Adam, have you used Ableton?

I haven't used Cubase in an age, so I can't really compare the two very accurately. I'd be interested in hearing some up to date comparisons.

Ableton, for what I do, is an absolute revelation.

Ableton is pretty nice and i used it a few times, but im searching more for a more standard DAW.
now im demoeing cubase. zooming in and out is making me nuts. also, is there a SIMPLE way to just have some samples (kick drum, snare, hat) and layering some beats inside the program? or i need to use a) midi or b) something like battery?

Yep, I should qualify that I use Ableton as a looper/processor/instrument as much as I do as a tracker.

Yep, Ableton has multisampling capabilities, although I've yet to use this function.

I really used all of these programs. I personally use Samplitude, which is the best for me.

I used to really hate cubase but I learned to like it, Cubase 4.1 is far better than cubase sx3. So I'd say, go with Cubase 4.1.

I really don't recommend Sonar, it's buggy and unstable and they release a new version every month or so, most of the time there aren't any real improvements in the software.

I really dislike audition and it's interface, I also never got to tinker with it too much. Anyhow, go with Cubase.

Rimbaud III wrote:Adam, have you used Ableton?

I haven't used Cubase in an age, so I can't really compare the two very accurately. I'd be interested in hearing some up to date comparisons.

Ableton, for what I do, is an absolute revelation.

No I haven't, but the stuff I do is really pretty much straight recording of regular instruments (guitar/bass/drums) so it might not work too well for me.

I hear it's incredible for sample playing/looping/assembly.

One thing I find with Reaper is that it runs incredibly well on 'dirty' partitions, and at 3.1mb one can install it all over the place and thus procrastination (re-booting to recording partitions etc) is cut (at least for me) by a factor of...something or other.

Certainly I'm recording more with Reaper than I have since the days of stand-alone digital recorders/4-tracks. The simplicity of it is (to me) quite inspiring.

I love Ableton. it does everything.

Sonar is very good also.

Cakewalk Music Creator 3 (basically Sonar 4): best $60(US) ($40 for the boxed software off Amazon - $20 for the mp3 plug in) I ever spent on something not grown in soil.

I've thought about upgrading to a full-on version of Sonar, but I've yet to come across a limitation (besides my own musical talent) or a reason why. Okay, I'd like easier access to my plug-ins (I believe newer Sonars have "native VST') but this is a very versatile DAW. I'm still discovering new things I can do with this, midi sequencing, looping, talking to my Yamaha DJX and so forth. I was mixing 22 tracks on my last song. I thought my PC would crash at any moment, and it never did. I also use Sound Forge integrated within MC.