Rain


Looks similar indeed. The one difference - no biggie - I see is is that you have to use the razor tool and enable crossfades, whereas in Logic you are automatically in comp mode by default, so no switching tools.

Another thing which may be different is that merely clicking can select. For example, say you've swiped/selected from bar 1 to 4 of the first take. Simply clicking the same region on another take will make that the selected/audible selection. 

So you can effectively chop up your track into short segments and audition each take of that segment w/ one click. It's "real-time" at it's best, imho.

Yeah, he manages to make it look a more clunky operation in the vid than is actually is when you are doing it cross fades are applied as default the tool above is just to adjust if required and clicking does select, you just select the razor for the 'swipes'.  I do all my audio takes and comping there now it's so simple an bullet proof which is how I like it at that end of a production.  The least interruption to any kind of flow there is best IMO.
 
I often use Sonar to mix it when I've got it though and the sequencing tool set in Sonar is still the most comprehensive of any of 'em.
 
I like S1 I can't fault it but it doesn't reach far enough somehow and I'll often come up against something that prevents me from getting it done so I revert back to my tried and trusted.  Reaper just gives me a headache again it's probably very good but it's design seems to have been derived by the committee of it's entire user base and I cannot for the life of me get my head round it.
 
So basically I get by with my two main tools Sonar and Reason, works for me as they so nicely cover the distinct areas I seem to operate in.

Hey Ed, I sort of get forced into using Reap a few times a month. I have a client that records here and asks me to use it so he can take the project files home with him and he messes around with them and records little scratch track ideas that we wind up tracking for real when he comes back.

It's a pretty good program actually and definitely one I'd have no problems using if Sonar went down over here. Just make sure you do some research into the the schemes they have available for it. They can really make your visual experience 100% better. To be honest, I have always had a problem looking at it because it just looked so bad, (like PT) I couldn't get into it, ya know? But if you check out their themes page on their site, you can grab a few cool things and if you experiment a bit, you can come up with your own cool looks as you can do custom work on just about everything in the program. Even change mixing board looks which to me is sooo cool. This is the one I'm using now which is a hybrid of 2 different themes I mixed, match and experimented with. You may have seen me share this before.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/Rconsole.JPG

As for the other one...Studio...I didn't get the 2.5 version, but I have 2 over here and think it's a really solid program too. Another I would use if Sonar went down. It's really good for suite mastering too. Sort of like an alternative from Wave Lab. The cool thing about it, it does DDP mastering exports which quite a few duplication houses are calling for these days since there is no need for a 1x audio burn. It just dumps all the right stuff into a folder including the PQ info...and off to the duplicator it goes. So that is super helpful. Another cool thing that blows me away is, it is constantly analyzing everything you do to a mastering project. If you were to delete a song and bring in a better version in its place, it brings it right in perfectly and updates the project automatically. Like you can just do a "replace" if you had another version of a song...and bang, it drops it right in to time perfectly.

The recording end is really cool too. Some nice features in it that you'll enjoy. I don't like neither of the programs better than Sonar for my particular use, but in my opinion, I'd choose them over Cubase, Nuendo, PT or Logic. Logic could be the bomb....if the learning curve wasn't so annoying. But yeah, you paid for them...you should try them out. It's always good to have a back-up that's for sure...or at least see how the other side lives. :) Good luck!

-Danny

Rain it is very possible to set Studio One to automatically arm tracks that you land on. You do not have to manually arm tracks at all. As for getting around the GUI I have been using a Kensington Track ball along with the mouse and it is quite interesting actually. Also if you set up your key commands correctly navigating around Studio One is just as fast as Logic. I have never had any pain. I can navigate around S1 at supersonic speeds without any issues.

That is the problem with switching programs. You will never really give the others a real test because you won't be using key commands in the other DAW's to their max advantage.

New Studio One features also include freezing multiple outputs of VST's all at once now and tracks can be set to record the outputs of any buss now which is also very cool.

I still find midi timing (external to hardware synths that is, not virtual VST's that is a different story) is superior to other DAW's and is NOT effected by how hard the audio side of the program is working. Also you can switch midi tracks on the fly (while looping) and record any data on tracks you land on. Something not all DAW's can do either (including Sonar) I agree the midi effects side of S1 could be a bit better but then again I have never needed it either. It has all the midi editing and features you actually ever need. If you can play a keyboard then it makes it all easier. Comping is brilliant too. Tempo changes and key transposing is fast and easy in this program too. 

The learning curve is actually fast and easy which goes to show how well written and designed it is. I find when I go back to Sonar (8.5 that is but I am sure X1 and X2 might be better for sure) it is clunky and hard. But it also depends how much time any of us spend in any DAW. There are plenty of Sonar and other DAW users out there who can navigate around in any program fast and easily. I have seen some pretty amazing PT users operate as well so it does depend how well one knows any program. It is basically about what you know. (Seth,Brandon and Karl and many of you for example are amazing Sonar users)

People make unfair and incorrect statements about other DAW's but in most cases it is usually because they still do not know it fully. For example Rain I am sure I know Studio One better than you because I have used it everyday for the last two years something you have not done. You will not reach that level of proficiency until you do the same. Using it here and there is not the same thing. (And even if you do use it a lot, it wont as much as I do) And likewise with Logic I see you as a very experienced Logic user whereas I don't use it that much. 

Jonbouy I think Reason is an excellent program. I have it and find it very good to use too. I use the synth rack most of the time and have it running on a separate computer and just talk to it from my main machine running Studio One. Some of those instruments are killer.

I also have FL Studio and that is very cool in its own way too.  
 
Some of my students are very very good with Ableton and do all the tracking and everything using effects etc and are recording live bands and the end result sounds excellent. That is one program I did not think was well suited to doing a lot of (normal) production if you like but yet it can be done in the hands of the right people. 

Same with FL Studio. You can track a normal band and mix it just the same as you can in any program. Although I don't think it is set up primarily for that task though. I think its strong points are in other areas such as its pattern based way of working.

That's one of the good things about you Jeff you are one of those that will talk ONLY from your own experience.

I have an older version of S1 and Live and only occasionally use them.  Live is good for enticing me to think differently (creatively), S1 might one day sway me to jump ship. 

I know friends that swear by Logic and others that say Nuendo is the best....  so I guess whatever they feel comfortable using is cool and I'm never gonna try convincing them otherwise... each to their own and with all due respect, it's their preferred choice ;) 

 

bitflipper


As someone who's had to study user interfaces for 25 years as a matter of necessity, I can tell you that initial ease-of-use is highly overrated. 

Heresy, I know. But I have seen users fly through some of the worst-designed software imaginable (think 1980's era database front-ends), while being productive and content - because they knew the UI very well, knew the program's quirks and demands. Conversely, I've seen users' productivity slow to a crawl when presented with a vastly superior but unfamiliar interface. 

The biggest gripe I have with magazine software reviews is the reviewers usually speak from the standpoint of a brand-new user, not as an experienced one. They'll trash a program that's difficult to install, but jeez you only do that once! What about the thousands of days that will follow? Well, they don't know about that, so they critique the installation or the thickness of the manual or how quickly they got their authorization code.

Nobody should be qualified to review any application until they've used it daily for at least 3 to 6 months, and even then they should add the caveat that they are not experienced users.