Opinions on best production software

Just want some opinions on best software to use for my mpc500, am taking the next step and buying a full version. FL studio, reason and cubase are the shortlisted ones. Any free ones worthwhile using other than audacity or soundforge demo? Peace.

The best software would be JJOS, but since this is not an option i would reccomend Pure Data.

there is no best ? is whats best for u

but a couple of places to look would be logic, cubase, protool, reason, live & maschine

reaper. no sense spending more for less. $40 dollars

Nym wrote:reaper. no sense spending more for less. $40 dollars

thats all i been hearing bout..... reaper this, reaper that.....
Nym... break it down for this man so i can understand why ??

mr.pleasant wrote:

Nym wrote:reaper. no sense spending more for less. $40 dollars

Nym... break it down for this man so i can understand why ??

I will break it down hella...short



best bang for your buck

Nym wrote:reaper. no sense spending more for less. $40 dollars

the odd thing was.... maybe 2 or 3 years ago I got it for free off the official website. I think the way to buy it was by donating or something like that at the time.

I think that technically it costs money but the evaluation version is full featured and never expires.

That's how it was last I checked.

I'm a big fan of Ableton Live, but I have to agree that you would really do yourself a favor in checking out Reaper. It does so much for so little that you can't deny it's bang for your buck!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Qr7FDdv-U


{In that video, the user is using some expensive vst's for some of those sounds, but he is sequencing everything with Reaper.}

nogginj wrote:I think that technically it costs money but the evaluation version is full featured and never expires.

That's how it was last I checked.

maybe that was what I did... but yeah, reaper is pretty good... audacity is pretty good if yo need something fast and simple to record stuff... I suggest checking their website too because they used to have spots on there that linked to kits of free VST pluggins.

thats all i been hearing bout..... reaper this, reaper that.....
Nym... break it down for this man so i can understand why ??

i'll try.

first off, these days, DAWs sound the same. cubase, protools, reaper, etc etc etc. DAWs sound the same. when you hear people say that one DAW sounds better than another, they are incorrect.

with that taken as common knowledge, we can move on to functionality, point 2:
most DAWs are so multi-functional that NOBODY uses ALL of the functions EVER, or even ALL OF THE TIME.

point 3 is similar - most DAWs can do mostly the same things in mostly the same ways.

so given these three BIG things to consider, financially, it is silly to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a program when you could spend $40 ($150 if you're making more than $20,000 a year). please read the side bars on this link for more information on Reaper's awesome license policy and pricing info: http://www.reaper.fm/purchase.php

so that's the extremely rational approach. however, the legitimate response is "well, i have the money, shouldn't i pay for the best?"

yes! of course you should. but it is incorrect to assume that the best is going to be the most expensive. REAPER, in my opinion, is awesome because it really lets YOU decide how you want to do things. it's like a board game - you learn the (extremely basic) rules, and then you plan your own strategy.

watch this video and we'll talk more later, i've got to go to Redwood City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKPCskI76iQ

nym

Before you start taking advice from people on YOUR music , ask yourself what kind of commitment your willing to make. How serious are you? You could use a cheap piece of crap DAW and say its bang for the buck and tell people your just "Doing it for fun" or you could get a real DAW and get serious about music. Its up to you. Money to chase a dream should be a hurdle not a road block. With time and effort you WILL jump the hurdle. A road block needs a new way around it , why waste time looking for a shortcut?
Abelton LIVE.. Full Daw.. Best for LIVE sets , show stuff , hence the name LIVE.
Logic (MAC Only) Full Daw Best for tracking and External Gear related Production.
Protools Full Daw Best all around DAW , tracking , beat making , live sets.
FLstudio (PC only) Full Daw Best for step sequencing production. Some nice synths , epic piano roll plugins .Can sample , and track vocals
Reason Partial Daw (will not track vocals without a separate plugin) Best for music production. Great sound banks and patches.

Any of thoes 4 will be in the "Best" category and cost around the same give or take $100-300 for this package or that.

I'm sorry but the rest is just crap in my opinion. I have used all of them at one point. As I developed I moved on to better. As of now that is Logic and Protools.

ghosty wrote:Before you start taking advice from people on YOUR music , ask yourself what kind of commitment your willing to make. How serious are you? You could use a cheap piece of **** DAW and say its bang for the buck and tell people your just "Doing it for fun" or you could get a real DAW and get serious about music. Its up to you. Money to chase a dream should be a hurdle not a road block. With time and effort you WILL jump the hurdle. A road block needs a new way around it , why waste time looking for a shortcut?
Abelton LIVE.. Full Daw.. Best for LIVE sets , show stuff , hence the name LIVE.
Logic (MAC Only) Full Daw Best for tracking and External Gear related Production.
Protools Full Daw Best all around DAW , tracking , beat making , live sets.
FLstudio (PC only) Full Daw Best for step sequencing production. Some nice synths , epic piano roll plugins .Can sample , and track vocals
Reason Partial Daw (will not track vocals without a separate plugin) Best for music production. Great sound banks and patches.

Any of thoes 4 will be in the "Best" category and cost around the same give or take $100-300 for this package or that.

I'm sorry but the rest is just **** in my opinion. I have used all of them at one point. As I developed I moved on to better. As of now that is Logic and Protools.

In your post, you didn't mention Acid, Sonar, Cubase, Digital Performer, or Reaper. I'm just trying to figure out which one of those you consider to be a "cheap piece of **** DAW"?

Pro Tools user for about 7 years now. I wont use anything else. I do a lot of projects with artists that consist of file swapping between studios. We only use Pro Tools files. So while reaper, cubase, logic hell even Audacity (and I have used them all) definitely get the jobs done ask yourself exactly how far you want to take this. If you want to be taken seriously then use industry standard software and keep yourself compatible.

AND BEFORE THE BASHERS WITH 0 KNOWLEDGE CHIME IN CONSIDER THIS:

My day job is a combination of an Estimator/Draftsman in the construction business, more specifically mechanical. When we deal with files we deal with 2 types, PDF's and DWG's. If you cant send me a set of plans in Acrobats PDF format and if your project wasnt drawn in AutoCad nobody is going to touch it. PERIOD. When someone shows up with a google sketchup drawing we know off the bat we are dealing with an amateur.