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Favourite recording programs?

WhoAreYouuu	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 2:13 AM What are your favourite recording programs that you use and on what operating system?
pog	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 2:50 AM I like cooledit pro 2.1... it's nice and light and I'm used to it. Audition looks okay but it's gonna take a lot of late nights to get my head around all the extra buttons. I used to use vegas but that was version 1d... it got bloated after that, and then they came out with the video suite, I lost interest completely when that came out... thinking of going back and trying soundforge again ... havn't used that in ages. This is for for band type of scenarios... acid is prolly very good for hip hop artists.
TheDreadPirate	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 3:35 AM i use audition 3.0 for final fixes etc(multitracking in it kicks my computers CPU a bit too much). for multitracking i am using Cubase LE that came with my Lexicon device.
SpiderFingers	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 4:15 AM Garage band on the Mac for me with the jam packs. Or if I need to midi externally Logic Pro. Cubase is great, I used that for years but always found computer power a real struggle. The Mac seems to handle it all quite nicely.
Tattoomom	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 8:29 AM Bill doesn't use a computer program he (we)uses a Zoom multi-track recorder and does all the recording and mixing on there...old school style.
zedsalt	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 9:53 AM I keep as many performances on analog cassette as possible; if it's more than a few seconds long, I want to have an analog version on file. Then, often, I use Audacity for editing, Audition for applying VST effects, Cakewalk Music Creator 2003 for recording MIDI (or AmazingMIDI for making delightfully glitchy pitch-to-MIDI manglings), VSTHost for...well, for hosting VSTIs, several plug-in VST effects and soft synths... The Cakewalk was a Christmas gift from my little brother; everything else was freeware.
farfor44	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 10:02 AM I'm with Crystal and Bill I also use a multi track Yamaha 1600 workstation. old school but,works for me!
vilifiend	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 10:20 AM On mac, if I am doing a simple recording, I will use Audacity or Live 5. A full track will be done in Logic 8 and then touched up in Live 5. Pc is a crapshoot since i've fell in love with logic 8 for mac. I'll probably be using Live 6, though.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 9, 2008 @ 11:02 AM Ableton Live 7 Suite for creation and sounds, Cubase SX3 for mixing and/or more detailed MIDI or Audio editing, Soundforge 8 for mastering/editing with a bunch of high quality 3rd party mastering plugs, Harbal 2.3 also a mastering tool and CD Architect 5.2 for authoring the CDs. On a Mac, I would use Live 7 Suite and Logic STudio 8. What I would avoid is Protools because unless you get the HD systems (8k upwards and counting), they have poor interfaces, no delay compensation and lack a lot of features that Sonar/Logic/Cubase have. Vegas is a great audio for video program btw. It's one of the easiest and best video editors out there and easy to add audio but I wouldn't use it strictly for audio purposes in recording a band etc, but it's popular in the soundtrack world.
badvibez	Date: November 10, 2008 @ 7:00 PM Programs I use; ProTools LE 7.4, Logic Pro 8, Reason 4, Cubase Studio 4 and a M-Audio Axion 49 is my midi-controller. Monitor speakers: KRK RP8
ViciousKitty	Date: November 17, 2008 @ 9:42 PM -Cubase Vst32 5.1 for audio recording -FL8 for sequencing,midi,automation and mixing control. -Adobe Audition 2.0 for sample and mastering work. -Guitar Rig 2 for Bass and guitar sounds in combination with my Line 6 and Rp 200. -Maudio sound card and midi controller.Behringer 8 channel mixer and Art tube pre amp.
Warm-guns	Date: November 20, 2008 @ 9:30 PM I started out with Garage Band but i'm using Reaper more and more...
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 20, 2008 @ 9:55 PM Reaper is not so hot on a Mac, but is a good PC program for cheap, If you have a fairly recent Mac, you should DEFINATELY get the new Logic Studio 8 IMHO, it is awesomeness personified. SO much so, that when I next upgrade, I will probably go Mac and Logic.
Warm-guns	Date: November 20, 2008 @ 10:03 PM Yeah my computer runs mac and vista so i run reaper in vista... Reaper has some amazing VST programs for drums... Which i can't play...
dammitotto	Date: November 20, 2008 @ 10:06 PM Yeah...whatever Bill says...
SimonWaldram	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 5:29 AM I recorded my first demo CD using a £15 USB mic and mixed a good 75% of it in the Windows Sound Recorder application, which - in hindsight - was a ridicolous way to go about things. I didn't know any better though. After that I used Guitar Tracks Pro for a good 3 years and until I finally learnt (or rather was taught by leedsquietman) how to use Cubase. I have Cubase 4 and I wouldn't be without for anything, it's great!
SimonWaldram	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 5:34 AM I don't use Cubase for recording, mind you. I have a beautiful Tascam DP-02 multi-track recording system for that, then I just pop the files on my computer and mix from there. I used to record with a Lexicon Omega until it decided that it no longer wanted to function properely with any computer system. So if anyone's looking for quite a big paperweight, just send me a note!
elektronz	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 5:37 AM i use fl 6 + wavelab 5
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 2:03 PM I still like Cubase, it's GUI and layout is still the best for a linear DAW but I love Ableton Live 7 Suite for composing, it's session view is just awesome for jamming and building up riffs and loops. While I'm on PC and currently financially unable to update to mac/logic, it's possible I might stick with Cubase. Cubase is an awesome program for mixing in, especially if you have dual monitors as you can put the arrangement page on one and up to 3 mixing windows on the 2nd monitor. I use Soundforge 9 for editing/mastering in conjunction with a whole bunch of 3rd party specialized mastering plugins by Voxengo, Sonalksis, Crysonic, Audio Damage, PSP Audio etc and some of Soundforge's inbuilt stuff such as the Acoustic Mirror convolution reverb, Noise Reduction 2.0 and occasionally the new Izotrope Ozone plugins included in Soundforge. Whatever works. Thanks Simon. Using a hardware recorder and then exporting the .wavs to mix in Cubase is a very nice way of working actually, and light on the CPU load too, so long as you don't start loading on multiple plugins.
celtaidd	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 3:36 PM I use Audacity, Cubase SX, and FL7
ChillinBuzz	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 4:15 PM At the moment I'm using just Cubase SX and Soundforge, although now I've sorted out most of my volume issues in Cubase (and accidentally cooked the compressor too many times in mixing) it's been just Cubase lately.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 5:27 PM If you have Cubase and FL7, why would you need to use Audacity ? Just a thought !
victorsskull	Date: November 21, 2008 @ 5:31 PM cakewalk 2.0
zedsalt	Date: November 22, 2008 @ 9:58 AM I wonder how that compares to my Cakewalk Music Creator 2003? Personally, I only use the more complex (relative to Audacity) software for the few functions I mentioned earlier in the thread, because even within that very limited usage, they've given me something else Audacity never has- glitches and corrupted files. The only big problem I've ever had with Audacity was on those occasions when I was less than careful about my filing. Audacity has NO tolerance, it appears, for moving things about. I've been lucky, so far, with moving things to a jump drive, disc, external harddrive, etc. then back, but ONLY when I moved a file back to EXACTLY the same folder.
GeneHilbert	Date: November 22, 2008 @ 11:32 AM Cubase SX2, WaveLab 5.... I have Harbal - but at this point have just not gotten the sound dialed in. Not enough time spent with it maybe.
celtaidd	Date: November 22, 2008 @ 1:36 PM I use Audacity as a sort of sketchpad for ideas
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 22, 2008 @ 1:41 PM I never use the auto settings on Harbal. (tried it, it can be somewhat helpful but doesn't get everything right). I have messed around with the reference files too, it's fun but it doesn't really work on my material. Eqing your music just like Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' etc to that reference file is kind of fun but doesn't usually produce the results you need, because I wasn't Alan Parsons engineering and I wasn't Gilmour, Waters, Wright or Mason during the performance or using the same gear as them recording. Always go manual, and I always use it in linear phase EQ mode rather than the normal minimal phase. I tend to use it subtly, except where the sub bass is way too powerful, then it acts great as a high pass filter. It is great as a mastering EQ. It's so easy to see where there are frequency notches and way too much frequency. I don't use the stereo widening tool though, I have other plugins I prefer for that. I actually really love Harbal, but it is not the 'easy fix' some people, including the manufacturer, think it is. But then again, what is? I also have Sonalksis's SV517 mk2 EQ and that is great in a totally different way.
MultiMike	Date: November 22, 2008 @ 1:44 PM I use Cubase SX2, its power is awesome, I will grow old and die before I fully discover all that it has to offer, creating music is so much fun and exiting
GeneHilbert	Date: November 22, 2008 @ 2:29 PM "auto settings on Harbal" - tried it, hated it. "reference files" - tried it, hated it. "go manual," - tried it, better. I got better results faster w/ Wavelab. I'll play around with it more. I'm not going to give up on it, however it's not going to be the goto mastering choice as of yet.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 22, 2008 @ 2:57 PM Are you using the Wavelab EQs for mastering or something else ? I find that Wavelab's and Cubase SX channel EQs are a bit lacking for some applications. The 'Q' parametric EQ plugin is slightly better but still not as flexible as some others (and adds a lot of latency, so better added after all the tracking). (Cubase 4 improved the channel EQ a bit) I occasionally use the graphic EQ plugin in Soundforge but Harbal is still the best mastering EQ I use IMHO. For a more analogue feel, the Sonalksis is awesome but if you go heavy on it it does add a lot of phase. It's a great track EQ. Another great EQ is Voxengo Curve EQ. I love my Harbal. I really have a great handle on it and find it the quickest, easiest and best sounding so long as I use it manually. The high and lo pass filters are awesome. Ableton Live has an excellent EQ too, EQ8, which you can add up to 8 bands of parametric EQ. But for high pass filtering it's not quite as good.
GeneHilbert	Date: November 23, 2008 @ 1:48 PM Mastering - I do so much mixing and fine tuning in SX that by the time I get to mastering it is all fine tuning. It is true that Harbal is more capable of a fine tuning the EQ curve, but I really don't need that. In Wavelab in insert the Waves C4 adjust the curve just a little to smooth out the mix, add the mastering reverb, add dither, hit the limiter lightly, compress and burn. Harbal is an interesting and deep program, I just haven’t screwed around with it as much as I should.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 23, 2008 @ 5:29 PM The Waves C4 is a key component then. SOundforge and Wavelab are great audio editors, have some great mastering features such as statistical and graphical analyses which is better than a DAW, but most of their own internal plugins are not really up to the job. But when you harness their power (and the fine tuning tools, such as noise reduction, clipped peak restoration, detailed fades and crossfades with markers and regions, and for creating loops) and then throw in some excellent 3rd party plugins, that makes it the complete package. In Soundforge, I only ever use the Acoustic Mirror (convolution reverb), graphic EQ (occasionally) and now in SF9 occasionally the licensed Izotrope multiband compressor and mastering reverb, plus noise reduction 2.0 anything else is 3rd party.
GeneHilbert	Date: November 23, 2008 @ 8:33 PM I haven't updated Sound Forge, I still have 6. They pissed me off when the mp3 creator expired and I had to buy a 3rd party rights of use license. Screw Sony.......
elektronz	Date: November 27, 2008 @ 1:53 AM on the master channel i use waves c4 waves L1 ultramaxmizer+ waves L2 izotope ozone 3 ..the cd master setting .. not 100% on what they acheive ,,but i mucked about with the settings till i found something that sounded cool . pretty much how i write all my tracks on the other channels i always use parametric eq with waves trueverb .very rarely use compression now ..but im guessing that theres gotta be some form of it in the master channel setup ..and i like to use delay quite a lot especially on slowish arpegs to create a double speed riff .my favourite fx plugins are supatrigga ,db_glitch ,fl vocoder,and i sometimes throw a sample through the granulizer channel to really treat it ...wavelabs only really used to create fade in/outs and maybe reverse a section of the tune to spice it up ...or edit a tune down to a more radio friendly length ..
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: November 27, 2008 @ 1:42 PM SF8 and 9 have unlimited mp3 export. And VST support as well as DX, batch converter that works, some improved plugins and you get CD Architect 5 for free. SF9 works with multichannel audio such as DVD-A surround sound, something it previously lacked and gave Wavelab an advantage. I am not a fan of Waves plugins, they cost way too much for what they are and their upgrade policy sucks. They are also sending agents out trying to find people who are using pirate copies, taking photos and threatening them to pay 75,000 dollars or go to court. As a legit user of all of my software and plugins that doesn't bother me, but if they didn't cost so much in the fiest place, maybe people wouldn't rip them off so much. I guess Sony learned a lesson.
vzeye	Date: December 3, 2008 @ 9:32 AM I use a little Fostex 8 track recorder and Diamond Cut 7 software. $325 investment!
RichLum	Date: December 3, 2008 @ 6:15 PM REAPER for me! Statred out on a 4 track tape deck, then n-Track was my first PC based DAW, then Tracktion, and now REAPER since version 0.9something. Rally depends on how you work and what makes sense to your creative process, style of music, brain etc. I mainly do audio with a little midi and use Jamstix for drums. REAPER works fine for me. If I was doing more complex midi and loop based stuff I might not find it as easy to work with... Good thing with REAPER is the demo is completely uncrippled so you can test all functions on your system and decide whether you like it and it plays nice with your system...
Distilled1	Date: December 3, 2008 @ 7:37 PM I need an EZ drum machine either virtual or hardware .. prefer virtual and free or low low cost.... FL I can do some but I get really lost trying to loop and creat a full songs worth of drums. I NEED TO make Drum tracks to play to! What do I need?
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: December 3, 2008 @ 10:13 PM There are many choices ... BFD, DFH, Storm, EZ Drummer, Drumcore, Stylus RMX, Battery 3, Guru etc, etc. These provide great core sounds and some have further expansion packs. Some of these are pretty CPU heavy so don't go too well on older systems and at least 2GB Ram is required. Try a few demos and see what appeals. Then there are the AI type of drums as in Jamstix and Groove Agent, which generate grooves themselves. And finally drum replacers, like Drumagog, which replaces your audio tracks with high quality sampled sounds, so if you recorded a drummer and he played ace but the room sound was bad, or the snare sounded wrong, you can replace that with Drumagog etc.
RichLum	Date: December 4, 2008 @ 12:55 AM I love Jamstix. it's not for everyone though so you need to demo it. I like it because I hate programming drums. If youwant total control over every hit then there are probably better options. I just map out the structure of the song, the type of patterns I want and draw a power envelope and then let Jamstix play what it wants and I'm happy 95% of the time. Parts I don't like I just get Jamstix to play something different until I do like it. A lot like working with a real drummer
nazcamonkey	Date: June 3, 2009 @ 5:48 PM pro tools HD on mac in the studio and pro tools 8 m-powered on windows at home. gotta love pro tools its brilliantly efficient for recording
tsand20175	Date: June 3, 2009 @ 9:49 PM Logic Pro8
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: June 3, 2009 @ 9:52 PM I prefer Cubase, Logic and Sonar personally. They all have better MIDI functionality too and don't tie you to one type of hardware. Protools HD is good, but too expensive, LE is too cut down, limits track counts, no plugin delay compensation, ties you to hardware which on LE (M-Box) is ordinary to say the least ...
Distilled1	Date: June 3, 2009 @ 9:59 PM I have decided my favorite is any I don't have to use going to record at Erics is way better than me trying to tweak everything

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