zigzag Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Any recommendations for a novice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BentonC Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 It's not free anymore (still really cheap though), but Reaper by Cockos has been getting plenty of attention. This is probably one of the cheapest fully-featured DAWs I'm aware of. There are always trial and lite versions of most DAWs out there, just check out the manufacturer's websites; but you'll find out pretty quickly that the limitations (especially in editing and mixing) with these free apps will get frustrating... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BentonC Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 One other thought: I don't know your current setup, but if you don't already have an interface, you'll need one. Look around at some of the lower end interfaces (M-Audio, Digidesign, etc...). A lot of them are coming with DAW software and some even come with some decent plug-ins as well. Other posters might be able to make some recommendations based on thier experiences as well. There are a lot of good products out there so read up on reviews and talk to dealers- those are always good places to start. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Grimes Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 I don't know if Audacity is still available as a free download. I downloaded it for free a few years ago. It's got some useful recording options. You can search for that online. It's great for file coversion too. I know that there's a version of it that comes with the ART usb dual pre/interface. If you go to any online guitar/music store and search interfaces (Low to High price), you'll find some decent units to get started and some have software like Sonar LE or others. Some mics come with recording software too. You can get Sonar 7 LE for about $49 these days. I can't tell you how good any of that stuff is other than Audacity and Sonar, both of which I have SOME experience, but only for specific uses that I've needed them for so far. I've mastered on Sonar 8.5 and Ozone 4 and I was very impressed. I haven't tracked with either of these software products yet though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted July 29, 2010 Author Share Posted July 29, 2010 Thanks for the responses everyone. Audacity is what I have now and it seems to be more than adequate for my puposes, but I was really just looking to find out if there are other options that people are experienced with. Kristal has apparently gotten better reviews as a free software download. I also have Real Band that came with my Band in a Box, but I haven't played with it yet. My wife also has Garage Band on her Mac laptop, but since I don't have decent speakers for it, I've been using my own PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyg Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Thanks for the responses everyone. Audacity is what I have now and it seems to be more than adequate for my puposes, but I was really just looking to find out if there are other options that people are experienced with. Kristal has apparently gotten better reviews as a free software download. I also have Real Band that came with my Band in a Box, but I haven't played with it yet. My wife also has Garage Band on her Mac laptop, but since I don't have decent speakers for it, I've been using my own PC. Kristal is actually not bad for a free multitracker but it doesn't have the editing capabilities of Audacity and I don't think it's supported or updated anymore. The new Beta of Audacity (1.3.xx) actually has native support for VST plugins but it still doesn't have any MIDI or tempo control. I'm with BentonC on Reaper. At the moment it's only $40.00 to buy and that gives you free updates until v4.99 (currently on 3.67). You can download a full, uncrippled free trial from the website. The free trial actually doesn't time out but I liked it so much I willingly paid the $40.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.