2022 interface and DAW

[3nity]

Believe it or not I'm still using protools 8 with an 002 rack
But I'm finding myself limited with no more updates blah blah blah.

What are the DAW option with little learning curve?
What you guys suggest a nice update from the 002 rack? I was considering MOTU but they have lots of troubles with hardware.

Suggestions please.

 

[fazer]

Can’t help much but using studio one and use protools ultimate 2020. I have used protools since 1992. Lately I’m using studio one and thinking about a presonus quantum interface with thunderbolt laptop. Quantum has close to zero latency. I use it with my Avid Omni , 192 and apogee 8000 for 20 inputs and 24 out puts. It has about 15msec of delay. If I had the quantum. It would be about 3 to 4 milliseconds. Add the presonus fader port. 8 or 16 and it would rival if not excel past my current system. You can make Studio One run under protools key commands if that helps the learning curve. If your doing surround, i would rather run protools. Getting tired of the yearly perpetual license though. And I’m no longer a full time post guy so don’t need surround capabilities daily.

 

[Ricardus]

This is where I am going to throw in a plug for the most under-rated DAW out there. The Ardour DAW which is basically free, and is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac. I think you can donate a dollar and download a binary.

I also use the Harrison Mixbus DAW which is an Ardour offshoot, but is a commercial product and costs more money. But it's still less expensive that most of what's out there.

https://ardour.org/
https://harrisonconsoles.com/product/mixbus/

 

[NOON]

RME interfaces are pretty much unbeatable for stability and reliability. I have a Babyface with an extra 8 channels of RME via ADAT.

 

[3nity]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I came across the Antelope pre 8.
What about the bitwig audio DAW?

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

I really like reaper.
I tend to act happy about whatever console or DAW the client chooses…but the best one is the one you know.
https://www.protoolstoreaper.com/The skins, the community, scripting, and interoperability with older equipment make up for the learning curve. I wasn’t able to find a protools8 skin in a minute of searching, but I can beat that. The UI is super customizable, and most any function can map to pretty much any midi message or keystroke.

 

[totoxraymond]

Nuendo user here, workflow is great and it comes with all needed plug-ins. I mostly do sound design and surround mix for cartoons.

For interfaces, i love my RME. Very reliable, not too expensive, good drivers.

I've been running this combination for more than ten years now, and i have nothing to change.

Thomas

 

[Coop]

Protools user for a long time here. There are a lot of great DAWs out there. Did try some of them, but in the end I have only really felt at home when I opened up ProTools again. Did also try different interfaces. Had an Apogee Symphony, a Motu, a Focusrite... Some where good, some where not so great.
Focusrite was the worst when it comes to stability and drivers. Motu always worked like a charm. Great software and hardware.

My current setup is Protools Ultimate 2021 on a Mac Pro 5,1 with an HD Native Pcie Card and 4 Digidesign 192 I/Os. It's just a rocksolid system and I love to be able to have hardware inserts that do have automatic delay compensation.

If I would build a rig now, it would probably be either an RME or a Motu system. They both are reliable and work great. Lots of I/O in very small packages.

 

[andivax]

Reaper DAW
RME or UAD interface

 

[Unips]

I went from ProTools 8.05 to Studio One Professional, and never looked back. You can set the same key-shorts as in ProTools. Studio One is being developed all the time and new cool features added. Updates are free except for major upgrades (like from 4 to 5), but prices are very reasonable. RME is the shit when it comes to interfaces.

 

[scott2000]

Wow andivax. I used to watch and listen to a lot of your great stuff many many years ago. used to be Cubase iirc.... Welcome.

 

[Whoops]

Believe it or not I'm still using protools 8 with an 002 rack

Are you on Mac or PC?

What are the DAW option with little learning curve?

ProTools is in my opinion by far the easiest DAW to learn and to use.
Very simple, clean layout and very organized.
I've tried many, and for recording and mixing it's the only one I recommend.

For music production and composing I like Logic and Ableton Live.

What you guys suggest a nice update from the 002 rack? I was considering MOTU but they have lots of troubles with hardware.

Nowadays I recommend an UAD interface or the Focusrite Red4Pre or Red8Pre.

 

[3nity]

I'm on PC. And I agree with you protools is very easy to work and layout it's all well done. However I can't keep with the perpetual fees. I'm just a hobbyist musician with a home studio.

This week I starterted toying with Reaper DAW and I'm starting to slowly understand how it works.

This raises another question though...do DAWs impact the sound of the recordings? I mixed 1 song in both Reaper and pro tools and guess what I could clearly hear a difference !! Like protl tools has a veil on top of everything..I dunno.

 

[TwentyTrees]

This raises another question though...do DAWs impact the sound of the recordings? I mixed 1 song in both Reaper and pro tools and guess what I could clearly hear a difference !! Like protl tools has a veil on top of everything..I dunno.

Theoretically it shouldn't make a difference, if the summing algorithms are transparent and there's no analogue-style modelling in place. That said, I did hear stories years ago about earlier versions of Pro Tools having issues with summing maths, or something like that, which was supposed to affect the stereo mix in the way you describe. Never used PT myself, so can't comment further!

I use Reaper, and have done for maybe 8 years now. I originally picked it up because it was relatively affordable - I stayed with it because it is so damn flexible and customisable (though because of that, there's a bit of a learning curve). A particular favourite feature is its parameter modulation, where you can use sidechained audio, midi or an LFO to modulate any parameter on a plugin. I use it to duck individual EQ bands all the time. That feature's been there a while, so I wonder if any other DAWs do that these days?

 

[Whoops]

This raises another question though...do DAWs impact the sound of the recordings? I mixed 1 song in both Reaper and pro tools and guess what I could clearly hear a difference !! Like protl tools has a veil on top of everything..I dunno.

The Summing Engine is different between DAWs, but ProTools is used extensively Professionally while Reaper is a free software (more or less) used more on the amateur/home recording.

I doubt ProTools sounds inferior to any DAW, but I never did a comparison test. Maybe someone should do that.
But only Volume and Pan could be used. Because if you start using EQ and FX then the mixes will be different in both DAWs and thus impossible to compare

 

[Whoops]

That said, I did hear stories years ago about earlier versions of Pro Tools having issues with summing maths, or something like that, which was supposed to affect the stereo mix in the way you describe. Never used PT myself, so can't comment further!

I also remember that, it was a long time ago and referes to versions PT5 and PT6, that was 20 years ago.
Remember that at that time all DAWs had much more primitive summing and features.
Probably the people that complained about PT summing back then would complain also about the other DAWs

 

[Whoops]

I'm on PC. And I agree with you protools is very easy to work and layout it's all well done. However I can't keep with the perpetual fees. I'm just a hobbyist musician with a home studio.

Hi Jorge in case you are interested in continuing to use ProTools I have a good solution for you. Just PM me

 

[Ricardus]

This raises another question though...do DAWs impact the sound of the recordings? I mixed 1 song in both Reaper and pro tools and guess what I could clearly hear a difference !! Like protl tools has a veil on top of everything..I dunno.

This question has been asked a lot in various forums and I know people have done side-by-side mixes with PT and Ardour, and have said the Ardour mixes sounded audibly better.

Of course human hearing sucks, and bias is a big issue.

That said, the Harrison Mixbus DAW has lots of analog emulation built in, and that will certainly affect the sound of the mix. I love Mixbus and use it for mixing and mastering all of the time.

 

[fazer]

This raises another question though...do DAWs impact the sound of the recordings? I mixed 1 song in both Reaper and pro tools and guess what I could clearly hear a difference !! Like protl tools has a veil on top of everything..I dunno.

Protools TDM had that veiled topend sonic problems. I was so happy with the sound of protools when I dumped TDM and went with a PCIe native card. Operations speed up and Sonics improved greatly.
Better the devil you know. Spend time with software and try to be more excepting of its method of operation and you will improve with that software

 

[musipol]

My 2 cents. For what it's worth, the DAW's I have compared(Cubase, Studio 1, Reaper, Sonar) sounded the same to me......given the same mix. What I did find was that DAW workflow has a big effect on the mix you end up with.