But...it's so purdy?!?

Dan

The ability to sync to video is legendary.

The Chunk feature is really cool.

Completely rewritten code for natvie Windows version of DP (took ages).

Great midi features.

I'm looking to move from Sonar to something with notation and video capabilities.  The only choices are DP and Cubase.  Any opinions on how DP is for those type of tasks?

vintagevibe


I'm looking to move from Sonar to something with notation and video capabilities.  The only choices are DP and Cubase.  Any opinions on how DP is for those type of tasks?

that is exactly DP's strong suit and has been for many many years.  Film composers swear by DP on Mac.  Danny Elfman's main toolbox, many other composers use it on Mac regularly.
 
this NEW DP is the 1st on the windows platform.  No clue how stable it is for those types of workloads.  Nice that MOTU provides a 30 day full feature trial so you can see.
 
The Windows DP was written to perform and look/act featurewise the same as the Mac.  It SHOULD be great in that regard.  time will tell.
 
Since Dp has been around for so long many of the tutorials, books and video tutorials should apply minus new features of different versions.  So learning it should not that hard given the resources available.
 
I used to use DP way way back in the day (DP3 maybe?), it's been a while and used it on a Mac.  I really liked it and enjoyed working with it.  But there weren't as many options back then and now DAWs are a dime a dozen and features are all over.
 
I primarily use Sonar X1 Producer (have X2 Producer not installed yet) and Ableton Live 8 (9 waiting to be installed).  I don't know that I NEED another DAW to learn but DP8 would be one that I will demo and really consider.

I haven't uninstalled it yet only because I want to try a few plugs just for fun, but I am more than convinced that it isn't for me.

On the positive side, I dug those Massenburg plug-ins and a couple of effects. 
The instruments seem pretty uninspiring.
I did not find a way to create consolidated instrument tracks so far.
The GUI just won't work for me.
DP feels way too slow when compared to Logic. Almost like comparing Windows 98 to W7.

A good friend of mine here in Vegas uses Digital Performer, Logic and Pro Tools and does quite a bit of scoring. I remember him telling me last year that although he liked DP and some of its very cool features, nowadays, he's not really using it half as much as he used to and that he sticks w/ Logic most of the time. Over the years, feature-wise, the gap has closed and in terms of workflow, Logic is light-years ahead of DP. 

So when compared overall, though DP offers some theoretical refinements in certain areas, practically speaking, Logic's a more efficient all-in-one solution. 


Unlike Cubase and Logic users, some Sonar users could potentially be more attracted to DP, considering that Cakewalk is the only original big guy which never really seemed to care much for those 2 areas in which DP shines - scoring to movie and notation. 

Thanks for posting this! Am going to give it a crack.

Installed it yesterday, and stayed up way too late giving it a test. Back on the horse again today, and I'm really liking it.

I don't think it's fair to compare to Logic since most of us are only looking at it because it's been ported to windows. I absolutely loved Logic, and was one of the people burned when they dropped windows support. So far, Digital Performer is looking like a good replacement. I'm not seeing any sluggish activity here. DP is snappy with everything I'm doing, and I'm really liking the workflow. Once I read about something in the guide, it makes sense to me the way that it's laid out. But, I still miss Logic's environment.

The big stand outs so far, for me, are the upgraded ppqn which seems so much tighter than Sonar, and the ability to have different mixes on the same project. Just click a drop down menu and it changes your plugs and automation. I can now test different mixes without having to create completely different projects.

Overall, this program is deep with a lot of functionality. I'm a midi fanatic, and the program is scratching that itch. This program does remind me of Logic, but it's coded from the ground up for windows. New and efficient code.

Resonant Order


Installed it yesterday, and stayed up way too late giving it a test. Back on the horse again today, and I'm really liking it.

I don't think it's fair to compare to Logic since most of us are only looking at it because it's been ported to windows. I absolutely loved Logic, and was one of the people burned when they dropped windows support. So far, Digital Performer is looking like a good replacement. I'm not seeing any sluggish activity here. DP is snappy with everything I'm doing, and I'm really liking the workflow. Once I read about something in the guide, it makes sense to me the way that it's laid out. But, I still miss Logic's environment.

The big stand outs so far, for me, are the upgraded ppqn which seems so much tighter than Sonar, and the ability to have different mixes on the same project. Just click a drop down menu and it changes your plugs and automation. I can now test different mixes without having to create completely different projects.

Overall, this program is deep with a lot of functionality. I'm a midi fanatic, and the program is scratching that itch. This program does remind me of Logic, but it's coded from the ground up for windows. New and efficient code.

I'll give you that the comparison isn't totally fair. I wouldn't call it sluggish and if I were working on PC, I'd probably take a bit more time evaluating it because of it's depth. Logic being developed by Apple, it feels extremely tight, like very few apps I've seen actually. DP isn't unlike Pro Tools or Studio One and certainly doesn't feel as heavy as MixBus.

I really want to like DP (great environment for working with video and has intriguing features) but man is it unstable in present form. 
It's crashed almost every time I've had it open to demo...
Just about ready to uninstall... and wait till a later version.

I've tested it w/ one instance of Model 12 playing a very basic 8 bar loop. My laptop's fan was running as loud as it gets.

By comparison, my current little project in Logic has 46 tracks, dozens of EXS-24 (sampler), a couple of ES-2, audio tracks, loops, compression and EQ on most tracks, 2 instances of Space Designer (conv. reverb), one Valhalla, automation - and the fan is as quiet as it gets.

I'd probably need a couple of instances of Zeta or Kontakt to match what I get in DP.

I know that doesn't tell the whole story and that it's only MY rig, but for me, that's one of the factors.