Having trouble picking out a DAW

MGStudios wrote:Is that what you got explicit?

yes thats what I got.

Dont buy PT8 by itself cuz it doesnt work without a Digi interface. So you might aswell buy it bundled.

I would work on the craft a little longer though... Say a few more months because once you get a DAW your going to be so focused on recording and learning PT that your interest in crafting your beats will lose out.

I think waiting a bit longer will only make you better. Just some advice... I myself should of done this but didnt.
So learn from my mistake.

emptysea wrote:There's no good reason Pro Tools was considered an "industry standard" other than that it was a closed system where it forced its customers to buy expensive proprietary hardware and overpriced plugins back when there were far less choices and competition around, and a lot of people started falling into the trap. It's no longer as much of an "industry standard" though, thankfully. I can't wait for it to die, to be honest.

I've been recording my tracks at a friends studio and he uses protools, It's been a hassle. I'm considering getting a daw for recording because having a two man operation is just tedious.

boxcutter butta wrote:Why the eff are you asking if your already set on pro tools

GTFO

dear mgstudios,why don't you check out the newbie threads before you ask a question,because a lot of questions you ask,have already been answered. there is no such thing as a HIPHOP daw or a best DAW for hiphop. do a little searching around these threads you'll find plenty answers.once you do get a DAW you'll want to know how to track,sync,so on and so on.those answer are at your finger tips.

Explicit- wrote:I would work on the craft a little longer though... Say a few more months because once you get a DAW your going to be so focused on recording and learning PT that your interest in crafting your beats will lose out.

I think waiting a bit longer will only make you better. Just some advice... I myself should of done this but didnt.
So learn from my mistake.

Oh so you just suggest I chill for a little while and learn my MPC then buy/learn my DAW?

figure out what you NEED and what would like to do. Make a list. Demo several DAWs and compare.

I have several DAWs and know them all pretty well. I primarily am a bro tools dude. Its what I know and like best.

People always complain about (Avids) protools way about going about things. From a professional stand point it actually makes a lot of sense and is very beneficial to the end user, when used in a professional application and setting.

For someone looking to add fx and use software instruments and so on (more composition based) I would recommend Logic or Ableton. There are tons of applications and purposes for each. If you have more specific questions when considering a daw feel free to PM me and ask away. (Certified user in various daws and applications.)

MGStudios wrote:

Explicit- wrote:I would work on the craft a little longer though... Say a few more months because once you get a DAW your going to be so focused on recording and learning PT that your interest in crafting your beats will lose out.

I think waiting a bit longer will only make you better. Just some advice... I myself should of done this but didnt.
So learn from my mistake.

Oh so you just suggest I chill for a little while and learn my MPC then buy/learn my DAW?

+100

It will only do you good fam. Id say hold out on it for as long as you can because once you get that ProTools8 your going to be asking 20 questions a day then worry about vsts, plugins and all that great sh1t you feel me. Theres no need to rush.

there's just no denying that protools is the industry standard. If you want to be taking your projects to other studios for mixing or whatever this is the best way to go about it. I have never been in a major studio that was running anything else, honestly. and it is easy to run too. Ableton is great for warping stuff and putting together beats but when it comes to tracking it blows.

As for pt you have to have a pt interface to run it. You can load it on xp but it will look for hardware as soon as you start it up. Not really a big deal though... For 250 or so you can find a mbox mini that will come with pt8. and a project made in pt le will open up in the multi-million dollar pt HD studios.

You can make awesome beats in the mpc but when it comes to laying down vocals I find myself needing more.

Trying out some software is good advice... But you need to spend serious time. Sitting down to protools for five minutes isn't gonna tell you $hit to be honest.

akmatic wrote:there's just no denying that protools is the industry standard. If you want to be taking your projects to other studios for mixing or whatever this is the best way to go about it.

You can also export your tracks from your DAW to .wav files and import those into the DAW of the studio where additional recording and/or mixing is done.

akmatic wrote: Ableton is great for warping stuff and putting together beats but when it comes to tracking it blows.

Why is this?

EDIT: also I see no demo version of PT8 so idk how I'm supposed to judge it

Reaper is a very nice DAW.. i currently use that to track.. ran through them all..

oh and dont think your just gonna download Pro Tools and get start recording.. it doesn't work that way sorry to tell you...

sounds like you really dont know anything about music production man, you gotta put in time and effort and learn various programs and what best suits you.. there is no right answer.. some folks like ableton i hate it.. some like reaper, some like pro tools.. acid, cubase, sonar etc etc etc

MGStudios wrote:

akmatic wrote: Ableton is great for warping stuff and putting together beats but when it comes to tracking it blows.

Why is this?

EDIT: also I see no demo version of PT8 so idk how I'm supposed to judge it

there is no DEMO version of Pro Tools.. you either have the hardware to run it or you dont.. im guessing you lack the hardware...

you have a long long long way to go, i dont think you should have ever bought an mpc, you should have just downloaded a cracked version of Fruity Loops and learned from there and seen if producing is really for you.. I started off on reason years ago it taught me a lot about producing and how things work and routing.. i still use reason now as a sound mod with the mpc and track into reaper.. before i had the mpc i was using Reaper as my sequencer for Reason, choppin up samples in Recycle and cuttin ish up with Dr.Rex... Routing every sound in reason to its own channel in reaper so i could add vsts and what not.. im almost scared for you to attempt to learn the routing process... just saying..

MGStudios wrote:

akmatic wrote: Ableton is great for warping stuff and putting together beats but when it comes to tracking it blows.

Why is this?

EDIT: also I see no demo version of PT8 so idk how I'm supposed to judge it

That's sort of the problem I was alluding to with just spending even a little bit of time on a program. You just won't get deep into enough to really know what's going on in there. That said I've used a few daw's and Protools is just easy for me. The layout is very simple - looks like a mixer kind of, and file management is just easy. In ableton if I was, say, recording a lead vocal it was a real pain to hold on to mulitple takes and then switch back and forth between them, and punching in sucked. And I should say I've tracked plenty with Ableton, but more on the beat creation side where I'm laying in instruments. As soon as I have a vocalist, where I might be spending several hours to cut a vocal and get it perfect, I need to be in protools.

And don't underestimate being able to bring your session to other places. Yes, it is easy to bounce down a project into wavs and then have the mix engineer bring up a new session...but that is time and that equals money in a big studio. Most likely your mix engineer will have plenty of editing to do (especially since you're a beginner - no offense meant) and making this as easy as possible will make the project cost less.

I think a lot of people are just plain scared of protools simply because all the huge studios are running it, but it is really very simple and intuitive to get started with. Then when you see someone who is just a master at it you'll see how deep you can really get in the program.


+1 on no way to demo. That part sucks but oh well. Know that if you do go the protools route the digi interface you have to buy will work with all your other software on it's own. FYI mbox2 preamps are actually pretty decent, and they crunch up in a cool way if you overdrive them.

josephnicks wrote:

MGStudios wrote:

akmatic wrote: Ableton is great for warping stuff and putting together beats but when it comes to tracking it blows.

Why is this?

EDIT: also I see no demo version of PT8 so idk how I'm supposed to judge it

there is no DEMO version of Pro Tools.. you either have the hardware to run it or you dont.. im guessing you lack the hardware...

you have a long long long way to go, i dont think you should have ever bought an mpc, you should have just downloaded a cracked version of Fruity Loops and learned from there and seen if producing is really for you.. I started off on reason years ago it taught me a lot about producing and how things work and routing.. i still use reason now as a sound mod with the mpc and track into reaper.. before i had the mpc i was using Reaper as my sequencer for Reason, choppin up samples in Recycle and cuttin ish up with Dr.Rex... Routing every sound in reason to its own channel in reaper so i could add vsts and what not.. im almost scared for you to attempt to learn the routing process... just saying..

You don't have to worry man. I used Fruity Loops 9 for two years + and am great at the PC (built my own). I know alot about plugins and shit because I'm interested in the mixing/mastering process. Don't assume that since I don't have Pro Tools that I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm sure if there was ever a dicussion about PT that I wouldn't have anything to contribute. But I guess your right I'll just stop producing and learning altogether since I don't understand something

Hell. no better way to learn than jump in right? that's funny cuz i started on cracked FL 3 way back, then it was reason 3 and i was like this is the ish!, then ableton and i was like this is the ish!, and then when i finally got an mpc i wished i had just started on it in the first place.

if you need to buy an interface i think the protools route is hard to beat. mbox2 mini under 300 bucks... that gives you stereo ins and outs, plus full on protools le. beware your waves stuff might not work with it...they're notorious for requiring upgrades to move up the protools chain... ie if it worked in 6 or 7 in might not work in 8. in fact, just having them on your computer might make protools crash even if you aren't using them.