Often, it comes down to details and editing philosophies. If you're interested in mastering finished recordings or classical music editing, the high-end Magix Sequoia is unparalleled. Digital Performer is a perennial favorite for film scoring, although several other DAWs can also do it (if not quite as ably). It's also great if you're recording a band full of live instruments and don't need much in the way of virtual ones.ĭo your tastes lean toward the electronic and synthesized realm? Ableton Live and FL Studio are inspired choices with plenty of built-in synths, though you can produce electronic music with just about any of these programs. Do you have or plan to buy your own instrument plug-ins? Reaper is a fully stripped-down DAW at a low price, and it makes an excellent host for third-party VSTs. Would you prefer a DAW with many virtual instrument sounds, such as synthesizers, sampled violins, guitars, and electric basses? You may want to look at something like Logic Pro, Cubase Pro, or Studio One, all of which include many gigabytes of sounds and loops. That makes it easier to share tips or even projects among each other, rather than being the lone person using a particular product and then introducing session import issues.Īnother option is to look at what's bundled with each program. One overarching rule to help you decide faster is to look at what your colleagues or friends are using and then choose the same package. The trick is that each program has strengths in different areas, and some tasks may be a bit more complicated in one than in another. The good news is all of the packages we tested can more or less do all of the above tasks, with a few notable exceptions. Are you planning on producing beats for hip-hop or fully electronic compositions? Do you want to record multiple musicians playing live instruments at once? Will you use your setup to score for videos or movies or create sound effects and dialogue for TV and video games? Do you need to produce fully polished, printed scores, or do you prefer to work with musical notes and staves? Do you plan on tuning the pitch of vocal performances? Working out the answers to these questions upfront will help you narrow down your choices. It helps to think about the kinds of projects you want to create. If you need something more sophisticated, read on. If you're recording a podcast or editing a clip of your kid's piano recital that you recorded on your phone, Audacity is an excellent choice you can probably start and stop there. While Audacity aspires to some fundamental multitrack recording with overdubs, its real use is as a solid stereo editor. Apple Logic Pro X (for Mac)īefore we get to the specifics, the most straightforward program for audio editing is a two-track editor probably the most famous example here is the free Audacity. They've grown incredibly powerful and, as a result, have user interfaces as complex as…well, professional mix consoles. Most famous packages like Pro Tools, Cubase, and Logic Pro have existed for decades. Choosing the right audio software can be pretty tricky. For the newcomer, though, it may seem almost hopelessly complex. How to Pick the Right DAWįrom the standpoint of someone recording 20 or 30 years ago, a DAW today is like a giant candy store it's as if you can do almost anything. Read on for our top picks, followed by everything you need to know about picking the right DAW for your recording needs. In each of our reviews, we do our best to approach each product as a whole rather than devoting most of the space to just the latest features added in the most recent update. That's great for the existing user base of each DAW, but maybe not always quite as clear for newcomers. Numerous venerable (and excellent) recording magazines have reviewed these applications many times over the years. How to decide which one is right for you? To help with this task, we tested the most popular DAWs.
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