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Thread: Which small DAW to get?

  1. #1
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
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    Which small DAW to get?

    I am seriously considering upgrading from my Tascam digital portastudio when I get my tax incentive package.

    2 systems that I am really looking at are the Korg D888 and the Zoom HD16CD, both of which cost about the same...

    Both come with Cubase LE. The Korg has 8 channels ONLY - but does have virtuals. The Zoom has more features, like drum machine and such, but I wonder about the quality. The Zoom has 16 channels, which would aid in flexibility. The Korg has dedicated pre-fade outs for each channel, which would aid in recording live bands without affecting the FOH mix. The Zoom can act as a USB control surface when you are plugged into the PC. The Korg supposedly works well through USB to the PC.

    I can get either one for about 7 C-notes all over the place, but my boss at The Music Store is blowing 2 of the D888's out for $100 under cost, just to clear room out. So, I could get a brand new one of those for under 5 bills...or get a used Zoom for about the same.

    Oh, I should mention that a buddy of mine (who has a Mackie HDR-24 based professional studio) has one of the Zooms for mobile recording and loves it...

    So, keeping in mind that I'd like to stay at or under the $700 mark for the actual system ('cause I'd like to get some more mics and upgrade my PC) what do all y'all think?

    "I'm gonna find myself a girl
    that can show me what laughter means
    And we'll fill in the missing colors
    In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."

  2. #2
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: Which small DAW to get?

    Quote Originally Posted by fezz parka View Post
    No better DAW out there than the computer you're sitting in front of.
    +1. Unless you need the portability, the flexibility of any PC DAW blows a standalone away.

  3. #3
    TFF Stage Crew
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    Re: Which small DAW to get?

    Yep. It's one of those things where the tech gets better literally every few months.

    Consider that I just tracked, mixed and mastered an entire CD on the least expensive Apple iBook from 2005.

    We also just recorded 16-tracks of our band live on a newer (but not top of the line) MacBook to the INTERNAL* drive. I'm just finishing up mixing & mastering that now and it sounds killer.

    This isn't a Mac commercial. I realize Macs are more expensive than PCs and you already have a computer you like, and that's my point. If we can do serious-ass tracking on a $1400 Mac laptop (w/ProTools LE), you can do everything you say you need with the available software on your own machine or even on a $700 Wintel laptop for portability sake.

    (*This was an accident. We had my bassist's new MacBook and my huge-capacity, super-fast external HD so I could then take the tracks home and mix them. The bassist has just now switched from Wintel to Apple and made an error in setting up the ProTools file so that the actual audio got recorded right onto the laptop's own drive. We couldn't believe that actually worked--it's really not supposed to--but that's what I mean when I say the tech gets better every few months.)

  4. #4
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
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    Re: Which small DAW to get?

    Well, If I could afford it, I'd get a couple of firewire or USB 8-channel strips and a laptop...I know that we've discussed this on here before, and I keep changing my mind about my needs - but then again, I just spent beaucoup bucks on my guitar collection.

    I like the simplicity of the standalone recorders - but the one I have only records 2 tracks at a time - hence the need for an upgrade.

    I had thought to get a new Wintel desktop for more serious recording at home and then get one of these 8-channel jobbers to take out of the house. Add another decent LDC, a used pack of drum mics, and another dynamic or two from Sound Source's used mic box, and I'd be up around $1500 - which is what I should get from the Guv'ment.

    At this point I'm looking at an incremental kind of thing - get the portable, then the mics, then upgrade the PC, then get firewire strips, then etc...

    "I'm gonna find myself a girl
    that can show me what laughter means
    And we'll fill in the missing colors
    In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."

  5. #5
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
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    Re: Which small DAW to get?

    Quote Originally Posted by fezz parka View Post
    No better DAW out there than the computer you're sitting in front of.
    Fezz, when I'm at home I'm sitting in front of a PIII667 with 512 MB RAM that I built from parts.

    Surprisingly, it works - though if I have too many tracks in memory while recording more tracks, I get little hiccups in timing. That's why I really prefer the standalones - they seem more like an old reel-to-reel or cassette portastudio.

    "I'm gonna find myself a girl
    that can show me what laughter means
    And we'll fill in the missing colors
    In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."

  6. #6
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: Which small DAW to get?

    While my DAW (Yamaha AW16G) is definately low-grade at this point, I like the fact there's real buttons and knobs that after a couple minutes of refamiliarization, work very intuitively, in ways I don't think I'd get from a PC.

    What I don't like is that I only have is a very slow CD drive to bring things in and out with.
    Several guitars in different colors
    Things to make them fuzzy
    Things to make them louder
    orange picks

  7. #7
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
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    Re: Which small DAW to get?

    I am using Cool Edit Pro 1.2a - and I think I accepted the default buffer settings. 9600 RPM hard drive (I think) - plenty of space on it - not very fragmented. I run no other software at the time, and make sure all my IM stuff is off.

    I am recording into an Echo Darla (2 in and 8 out) PC card interface and monitoring outs 1 and 2 from the Darla. Other than drums, I record no stereo tracks (on the assumption that stereo 1. is unnecessary in all but a few select cases, and 2. makes things difficult to place during mixdown. I run no plug-ins, and keep everything as simple as possible. I have been successful in the past in having up to about 16 tracks of audio loaded in memory while tracking (of course, they're not all running at the same time) but sometimes while I'm recording the thing has a very slight lag that quickly goes away - kind of like the electronic skip protection on CD players.

    However, I often do a lot of basic tracking /demo'ing on my Tascam, which is so ridiculously easy to use that I've recorded several late-night demos while deep in my cups that surprised me the next day that they sounded good at all.

    as Annie would say, ayma luddite.

    "I'm gonna find myself a girl
    that can show me what laughter means
    And we'll fill in the missing colors
    In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."

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