Making music with computers question - best DAW for my set-up?

ayjay

ayjay

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 9, 2003
Messages
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Location
Melbourne, Australia
Hi All - I've decided to once more dabble in electronic music production, which I've not touched in nearly a decade. I need some advice on getting my frankenstein collection of low grade tech and ageing music gear working together.

I THINK all I need is some shrewd advice on the best DAW software to install - there's too much out there

Here's what I got:
Bottom end dual core from about 2007. XP pro with 4G RAM. Bottom end Sound Blaster. Good video card
Yamaha CS1x (circa 1997), Roland OctoPad
USB MIDI interface

I can pull some sounds that I am happy with from the synth (but max 4 at once via MIDI) - I want to be able to sequence them from my PC, then record the audio into the same software I am sequencing from, so I can keep layering.

I looked at downloading Cakewalk SONAR X1 but my CPU falls below the minimum system requirements...

I don't want to spend much cash on this at this point either.

Any thoughts would be appreciated :)
 
Well a good computer is imho essential to be able do do/ make the things you want. If you don't want to spend much money go for the cheaper DAWs like sonar. Also ableton isnt that expensive and usually also not so cpu hungry. But spending some cash is inevitable i'd say. You need proper monitoring and a decent soundcard at least...
 
Fruity Loops
Reason
Cakewalk

Maybe take a look into getting old versions of software, your specs for your PC aren't bad. BUT yeah that Soundblaster ain't gonna cut it.
New external soundcard + Monitors = 500$ and up. If not more really.

I don't want to spend much cash on this at this point either.
Click to expand...

Well, that's quite a problem with music production. :D
 
Download demo software for all the various DAWs you can find and see which one you get along with the most.

I'd personally go for Cubase, but that's only because it's the one I took to easiest. I think it's very intuitive and flexible, whereas others may not think the same...
 
No point getting speakers if money is an issue
Source is most important, so upgrade your sound card
Actual speakers/output is the cheapest, so get some headphones. Depending on what you want and your price range, there are plenty of good options. Senns are balanced and laid back, Denon D2000 has slightly recessed mids but good bass and highs. Ultrasone have paramount bass but they have a weird tonality, good for electronic music though. Beyedynamic make some really revealing headphones.
Open is generally better SQ at the same price as closed cans.
If you're game to mod, the T50RP is >100 and can be an outstanding headphone. Mids are great because they're electrodynamic. I have a pair but one of the wires came off the solder so I've gotta fix that.
Head over to head-fi if you want more info/advice on headphones.
 
Thanks for the tips. I've got some good monitors so that's no problem. Soundcard upgrade will be for later - at this stage it's really just a "proof of concept" exercise. I will look around for an older version of cubase/cakewalk and see what ableton can do for me.
 
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