I know everyone asks this, but recommendations for a starting DAW?

I know that everyone asks what DAW they should start out with, and everyone's answer is "Everyone is comfortable with something different". However, does anyone have any specific recommendations based on what I'm going to be using it for? I'm looking at either Cubase 5, Sonar 8.5, or Pro Tools LE.

I plan to compose mainly orchestral music, using my M-Audio Keystation 61 for most of the input. I am getting the East West Quantum Leap either gold or silver, but I would like to be able to have the option of using free VSTs from time to time (so Pro Tools LE might not be good...). Also, I hope to be able to link up with Sibelius 6 using ReWire to do some notation fixing, or if I feel like composing some with pure notation. My computer's processing power shouldn't be an issue (3.16gHz dual core), I'm running Windows 7 with 4 gigs of RAM, and using on-board audio (but so far I've been able to get by any latency issues by using the freeware Asio4All).

Thoughts?

Well it sounds like pretty typical usage, so for those purposes there won't be any appreciable difference in the actual capabilities of the software options you named — they'll all do the job for you. The differences will lie with workflow and interface interaction, where I am sorry to give you the same answer you were expecting: different strokes for different folks.

I'll go a bit beyond that though and suggest the obvious: download a demo of each of your options (they each offer them) and play around with them a bit. Try out some of the basic things you'll be doing. See if you can manage to accomplish something without having to refer to the manual too often. If you can, that one's probably got the most intuitive workflow for you and you should consider going with it.

I say this because, ultimately, we can all chime in here and tell you our experiences with each of those DAWs, but that won't actually help you at all when it comes to which one works best for YOU. For instance, I can tell you that I used Sonar for quite some time (actually even while it was still just Cakewalk) and found it allowed me to accomplish what I wanted without getting in my way too much. Cubase has always been a DAW that I dislike working in because I feel constantly assaulted by panels, windows, and other visual garbage that I don't always need in my face. ProTools is an industry standard for high level audio production work, not so much sequencing as mixing and recording, but either way it wouldn't hurt to be familiar with it for the future. Neither of those anecdotes will help you figure out which DAW will work best for you (though the last point about ProTools is worth keeping in mind).

Judging by the options you've presented, I'll guess that you're on a PC, in which case me recommending Logic or Digital Performer wouldn't be helpful. I do have some other suggestions for you though which I strongly encourage you to treat with as much respect as the options you've presented. The first is Reaper, which is open-source and very robust with extremely efficient updates and great support. The second is called Presonus Studio One and is a truly magnificent DAW that I'm just delving into now; it combines many of the best features of its competitors into a lean and intuitive (not to mention gorgeous and efficient) interface.

So in short: DAWs nowadays are almost entirely interchangeable in terms of functionality, the only differences being in how you accomplish certain tasks and what the interface is like. Some people find they can be far more efficient in a DAW that would tangle another person up entirely — so it truly is up to each person to find out which one works best for them. And I cannot stress enough that one should not be lazy about this! Your DAW is the one-stop shop for the vast majority of your digital music production world, you owe it to yourself to try each and every one out to make sure the one you eventually spend money on will allow you to do your work efficiently and intuitively.

Good luck choosing! :happy:

definitely try out Reaper :)

i say go for reaper . i use it , also im new to it , you can easily learn to do everything you need on it . and as for connecting your midi keyboard to it . i did it , but i prefer to compose on sibelius its more fun for me :) . so i dont know how will it work if you have a lot of tracks and ur then using a midi device to connect it to reaper . i dont know if it will CTD or not . and as for mixing . i use another program for mixing . and reaper is a cheap program compared to others that are available and its small in size.

Well I started trying out PreSonus Studio One, and so far, I'm finding it very intuitive, easy to use, and as you mentioned, very nice looking. Of course, since I have no experience with these programs, I have nothing to compare it to. So I'll make sure to try out Reaper, Sonar, and Cubase as well. I'll probably give ProTools a miss for now, since I'm liking the idea of using free VSTs, which is harder to do with ProTools, and I'll probably familiarize myself with it at some later point in time once I become familiar with whatever DAW I choose. It shouldn't be TOO hard to switch between them once you're used to one, right? (I mean they all do the same thing anyway...)

Anyways, thanks a lot for the recommendations, particularly with Studio One (since I had never heard of it, even after doing hours of research). This process is seeming much less daunting then it had before!

No problem, SS, happy to help. Let us know which one you settle on!

I would say to go with Sonar. It's very user friendly and the learning curve is not too high. It is basically the PC version of Mac's Logic and works great. Hope the new setup works well for ya.

Hi,

I can definetely say to use an audio interface. Not onboard audio card. You can use the cheapest best one: M-Audio 2496, pretty solid drivers. Or professional one : RME Hammerfall 9632 or similar ones.

Well for DAWs. Protools dont support for 64 bit systems as far as I know. Cubase 5 does support for 64 bit. If you use 64 bit, you can increase your ram for your benefit. If you buy play version of EWQL, Sibelus uses a separate sound sets for EWQL. Finale 2010 directly uses play version for VST, so you can directly compose and mix from Finale. But you might face technical problems for that. I can recommend sequencers to compose and mix, and Sibelus or Finale for notation. Better sound quality and better notation. However, more time for both processes.

By the way, If you buy, go for at least Gold version. If you can affort, go for Platinum version. There are some bargains at soundsonline now.

Take care.