Best DAW to use with GPO?

**Truckload** · 01-23-2012, 04:54 PM

What is the best DAW for creaing music with sequencers and virtual instrument VST's like GPO? I have little to no interest in recording any live music.

I am just getting back into music after a 10 year hiatus. My old DAW was a version of Sonar. I started using Cakewalk many years ago when its primary focus was on sequenceing. I liked Cakewalk better than Sonar. From what I have seen in demo tutorials, Sonar no longer empahizes sequencing and does not seem to have improved regarding insertion and editing of controllers, key switch changes, dynamics and so forth.

What do you think is the best DAW for working with GPO? Cubase, Sonar, Pro Tools or something else?

**Silh** · 01-23-2012, 06:07 PM

That's about a question like 'what's the best car?'

I think most of the DAWs out there are pretty competent, so it then comes down to what features you want from it, ease of use, workflow, and how you personally like to do things, which really can only be established by using them.

Most of them do have demos that you can try out, so you'll probably want to take advantage of that and see which one fits best for you. I'm a Reaper person myself, I have one friend who uses Pro Tools, and another who loves Reason (for reference this one doesn't support VST instruments/GPO), and we go back and forth every once in a while on our favourite DAW and why we use it, and really it comes down to personal preference and work habits.

**Martygras** · 01-23-2012, 06:55 PM

Welcome to the forums Truckload.
I too used Cakewalk in the dawn of MIDI, but so much has changed that it's a whole different ballgame. I use Reaper also because it's a powerful and versatile DAW, but it's definitely not the best for everyone.

Give us an idea of what you want to achieve, and how you prefer to write/enter data. Maybe even what computer hardware you are using.

**DPDAN** · 01-23-2012, 08:02 PM

my answer to the topic:

Digital Performer
you asked

**rbowser-** · 01-23-2012, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by Truckload

What is the best DAW for creaing music with sequencers and virtual instrument VST's like GPO? I have little to no interest in recording any live music.

I am just getting back into music after a 10 year hiatus. My old DAW was a version of Sonar. I started using Cakewalk many years ago when its primary focus was on sequenceing. I liked Cakewalk better than Sonar. From what I have seen in demo tutorials, Sonar no longer empahizes sequencing and does not seem to have improved regarding insertion and editing of controllers, key switch changes, dynamics and so forth...

Hi, Truckload - To be honest, I don't think it makes any difference what you use. All DAW software is pretty much the same, does the same job, the tools just vary a bit from program to program. And naturally when you ask for opinions, all you'll get is people recommending the program they use, perhaps along with a list of reasons.

But it's not as if GPO is going to work better in any given program.

I use Sonar, but started with Pro Audio 9, the last Cakewalk "sequencer" before they changed the name to Sonar. I have the new X1, but it sits gathering virtual dust on my desk top because --um, I don't care for it. I still use the last Sonar made- 8.5.3. It's great, extremely smoother and better to use than X1. Unfortunately, it's not sold anymore. But if you found a hard copy sitting on a music store's shelf, you could go for it and then step through all the free updates/upgrades that remain available on the Cake site.

Contrary to what you said, I know from experience that there's virtually no comparison between Sonar 8.5 and the old Cakewalk line. Everything about it is more robust, faster, and all tools were improved.

So - if you can find Sonar 8.5, or even a version going back as far as 6, I think you'd do just fine.

Or - Any other program. Really, as I said, GPO isn't going to magically work better in any program available.

Randy

**fastlane** · 01-23-2012, 09:45 PM

I use Metro 6 which has a relatively small user base but it's quite user friendly and has strong MIDI editing. It comes in three versions with the low and high end being Windows compatible. You can DL a free demo at Sagan Tech.

I also have and want to learn Digital Performer.

Phil

**Martygras** · 01-24-2012, 11:40 AM

I searched around and found a few DAW comparison charts. At least some of them compare features, others are just polls. Here's a starting point
http://thedawstudio.com/Gear/DAW-Comparison-Chart.html

**Tom_Davis** · 01-24-2012, 01:48 PM

Okay, here is my 7^th attempt to submit a reply to the thread. I keep getting a note saying that NorthernSounds is not responding. So I will write this one in “MS Word” and try a cut and paste to see if that works.

I do not use a DAW. I have a nice version of Cubase Studio5 sitting on my shelf collecting dust, but I never learned how to use it.

Originally I tried writing music with Finale including dynamics and articulations, added Garritan instruments via ARIA and exported to Cubase. After being laughed at by local composers in Seattle for such a naïve, labor-intensive process, I tried entering raw notes into Finale, assigning the instruments and exporting to Cubase for detailing. That ended up with strange over-worked sounding music.

Now I write the music (usually with the mouse entry method), and detail the score; then add instruments with ARIA, make a wav file and send a CD off to those that have requested the music. I am sure that I am missing a major step by doing it that way, but it works, it’s simple and it sells.

Some day, perhaps, I will grab the Cubase manual and try again.

**Truckload** · 01-24-2012, 07:01 PM

Wow, great responses. I just got home from work and appreciate all of the input.

I bought a special computer to use only for music. I own a small business and did not want to mix up my music stuff and my business stuff. The music computer has a Core i7 960 @ 3.2 Ghz and 12 GB of ram and two 500 GB hard drives. My I/O is an E-Mu 1616m. My midi keyboard is a Cakewalk by Roland A-500. I am using an Alesis RA150 amp and Event studio monitors. I just bought everything except the Event studio monitors. I had saved the monitors all these years.

I have downloaded several DAW demos and I had no problem getting any of them set up with this hardware. In fact the sound quality of todays software is much, much better than it was 10 years ago.

What do I want to do? I have a background in music from long ago, and now I want to simply make music as a hobby. My interest is in tonal art (classical) music. I also like to write songs and instrumental pieces in a very traditional style, like Mancini or Herb Alpert stuff. I have no illussions about earning any money with music. I also do not think I am the next great genius composer. I just want to create music for my own pleasure.

The way I have worked in the past is to sing ideas (yes, sing) then write them down in the sequencer using "pino roll" or "staff view". I play trombone and a very, very little keyboard, though I want to get better at keyboard.

So, I am looking tonight at all of the DAWs, and they all look great, but all have far more power than I will ever use. It is a dilema. I dont want to waste my money, but more importantly I dont want to waste my time learning software that might not be the best for me.

Thoughts?

**Truckload** · 01-24-2012, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by Tom_Davis

Okay, here is my 7^th attempt to submit a reply to the thread. I keep getting a note saying that NorthernSounds is not responding. So I will write this one in “MS Word” and try a cut and paste to see if that works.

I do not use a DAW. I have a nice version of Cubase Studio5 sitting on my shelf collecting dust, but I never learned how to use it.

Originally I tried writing music with Finale including dynamics and articulations, added Garritan instruments via ARIA and exported to Cubase. After being laughed at by local composers in Seattle for such a naïve, labor-intensive process, I tried entering raw notes into Finale, assigning the instruments and exporting to Cubase for detailing. That ended up with strange over-worked sounding music.

Now I write the music (usually with the mouse entry method), and detail the score; then add instruments with ARIA, make a wav file and send a CD off to those that have requested the music. I am sure that I am missing a major step by doing it that way, but it works, it’s simple and it sells.

Some day, perhaps, I will grab the Cubase manual and try again.

I have also been looking at Finale or Sibelius as an alternative to using a DAW. Do you find that the quality of the sound is sufficient just using Finale? Do you have enough flexibility to handle expression, dynamics, keyswitches, controllers, and all the other midi stuff from within Finale?