What Digital Audio Workstation, (DAW), Do I Use?
I do not believe that there is anyone in the music profession that can tell you what DAW was used to record a music project or song. If there is I, want to talk or maybe meet with him or her. No DAW by itself is going to make your music sound better. How your music sounds begins at the source. Great source material makes great sounding music. After all, it’s all about the sound.
This article is not about comparing one DAW to another or comparing features. It’s simply about what DAWs I use and why. All the DAWs I speak about here are great tools for creating music of any kind. Again, my set-up is a 2012 Mac Pro 12 core 3.47 running 10.14.7 OS and 128 gig memory. Two TB SSD main drive, Eight TB SSD for samples, one TB SSD for temporary things, and four TB SSD for recording. I also use a SAS array for recording when track counts get above 100. (How many tracks do you really need? Track count is another subject.) My graphics card is a NVIDIA Quadro K5000 with four 2560 X 1440 displays. The OS is also streamlined for best performance. Things like mail, calendar, maps have been removed to stop these items from using resources that are not required for music production. Using the Activity Monitor in the utilities folder helps determine where your computers resources are being used. Trust me when I tell you that there is a lot of shit that goes on in the background that has nothing to do with making music. Eliminating the unwanted make things run more efficient. The more efficient your system, the more you can do.
PRO Tools
What an incredible piece of software. Pro Tools is the industry standard for music production and used all over the world. My current version is 2023.12. Version 2024.3 is available, but I have not had any luck running it with third party plugins. It runs great with the supplied plugins. Let be clear that version 2023.12 and 2024.3 are not supported with my system. That being said, 2023.12 is running great on my current system.
Only about 20% of my clients ask for their project to be mixed in Pro Tools. If the original project was recorded in Pro Tools, then I do use Pro Tools for the mix. (Mastering is another subject that I will talk about in another article.) If you want to know the features that Pro Tool provide, I suggest you go to the Avid web site and check it out for yourself. Their web site can give you the latest and greatest information.
On a scale of 0 to 100, I most likely only use about 40 to 50 precent of the power that Pro Tools provides. Most features are geared toward power users that need to get from point A to point B quickly. Pro Tools also has somewhat of a steep learning curve for the advance features. But for the basics it’s easy to learn.
Pro Tools fits any music style. I currently use Pro Tools Studio. There are some other flavors of the software, “Pro Tools Intro” to “Pro Tools Ultimate”. Avid also has a great selection of plugins for Pro Tools.
The only thing that I find annoying is that Pro Tools likes to crash a lot on startup while scanning plugins. Let me remind you that the version of Pro Tools I currently use is not supported on my current computer system, but I always had issues when Pro Tools was supported on my system. Upgrading plugins or adding new ones was very annoying. I do suffer from plugin excess. Plugin excess is too many plugins.
So, in conclusion, Pro Tools is an excellent audio DAW. This is a quote from the Pro Tools web site, “(Pro Tools makes music creation fast and fluid, providing a complete set of tools to create, record, edit, and mix audio. Get inspired and start making music with a massive collection of plugins, instruments, and sounds. Tackle your most ambitious visions with proven features that power you through the most demanding projects)”. Very true.
Studio One
Studio One is another great DAW. My current version I use is version 6.6 and is fully supported on my current system. Studio One is my most go to DAW for music production. Upgrading the DAW, upgrading plugins and adding new plugins is easy. I have very few issues with crashes, plugin related, and operates very stable.
Studio One can be used for any music style. When working with clients without any preference of DAW, I most likely use Studio One.
Digital Performer
Digital Performer is another great DAW. The current version I use is version 11.31 and is fully supported on my current computer system. Digital Performer is one of the first DAWs I used when I first started producing music. I currently do not use Digital Performer for any of my personal music productions, but I have clients who swore by it. I do have many clients who require Digital Performer for their music creations and production. Digital Performer runs very smooth and reliable. Plugin scanning sometimes takes a bit of time but is worth the wait.
Cubase Pro
Cubase Pro is again another great DAW. The current version I use is version 13.0.30. Version 13.0.30 is not officially supported on my system but operates without any issues. The best thing that I like about Cubase Pro is that you can spread the DAW over three displays. You can have the mixer on one display, the tracks on another display, and say the midi editor on a third display. One other thing is that you can move your plugins display to a fourth display. Why so many displays, sometimes you just need a lot real estate. Cubase Pro runs very smooth and reliable. Plugin scanning sometimes takes a bit of time but is worth the wait.
Nuendo
Nuendo is Cubase Pro’s big brother. All the features in Cubase Pro can be found in Nuendo but enhanced. If you’re doing anything with film, TV, or game audio this is it. The current version I use is version 13.0.20. Version 13.0.20 is not supported for my current system but operates without issue. To get Nuendo to load with my current computer system, you must remove the “anymix” plugin from the package content window. The anymix plugin can be replaced with an earlier version. However, this in not true with Nuendo version 13.0.30. Removing the “anymix “ plugin does not help and the program crashes when loading.
I relay on Nuendo when a client requests a music video when their mix is produced with Cubase Pro or Nuendo. Most music videos I produce I use Final Cut Pro or Davinci Resolve.
Nuendo runs very smooth and reliable. Plugin scanning sometimes takes a bit of time but is worth the wait.
Reason
Reason is yet another great DAW. My current version is version 12.7.4 and is supported on my current computer system. One of the good features is the ability to use blocks. Blocks are great if you like recording small or large chunks and connecting them to make a lagger block or song. The blocks then can be arranged in any sequence the artist requires. Reason has recently aloud the use of third-party plugins. The layout is somewhat different than the other DAWs listed above but is very easy to use. I started using Reason when I saw a video with the music group called “The Dollyrots” gave a demonstration of the Reason DAW software. Looked cool then and is still very cool. Oh yes, The Dollyrots, sound great and I love their music.
I have quite a few clients who use Reason as their DAW.
Reason runs very smooth and reliable. Plugin scanning sometimes takes a bit of time but is worth the wait.
Reason 13 will be released sometime in June 2024. Not sure if Reason 13 will be compatible with my computer system.
Ableton Live
Ableton is another DAW that lets you record and play in blocks. My current version is version 11.3.22. Ableton is fully supported with my current system. When recording using blocks, the blocks can be any number of bars. In the play mode, blocks can be played and recorded in any sequence desired by the artist. Each track can contain any number of blocks. This includes midi tracks, instrument tracks, recorded instruments tracks, and recorded vocal tracks. You can also record, and play tracks the traditional way like in Pro Tools.
More than half of my clients use Ableton for rap music.
Ableton runs very smooth and reliable. Plugin scanning is quick.
Bitwig Studio
Bitwig is very similar to Ableton. The reason that they are similar is that the coders who coded Ableton left Ableton and started their own company. The following is a quote from their web site.
Quote “Bitwig was founded in 2009 in Berlin by four people who envisioned a digital-audio workstation (DAW) that’s reliable, innovative, and that makes helpful suggestions — and then gets out of the way. That was the idea behind the launch of our first product in 2014, Bitwig Studio.
Our mission to create a beautiful DAW that thinks outside the box has earned us numerous awards and made Bitwig Studio the audio program of choice for musicians, sound designers, composers, film scorers, and artists from various fields. It also drove the development of our sound-design environment The Grid, which won accolades like Music Tech Magazine’s Excellence Award 10/10 in 2019 and the Computer Music Editor’s Choice Award and Performance Award. And while our company has grown and Bitwig Studio has evolved, our approach hasn’t changed.
Our headquarters in Berlin now serves as a base for our team of 30 people. We come from different countries and various professional backgrounds, but we’re all musicians of some stripe: instrumentalists, composers, producers, DJs and vocalists. Maybe that’s what helps us focus on the bigger picture through our various lenses. Whatever it is, a tool proves its worth in the user’s hand.” Unquote.
The current version I use is version 5.1.8 and is fully supported on my current system. Like Ableton you can record and play using blocks. You can also record, and play tracks the traditional way just like in Pro Tools.
Bitwig runs very smooth and reliable. Plugin scanning takes place in the background letting the software start very quick and ready for use ASAP.
Waveform
Waveform, once known as Traction is a DAW with a slightly different than normal layout. All work is performed on one screen. Sounds cluttered but works very well. The current version of Waveform I use is version 11.5.18. I am not sure if my current version is advertised as compatible with my current system, but I have found version 11 work very well without any issues.
I do not have many clients who use Waveform, so I never upgraded to version 12 or version 13. I know that version 13 is advertised not compatible with my current system. That does not mean that version 13 may not work.
Waveform runs very smooth and reliable.
Mixbus
Mixbus now known as Mixbus 10 is a combination of Mixbus and Mixbus 32C. This is a quote from their web site.
Quote, “Mixbus 10 is a Digital Audio Workstation with a warm analog soul. Designed by artists and audio engineers, for artists and audio engineers, Mixbus 10 features a comprehensive suite of production, editing, mixing, and performance tools essential for anyone who wants to make timeless music. For nearly half a century, Harrison has been helping the world’s leading artists and engineers to create some of the most iconic music in history. Now, with Mixbus 10, you can access Harrison’s signature sound and workflow within a DAW”. Unquote.
The current version of Mixbus 10 is fully supported on my current computer system. I do not have many clients requesting a mix be performed in Mixbus. The ones that do use Mixbus usually ask for the tracks be bounced in Mixbus and imported into Pro Tools.
Plugin scanning is performed on start up and also performed in the background.
Mixbus 10 runs very smooth and reliable
Conclusion
All the DAWs listed above are excellent for creating music. The features differ somewhat but run excellent on my current computer system. All come in different flavors and some have a free version. All the DAWs I use are top tier except for Pro Tools. I do not have use for Pro Tools Ultimate because I do not have any of the HCX cards for plugin processing.