Perhaps an "easy to use DAW" is an oxymoron, but I can tell you that Cubase, Audition, Audacity and even Sound Forge have thrown me for a loop.
Long story short I hired a consultant to help me get my setup right. He says because of the work that I do, I should get something more sophisticated than Adobe SoundBooth. He's suggested: Audition, Sonar, Reaper, Tracktion and, of course, Cubase.
There's an outside chance I may need to be able to work with SMPTE from time to time, but at this stage of the game it will be rare. So I presume there's no practical difference between these programs since I'll never use more than 8 tracks, use only pre-recorded music and voice tracks.
I saw that audiokid recently chose Sonar, but he's been working with computer-based audio software since I sold my last analog studio. Which of these programs will I be able to use without a doctorate degree in that specific software? :roll:
TIA...
Comments
Thank you. I've download Traktion and will be trying it soon. .
Thank you. I've download Traktion and will be trying it soon. ...but I'm kinda hoping Reaper does it for me. I read their website and it made me like the company. I've been very unhappy with Adobe Product support of their graphics and publishing programs, so I am not eager to buy another program from them.
griz, thanks for referring to me. I'm actually going one step f
griz,
thanks for referring to me. I'm actually going one step further than Sonar ( however I will still have it on hand) and going with Samplitude/ Sequoia. Its no easier than all the rest out there. They are all a learning curve. Ableton Live is amazing and simple but more a program for looping tracks.
Persoannly I would get whatever system you can afford and that is know to work very well with your CP configurations. Learn it and you will start making sound. Mics, preamp and converter are the essential tools that will work around the DAW you choose.
For the price, you can't really beat Reaper. The only real issue
For the price, you can't really beat Reaper. The only real issue is that not many people use it, compared to Pro Tools, Logic, etc. If you need to collaborate seamlessly with other engineers/musicians, that could be an issue.
Depending on what you are doing, the new version of Ableton might get the job done...but that depends. The editing features are fairly sparse (intentionally), and it costs more than Reaper. It is a very easy program to use though. The demo is free for 14 days, last time I checked. The manual is basically built in to the interface. When you hover your mouse over a control, you get a detailed description of what it does.
Good luck!
Tracktion seems to be pretty easy up front. I'm used to Auditio
Tracktion seems to be pretty easy up front. I'm used to Audition so don't use Tracktion that much but I do sometimes for tracking.
I wouldn't even bother with Audacity or Sound Forge. No impact no idea regarding Cubase.