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Software Review: Digital Audio Workstation Packages
Surround sound-capable software packages that turn your PC into a digital audio workstation
Having been asked to volunteer some time to do audio post-production for various special events recently, it occurred to me that this would be an ideal way to familiarize myself with some of the digital audio workstation (DAW) software packages that are available, and share the experience with our readers. Several audio projects later, I’m writing up the results, and I am actually surprised at what I found.
I went into the project with the expectation that one of the DAW packages would clearly rise to the top, outshining the others in a clear and spectacular way. However, that was definitely not the case. All the packages tested have their strengths and weaknesses, and none was a clear “this is the one for me” winner.
There are lots of packages out there—far too many for one person to evaluate in a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, I imposed some parameters around what I would look at. As I was working on post-production for multi-track recordings of live musical plays to be used as the sound track for a DVD of the event, I wanted to produce a 5.1 surround sound mix. And, as churches often have pretty limited budgets, I stayed with commercially sold packages with an MSRP of under $1,000. I also wanted to focus on systems that promote themselves as a DAW, instead of a looping program. This limited the field to two clear entries (Cakewalk’s Sonar 6 Producer Edition and Adobe Audition 3), with a third that I peaked at as well because they promoted the newer DAW capabilities (Sony Acid).
For the computer hardware used to perform the evaluation, I did this project on my six-year-old home computer with Blue Sky media desk 5.1 monitor speakers. Again, because churches have limited budgets, I felt that running the software on not the latest and greatest hardware would better simulate what many churches have to work with. After all, if you can run one package on an ordinary computer, vs. another for which you have to buy the latest hardware, that can make a big difference in the selection process. The computer on which I ran all the packages consists of an AMD Athlon XP 1700 processor; 1.25 Gig of memory; a 7,200 RPM SATA internal hard drive; a dual-head NVidia graphics card; and a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card.
Lastly, I focused on the mixing and editing capabilities of the software, not the recording end of things, nor the MIDI support (which all the products have). I did experiment with recording in Sonar, and discussed the recording capabilities of recording with an Audition user. Both my experience and the Audition user’s experience were similar: laptops with external USB drives were unreliable recording instruments, and we needed to bring in the above-mentioned desktop system to accomplish the recording and, additionally, installing the drivers for the various recording hardware devices was a pain. For my experiment, I used a Mackie Onyx 16-channel board with FireWire outputs, and a PreSonus eight-channel Firepod interface, to accomplish 24 channels of recording. It took a couple of hours to get the drivers installed so that Sonar could use them—and then we had to do it all over again on the desktop PC when the laptop would randomly chose to stop recording. If you’re using the same audio interface all the time, then once it’s set up, you’d be fine—and Sonar and Audition are both fine, once we swapped out the laptop for a desktop system. Since that time, I’ve purchased a used 24-track Mackie dedicated HDR—no drivers, no fuss. Just plug in the cables to the direct outs of the mixer and it records, every time, all the time, without having to pay attention to it. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer it that way.
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Jim Kumorek is the owner of Spreading Flames Media, providing video/media production and writing services to the A/V/L, technology, architectural and hospitality industries. He has led audio, video and lighting teams in churches as both staff and a volunteer for over 10 years. He can be contacted at james@spreadingflamesmedia.com.
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