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  • Which DAW and operating system do you use and why?
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    anonymous Mon, 07/01/2002 - 18:36

    well.. guess I should add to the info pooling
    "why?"
    PARIS system on a PC (athlonK7-550)
    PC: cheaper in general and so I could build it myself and upgrade components as desired, able to afford, price gets right...which I've done and keep doing..hard disks have upgraded from 20GB to 80GB.. all at the same price level, same with faster and better CDR, now I'm upgrading to a rack-mount case & swapping HD caddy system.

    PARIS: I don't use midi and wanted the highest quality digitizers for recording. I wanted the integrated control surface/"board" so I didn't have to work on screen faders or try to integrate (and buy) a seperate digital mixer that could be controled by and control the software, and the software came with it as well, and great DSP (no need for plug-ins, I use almost no effects) and a good user group with a very focused and professional forum, some great helpful programs and utilities available free from legendary AnalogX and (at the time) one of the only systems with the now common "breakout box" to keep the digitizers away from the computer's EM noise.

    Multi-system: does multiple boot partyitions qualify? To me, it is like having several computers set up for different things.. and I have some other programs and hardware in case I do need midi, and just to handle my midi keyboard if I need to (haven't yet really)... hmm, I have sonic foundry and instead of a standard soundcard, have a Yamaha synthesiser card (DS-XG) to handle those duties as well as being a synthesiser and midiport, midisoftware, etc... Mostly I run my DV editing system in the other partition, but that is another story.

    and I actually have some spare partitions, one for LINUX OS, others for other stuff (PERL, PYTHON...) instead of trying to balance all my hardware and software in one "machine". Unfortunately, I haven't had time to play with that stuff much as both PARIS and the DV stuff run on W98 or MAC only, and the music and video pretty much eat up all my time (except for a few unavoidable distractions.. eating, sleeping, sailing to Belize..).

    peace
    Brian
    Folksinger
    http://www.pan.com/folksinger

    anonymous Tue, 07/02/2002 - 12:31

    The most powerful workstation ever. SAWStudio through RME Digi 9652 housed inside a 2.0Gz P4 Northwood with 1Gb RAM .
    Nothing comes close. I am able to record 144 true audio channels at 48Kz/24 bits. An audio magazine was amazed at it and did an article on this.
    SAWStudio is truly a masterpiece. All the other things are toys.

    Sorry.

    Opus2000 Tue, 07/02/2002 - 15:08

    Wow...first post here and you make us feel like we're all using the wrong applications...quick guys..throw out all your software knowledge and get SAW...my god! What have I been thinking? I guess the mass public of audio software guru's truly know nothing and SAW IS THE WAY TO GO!!
    Sorry Summerguy...couldn't resist! :p
    It's an opinion I know but do you "really" need to say we are using toys? C'mon!!! When SAW becomes more popular and more in demand than I will agree with you..each software has it's own functionality and user interface that appeals to everyone in different ways.
    Coming into a place like this where we state why we use it and why we like it but not coming in here and "telling" everyone their choices are un professional...
    We are all open minded here and definately not close minded...just stating some facts..M'kay?
    Opus :roll:

    anonymous Wed, 07/03/2002 - 11:09

    ProTools user for 6+ yrs -- currently own a Mix+/Mac OS 9.2 ... all the good stuff ..blah blah ..blah ... Everyone in Hollywood uses this stuff .. I work at one of the major recording studios (no names mentioned from experience) ... all the big names ..currently in .. Britney Spears, J Lo, ??? ALL use protools .. in the 2 yrs ive been there ..4 rooms all protools ..there have been 2 radar systems come throught the door ..and maybe one client who brings his Nuendo .. but mostly ProStools .. not to say you should use what they use .. but if you want to work with these guys .. all the toy have to talk the same language ... and soon more and more will

    Also learning to use SoundScape ..a true engineer uses what ever it put in front of him ...

    anonymous Wed, 07/03/2002 - 13:13

    Sorry about that. I did not mean to diminsh you guys at all. It's just that all this hype about PT is nonsense to me and hope soon to you all.
    Frankly, you don't have to spend thousands of $$$
    in a system which forces you to be a prisoner of their hardware.
    SAWStudio is a superb, powerful and amazingly well written software which lets you use any harware available (I prefer RME), provided you have a powerful PC. That´s all. I've never used another app as stable as this one. It achieves the same results PT does and go beyond when it comes to editing .
    I just wanted to help.
    Just because one does not have the marketing strategy the other has, does not mean it's a inferior product.

    KurtFoster Sat, 07/06/2002 - 13:48

    I've got to go with a PC and Cubase. Because it's inexpensive and I can afford to use it as a door stop next year. I just put together a screaming system for under 2500 bucks, monitor included. When I was a kid in the 60's if you wanted to record you had to find a professional studio, most of which were owned by record lables. There was no access unless you could pay for it. If memory serves me well it seems $50 -$100. per hour is what rates were and that was a lot of dough back then. $5 per hour was a great wage. In the 70's TEAC and Dokorder introduced 1/4" 4 track rtr machines for the general consumer. This was the great equaliser, the start of the home studio revolution. Even these were realitively expensive ($2K). My point is Pro Tools is sort of the same thing in todays enviornment. It is very expensive and can only be afforded by BIG studios who can afford a $20K+ per year expenditure to stay current with the latest format. In the last 10 years we've seen 16 bit, 20 bit, 24 bit, now 24/96 and soon to come 192 as a gotta have it format. After that there will be 1 bit Direct Stream Digital. It would be nice if the folks who make this stuff realized that it is killing the small and medium studios trying to keep up. It would be nice if P/T could find a way to upgrade the sample rates without having to buy a whole new program each time. But it could be that they have considered this and just don't care. And that may be for the best, it's my opinion that there are way to many people who don't know what they're doing involved in recording, a dilution of the talent pool, so to speak. Kind of like expansion teams in baseball.
    Fats

    Opus2000 Sun, 07/14/2002 - 08:45

    Originally posted by tundrkys:
    So from the stats, we can deduce that most of us are on PC. Also most of us use Soundscape, then Sonar, then ProTools, (actually if you add the 18 digi users to PT, they outnumber the Sonar guys)Cubase, Nuendo, DP then Logic.
    What does this mean about us?

    Well...don't forget that there will be more Cubase/Sonar users than Soundscape, Nuendo or PT in here since most are general users...also because those products are quite expensive..SoundScape is about 10,000...Pro Tools...well that goes beyond 10,000
    Nuendo...a hell of a lot cheaper...software itself is about 1,000 or so and then all you need is hardware and a computer..good computer is about 2,500 or so then hardware is about another 750-1000....so Nuendo system is about 5,000...
    Cubase or Sonar is only about 3,000 with computer, software and possibly hardware(if not using a sound blabber!)
    Opus

    anonymous Sun, 07/14/2002 - 11:58

    I use Nuendo on PC with the RME 96/52 sound card and Steinberg's 8 I/O AD/DA converters.

    I chose Nuendo for its amazing 'post production" capabilities (sync-ing frame accurate to video is a must for me), its powerful editing capabilities, its fantastic sound reproduction, and its surround sound capabilities.

    I use a PC because they rule!! Kidding :)
    I use a PC because I believe "Nuendo" to be the PC/Pro-tools alternative.

    At any rate, I am completely happy with it. It does EVERYTHING I bought it for, I don't anticipate out-growing it anytime soon.

    anonymous Tue, 07/16/2002 - 06:22

    Soundscape 32 lists for $6500. It is a pro solution--incredibly reliable, doesn't crash. 10 year track history. Company doesn't treat you like an cash machine... :D

    BTW, anyone going to Nashville NAMM this weekend? I'd be happy to meet with you--if you're interested, email me off list at: neikirk.audio@verizon.net(for the local guys, this includes the possibility of a demo in your studio...)

    anonymous Fri, 07/26/2002 - 12:19

    I am a devout samplitude user. I have been considering switching to Nuendo lately. I also will take advantage of the sx crossgrade offer just to have those tools. I do have to say after using Nuendo that allot of the cool features Nuendo has are features, looks, etc. that samplitude has had for years. When Pro-tools was really becoming a household name among musicians (already was with engineers) my uncle (who has a multi-million dollar studio he was kind enough to let me grow up in) was in the process of upgrading his digital equipment. I remember asking him why he didn't go with protools at the time as it was everywhere (like it isn't now...lol). While others were raving about the sound quality (not many folks are these days) and its editing capabilities (obviously revolutionary) he could not stop talking about how bad it sounded. He went with samplitude for his mastering and editing needs (still did most things on 2") raving about the 32bit floating processing (way before that was a common topic). Being an analog guy myself samplitude is deffinately on of the most intuitive software programs out there. As things developed he was finally ready to get something to supplement the 2" and adats (or da-88's). I asked him again why he wouldn't go protools. Now, older and maybe a little more mature I completely understand his SMART business decisions, his impeccable ears, and his principle. His full blown radar system is just the most convenient, best sounding replacement for 2" that I have heard. Wonderful. And Samplitude continues after all of these years to improve upon a truly stellar design. Thanks Carey Wise...
    As to Saw, I'm not knocking you, but...
    And truth is DAW software all do pretty much the same thing and it is a question of stability and personal working style at that point.
    Cheers and good tones,
    oh, and ensoniq vfx-sd for sale (I should have asked my uncle before I bought that one...)

    anonymous Mon, 07/29/2002 - 23:44

    I'm using Nuendo on PC and Mac and CubaseSx on PC. I've been very happy with the software. I chose Windows2000 Pro for my CubaseSX system because I found it very reliable with Nuendo. I build custom PC's to run Nuendo so I have done all the research to make reliable PIII and P4 PC's. I appreciate the lower cost of building and upgrading PC's as opposed to Macintosh.

    anonymous Sat, 08/17/2002 - 10:35

    I only have an AW4416 with outboard synths and Sony DPS R7,M7,D7 and F7 effects processors. I want to purchase a computer DAW and have been reading the very interesting pols here as well as every other site I can find. I've heard a lot about host base verses non host. I would appreciate it if someone could comment on the Scope Fusion Platform, host verses non host and last but most importantly MIDI performance...which ones( re midi) are really good and why.
    Phil Magnotta

    anonymous Thu, 08/29/2002 - 21:31

    audiokid wrote

    Which DAW and operating system do you use and why?

    Hey.. don't me wrong, I like PC's (I'm on one now) Hell...My dad worked for AT&T in the 70's. I remeber when I was 15 and he showed up from work with a computer. I figered it was a little TV set, (this was in 1978) we lived in a smaller town of about 20 to 25 K population. I'm sure we had the first PC in our town being as this was a textile and farming town.
    Well nuff said about that, I use a Macintosh 400MHz G-4 (I need to get a Duel Processor) on OS 9 and have a MOTU 24i and core card. When I got it in 2000 I picked up DP 2.5 and the upgrade witch gave me some extra plugs and other goodies. I had a lot of trouble with the software untill I upgraded to DP3 and DP3.01. It seams to be running alot better with DP3.

    Raymond Ward
    A.S. Recording Arts

    audiokid Sun, 09/01/2002 - 11:08

    Total drag :mad: lost the data to the poll when I merged DAWworld here. Maybe we';ll do another one again. SS was from what I can remember the most used DAW. Pro Tools next, however it really shows that SS users were the most active in the poll. Interesting. Thanks for getting involved everyone.
    :c:

    anonymous Mon, 09/09/2002 - 20:28

    Hobbies,
    Hobbies,
    How could you say hobby. Most people are using there Daw's over 40 hours a week. More time on those machines than they spend at work. Even to a novice, It's not a Hobby, It's a way of life.
    An extension of a musician's or a technicians being.

    Hobby, I'm so dissapointed. :o

    audiokid Thu, 09/12/2002 - 13:15

    Hi, I have to aggree here as well, the "H" word should not be used anymore. This is why I never bought the domain homerecording.com lol. ;) sorry can't ressssssist!

    It's now not politcally correct and is an insult to professional that choose to use DAW's as a forum of recording music. DAW studios have evolved into what is now becoming the norm and in many ways these machines are far superior to the ? but that's another topic.

    There are "professional", "private studios" or "personal studios" using DAW's, however, there are some pretty basic project studios in this list geared for only demos etc. That doesn't mean that the technology can't produce a professional song. What do we call these recorders, the under $5000 dollar studio? eek, tough thread now but for this very reason I move that we never use the "H" word and when referring to homerecording... Call it DAWworld, it says it all.

    :c:

    anonymous Sat, 09/14/2002 - 02:25

    psuedo ANUS DAW ????? What's that?

    Hi everyone, this is my first post here.

    I started using Soundscape in 1997, started with one, then two SSHDR1+, then R.Ed with Mixpander/9.

    I got into Soundscape because I saw it used on my first recording that was produced properly (I have a musical background - went into production later). I tried it and never looked back, everything else feels "unnatural" in comparison, meaning with Soundscape it feels like having my fingers directly on the sound, it is completely transparent, trouble free and I can forget about it and concentrate on the music. Nothing I have tried since compares. I also like the configurability, the freedom of creating a Mixer exactly as I want it, and with Mixpander I can use any VST plug-in with it too, although I have nearly all the SS plug-ins. AS for the sound, even the old SSHDR1+s still sound gorgeous, R.Ed even more so. The system has clarity and precision. And I am demanding sonically (classical musician hair splitter you know).

    Soundscape's only shortcoming is that it does not do MIDI, so I have to run something else alongside it. No big deal as it syncs to anything, but I wish it had MIDI (other than for MTC or controller messages - I mean I wish it had sequencing), so I could dump Cubase. So there, I use Cubase because I "fell into it" first, on Atari when I first started recording my music. Can't be bothered to learn another MIDI sequencer, and none of them appeals sufficiently but I can't say I like Cubase, or the UK distributors who are famous for poor support.

    In fact I recently changed from an old PC to a PIII 1GHz which would allow me to do big mixes in Cubase (so I'm told) but I don't even use it for audio, I tried it and didn't like it, the response of it and the way it played sound back. I tested with Takes imported from Soundscape, I think it is something about either the timing of the tracks on playback, or the way the mixer works. Note that it's an old Cubase (VST3.7r2), but I refuse to buy the new one and PAY for Cubase BUGFIXES. Soundscape got me used to higher standards.

    Overall, even though I use this system every day, I am always surprised by how much I enjoy it.

    Vincent C.

    anonymous Sun, 10/13/2002 - 07:43

    I use PT001 on a 98SE PIII 700MHz with 512MB RAM. The system has been very stable. I have a laptop I travel with, and I am wondering if anybody out there is using Nuendo, and what they think of it. All I want to be able to do at this point is record 1-2 tracks at a time on the laptop, primarily guitar. My optiions with PT for interfacing with my laptop looks to be fairly slim from what I can see at this point. :c:

    Thanks,

    BillT

    KurtFoster Sun, 10/13/2002 - 09:59

    Dual 1800 XP Athlon, Asus A7M266D mother board- 2 Western Digital WD800BB 80 gig drives, 1 removable, 1 gig of DDR sdram, Liteon 16X DVD drive, Liteon CDR drive, Antec SL450 power supply and Windows XP PRO OS. I'm running Cubase with Alesis AI3 converters, 16 channels in and out with a Frontier Dakota card. Tweaked as per OPUS' instructions. Envision flat panel monitor.....Fats