Choice of DAW?

I ordered Cakewalk Sonar 7 Producer to get back into sequencing and recording -- and I think I'm fine with that decision. I had been using Cakewalk since version 1 (DOS!), but I went with it again because it seemed to offer the most for the money -- and it will run at 64-bit (I have a XP 64-bit system that I'm going to put it on). I'll mainly be working with loops and sequencing, so that part of the DAW needs to be hefty.

I thought I would go ahead and get opinions anyway on PC-based DAWs. Thanks!

[[Director] Joseph B]

Only thing I know about cakewalk is that's how you get to where the cake is to eat it! (I prefer chocolate by the way)>
If it's like a triple choclate it might be a cake run.

[Lucas]

A quick Google on PC Based DAW (What is a DAW?) brings up Adobe Audition CS3...

This has been Lucas quoting Google

[Arlin]

I think DAW is Digital Audio Workstation... right????

(Second Google Result: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_workstation)

Yeah -- Digital Audio Workstation. DAW seems to be a pretty standard industry term from what I can tell.... ????

Anyway -- "Software for multi-track audio recording, MIDI sequencing, loop-based arrangements, virtual synthesis, virtual DSP, latte-maker...."

[Lucas]

Adobe Audition CS3 is your friend then Tim :thumbsup:

I don't think it has a hefty sequencer from what I can tell. It just lets you insert your sequences into it. Cakewalk Producer seems to come with a ton of extras that I haven't seen in other packages. It seems to be more keyboard-player oriented...

[rev_65]

I too have been out of the whole sequencing realm for some time, but was a die hard Cakewalk user back in the day. Being keyboard oriented, Tim, I think you've made a good choice. I've played around with Fruity Loops, Ableton, and Acid Pro, but still prefer Cakewalk.

[Gracetech]

I can't seem to be happy with anything but Nuendo. Of course i do a bit of everything so that's probably why. It has a hefty sequencer which is what you would expect for one of the oldest names in the DAW arena. The overall quality just seems to be so far above that of other audio applications. The only other application that i like as much as Nuendo is ProTools but i really only like the Mac version so that's a mute point. Of course Nuendo is not for the monetarily challenged. If i didn't have a copy of work i would still be running my old 1.0 copy which really isn't that bad.

I do like Sonar, but I've never really been a big Cakewalk fan though.

crt

[JHVideoGuy]

I'm a ProTools user. But I use it for recording, editing and mixing. It looks and feels analog so that's nice. Some loops here and there. I don't use the sequencer and virtual instruments so for your use I can't comment. I use it on a Mac so I can't comment on how it runs on a PC.

[bladeaudio]

I would say that on PC the two main contenders are Nuendo and SONAR. For me personally SONAR has always done the trick. I use it mostly for recording tracks live as I personally don't write music, so I can't speak for the sequencing.

[prochlea]

I'm also a pro-tools user. I've used Pro-Tools LE on a PC, and it's worked pretty well. It's definitely not the cheapest solution, because you have to use their hardware(or some M-audio stuff) but it works better then anything I've tried. I really like the intuitive nature of the plugins and doing aux sends and such.