Which recording software should I learn?

[Landy67]

I've been looking at the posts string to figure out what recording software I should learn to use. Right now I use Audacity, and I only use the absolute minimum, record, cut, export to MP3.

Yesterday I picked up one of the Saffire 2i2 interfaces and it came with Ableton Live Lite 8. My brother thinks I should use Reaper. Is one easier than the other? Does one have limitations over the other?

I have very humble needs for my recordings, and no ambitions of ever producing anything that's not for my own entertainment. I would prefer easy/intuitive, but if I'm going to take the time to learn this stuff, I might as well learn something useful.

Any recommendations?

 

[My name is Mudd]

I've been using Reaper for about a month now, and after trying GarageBand, Cubase Lite, and an older, stripped-down version of Pro Tools' freebie demo. I'm happy enough with Reaper to buy a license for it. I chose Reaper for two reasons; the price, and deciding that I wanted a bit more than what GarageBand offers, or doesn't offer (not being able to produce a .wav file, for example).


Disclosure - I'm new'ish to recording gear in general and by no means claim to be hugely knowledgeable on every DAW available.

 

[schecter5string]

I use reaper, it does everything I need it to do.

 

[Ibanez Bassist]

I bought the license to Reaper, It's one of the best and does everything I need..

 

[MTBassMania]

I like Ableton Live. It has lots of uses and potential, from recording songs to live performance. It's pretty intuitive, but now and again I check the manual. Definitely have to do it all manually - there's no "music production" presets that auto mixes all your instruments.

 

[uOpt]

If you use an operating system that Ardour runs on, it's worth a shot if you are into software that takes some learning investment.

 

[Troph]

Reaper is great, but if you're on Mac, then GarageBand will be easier to use.

If you're on PC, both Reaper is great for the money, and so is Mixcraft from what I've heard.

 

[Landy67]

I decided to go with Reaper over Live Lite for two reasons. 1, every time I tried to add the plug-in's for the Sapphire interface the software took me to the website and said that I needed to buy an additional license to open plug-ins. 2, Since my brother is learning to use Reaper, I can impose on him to fix my problems.

I am having a curious problem with Reaper at the moment. When I launch the program I get a popup that says it had a problem with the ASIO driver and asks if I want to go to the Sound setup. If I go to the sound setup, I can see the interface, but not the ports. If I load one of the projects that I used when I first set it up it works just fine.

I must be missing a step with the preferences for my interface audio in and out, but neither me or my brother can figure out what it is.

Any recomendations on troubleshooting an ASIO setup?

 

[schecter5string]

In the pop up window, the top drop down should have your asio, click on it, now you should see some parameters for your asio, after you set them click ok.
The different Ports are in the routing matrix, there is a small tab for this at the bottom of the main screen, next to the mixer, if not it will be some where on the top of the screen,I think in the view tab.
I'm at work right now, if you don't have it figured out, when I get home I will look at my program and repost.

 

[schecter5string]

Also, there is alot of info on the internet for reaper, forums, Manuals, and YouTube videos.
Google is your friend, search google, all your questions will be answered.

 

[SirMjac28]

Mixcraft is easy to use and is a powerful tool.

 

[Landy67]

I figured it out (I think) I have 3 ASIO drivers on my system, ASIO4ALL, Toneport DI, and Focusrite USB Audio. (Focusrite is the interface I'm using.) If I use anything else that uses an ASIO driver, I cant load the Focusrite driver, and that's the one that I want to use.

It seems to load the Toneport DI driver when I use my Line 6 interface and doesn't unload it when I quit the software.

I'll play with it some more.

 

[Landy67]

Mixcraft is easy to use and is a powerful tool.

I'm not even getting to the point where I could use the interface with the computer, so it's not a software issue. (I think)

I may have to get rid of GearBox in order to be able to get to this unit to work reliably.

 

[My name is Mudd]

I am having a curious problem with Reaper at the moment.

Shot in the dark - when you go to the Preferences > Audio > Device page, is the box on the bottom ('Allow use of different input and output devices (legacy option, not recommended)') checked? If so, uncheck it and try launching again.

 

[Baer]

Once you've made the Reaper decision, you should start posting your questions on the Reaper forum. While there are a lot of Reaper users here, there are many more there. And they are a helpful group.

 

[Ibanez Bassist]

There going to speak about the internal clock and latency if you post stuff to the Reaper forum, it's a great place to get info but they can be rude sometimes if your new they think your a one timer and just getting info, kind of like a chew and screw type thing..

 

[c_mike]

Try Presonus Studio One , there is also free version http://studioone.presonus.com/free/
Good Luck !!

 

[jastacey]

The cool thing about Reaper, is it's constantly being updated

 

[My name is Mudd]

There going to speak about the internal clock and latency if you post stuff to the Reaper forum, it's a great place to get info but they can be rude sometimes if your new they think your a one timer and just getting info, kind of like a chew and screw type thing..

I noticed that...pretty much turned me off about signing there. Lurking has been helpful, tho.

 

[Ibanez Bassist]

Yea, It's unfortunate that some are like that in the forums but others help sometimes..and all it takes is a few posts and a little participation just like in here..