PhilW
 
 
Does any DAW builder have a tool that does a "optimize my system for audio" choice? Do any of them have a tool "why can't I hear anything from my DAW" or "why isn't record working?"

Wave Profiler is the closest that I know of: https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR%20X2&language=3&help=AudioPerformance.03.html
 
Rocky

Here's an angle no DAW vendor has thought of: reporting.
 
The kind of software I make my living with might seem far removed from DAWs and other audio tools, but there are more similarities than one might assume. It's all about turning numbers into something real, data into information, be it in the form of sales projections or music. In my world, reports are a big part of that process.
 
Here's one example: project reports and track sheets. In the days of tape recorders, what did you find affixed to every reel in the vault? A piece of paper (or multiple papers) showing track listings, run times, routing information, effect settings, microphones used, recording dates and times, artist and engineers' names, and other project notes. In the digital world, even more information could be included, such as virtual instruments and elapsed time spent. Some of that information is currently available from SONAR, but not as a nicely formatted report.
 
Another report users might find useful: virtual instrument listings. These could be for an individual project, a group of related projects, or global to the system. Wouldn't it be great to have a list of every project on disk with a list of which virtual instruments and which patches/libraries were used in each? Somebody hears an old mix of yours and says "I want THAT bass on my record" - no need to rely on memory alone to find out exactly how you got that bass sound eight years ago. If you had a searchable database, it would be trivial to locate which instruments you used for what project, or what your most-used instruments were, or which instruments you've never used.
 
Here's another: routing matrices. Got a warning about a silent bus, but can't figure out why? Got an instance of Kontakt that won't freeze (just happened to me last week)? Getting confused with multiple headphone mixes? Can't figure out why your exported audio sounds different from the project playback? These kinds of questions could be answered in seconds with a graphical routing map. Reports needn't to be on paper.
 
 

i think, that Daw's not easy or hard.... but... in this days with a lot of variations and years of evolution it's for somebody new hard to familiarize with too much tools and extras.... 
The Daw always it's "simple", but the tools and extras make the difficult.
 
In my case, i work with Daws since 1995... i think.... so.. years of evolution that i'd learnd.-

I believe that it would be good if new users could be offered a choice several alternative "Get Started" routes depending on how they want to first approach it. Some users might prefer to start by importing some audio and experimenting with effects. Others may wish to record guitar first. There are a few distinct possibilities and each person will have their own preference. Myself, I got started initially by learning how to insert a virtual instrument and edit notes in PRV. After gaining some confidence, I started exploring other aspects of the software package and soon began making fast progress. 

I think that for many of the folks that have been engineers, or have been recording for the past few decades, it is difficult to empathize with someone just starting out, who just wants to write a song, or make a recording.
 
Say the typical new user buys a MIDI controller, or a DAW, and expects magic to happen because of everything that they have heard about this new technology.  Expecting them to "learn the ropes" is not the way to sell music software.
 
Personally, I have been working with computers for 4 decades, and DAWs for two decades, but I also realize that there is still a huge gap for new learners to get started.
 
Last year I ordered an AKAI MPK Mini in order to have something portable to use with my laptop.  I was really surprised at the number of reviews for the product that expressed negative comments about the software downloads and activations required in order to be able to produce sounds from the keyboard.  Lots of disappointed birthday and Christmas presents from mommy and daddy.
 
I just say this because there seems to be this assumption that music technology only belongs to the "learned".
 
I think the OP's question was, "what can we do to make it easier?" ...

soens
The answer is simple: A Hover Car!
 
 
A DAW would be easier if it came with it's own artificial intelligence like Siri or Cortana. Simply ask your DAW to record and it records for you. Ask it to mix and it mixes for you. Ask it to master and it masters for you. If you apply an edit that ruins the take, mix, or master, it tells you and/or corrects it for you.

I believe you have completely missed the point.  -1

bitflipper
Here's an angle no DAW vendor has thought of: reporting.
 
The kind of software I make my living with might seem far removed from DAWs and other audio tools, but there are more similarities than one might assume. It's all about turning numbers into something real, data into information, be it in the form of sales projections or music. In my world, reports are a big part of that process.
 
Here's one example: project reports and track sheets. In the days of tape recorders, what did you find affixed to every reel in the vault? A piece of paper (or multiple papers) showing track listings, run times, routing information, effect settings, microphones used, recording dates and times, artist and engineers' names, and other project notes. In the digital world, even more information could be included, such as virtual instruments and elapsed time spent. Some of that information is currently available from SONAR, but not as a nicely formatted report.
 
Another report users might find useful: virtual instrument listings. These could be for an individual project, a group of related projects, or global to the system. Wouldn't it be great to have a list of every project on disk with a list of which virtual instruments and which patches/libraries were used in each? Somebody hears an old mix of yours and says "I want THAT bass on my record" - no need to rely on memory alone to find out exactly how you got that bass sound eight years ago. If you had a searchable database, it would be trivial to locate which instruments you used for what project, or what your most-used instruments were, or which instruments you've never used.
 
Here's another: routing matrices. Got a warning about a silent bus, but can't figure out why? Got an instance of Kontakt that won't freeze (just happened to me last week)? Getting confused with multiple headphone mixes? Can't figure out why your exported audio sounds different from the project playback? These kinds of questions could be answered in seconds with a graphical routing map. Reports needn't to be on paper.
 
 

 
Excellent ideas.
 
I'd love a printed spreadsheet function that told me exactly what every plugin in a project was set to.

What Would Make DAWs (Not Just SONAR) Easier to Use?
 
stop changing and re-arranging what works.

The whole point of the original post was how to get a noob started.  Not how to make it easier for experienced users.  If Cakewalk or any other companies can't figure this out, they risk becoming dinosaurs.  Like in fossils, extinct.
 
Put on the hat as if you were just starting out today, not knowing anything ...

abacab

soens
The answer is simple: A Hover Car!
 
 
A DAW would be easier if it came with it's own artificial intelligence like Siri or Cortana. Simply ask your DAW to record and it records for you. Ask it to mix and it mixes for you. Ask it to master and it masters for you. If you apply an edit that ruins the take, mix, or master, it tells you and/or corrects it for you.

I believe you have completely missed the point.  -1

Well, that was the point.
 
No worries though, my post went the way of the DoDo after making 3 edits.