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Which free daw is the best


satya

Which free daw will you use  

22 members have voted

  1. 1. Best free DAW Open source

    • Ardour
      1
    • Soundbridge
      1
    • LMMS
      0
    • Waveform free
      13
    • Muse DAW
      0
    • Audacity
      0
    • Other
      7


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I have been a devoted Cake user since the 90s! In view of all the confusion over the pay model, I have more and more used the alternates I have which are Samplitude and Mixbus!

I can highly recommend Samplitude Suite. For bang for the buck, you can't beat it. It does have a very steep learning curve but it delivers worthwhile results.

Yesterday, I got an email from Harrison that a free update was available for Mixbus and Mixbus 32c! This is the first update since SSL bought out Harrison. I don't know if SSL had a hand in developing the new features but I downloaded and installed 9.2 and it is very appealing!!

I could see using this as my main DAW if it had a staff view or notation window but maybe that will come in time.

Those are my suggestions because I use them alongside Cake on a weekly basis. Hope this helps someone. 

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3 hours ago, Sidney Earl Goodroe said:

Yesterday, I got an email from Harrison that a free update was available for Mixbus and Mixbus 32c! This is the first update since SSL bought out Harrison. I don't know if SSL had a hand in developing the new features but I downloaded and installed 9.2 and it is very appealing!!

I was using Mixbus before Cakewalk free jumped on the scene and I moved to it. I did like Mixbus and still have version 5 installed. It might be an avenue for me if Cakewalk Sonar is too expensive for me. I imagine I could upgrade to the latest Mixbus for a reasonable fee.

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5 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

Are you seeing the performance you hoped for related to audio specifically?  Is everything M1 native that you want to use?

 

Anyone with talent can create great music using any DAW (even free GarageBand on the Mac) as long as it can record audio.  But at the same time Cakewalk has ~30 years worth of updates, feature build outs, etc under the hood with dedicated paid teams.  It simply is going to have more to offer for those that want it than these fly by night systems or even more limited resource houses.

 yes for the high CPU stuff from Softube and IKM. Not so much for the DAW but its running in rosetta. if i had to chose again, i think i would get just gone newer gen Intel. its been a hassle with Mac. but I am gonna try to stick it out.

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IMHO, the biggest expense of a DAW is the time you put in learning how to use it.   I think buying a limited edition of a major DAW like Studio One, Cubase, Logic, Reaper, etc., and then upgrading over time is the smarter move.  Cakewalk is also free and a good choice.  Or Ableton, if that better suits the kind of music you make. 

If you have the ambitions to grow, you will learn someday that you want (and even need)  the higher capabilities and features of a major DAW.  A DAW that has been around for awhile with a huge user base and community.   The community, like this one,  is precious.  

Then the money will be worth it to you.

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16 minutes ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

think buying a limited edition of a major DAW like Studio One, Cubase, Logic, Reaper, etc., and then upgrading over time is the smarter move. 

So true.

Buying an Arturia MiniLab MKII, which had Ableton Live Lite bundled with it for free was one of my best decisions.

In the end I upgraded to standard and then to suite. But even with the Lite version you can already do quite a lot.

Plus, it makes me more confident to work with a DAW that is being used in like half the demos and tutorials on the internet.

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11 minutes ago, audioschmaudio said:

Ableton Live Lite bundled

That's a all together different category daw , Most of us already got Reason  lite except me , Bitwig 8 track । Studio One Prime , MPC Beats , Serato DAW as freebies

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55 minutes ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

IMHO, the biggest expense of a DAW is the time you put in learning how to use it.   I think buying a limited edition of a major DAW like Studio One, Cubase, Logic, Reaper, etc., and then upgrading over time is the smarter move.  Cakewalk is also free and a good choice.  Or Ableton, if that better suits the kind of music you make. 

If you have the ambitions to grow, you will learn someday that you want (and even need)  the higher capabilities and features of a major DAW.  A DAW that has been around for awhile with a huge user base and community.   The community, like this one,  is precious.  

Then the money will be worth it to you.

Somehow you are right!

On the other hand I regret that I have choosen Cakewalk! I have invested years in learning how to use it and generally I like its workflow and features. But all these up and downs, where I was in doubt whether I still are able to use it in the future (like now)! It resulted in hours and hours where I did something else than music (e.g. compare daws), lost time, was frustrated!

That's what I like with Reaper, you have the certainty that you can use your license as long as a version runs on any of your existing or new computers! Thus you're able to edit/finish your projects. Based on my experience this is an important aspect that has to be considered when choosing a daw! But YMMV.

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50 minutes ago, satya said:

That's a all together different category daw , Most of us already got Reason  lite except me , Bitwig 8 track । Studio One Prime , MPC Beats , Serato DAW as freebies

Weren't you the one who said that NI Massive can be counted as a freebie because every focusrite user has it? ;)

If we can add Massive to the list of free instruments because it comes bundled with Focusrite, then why can't we apply the same logic to DAWs? ?

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On 10/11/2023 at 10:41 AM, Brian Walton said:

Cakewalk is still better than all of those by a long shot and even though not updated any longer will continue to be better than those for quite some time.

Can it be installed on (and used from) an external USB drive instead of your system drive?

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20 minutes ago, audioschmaudio said:

Weren't you the one who said that NI Massive can be counted as a freebie because every focusrite user has it? ;)

Yup if someone asked I would be happy to give them code of live lite I have for free. Count them in them haha 

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