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Home Recording: Choosing Your DAW

protools8Home recording has exploded over the past decade as digital technology has given musicians more and more powerful tools for capturing and mixing music on laptops and desktops.  One of the key choices a musician or engineer must make is which DAW to invest time and money into.

What’s a DAW you say? Well, why don’t we see what good ol’ wikipedia says:

“Originated in the early 1980s, the term digital audio workstation (DAW) originally referred to a tape-less, computer-based system such as New England Digital’s Synclavier and Fairlight that used hard drives for media storage. ” – Wikipedia.org (read the full article)

The term DAW accounts for both software and hardware based production systems. However for maximum flexibility we’re going to just concentrate on computer based DAWs today.

Choosing your DAW is much like shopping for a car. While your friend or co-worker may love their 4-wheel drive SUV, you might not find that it fits your needs as a commuter.  The same goes with DAWs.  The main rule to remember in choosing a DAW is that there is no “one DAW solution”.  Though there may be a “one DAW full” solution for you (get it? one-daw-full.  Sorry, couldn’t resist.)  You may not get all your desired  features in the DAW that you choose, but it’s important that you get most of them.  The key here is to ask yourself  “What’s most important to me?”

Here are some points for you to think about when choosing a DAW:

  • Price
  • Audio Editing vs MIDI Editing Capabilities
  • Workflow
  • User Interface
  • Compatibility with 3rd party hardware/software
  • Included Plugins (synths, samplers, effects)
  • Update Frequency
  • Customer Support
  • System Requirements
  • Stability

The important thing to remember is do your research. Again, buying a DAW is like buying a car. You want it to last long, fulfill all your needs, be cost worthy, and run well. Like buying a car, don’t buy your DAW on a whim! Read reviews, look at features, visit some forums and get opinions!

Below we’ve listed a number of DAWs. Please keep in mind we can’t list every DAW, as they are numerous. There are also a number of free DAWs out there, but since most of them lack a few key features, we’ve focused on more commercial/paid-for DAWs.

FL Studio

Signature Bundle: $299
Producer Edition: $199
Fruity Edition: $99
Express: $49

Feature Comparison Chart

Download Trial

Platform:  PC

“FL Studio is a full-featured, open architecture, music  production environment capable of audio recording, composing,  sequencing and mixing, for the creation of professional quality  music. The FL Studio philosophy is creative freedom!”

Reaper

Full License: $225
Discounted License: $60

Download Trial

Platform: Mac/PC

“If you currently use another DAW, you might be reading this because you’re contemplating shelling out $150 for the next overhyped version that doesn’t address any of the bugs you’ve been complaining about for five years while adding a bunch of features you couldn’t care less about. What does REAPER have to offer you? For starters, REAPER is coded by a small group of dedicated engineers, not multiple software units under the central command of product marketing. That means REAPER is lean, efficient, and stable. REAPER starts up and is ready to record in seconds, balances processing loads intelligently across multicore systems, and doesn’t fall over when you start to tax it. That means you spend more time recording and editing, instead of staring at the startup splash screen.”

Garageband

Garageband comes with some versions of Mac OSX and iLife ’09.

There is no downloadable trial.

Platform: Mac

“GarageBand turns your Mac into a full-featured recording studio. Build a beat with the included loops, then plug in a guitar, bass, or microphone. You can even play (or sing) into the mic on your Mac. GarageBand captures the audio and turns it into digital files you can manipulate using a host of recording and mixing tools. It also includes the expertise of a built-in recording engineer, so you always sound your best.”

Logic Studio Pro

Logic Studio Pro: $499
Logic Studio Express: $199

There is no downloadable trial.

Platform: Mac

“Under the hood, GarageBand, Logic Studio, and Logic Express share the same technologies. So when you open your GarageBand projects in Logic, you can start right where you left off. A lot of things will feel familiar, only now you can track a new part with a vintage keyboard or classic synth. Try out endless combinations of virtual amps, speaker cabinets, and pedals. Build up your songs with 20,000 Apple Loops and all six Jam Pack collections. Pull off sophisticated edits and mixes. And bring it all with you to the stage.”

Cubase

Cubase 5: $499
Cubase 5 Studio: $299
Cubase 5 Essentials: $149

Feature Comparison Chart

Download Trial

Platform: PC/Mac

“Steinberg Cubase 5 combines the latest composition and mixing tools with a streamlined workflow to help you bring your creative visions to life.Fully integrated new tools like Loop Mash, Groove Agent ONE, VariAudio und Pitch Correct for working with beats and vocals combined with new enhancements such as VST Expression und REVerence (the first VST3 convolution reverb), a host of additional improvements, and support for Windows Vista 64-bit technologies help you to take your musical creativity to new heights.”

Nuendo

Nuendo 5: $1800

There is no downloadable trial.

Platform:  Mac/PC

“Nuendo 5 is the newest incarnation of Steinberg’s solution for demanding professionals working in audio, live and post production. Nuendo 5 allows for an ADR-like workflow (including EDL support), comes with excellent surround features, and also provides a unique automatable bus-destination routing system that lets you create different mix versions in one go. A completely new video engine guarantees stable video playback in SD and HD, and the ability to work with multi-mono files means industry openness. An array of additional enhancements and 64-bit technologies boost performance and enables Nuendo 5 to handle even the largest projects.”

Digital Performer

Digital Performer 7: $395 (this is listed as the upgrade price from a competitive product)

There is no downloadable trial.

Platform: Mac

“For beginners and experts alike, Digital Performer delivers advanced features in an intuitive, streamlined design. With support for built-in Mac audio and MIDI, you don’t even need additional audio hardware. Whether you’re completing a surround sound DVD, or you just want to write a song and burn a CD or MP3 file, Digital Performer gets you there quickly with elegance and ease.”

Sonar

Cakewalk SONAR Producer: $499
Cakewalk SONAR Studio: $199

There is no downloadable trial.

Platform: PC

“SONAR 8.5 Producer gives you what you need for recording, composing, editing, mixing, and mastering. Get innovations that matter, from exclusive features to ignite creativity and perfect your tracks, to groundbreaking technologies that always keep you in control, all backed by the industry’s leading 64-bit audio quality. And SONAR 8.5 Producer delivers the go-to production tools you want with the best collection of virtual instruments, mixing, and mastering effects found in any DAW. With version 8.5, SONAR continues to innovate on all fronts. New beat creating and arrangement tools, a new drum instrument loaded with stellar kits, enhanced audio quantizing, new multi-stage effect plug-ins, and more combine to make SONAR the most complete, professional, and best sounding DAW on any platform.”

Pro-Tools

Pro-Tools M-Powered: $299

Note:  Digidesign does offer much higher packages, however they often are included in bundles that are priced very high.

There is no downloadable trial.

Platform: PC/Mac

“Pro Tools 8 is the most advanced audio creation and production software, featuring a gorgeous new interface, dozens of new virtual instruments and plug-ins, exciting new scoring and MIDI features, amazing new workflows, better ease of use, deeper controller integration, and much, much more. You’ll never work with music or sound the same way again.”

Studio One

Studio One Pro: $449
Studio One Artist: $249

Download Trial

Platform: PC/Mac

“Artists of all levels, from beginner to seasoned professional, will find Studio One a serious alternative to the intimidating, bloated offerings currently considered the standards.  It’s a groundbreaking music creation and production application for Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista/7 that makes audio recording, MIDI sequencing, and audio mastering ridiculously simple right out of the box. Studio One changes the rules of the game with fresh code, innovative drag-and-drop MIDI mapping and plug-in management, auto-configuration with PreSonus hardware, insanely good audio quality, unlimited tracks and plug-ins per track, and a powerful, inventive Start page.”

Sequel

Sequel: $99

Download Trial

Platform: PC/Mac

“Sequel 2 is a new generation of Steinberg s music creation tool. Simplicity itself to use, Sequel combines recording, editing, mixing, instruments and effects in one affordable, easy-to-learn package. From the creators of Cubase   world s most popular music production software – a brand new and easy-to-use music studio designed for first-time computer music enthusiasts. Sequel 2 combines lightning-fast recording, editing and mixing with on-board instruments and effects, plus powerful arranging and performance features. Sequel 2 runs on both PCs and Macs and comes with a massive library of more than 5000 loops, over 600 ready-to-play instrument sounds, stunning effects and the same state-of-the-art audio engine that is preferred by many world-class producers all around the globe. It s never been more fun to create music on a computer!”

Sony Acid

Acid Pro 7: $299
Acid Music Studio: $64

Download Free Trial (Acid Music Studio)
Download Free Trial (Acid Pro 7)

Platform: PC

“The ACID family of music editing software includes ACID Music Studio and ACID Pro software. Whether you are new to music editing software or a seasoned professional, there is an ACID solution that is perfect for your needs.”

Albeton Live

Albeton Suite 8: $699
Albeton Live 8: $449
Albeton Live Intro: $99

Download Trial

Platform: PC/Mac

“Ableton Suite is a complete software studio. Suite 8 gives you all of the features in Live 8 plus SOUND, with a radically new Library packed with beautiful new sounds and a wealth of useful resources. Suite 8 contains 10 Ableton instruments including synths, a sampler, electric and acoustic drums, mallets, numerous sampled instruments and the new, reworked Operator. Two completely new instruments, Collision and Latin Percussion, round off the set. Ableton Suite 8 is a complete package: the tools AND the sounds.”

August 3rd, 2010 | Category: Website 101
  • Steve

    For the money, features, functionality and adaptability, nothing beats Reaper. And I’ve used several of the above-mentioned DAWs.

  • Jen

    Which of these programs do you think is the most intuitive?

  • Brandon Deriso

    Glad to see Reaper at the top of this list. After using most of the others on this list, Reaper is my favorite, and rock solid too.

  • http://www.robertleeking.com Robert Lee King

    Interesting however, the wiki article is 99% wrong on virtually every statement made. The first DAWs DID NOT use hard drives, they used floppy drives! An envelope is NOT a cross point of peaks and valleys in a signal but specifically isolated frequencies within a signal. The Mac and the Atari ST though popular for audio DID NOT have hard drives until late 1984 to mid 1985 and those were tiny 10, 20 and 30 megabyte hard drives. Cakewalk and many other midi based multitrack programs predate Pro Tools by more than a decade and, Logic which was once Emagic, also predates Pro Tools by several years. You also left out several other DAW programs, Audition, Audigy, Rosegarden, Ardour, Jokosher, etc…

  • http://www.myspace.com/silhouettesoldies Dan Chapman

    Hello fellow musicians,

    I’m doing something here I never do and thats comment on the web but this subject of DAW’s I think needs comment from an older person’s viewpoint. I started out using midi about 15 years ago and purchased the Voyetra midi sequencing program for about $100. For all you young wiper snapers who grew up with a computer stuck *&^%$ computer sequencing is probably very easy but for someone who’s over 60, 50’s back then its not easy. I have produced two albums and am working on my third now. I always used a separate digital recorder(Korg D8 now Yamaha AW1600) and usually a laptop to sequence the midi and either my old mu50 Yamaha sound module and now a Yamaha PSR 1500. I also have Sonar 7XL and still really cant use it very well. The older midi sequencing programs were much easier to use and then later modify. My original Voyerta midi program is not available anymore and they don’t support it anymore. Any of you musicians who are probably older like this old Fart know what I mean. All you really need is to be able to get your song ideas in a repeatable form so you can remenber it and recorded it. Really I have tried to use the midi in Sonar but it really just hides the midi. Its very hard to change keys repeat sequences already in midi form when compared to the older programs. They have just tried to do too many things in their program all at once. It does get you to buy though and that’s what they want. But one problem you really only want to make music not get to mars!!!!
    One of the problems I run into trying to record with a computer is some days they say just no!! not today I wont do it. This happens for lots of reasons only it knows. I know my aw1600 is also a computer but so far has done well for me.
    Using a separate recorder along with your computer gives you more freedom to record with anything you want any mic. and so on and you don’t have to spend hours trying to figure out how to do it.. Yes any effects ( the effects in the recorder are usually not that good) will need to be from separate equipment.

    This is just one old guys opinion and there are many musicians who do very well recording with a computers ( I saw them in Nashville) but these are almost always very powerful computers. I know I may run into problems when I can’t use my old midi program anymore but so far so good.

    I want to take a minute to give CD Baby a big thanks. I think when I started I was talking to Derek . You guys are the best friend the indie musician has and so far the new owners have been great. I will be talking to you soon to release a new album.

    Will be interested in comments here
    Dan Chapman

  • Nathan

    Dan,

    Well, some people use DAWs to jot down ideas, while some (me) use it for full on production right up to the master. MIDI has gotten more complicated these days. We’re using a lot more parameters than before, especially when dealing with high quality samples. I remember playing with trackers back in the day. My first real piece of sequencing software was Opcode’s Vision, and that was MUCH easier than a tracker. I do understand where your coming from though.

  • Nathan

    Robert,

    Well, the wiki article doesn’t seem to say they are exclusive to hard drives. They just provided examples, such as the Synclavier. Also they are speaking of envelopes when it comes to automation, not actual frequencies. That may not be the right term to use, but many developers are using that term for various instances. And I’m well aware of Logic and it’s history. I remember seeing that on one of the first Macintosh’s.

    As far as other DAW programs go, I stated I wasn’t going to list them all. And in some cases I didn’t list them as they weren’t an all-in-one solution, such as Reaper (you have to additionally buy Record just to record audio) some of the DAWs you mentioned I missed though, my apologies.

  • Nathan

    Brandon,

    Actually the list is NOT in order. Just wanted to point that out. Under no circumstances was I going to say “this daw is better than this one” as that would be contradictory to what I said in the article about choosing a DAW.

  • Nathan

    Jen,

    That’s a tough one. There are a number of intuitive features spread throughout a lot of DAWs, it would be hard to gauge that. Plus some DAWs may be intuitive in one area, but more lacking in another.

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  • Pingback: My Home Music Production Workstation 2.0 « Home Music Production

  • Carol

    Jen, the DAW I use most often (but not mentioned in Nathan’s list) is Adobe Audition. I’ve tried Cubase and couldn’t get anywhere with it. I have Logic Pro 8 on my laptop and use it to some extent. But Audition is very intuitive and I use it for the bulk of my work. It is rock solid on XP SP2. The current version is 3.0.1, but Audition 4 is in the works for Windows. They are currently working on their first release for Mac.

    You can record multitrack, you can edit better with Audition than any other DAW out there, you can mix quite intuitively, and it does include good mastering tools.

  • http://www.hostbaby.com Nathan

    “you can edit better with Audition than any other DAW out there”

    Not sure why you’d say this unless you’ve tried them all. Audio/MIDI editing features are usually “better” based on the workflow and style of the composer/audio engineer.

    That being said, I’m sorry I missed Audition. It isn’t used as much as the other DAWs, so it’s name never comes up on the various forums I discuss music with.

  • http://www.base.at wolfgang

    I use Tracktion 3. Is the best DAW I ever used. bad, but hopefully untrue it seams that Mackie lets the software die. no update since feb 2008!

    best Wolfgang

    http://www.cdbaby.com/group/base

  • http://www.webnetbusiness.com michaleric20

    That being said, I’m sorry I missed Audition. you can edit better with Audition than any other WAD out there.I have Logic Pro 8 on my laptop and use it to some extent. But Audition is very intuitive and I use it for the bulk of my work.I’m doing something here I never do and that s comment on the web but this subject of DAW’ I think needs comment from an older person’s viewpoint.

  • http://www.webnetbusiness.com michaleric20

    That being said, I’m sorry I missed Audition.I have Logic Pro 8 on my laptop and use it to some extent. Well, the wiki article doesn’t seem to say they are exclusive to hard drives. They just provided examples, such as the Syn clavier. Also they are speaking of envelopes when it comes to automation, not actual frequencies.This is just one old guys opinion and there are many musicians who do very well .

  • http://www.stevencravis.com Steven Cravis

    I like Logic. There’s an example of many tunes I completed in Logic amongst the free legal downloads that I offer at my web site.

  • http://www.shawnthomasstudios.com Shawn Thomas

    Nice overview — but you mention Nuendo at $1800, but only list ProTools M-Powered? There’s a lot more to compare and contrast in Pro-Tools. Yes, the LE and HD are more expensive — but the price is comparable to Nuendo. It would be an interesting comparison chart between the two.

  • http://myspace.com/doughayman Doug

    I like features from a number of these applications. I’ve been kind of compulsive in getting too many of these. I now own Sonar 8.5, Pro Tools 8LE, Ableton Live 8 Suite, Audition 2 [not the latest] and on a Macbook, Logic Studio 9.

    Each has some cool features and many are getting to be like the others with say, virtual guitar amplifiers to use as a plug-in on a track.

    I’d mostly ventured in this direction as a frustrating reaction to the ever changing world of Pro Tools. My Digi001 couldn’t work with XP [if memory serves me] so I needed to upgrade the expensive hardware to a Digi002 for yet another 800 bucks. And now my Digi002 rack and XP are getting to the verge of not being upgradeable.

    While Digidesign/Avid kept wanting more for hardware and for individual plug-ins, programs like Sonar and Logic seemed to include it all in one bundle that was compatible with a variety of audio interfaces. I’ve got so much learning invested in PT that it is hard to quickly do what I can do with Pro Tools in the other programs but it would serve me well to learn them too.

    What I like about Ableton Live is the shift in process for playing with song structure. Sure, I could grab big chunks of multiple tracks [intro, verse, chorus, outro] in PT and make arrangements in a similar manner but Live has some features that can be pulled off so easily on the fly that I think it will be an additional tool I use along with a primary DAW.

    The competition among all these vendors has pushed the features/options available once only in one DAW to be standard in them all, benefiting all users.

    I also like using Melodyne on occasion to fix one or two really painful vocal parts of an otherwise good take and like that it has added the ability to tweak on portion of a polyphonic track. I still like however, leaving in the human imperfection…otherwise the end product would sound so cold and mechanical.

  • http://www.westworldwiderecords.com Wen

    I have yet to go to the cpu for any of my recording needs… I know I know I’m behind – however, I record through the D3200 Korg and it sounds great. I would love to go to a cpu based program since the screen is so small on the D3200… I just need a very very user friendly program that I can transfer my music to mix and master songs. I asked about this in guitar center once and stated something about an interface… Any suggestions…?

  • Nathan

    Shawn Thomas: “but only list ProTools M-Powered? There’s a lot more to compare and contrast in Pro-Tools.”

    Well I was comparing more the software, not the hardware. Correct me if I’m wrong but the M-Powered Pro Tools DAW is the same (minus a few high quality plugins) PT really gets more expensive because of the hardware, which isn’t what I was concentrating on.

    At any rate, sorry I missed that. I’m don’t use PT, but I’m aware of how powerful it is.

    Wen: “I just need a very very user friendly program that I can transfer my music to mix and master songs. I asked about this in guitar center once and stated something about an interface… ”

    There are a number of hardware based DAWs out there that combine hardware mixers with computers. I believe Pre-sonus has something like that here: http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductID=52 for the hardware, and the recording software is here: http://www.presonus.com/products/SoftwareDetail.aspx?SoftwareId=1

    Note: Hostbaby isn’t affiliated with Presonus in anyway. It just happened to pop in my head. There are a number of mixer based DAWs out there.

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  • http://musicbymark.net Mark Young

    Thanks for the article Nathan.
    Why isn’t Adobe AUDITION listed? Isn’t this much bigger / better known than almost all of the packages listed, other than Steinberg’s and ProTools?

    Is there a great impartial/independent article anywhere that critically comparatively evaluates all of these? THAT would be most awesome, esp. with a chart to quickly show feature comparisons?
    I’d love to review that before purchasing.

    Mark

    Mark

  • http://www.hostbaby.com Nathan @ HostBaby

    At least in the virtual orchestration business, Audition isn’t widely used that much. That’s why I didn’t list it, as I know no one that uses it.

    Now a feature comparison chart would be nice, but also incredibly difficult. Every DAW has similar options with their own intuitive twist so it’s hard to gauge based on a chart when each person is going to either like it, or love it.

    However, simply features such as plugin support, computer platform, number of plugins, sample support, whether it has elastic audio and such, could be useful.

  • http://epiotic.com Justi

    Used to use Adobe Audition, the moved to Reaper about 1 year ago ad couldn’t be happier.

    Once getting the grasp of the basics, I was running to buy a lifetime license for less than an upgrade for other programs. Easy to use, to upgrade and afford. Far more potential than I’ll ever need, but rock solid performance on PC & Mac.

  • DESHAWN LARKIN

    IT’S OK.!!!

  • Rob Rand

    Reaper for mixdown/VSTs and audio analysis support, and Record/Reason for composition.