The best DAWs for Beginners?

#musicproducer #musicproduction #audioengineer

[evlplms]

I started with Cakewalk and don't see why I should switch to any other DAW.

[nathanmarshallmusic]

Reaper, Reaper, Reaper. You can get it under the free trial and when that runs out you can trial it again. I believe indefinitely. If you make less than $20, 000 a year with your music while using Reaper it's only $60. Also, it's a great DAW! As good or better than PT.

[Simbosan]

I tried several and couldn't get anything working on any till I met Ableton, I installed it and bang I was recording. Then the whole session view thing just blew my mind and led me into a creative use of DAW that all the other DAWs don't. Almost all DAWs are slaves to mimicking mixing desks. But a computer is so much more than a desk can ever hope to be. Ableton blew my mind and to this day offers creative possibilities that other DAWs cannot even imagine (Max I'm looking at you)

[helmanfrow]

REAPER's terms of use are clearly stated on the nag screen. The first four words are _REAPER is not free._ 😉
There is no copy protection to enforce the terms so users are honour-bound to pay.

I believe that the majority of those who stick around past the 60-day trial fall in love with the software and the forum and the extended community (as I did eleven years ago) and are more than happy to hold up to hold up their end of the bargain (and it is a bargain).

[arbogast]

Let the battle begin! 🤣 I like Studio One

[brianbauer]

I use reaper a lot for tracking. Once you get use to it it decent but for my brain I always end up back at pro tools. Especially when I have to edit a lot. People have commented they're amazed at the speed I can move around and accomplish tasks and get back to a clip file if I want to go back quite a way.

But, If if the Software meets your needs and you aren't wasting time trying to work out where things are, that's great. You want to stay fluid as much as possible.

I even did a mix in basic garage band for someone on their computer one time and they were shocked at what can be pulled off in it.

[Spacial_]

Ableton is PRICEY, but so much fun to learn on. The GUI, which is wrongfully labeled as outdated, is very clean and “logical” IMO. Also the stock plugins sound sooo good and are super versatile.
As for the price, you can get a 90 (!!!) days full demo and they also offer student discounts. The lite version has less features, but a way smaller price too.

There’s also Bitwig. A full and maybe even more modern “ableton-like” experience for half the price. And it runs on the only acceptable OS: Linux

All that said, reaper and cubase are way better for mixing. Ableton i find to be more suitable for production

[raptor_guy]

I’ve used Reaper for everything from mixing prog metal to producing hiphop beats to even editing podcasts and sound effects. In my opinion the most well-structured daw out there.

[sowwyumed]

I started with something called "Music Maker" by Magix 😂 but I don't really consider this a DAW. Then I got into Fruity Loops 8 and after this I hopped onto Cubase 5. Nowadays I use Logic Pro X and I find it pretty intuitive and the stock plugins you get give you a good start into different kind of compressors and eqs, has all kinds for Modulation, a really intuitive routing and send system, build in tuning, , pretty easy to remember shortcuts and many things more. So I'd personally add Logic to this list. It is pretty low budget if you consider that you pay the double or even triple for other DAWs that have the same feature.

[AdFunk]

GarageBand is also free and scales up to Logic Pro, which is industry standard, so it’s by far the best route to take imo.

[scottchamley]

I have been using Mixcraft for about 15 years. I don't really use it's tools besides faders and panning. I get the sound I'm going for with analog gear and record to the computer.

Mixcraft is quite affordable I think and is perfect for how I use it.

But I came here to see what you guys use. I am considering a new DAW. Something with tools I'd actually use. And I'm not interested in a pro tools subscription.

[richardcorbett]

Acoustica Mixcraft has served me really well for the last 3-4 years as a beginner learning to record, write with MIDI and using EQ's, compressors, etc. The main reason I've just upgraded to Cubase however is because I need things like drum editing capabilities and Mixcraft isn't compatible with a lot of plugins.

[OskarCzechowicz-OmniMusician]

I started with Samplitude (they released a new version and the old was absurdly cheap on CD).

After a few years I started to notice how outdated and lacking it is, so I went for Cakewalk.

Then I had to download reaper to manage one project and quickly realized how much better it is than Cakewalk. Also Dan Worral is a Reaper guy, which only convinced me it’s worth transitioning there.

[dodo]

Started with free Studio One. Been on Logic a good 8 years.

[firstnamelastname]

Repear user here. It's soo easy to use yet so powerful. and it's cheap and it's lightweight too! I couldn't ask for a better daw.

btw I tried Cakewalk too but for some reason I had soo many issues with it. Idk if it was bugs or just my incompetence tho.

[cipriana.rosulescu]

I am quite happy with Cubase. Had a "free" version growing up... some time ago I got the free version bundlede with some Yamaha gear upgraded for 50€ to Elements. For my current project it's more than enough but I am considering a new upgrade soon

[Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

Waveform is just a no brainer.
I watch videos where people are giving mixing tips, and using other DAWs, Warren included, and it just seems so hard and complicated compared to simply using Waveform.

[-RobGPT-]

Im a analog style rock musician so i still use my trusty Cubase 5.1 lol, ancient graphics but does the job!

[point-blnk]

I like my cakewalk but my advice is not to settle for free stuff just because it's free, and this is for 1 reason: the good stuff is, in most cases, not free. Since you'll stumble upon a paywall at some point, you might as well pay for the good stuff from the get go.

[DIYIstKrieg]

Started with Nuendo 3.5, then Cubase, Reason 4 for the synths, then Sonar (the worst DAW ever), then Cakewalk (little improvements but still too Sonar-like), then got a sound tech degree using PT and Logic at school while learning Reaper at home, now it's Reaper only, still have to find something other DAWs do better than Reaper, so...