Recording Software

ealdrett · Post by **ealdrett** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 6:30 am

I have to agree with Mr. Hall on that.
Cakewalk as been around since the inception of audio on the Windows platform. Sonar is pretty amazing and worth the investment if you plan on going the route of Win OS. Of course, make sure you get as much Memory and try to keep your system dedicated to recording, not surfing online or having the unit exposed to online browsers, mostly IE. There have been known issues with IE patches screwing up your system's stability.
I've been using both platforms, Mac and Win, ProTools LE and Sonar PE, to record, mix and master. So far no issues with either systems and the quality is superb as long as you have a good set of headphones and monitors. That is VERY important. As for editing and two track mastering, I use Wavelab 6 from Steinberg with various VST and direct-x plugins.

But for the fastest and easiest way to get recording onto a PC would be the Mac route. With Win, you still need to worry about driver issues and patches. Same with Mac but not as much.

I favor neither and use just what suits my needs. Win has definitely caught up with Mac when it comes to audio but in terms of video, you will always want to go with Mac, for now.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 6:52 am

Well said Edgar. It is ESSENTIAL that your PC/Mac for recording is used ONLY for recording & nothing else.

I use both Mac & PC in various places that I go & at the moment there is very little between them. I prefer PC, but only because I use one more.

rumbush · Post by **rumbush** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:46 pm

From a PC point-of-view...

The M-Audio PT does not run on RAID1 so in the event that you have such a setup, you'll want to avoid that software. I suspect this is also true of more mainstream ProTools packages.

I spent the last 2 or so weeks checking out Sonar 5 Studio and Cubase SL3 (both about 3 bills) and ended up deciding to go with Cubase, which I bought yesterday. I use Reason 3 for my MIDI stuff and both Sonar and Cubase have this neat "ReWire" capability which ports stuff over from Reason. Very slick. Nuendo is pretty pricey for the home musician if I'm not mistaken. Both Sonar and Cubase are very capable for your hard-earned ducats.

BTW, I must respectfully differ with Tony and Edgar on limiting a machine's use to recording ONLY. If the computer is maintained regularly and not abused or loaded down with games or other **** (including spyware and what-not which IME comes in 80-90% of the time as a direct result of irresponsible web browsing) then by all means, don't have a separate machine for recording only. I suppose it also helps to have a "good" machine to begin with - no sluggy e-machines or Compaq throwaways. Also, watch out for premanufactured PCs from any OEM: they're loaded with tons of doodoo from the factory that should be excised right after you get the thing out of the box. If you're using overhead-heavy stuff, you gotta get a machine that's buff - plenty of RAM, fast drives, and no crabalocker fishwife. Just my $.02

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 2:59 pm

Lindsay..

Ask away! I'm still learning it myself... and after having to rebuild my computer thanks to a little argument with nature, my recording is put off until everything's back in order...

Here's an assesment of how much of a moron I am. I thought my computer was on a surge protector. Well, it wasn't... but the coffee pot is. So, at least I've had fresh, delicious coffee while reformatting my computer, installing a new HD and $200 worth of Win XP, and exploring forgotten corners of my vocabluary. Consider my experience a lesson... if you value the immense amount of data that could be gone in a heartbeat, get a surge protector on your machine!!

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:33 am

"BTW, I must respectfully differ with Tony and Edgar on limiting a machine's use to recording ONLY. If the computer is maintained regularly and not abused or loaded down with games or other **** (including spyware and what-not which IME comes in 80-90% of the time as a direct result of irresponsible web browsing) then by all means, don't have a separate machine for recording only"

Oliver, I know we all have different opinions on all kinds of things, but if you are serious about recording, then to use your computer for anything else is sheer madness! Do so at your own risk...if I could offer one piece of advice about computer recording, it would be to protect your hours of hard work, by using your recording computer ONLY for recording......

BTW Bob....sound advice.

ram · Post by **ram** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:47 am

I can attest that the back-ups are paramount, even if the unit is only used for recording/mixing! My guitarist, who does most of that stuff for us, lost his PC with all on it. He was able to rebuild the unit but all the user files had been lost. Backups of all the tunes saved the day.

rumbush · Post by **rumbush** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:43 pm

...then I must be sheerly mad! No need to be alarmist, Tony. Using one's computer only for recording doesn't protect anything. Data is stored on hard drives. Hard drives are mechanical devices and as such are guaranteed to fail eventually. I'm quite sure we all agree that backing up ones work is sensible and necessary. Save your data on permanent, optical media then store them out of the reach of sunlight/UV radiation.

For me, a DVD burner and RAID1 do the trick for data protection. If the unit ISN'T used for anything important than making backups/fault tolerance is meaningless. There's really no issue with browsing the internet, checking email, or paying bills on a PC that's used for recording, with the caveats that the machine is maintained and any web-browsing is done responsibly.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:11 pm

There we have it....two pieces of advice that are completely opposite to each other. For those looking for guidance on this issue, then make your selection now!

Ultimately, your choice may depend on wheather your recording has a commercial interest or not.

rumbush · Post by **rumbush** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:29 am

Huh? Do you think a fault-tolerant hard drive setup and making DVD backups of your data is inadequate? Sounds like we agree that data must be backed up, don't see the "opposite" part. Further, I don't really see how only using one's machine for recording (or any singular purpose for that matter) affects the integrity of the data. The fact of the matter is, it doesn't - and that's not opinion, it's empirical fact. It's not a competition nor a who's right v. who's wrong issue, Tony. There's no reason to start calling people mad because they have a slightly different opinion than yours with regard to what to do with their computer.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:15 am

It is precisely this sort of thing that made me turn down this topic on two occasions. I do not wish to fall out with anybody at all & wish everyone a good recording experience. Your 'mad' remark is taken totally out of context Oliver & I would never resort to name calling & apologise profusely that you have taken offence.

However, it is my job to ensure that I reach the highest standards of recording quality, with the tools that I have & trying to advise is often a tough choice for me, juggling the desire to achieve the very best that I can, with the reality that many are just trying to put down a rough demo with next to no equipment. I know of no engineer in the world that would not advise that your recording computer be just that. It will perform better & be safer when optimised for recording. This is what I was trying to put across....but obviously badly.

Once again Oliver, you have my sincerest apologies for offending you.

rumbush · Post by **rumbush** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:37 am

I'm not offended, I just thought your "sheer madness" statement was a bit dramatic considering the topic. Seemed kind of incongruous to me. But, obviously you're very passionate & that's a good way to be. Your comments on your job are duly noted and respected

I don't think your point was missed or mis-stated, I just didn't agree with the absolute necessity of keeping one's machine recording-only. That's where our opinions differed, not on the backup thing. In my original post, I mentioned that having good computer equipment is central to a solid set-up. Certainly one can't expect great results with shoddy equipment. So definitely if someone is using a subpar computer I would urge them to leave it for recording-only or do away with it in favour of a better machine.

My main issue was with what was said about recording-only computers having anything to do with data integrity. Those are entirely separate considerations. Backups are a must. In most cases, hard drives generally fail without regard to how someone uses their machine.

Anyway, no worries mate. It's just a simple difference of opinion, no apologies necessary.

I'm going to watch the space shuttle launch now, so have yourself a happy and safe Independence Day.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:53 am

Thankyou Oliver.....oh yes, it's Independance day. So sorry for not noticing....have a really great day.

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:29 pm

Anthony, why not just use removeable drive trays and use one hard drive for general use, and then use the other one for audio recording? Then have a couple drives in RAID or some seperate drives to use as backup and as the audio storage drives? It works quite well for me and I just remove and replace the drive tray as needed.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:20 am

Good idea Greg....that way, you're doubly sure.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:20 am

If you are running a native system, then dedicating the machine to a single task will be more reliable than not, however I would agree with Oliver that dedicated machines are no longer really necessary. Systems that use dedicated hardware for their DSP functions will be far more forgiving when it comes to shared use, since the software isn't relying on CPU cycles for nearly as much of its processing power. Of course those systems (ie ProTools HD or Mix) are going to cost considerably more than a native solution, both short and long term.

When looking at a software platform, there are several considerations. First, how reliable is it? How expandable is the system, how established is the company and what is its track record? Check out the user forums and see what kind of problems people using the system are running into. All marketing makes the products look like the ideal solution, but when you get it home and it doesn't work as advertised, how is the product support? What other equipment is required to have it perform at the level expected (ie will it run on your current computer, or do you need an upgrade)?

What quality of front end (A/D, D/A) and plugins are available, and does expanding the system require additional upgrades (every plugin used will require resources, so even if you have all the plugins, will you be able to run what you need)? How widely used is the software you are using, and if you should decide to take your project elsewhere, are you going to run into compatability issues? Are upgrade options available, and if so, at what cost? How good is the company at supplying tech support and maintainance upgrades/bug fixes?

Ideally, before investing you should be able to see the system you are interested in running with sessions that are similar to the usage you expect.

When budgeting, make sure to factor in everything you need. Having a decent recording package is only a small part of the system. Do you have provisions for decent preamps, convertors, mics, monitors and room treatment? Do you require training and if so, how readily available is it?

Also, chose your dealer carefully. How much support can you expect from them? Will they supply replacement gear if what they sold you doesn't work? Will they supply tech support? Anyone just getting into digital recording will run into problems, so having someone to call to sort them out is imperative.