Cubase, logic or ableton?

[Winds]

What is everyone on here using to produce at the moment? Ive just started playing around on reason at the moment, but was wondering if Im gonna get my head stuck into producing, what program should I do it with? Ive been considering either logic or cubase, but after reading other forums on the net, it seems like loads of people are using ableton now?

Didnt wanna start out on 1 program only to have to learn how to do it on another further down the line.

[Siege]

just use which ever one YOU find easiest to work with.......forget what everyone else uses.

its the chef who counts, not the kitchen he works in

[Jay Pace]

depends on what sort of style you go for

cubase and logic are a different type of program, but operate with similar functionality. The decision to choose logic these days is integrated into what computer you use, since they got bought out by apple and the new versions aren't available for PC. (I think...)

Cubase is fine, a bit clunky, a bit ugly but a workhorse and if you learn how to use it you can probably manage most DAW programs.

Ableton is a different beast, very intuitive, loads of fun and to be honest I've not really scratched the surface of the program, but it seems to be more orientated towards music made from loops and repeating patterns. So basically great for techno, plus you've got all sorts of cool live options.

If you want to make dance music, haven't got masses of experience or a clear idea what you want to make I'd go for ableton, because although the other programs are arguably bigger and more powerful you'll probably have a lot more fun with ableton, plus you can use it as a dj or live performance tool.

[djfilthmonger]

i use reason but you can hook that into abelton or cubase aswell

[Jay Pace]

reason is great for quick and fun control over stuff

I couldn't work in it all on its own though...

[stjohn]

as a long time cubase user and closet Logic bi-curieuse
id go with ableton :)

i would doubt that you would need the monstrous functionality that Cubase offers, and if you are on a PC, you wont be able to use Logic. the synths and effects in Logic are great, however if you get yourself some nice VSTs, Ableton Live would match that IMO. plus with the new live8 coming, I truely believe that the Ableton Squad have surpassed most other DAWs.

[rhythmtech]

cubase for writing tracks, protools for engineering.

[rhythmtech]

plus with the new live8 coming, I truely believe that the Ableton Squad have surpassed most other DAWs.

yeah microsoft excel is starting to look a bit dated compared to ableton these days :tongue::lol::lol:

[stjohn]

cubase for writing tracks, protools for engineering.

audio snob

[Barely Human]

You should check out FL Studio aswell.

[RDR]

as a long time cubase user and closet Logic bi-curieuse
id go with ableton :)

i would doubt that you would need the monstrous functionality that Cubase offers, and if you are on a PC, you wont be able to use Logic. the synths and effects in Logic are great, however if you get yourself some nice VSTs, Ableton Live would match that IMO. plus with the new live8 coming, I truely believe that the Ableton Squad have surpassed most other DAWs.

Sorry john, i gotta call you out on that.

Live is a great program and although ive seen the features of Live 8 it still has a long way to go as a sequencer and particularly for recording in the studio.

good proggy though

Myself...

I use Logic for sound design
Cubase for in-place editing
Pro-Tools for REcording bands
Fruityloops for creating loops and twisting sounds
Reason for fun!
And LIVE for ...errr LIVE work and as an all purpose tape recorder.

[morbid]

to me Live feels more like a load of hardware in a small room (if that makes sense) more so than something like reason which actually looks like hardware

youve got your samplers, synths, drum machines (racks), sequencer, matrix of clips (session view), multitrack recorder (arrangement view), it all just gels together really nicely (in my head ayway) and is the most intuitive program I have used, the more you scratch the surface with Live the more it opens up and you find many different ways of approaching whatever it is your trying to do.

The reason I use Live atm over anything else is that in the past I have come up against a brick wall when working my way around more traditional DAW's like cubase. Maybe its not having a musical background but it seems to take me hours to get anything done with Cubase whereas as mentioned by others you can really have fun straight out the box with Ableton

Its not the program though but how you use it and I think Live is probably used slightly differently by everyone who tries it which shows the flexibility of the program

[stjohn]

Sorry john, i gotta call you out on that.
.


of course.. youre right yea...but at the moment Live does everything I need.
especially in producing electronic music not everyone needs the endless list of options and midi fuctionality.. Live does exactly what it says on the tin.. and more.

the reason i think that it has surpassed other DAWs.. is because it is designed with weird thinking elelctrono-musicians in mind.. and it lends itself to that organic way of thinking. now with the Max port, skies the limit really. both cubase and protools just made me feel limited...

but for recording.. aye, i like protools.

[RDR]

of course.. youre right yea...but at the moment Live does everything I need.
especially in producing electronic music not everyone needs the endless list of options and midi fuctionality.. Live does exactly what it says on the tin.. and more.

the reason i think that it has surpassed other DAWs.. is because it is designed with weird thinking elelctrono-musicians in mind.. and it lends itself to that organic way of thinking. now with the Max port, skies the limit really. both cubase and protools just made me feel limited...

but for recording.. aye, i like protools.

Fairy snuff! whatever floats your boat... there's lo0ads of other sequencers and trackers out there - and people write great tunes all the time on all sorts of equipment bioth hardware and software.

"Many a good tune played on an old fiddle"

[Winds]

Think ill start to have a play around with ableton & cubase for now and see how i get on. Nice 1 for all your replies, muchos appreciated!

[fukktry]

what do you thnk about sonar ? is it as good as cubase, better, worse? i've read very good opinions about the newest version. anyone hear use sonar?

[The_Laughing_Man]

If you are used to working in an analog, or "real" studio, you might like using Orion
It`s a software DAW very much based around the workflow of a real studio, and as such, is centered around the mixer, forcing you to use your ears rather than staring at the sequencing screen.

http://www.synapse-audio.com

It`s got a very quick brain to sound work rate, and I use it for most of my production work now.

[josephjobling]

i have used cubase, logic and ableton. i found the sound quality of cubase and logic Both similar and very good. ableton's sound quality is noticably different (but still good) - the advantage ableton has is its ease of use and the editing functions (you can do almost anything to you midi or wav clip.
To disagree with above ableton is not just for loops (as you can tell it is my favourite) it does everything well

[The_Laughing_Man]

The difference in sound engines is pure placebo effect.

There is no difference with the 32bit and above floating point internal calculation on all DAW`s when rendering to 24 bit

[RDR]

The difference in sound engines is pure placebo effect.

There is no difference with the 32bit and above floating point internal calculation on all DAW`s when rendering to 24 bit

100% agree

APART from... fruityloops rendering code renders wavs that do NOT sound the same as they do when playing them in fruity,


the advantage ableton has is its ease of use and the editing functions (you can do almost anything to you midi or wav clip

ALMOST anything. Ableton does not feature inplace audio editing with 3rd party VST or internal plugins plus a load of other stuff.

Its still only cubase that allows this, and its such a very expressive feature.

Can i put a vote in for Pro-Tools 8? The virtual instruments it comes with are just quality.

I love that program, the work flows for band recording are tremendous.

[rhythmtech]

Can i put a vote in for Pro-Tools 8? The virtual instruments it comes with are just quality.

I love that program, the work flows for band recording are tremendous.

another vote here. protools 6 & 7 were like a chore that i had to do for bands and college but pt8 is beautiful to work in. i look forward to getting my audio out of cubase just to start using protools8 for the mix. and the new features bring the workflow back in line with cubase/ableton.

[BloodStar]

my vote goes for ableton live, deffinitely. been working with cubase since cubase vst5 version, but when i moved to ableton, i never looked back. Even there is few nice fetaures missing in Ableton, i dont care. Looking forward to next versions as Live 8 seems to getting closer to what i think the best DAW should be.

If you talking about rendering quality, I think it is same, but what I 've spotted, the summing algorhithm seems to be bit different in cubase and Ableton Live..