Which DAW is best for multi track mixing?

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pimpshady
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Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:49 am

Which DAW is best for multi track mixing?

Post by pimpshady »

I've been using adobe audition for a while and find the output very clear and solid, but the thing is that this software doesn't support vst plugin effects. Moreover I've been planning to used digidesign pro tools LE.

Now my question is:

1. Do i need a dedicated audio card like M-Audio Audiophile 2496 to used pro tools LE?

2. Is there any other DAW sofware besides pro tools that are excellent for multi track mixing?

3. Do i need a dedicated sofware for mastering my session? If so please recommend some good mastering software.
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laughing_bear
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Post by laughing_bear »

Difficult question.

I would recommend a quick search for REAPER
kanthos
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Post by kanthos »

1) No, probably not, if you're never doing any recording (either audio or MIDI) or automation (recording the movements of volume faders, knobs in your plugins, etc). There'll probably be higher latency from your onboard sound card than a better audio interface (on my laptop, I get ~45 ms from the onboard card and 10ms from my audio interface), but if you're not doing any live playing or recording, that doesn't really matter. In your case, you might have slight timing issues with automation, but it's probably nothing serious. You can always try to use your onboard sound card and add an audio interface later if it's not good enough.

2) All kinds of things. Reaper, Cubase, Sonar, Logic, etc. Anything that's a decent DAW should be good for mixing, and most of them have demos so you can try them out before you put any money down.

3) Your DAW will be enough, as far as a host goes, but you might want to invest in some better-quality plugins. The same goes for mixing.
Keyboard Rig: Korg Kronos, Moog Sub 37, Waldorf Blofeld Module, Neo Instruments Ventilator II, Moog MiniFooger Delay, Strymon BigSky, Roland KC-150, Mackie 802-VLZ4 Mixer
pimpshady
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:49 am

which DAW is best for mixing?

Post by pimpshady »

Thank you laughing_bear and kanthos for your advice/suggestions.

All this time i was planning to procure pro tools LE but i was kinda worried, because only m-audio audiophile 2496 and m-audio audiophile 192 audio card supports digidesign pro tools m-powered. Which means even emu audio card will never support m-powered, not 2 mention onboard sound card.

So i believe Reaper, Cubase, Sonar and Logic won't give me this problem.
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