sounds "over-produced". Or that they plain just don't like it. Because FL is only for beats = electronic = no dynamics = plastic and unexpressive (it's a program, lol). Not to mention it was mixed in Reaper. Like seriously, what could be so characteristic that would get tranferred through a load of effects that would say "it's FL Studio"? No way.

It must be because it's a hybrid/orchestral track that I mixed like an electronic one and that's what puts people off. They probably just don't expect that kind of sound from such a track. Then again, it was an experiment/exercise for me and I had fun and I don't really give a shit.

And I get a bit angry because I get the feeling they're too bored to say what they don't like (or that they just dislike it in its entirety) and just throw a nihilistic blanket statement to get it over with.

I never said it was the DAW to blame. I'm just trying to understand this belief/mentality.

 

Yet still people complain about cpu handle
I guess you mean logics OWN plugins
My logic (v9) can not handle so much of third party plugins my homemade pc on the other hand with lesser specs then my mac pro can handle more plugins and play with better latency then that apple crap i have

 

Yeah i remember first time i hook up logic 9 it was a wow experince i thought hey this sounds really good.
But then i started to fool around with it it and noticed it have the built in channel strip effects (even a room reverb was on) loaded by default when turning those off it sounded like all other DAW i tried

 

The science says one thing, my ears, another. I had been working on FL Studio for a bunch of years and one day decided to try out Studio One to see what it's work flow was all about. I installed it, cranked it up with all the same sound quality boxes ticked off as in FLS, loaded up a pad sound I had created on Massive, hit an A major chord and wham; I was momentarily taken aback by what my perception informed was better quality of what was coming through my speakers. It sounded as if it was ratcheted up a few notches. My purpose with auditioning Studio One was not to compare sound quality, and as a matter of fact at that time had not known there might be a difference, but to rather just check out the work flow. Every article and every test conducted can show otherwise, but my whole body and mind disagree.

 

Plugins sounds diferent(maybe from DAW to DAW), panning implementation and sample rate conversion algorithm(http://src.infinitewave.ca). Harrison Mixbus sound more analog for many because of GUI(excluding analog saturation 'plugin').