Cubase 4 Wins on Functionality – Pro Tools 7 Wins on Value

We have recently released Version 8 of our Digital Audio Workstation Shootout. This analysis rates 6 of the most popular DAW’s — Cubase, Pro Tools, Sonar, Acid Pro, Live, and Logic Pro — on 130 different factors. There are two different overall measures, a combined functional rating (5 being the highest) and a value rating which is the functional rating divided by the price. The main change in this analysis is the addition of Apple Logic Pro. The ratings of the other products have all been published before, although in this case we did make several minor changes to Cubase based on some discussions with representatives at Yamaha. Ableton Live is still Version 6.0.7 even though Version 7 has been released. You can expect to see an updated shootout which incorporates Live 7 in a month or so. Since this is Logic Pro’s first appearance in the analysis, I do have a few comments on some issues in constructing a value rating for Logic. Also, every time this analysis is published, I get a few of the same questions which I’m going to address here, namely: (1) “Since Pro Tools is the industry leader, why does it rank low in functionality?” (2) “Your analysis doesn’t include Product X-Y-Z. I don’t understand how this analysis could be considered representative without that product.”

Apple Logic – a great bundle if you need all of that

Last fall Apple sent shock waves through the DAW market by cutting the price of the new Logic Pro 8 in half and bundling it into Logic Studio which includes a lot of other goodies. If you look at Logic Pro strictly as a DAW it comes out pretty well. I’ve already discussed some of the pros and cons of Logic Pro 8 in another blog if you’re interested in pursuing the details: Logic Pro 8 – Great Bundle Value & Some MIDI Gotchas. The larger question about Logic Pro concerns the value rating. In terms of the rating, it comes in at the middle range along with Sonar 7 Producer Edition. The real issue here is that Logic Pro 8 is bundled with Logic Studio, so you are getting not only Logic Pro but also Soundtrack Pro, several Apple loop Jam Packs, Mainstage, and several other products. Apple’s current PR push is for Mainstage which basically provides preconfigured setups of virtual instruments and FX for live concert situations. If you want to perform live using Logic Pro, it’s a good idea. Of course, if you aren’t into live gigs it doesn’t provide any benefit. The same can be said for Jam Packs. Personally I think Jam Packs are great, easily one of the best loop collections around. However, if you create music primarily by recording or composing MIDI tracks for virtual instruments, you probably won’t be too interested in Jam Packs. The main argument for using the Logic Studio price in computing a value rating is simple: If you want a DAW, the only way to get Logic Pro is to pay $499. Since at least one other product (Sony Acid Pro) includes a loop library, we do give extra credit for the Jam Packs in the functional rating. However, that doesn’t really reflect the value you’re getting from Logic Studio if you’re really into creating music with loops.

Pro Tools — Less Functionality, Good Price

In this analysis Pro Tools LE and M-Powered are used for the basis of the rating. Generally we include products that are roughly in the same price range (more about that later). Pro Tools HD Systems (Pro Tools TDM) has more functionality but also has an entry level price (including hardware) starting around $10,000. In particular Pro Tools LE and M-Powered do not include surround mixing and are fairly weak in video. Cubase, Sonar, and Acid Pro provide good functionality in both of these areas.

Pro Tools, despite recent advances in Version 7, is still lacking in some basic MIDI functions. Two big holes are the lack of drum maps and at least a basic score editor. Historically, the weakness in MIDI is fairly easy to explain. Whereas Cubase and Sonar started as MIDI sequencers, Pro Tools made its bones in the early Nineties when The Next Big Thing was digital audio. Now that virtual instruments are giving new life to MIDI, Pro Tools has been busy playing catch up.

In the last blog I published on the DAW Shootout, I noted that the other main limitation in Pro Tools, at least for remixers and hip hop artists, was the lack of real time pitch shifting and time stretching. With the release of Version 7.4 DigiDesign finally caught up with the rest of the DAW world by introducing Elastic Audio which provides time stretching in real time. Having now put Elastic Audio through its paces for an updated Pro Tools course that we will be releasing shortly, I can say that DigiDesign did a very good implementation of time stretching.

The other good news about Pro Tools is the price. At a street price of $249 it is one of the lowest. We are using the price for M-Powered. The prices for LE are higher but also include one of the DigiDesign audio interfaces (M-Box, 002, etc.). M-Powered is limited to M-Audio audio interfaces. However, if you like M-Audio (and I do) and use it for other pro audio software, you can add M-Powered which has the same functionality as LE and is compatible with other Pro Tools systems at a very modest price.

Products Included

Every time this study is published I receive a few questions about why such-and-such a product is not included. For a DAW to be included there are four criteria: (1) It must have a popular following, which we can measure in our quarterly Music Software Popularity Index . Sales would, of course, be the best measure, but sales information for all products is not publicly available. So several years ago we developed a good proxy measure, Internet search activity. Both Google and Yahoo provide data on Internet search activity which accounts for over 90 percent of Internet searches. So, for example, Mackie Tracktion is not included simply because it barely raises a blip on the search engine radar. (2) It must have most of the components of a DAW. This would eliminate products like Propellerheads Reason because Reason does not handle audio tracks. (3) It must be marketed primarily as a DAW, which would exclude products like Cubase LE and Sonar LE which are usually included with hardware products. (4) It must be priced in a “mid-market” range. The fourth criteria is somewhat problematic. Here is, not a complete, but a fairly representative list of products that are candidates for the DAW shootout. Note that the prices are list prices. Representative dealer prices or minimum advertised prices are many times considerably lower which is why we use those in computing the value rating.

There are a number of basic footnotes that could be added here as far as comparing apples-to-apples. For example, all Pro Tools software except M-Powered includes a hardware audio interface. In defining “mid-market” we exclude the higher end products, namely Pro Tools HD Systems and Steinberg Nuendo and the entry level products like Sonar Home Studio and Logic Express. In the entry level products there are a number of others are not included in this list. Two mid-market products Sonar Studio and Cubase Studio are not included. Both of these products are scaled down versions of their big brothers at a lower cost. The rationale there is simply that people think of Sonar or Cubase, they generally look at the top of the line in making a choice, even though they may start out with the scaled down version.

Thus there are two candidates that we are considering adding, FL Studio XXL Bundle and Digital Performer. FL Studio has come a long way from its beginnings as Fruity Loops and the top end version probably would compare favorably with other DAW’s. FL Studio is certainly popular as shown by our popularity survey. Digital Performer has, of course, long been a robust DAW. However, measuring its internet popularity has always been problematic because it is difficult to figure out how to isolate Digital Performer from the other products from MOTU. We finally decided last quarter to include all of the searches for MOTU and related terms which, if valid does put Digital Performer in the top ten popularity ranking.

Finally, I will make my standard caveat about the DAW Shootout that the relevance of any rating in the shootout to you depends entire on whether or not are need a particular feature. For example, the lack of surround sound mixing in Pro Tools and Ableton Live is a key factor in why they are rated lower. But unless you’re doing surround mixing, that fact may be entirely irrelevant to you.