Favorite DAW for Windows 11

[Christian DeHoyos]

Hey guys,

I follow some steel players who are using Logic, Garageband, and Luna when they record. But none of these offer Windows options.

In Windows, I've used Cakewalk and Ableton. I'm not certain I'm in love. They either seem geared towards EDM producers or overly complex. Does anyone have a DAW they love to use?

And if so, how did you tweak it to get it to sound the way you dig?

Thanks again
Chris

[Ian Rae]

Reaper is free if you can put up with prompts to buy every time you load it, but cheap if you decide to purchase.
It's as simple or as complicated as you choose to configure it. I discovered it can also edit video.
I use it to record our band rehearsals in a friend's house, and a symphonic brass ensemble in a church.
If I want I can also shoot video and sync it up.

[Tim Kowalski]

I also recommend Reaper for your DAW. It is very powerful, customizable and there are many YouTube videos to help you learn the program from basic recording to advanced features. I have been using it for years and haven't found anything that it can't do or a plugin that doesn't work with it.

[Tom Jordan]

I use Mixcraft Pro by Acoustica. Works great and have been using for several years.

Tom

[Rick Campbell]

I use Presonus Studio One because it's the one I understand the best. They all do the same thing, and there's tons of youtube tutorials for them. It's a deep hole once you take the plunge. There's so much effects plugins, etc... out there to try. Many are free. If you're not careful, you'll spend more time tweaking your setup and trying new plugins than you will actually recording music. I'm guilty of that.
Have fun!

RC

[Nicholas Cox]

Reaper is a great program and one of the most stable.

[Colleen McTigue]

I’ve used Cubase forever, and I love it. You can get Cubase Elements to start, it’s relatively inexpensive, and a good basic setup. I’m on Cubase 13 Pro, and have had no issues with it in Windows 11.

[Jim Fogle]

What kind of tasks do you want to do with a DAW? If your just going to record and edit audio it doesn't get much simpler than the free audio editor, Audacity. https://www.audacityteam.org/

You mentioned Cakewalk which I assume is the free Cakewalk by Bandlab DAW. I agree Cakewalk is a very complex program. But, since the interface is modular you can hide all the elements you don't want or need and create a VERY simple to use interface. In the top, right hand corner there is a drop down menu labeled Workspaces. I'd suggest starting with the "Basic" workspace and customize it to the way you want to work. Then save your custom workspace under a new workspace name. I should also point out that there are Youtube videos about using Cakewalk by Bandlab as well as professional video tutorials at Groove3.com.

I've not used Ableton so I hesitate to comment on it.

Others have mentioned Reaper. Like Cakewalk by Bandlab the Reaper interface can be customized to any degree you want. It costs nothing to try and $60 to buy. The best thing about Reaper is it has a strong and helpful forum as well as many available tutorials. https://www.reaper.fm/

Rick Campbell brought up a very good point, he uses PreSonus Studio One because it works the way he thinks. That's what you want is a software you are comfortable with and feels intuitive to you.

I like Cakewalk by Bandlab for mixing and for all the neat things it can do. But I do most of my live recording on an eight track hardware DAW, a Zoom MRS-8 (the MRS stands for mobile recording studio). I find online recording and gross audio editing easier using Audacity.

You may find you end up using multiple tools depending on what you want to do.

[Joseph Carlson]

Another vote for Presonus Studio One. It just seems to make sense for me, not too complicated, drag and drop functionality. Way more intuitive than other DAWs I've tried.

An added bonus is that you can master with it too.

[Jim Fogle]

Chris,

I hope you will update this thread and let us know what you tried, likes and dislikes of each and what works best for you.

[Dan Kelly]

PreSonus Studio One is what I recommend. I have not tried many others, except ProTools (forget it). I rely on the YT Videos to help me through any confusion and have found Studio One easy to work with.

[Michael McGee]

Reaper is my choice.

[Bill Terry]

An added bonus is that you can master with it too.

I've used Studio One for quite a while, and like Rick and some others have said, it seems to work like I think.

But this 'Project' feature that Joseph mentions is REALLY useful, not just for mastering, although that's likely the target use. Being able to 'build' a project (we could call it a 'release') from multiple songs, and easily work on getting consistent levels, equalization, etc. across each one, arranging a play order, song gaps, etc.. etc. is VERY nice. And this all happens in the context of a project, essentially on one screen. Great feature.. you don't you need it until you do.

[James Quillian]

I use Mixcraft Pro by Acoustica. Works great and have been using for several years.

Tom

I am a Mixcraft guy. You beat me to it. I love it. I have been using it since about 2006. This is the first I've heard it mentioned by anyone else.

[Tony Prior]

While I am a Pro Tools user, Personas Studio One is a really nice package as well. I looked at it on my friends PC and to me it was very familiar to the workflow of Pro Tools. While I am still on a dedicated WIN 7 with Pro Tools I could easily move it to WIN 11. I just don't have a reason to do it at this time, or maybe ever !

One of the things to be aware of with many of the WINDOWS versions is AUTO UPDATES and if you are LIVE on the net. I don't think you can disable WIN 11 updates unless you are on WIN 11 PRO. Many DAWS are NOT IN LOVE with WINDOWS Updates.

[Ian Rae]

Reaper seems indifferent to them. Reaper updates are more frequent, but manual.

[James Quillian]

I use Mixcraft Pro by Acoustica. Works great and have been using for several years.

Tom

I second that and it is quite inexpensive. It had the best support I have ever seen.

[Pete Martin]

Another vote for Reaper here.

[Jim Fogle]

One of the more interesting DAWs is Multitrack Studio. https://www.multitrackstudio.com/

The reason I said Multitrack Studio is interesting is because it is the ONLY DAW I've seen that offers built-in MIDI instruments and says it is designed for a one man band. The program is frequently updated, the forum is active and support is strong.

MultitrackStudio proves that multitrack recording using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) can be as easy as tape-based recording. Its well thought out design makes it easy to use, and yet powerful.
If you like singing and playing your instruments better than trying to figure out some complicated piece of software you'll feel right at home recording in MultitrackStudio!

[Rick Campbell]

One of the more interesting DAWs is Multitrack Studio. https://www.multitrackstudio.com/

The reason I said Multitrack Studio is interesting is because it is the ONLY DAW I've seen that offers built-in MIDI instruments and says it is designed for a one man band. The program is frequently updated, the forum is active and support is strong.

MultitrackStudio proves that multitrack recording using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) can be as easy as tape-based recording. Its well thought out design makes it easy to use, and yet powerful.
If you like singing and playing your instruments better than trying to figure out some complicated piece of software you'll feel right at home recording in MultitrackStudio!

That looks interesting. Thanks for posting!

RC

[Richard Sinkler]

I just started with a software DAW. Presonus Studio One Pro 7. I used a Korg D3200 32 track hard disk recorder years ago. Studio One Pro 7 is very user friendly in my opinion. As was mentioned, there are a ton of YouTube videos for it, although I imagine there are tons for all the other popular ones.

My biggest complaint is there seem to be no downloadable pdf user manual file. I like to have downloaded manuals that I can read on my phone and tablet when I am in bed. I can have them on my desk when needed and don't have to use the help files when using the software.

[Pete Martin]

Reaper has the workflow I like best and has NEVER crashed in many years of work.

[Ian Rae]

That's very true. I've never noticed because, er, it's never crashed...

[Bob Hoffnar]

I would use reaper if I I wasn’t used to pro tools. I may switch the next time avids investors start squeezing again.

[Mike Neer]

I am deep Reaper user now for quite a few years. I have a very powerful setup in my little MSI laptop.