The Steel Guitar Forum

I am switching from Windoze to OSX.
I am used to Sonar with plugins, and Biab on WinXP.

Which Digital Audio Workstations do you guys use?
And can VST plugins for Sonar (WinXP) be used on a Mac?

Any suggestion appreciated.

I use Pro tools 8 but they are all good...sonar, digital performer, cubase..
If you used to Sonar might want to stick with it to minimize your re learning...
Good move going to MAC. Not sure about VST plug ins

I'm not sure that it qualifies as a DAW, but I use BIAB and GarageBand. Cheap stuff. Here's an example made with it for the Forum Showcase CD: soundcloud.com/b0b/a-train-runs-through-it.

Scott Henderson wrote: If you used to Sonar might want to stick with it to minimize your re learning...

Sonar runs on a Mac?

Sorry about that Guess I spoke out of turn..I did some diggin and discovered Sonar and MAC don't get along to well...

Thanks guys,
I am going through some Garage Band tutorials, just to check it out.

Hi Peter, I have Logic Express. I does not have all the glory of Logic Pro but does seem to do the job well for me. Have a look at the turorials. Roger

Logic. Will have it with me in Dallas if you want a tour.

I just downloaded Logic Express and a bunch of tutorial videos. Lots of work to do!

I would love a tour in Dallas, but I am 9000 miles away. Oh well.

Another vote for Logic, once I left the PC camp it seemed the 'right' thing to do. Plus I had some time seeing it over the shoulder of a good friend who uses Logic in a commercial studio, so I saw it in the hands of a power user.

I think the plugs that Apple provides 'free' with Logic are some of the best going. BTW, I have Logic 9 running on a Mac G5 with absolutely no issues, even though Apple says it requires a Mac Pro (Intel) machine.

Peter if you get stuck on something send me an email. There are some excellent and affordable tutuorals at macprovideo.com I've tried a few and these were the best (IMO)

I use a few different DAW's, I like DP 7 from Motu I also love Logic Audio and to be honest the newest version of Garage Band in IWorks 11 sure has a lot more to offer than it did just a couple of years ago. I also enjoy using BIAB 2011 on the PC side and then import it into Garage Band on the Mac side. Good luck with any DAW you choose!!

Big Bob

I played around a bit with a couple of suggested DAWs, but they do not seem to support VST plugins.

I really do not want to loose the RealGuitar Plugins from MusicLab and the Line6 Gearbox plugin for my PodXT.
I think they both are VST and/or DXI plugins.

Which Mac DAW does support VST? It looks like ProTools is the only one, but the version of ProTools I tried needs specific hardware, I believe? I could not get it to work.

FWIW, I have Line6 Gearbox on my Mac. It's an app, not a plug-in. I use it to manage the patches in my Pod XT.

Thanks b0b, I will look into that one.

It is my intention to use Gearbox for re-amping as discussed here:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=200505

Guys, I must apologize for all the questions, but I only aquired the Mac a few days ago. So the learning curve is a bit steep.
The audio set-up looks like a giant puzzle and I need to decide which pieces fit together the best.

(I can setup an audio system on a Windows machine in about 5 minutes. )

I wasn't aware that GearBox could be used as a plug-in like that. Interesting. The program does work well on a Mac, and I see that "Line6: GearBox" appears as an Audio Unit in Audacity's Effects menu. The dialog that it pulls up is too tall for my screen, though. I can't seem to get it to work.

Thanks b0b, I got Gearbox to work with the PodXT, pulled the Pod's memory content across to the MAC hard drive via Tonelocker and it works perfectly as an AU plugin in Adobe Audition 4 (previously CoolEdit).

You can reduce the hight of the Gearbox dialog box by using the show/hide buttons (red triangles).

Now I just have to install the rest of the hardware.

Peter, line 6 has a complete line of Mac drivers and same apps to use on your Mac as good if not better than the PC. Jjust go to www.line6.com and go to downloads and every download they have for PC is also there for Mac ie they support everything they make for the Mac just as they do the PC, if you have problems let me know I'll help ya good luck!!

Big Bob

Thanks Bob M.
I couple of days ago I downloaded all those Line6 drivers and apps. and activated everything.
Now I must do the same for the rest of my external synths and other hardware.
After it is all working, I will choose the DAW.

If needed, I will certainly take you up on your offer, thank you so much.

I see the GearBox plug-in in GarageBand now and it looks great. Ditto in Logic Express. It looks wrong in Audacity, though. I think that Audacity doesn't launch it correctly.

I haven't hooked up my Pod XT to test this, but I will! It looks really powerful. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

I switched everything from PC to Mac about a year ago. Switched my business and everything. Had to purchase a ton of Mac software and sell the PC software (that was salable) on eBay. But making the switch was a great decision.

My experience with the Mac is that it is much more logical than the PC and much less of a hassle. I have now helped my daughter's family and also a good friend make the switch and they are very pleased they did.

In regards to using DAWs, I am a relative newby, with the exception of Audacity and having played around with Cubase LE on PC's for a couple of years, nothing serious. However, in the past two months, I have rolled up my sleeves and learned the basics of Cubase LE, Reaper, and more recently GarageBand. I have also downloaded and installed the free version of Native Instruments.

GarageBand has really turned my head about the advantages of going native Mac, so a couple of days ago I bought Logic Express, which is going to be delivered today. I will probably need some help getting up to speed.

As far as Mac questions, however, I may be able to answer some. In particular, how to do a PC thing on a Mac (and vice versa). I also upgraded the hard drives on my MacBook pro and one of my Mac Minis so I have some hardware experience as well. And I just bought a second Mac Mini used (would have bought yours Bob but too late) and have set it up as a dedicated machine in my home studio. I am using a Zoom R16 as a Control Surface/Interface.

Sorry for the long post

Check out Studio Live from Presonus. Super easy to use pro DAW.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=198378

Thanks, I'll check out Studio One.

UPDATE:

I downloaded a trial version and it looks awesome.
This one will soon give Apple (Logic) and Avid (ProTools) a run for their money.

I have been able to record with pretty well with an Apogee duet into GB but really want to learn more about loops, rhythms etc. Any suggestions for good tutorials and an intro to Logic if I want to upgrade would be welcome. I am using a Macbook Pro and am a long time Mac user. Thanks

Steve

Tore Blestrud wrote:Check out Studio Live from Presonus. Super easy to use pro DAW.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=198378

The good thing about Presonus Studio live is that it will work on the PC side as well as the Mac side too (You do have to download the version you want to use one version does not work on both PC and Mac so make sure you download the correct version). So if you record something on the PC you can import it directly into your Mac with all plugins and all other parameters being there as well.
I bought the "lite version" which is still a great DAW called "Studio One" it the other day through AudioMidi.com on their special deal for 30.00.

Bob Martin