DJ Equipment Reviews

Part two of our look at the current DAW opportunities

Now we’re completing the overview on how the DAW market looks, with the third and final category in which DAWs were originally rooted, namely the original creation of music using software interfaces. No instruments, not even a whistle involved, just good old constantly updated pumped up on effects and features solid hard-working DAWs and a mouse. We’ve taken care of recording and remixing in the previous post, so let’s see what are our best options when we’re faced with actually creating from scratch.

Well, as it turns out, this is the most difficult part of DAWs and it pretty much requires you to use something that can handle anything in the two "minor" departments, so we’re talking the big brothers of DAWs now. These are premium digital audio workstations in the full sense of the word, allowing for each and every step of music production to be completed, from idea through arranging, mixing and mastering or some finishing touches for the grands in the business. We’ll start off with a quick mention of the same Pro Tools, which has now expanded way beyond just recording and may be the DAW for you.

Next in line, coming in at a price of around $200 is the FL Studio from Image-Line Software, formerly known as FruityLoops, for those of you that remember (no wonder they changed the name though…). Not long before FruityLoops became a "joke" or "toy" in the business and needed a remake, so Image-Line kept the fun, the easy interface that was loved by producers, added 2 teaspoons of "professional" and now FL Studio is being used exclusively by some very well known DJs and producers. At twice the price and all the way from Sweden comes what’s not usually known as a full DAW, Reason from Propellerheads. With the latest version, Reason is making a push for being a self contained virtual studio, which actually tries to emulate a good old hardware based studio on your computer, all filled with mixers, synths, samplers and whatnot, all nicely lined up in racks. No wonder Reason appeals to anyone a little old-school in the DAW business, resorting more to knobs and faders than drag and drops with the mouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To get into the serious DAWs for creation, Steinberg’s Cubase reserved a spotlight from its release in 1989. Available as a light version for $300 or the full one for $500, Cubase has a long history of making music, and by now, its a completely featured, superior audio engine, quality recording or virtual instrument solution which can satisfy any of your high-end needs with its high-end pro response. Right next to Cubase, price-wise and not only, stands Sonar from Cakewalk. While being solely focused on the PC market, Sonar is the first DAW to succesfully integrate ACID-style looping and time-stretching options, and having continuously improving and expanding on that base, it’s now a quality sound engine that should appeal to those prefer traditional DAW-style work on the PC.

If you’re looking for a Mac only solution, Apple has the Logic Pro for you, a product constantly improved and seamlessly integrated with the Mac OS since buying the rights in 2002. Needless to say if you’re a Mac user , you’re surely have the same appreciation for this fully featured DAW from Apple, designed along the lines that made the company famous.

And since there always has to be a new face in the neighborhood, keeping things fresh but with little attachment to the past, Ableton Live fills that role in this scene, bringing producers closer through easy and quick workflow in music production, even if Live is also a major player in the remixing and mash-ups, as stated in the previous post. While it may not have the maturity and experince of Cubase or Logic Pro, the Live (recently coming as version can easily work wonders in the right hands.

The thing with these professional music creation DAWs is that you’ll probably have to try them before you find the one for you, since all of them are so bumped up that their features sometimes overlap in large areas, so even if you need a pro solution for the best results, it’s still a matter of personal opinion and preference when it comes to these high-end DAWs.

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