Actually, Ableton is probably your best bet here. Not only does it deal well with really insane production demands, Ableton also has CV Tools...its own built-in version of Volta/Silent Way. So if you've got the right interface module, it's a snap to send your CV/gate/trig/clock out one side and the modular audio back on the other.
However, while typing this up, I had one of those flashes...and checked the VCV Library pages. Sure enough, VCV now either has, or has paid access to, modules that will allow you to build up a DAW to your own specs. Definitely more fiddly than Ableton, but if you're willing to put the work in to build up a "DAW template" of a sort, this would ALSO be a viable possibility and could be made to be even more of a bespoke solution.
I might not have the biggest experience in Modular but since I have a little bit of a backrground in Engineering i thought i‘d chime in.
Lugia is probably right. The Ableton Team are very forward thinking and constantly coming up with stuff to meet the needs of their Customers, so Ableton definitely is a solid choice.
However if you’re looking for something else:
I personally use Pro Tools and do own a copy of Logic.
PRO TOOLS is absolutely Killer if you mainly use it for Audio Capture and Editing, super fast and well equipped fot the Task BUT:
-Expensive
-Shit Customer Support (no support if you don‘t pay for it extra)
- Very basic Midi implementation wouldn‘t want to use it for productions incorporating many softsynths.
-no Surround Sound
-Bad latency compared to Competition unless you put down Thousands for an HD System.
I‘d personally say don‘t go with LOGIC as it seems to get more convoluted and confusing every Update. Most People I know now call Logic „Garageband Pro“. And I personally dislike it and avoid working with it.
If you want something cheap I‘d encourage you to look at REAPER or ARDOUR.
The former is really awesome and can be set up as you wish. Starting from it‘s looks and ending at the shortcuts. Also REAPER already supports ARM processors natively so it should run great on M1 Macs.
Also STUDIO ONE is fairly Cheap and has pretty awesome Interfacing with Hardware through Pipeline XT+ includes a full on Mastering-Suite that is actually great!
At the End of the Day you‘ll probably be fine with anything you choose to go with. Just try and Stick to one and really learn how it works.
(Totally missed that you own Cubase, If you enjoy Cubase probably check out Nuendo too)
I‘d personally say don‘t go with LOGIC as it seems to get more convoluted and confusing every Update. Most People I know now call Logic „Garageband Pro“. And I personally dislike it and avoid working with it.
-- Cangore
Logic can be confusing for sure but mostly the reason is it's dense functionality.
The step sequencers in the last update go very much into modular territory with the ability to run in every direction independently. Also Logic now has a Session view similar to Ableton and still supports 15 years old Emagic MIDI interfaces and Mackie control.
Very good sounding stock plugins too. To call it Garageband Pro is unfair imho, it's a very capable DAW.
One competitor to Ableton is Bitwig. Has also good CV Plugins built in, is a bit more modern than Ableton and even runs on Linux.
solitud.de | YouTube | Soundcloud | Bandcamp
Excuse me for exaggerating a little.
Maybe I should have stated that, to be fair, a lot of people I‘ve come to know do still use or did use logic and love the workflow.
I guess that’s really a matter of taste. I‘m not massively into the Toolbox thing for example. But thats beyond the scope of this thread.
Sorry if I offended someone that was not the Intent.
The other rationale for using Ableton is, if you get the Suite (or the add-on itself), you also get Max for Live. And that ain't no minor addition; in theory, you could use the internal Max implementation to rewrite THE ENTIRE DAW if you got a wild hair to do that. So, what that comes down to is a situation where if there's something missing that you think Live can work better with, you can cook up that "something" all on your own with Max's object-oriented programming. And you can cook up some major complexity in Max...I've seen a few of Carl Stone's (possibly the ultimate Max-fu practitioner!) Max patches, and they looked like spiders had gone bonkers inside the display with all of the object patching lines.
As for Pro Tools...ewwwwwwwww. My first digital editing platform was a Sound Tools II setup (yep, PRE-ProTools) and it had certain quirks that I learned to get around. But when they first dropped the Native version of PT, (back around V.5 or 6 or something like that), I gave it a shot since it (then, but not for long) could use the STII hardware.
I haven't gotten angrier at a piece of software since the horror that was Finale's 1.x iterations, back circa 1989-90. Yes, it could act like a studio multitrack...but not only that, it had all of the drawbacks of that paradigm AND was about as stable as nitroglycerine being handled by Bobcat Goldthwaite. And later Native iterations weren't any better, plus there was an apparent desire to "crippleware" it in deference to the more lucrative HD versions. And don't even get me started on Avid's "lease plan"...
I eventually realized what the problem was. Pro Tools was/is really well-coded...for coders. But if you're trying to do anything outside of the narrow strictures of commercial studio recording, it'll take the first opportunity it can find to utterly jack your creative thought processes. So for a composer, it's AWFUL...since so much of composition involves NOT thinking in one particular "lane" and exploring all sorts of not-commercial tangents, which is the sort of thing that makes PT act up. But with Ableton, you're dealing with a tool that was designed initially by musicians to solve certain problems that DAWs following the PT model couldn't do. And the same musicians still have plenty of input up to the present version.
The problem is in where each platform's developers aimed the DAW. PT is great if you're PURELY an engineer. It's very happy on that side of the glass, acting like an MCI JH-24 on bigtime 'roids. But don't ask it to do anything unusual. Live, on the other hand, can be a PITA for engineers, because it works much more like an instrument and less like a fridge-sized multitrack lurking in the tape room. It's just fine with "unusual", however, and functions far better as a creative tool than just a glorified software multitrack for composers and musicians.
my tunes: https://stevehand.bandcamp.com/
Excuse me for exaggerating a little.
Maybe I should have stated that, to be fair, a lot of people I‘ve come to know do still use or did use logic and love the workflow.
I guess that’s really a matter of taste. I‘m not massively into the Toolbox thing for example. But thats beyond the scope of this thread.
Sorry if I offended someone that was not the Intent.
-- Cangore
Not at all. Logic has several issues, e.g. Logics naming for the Drummer function is super cringeworthy, for sure very garagebandish.
I use Logic mostly as a multitracker, they did the automation feature right, especially with Mackie Control.
I use Ableton for creating and cowork.
solitud.de | YouTube | Soundcloud | Bandcamp
Why not use Ableton? It's great!
I also have Logic and I find it very cumbersome by comparison.
Latest stuff : https://soundcloud.com/user-352590333
I'm pretty happy with Cakewalk's Sonar, but Machete don't MIDI and I do very little editing. I'm a basic user. Caveat Emptor.
Inscrumental music for prickly pears.
Cubase user here. Ableton looks enticing regarding it's integration with eurorack. Having Cubase Pro, I have trouble with the expense of Albelton. I'm new to eurorack, but have had fairly good success with integration with Cubase. Able to sync midi timing (start/stop/tempo track), which was huge for me. I can't remember the exact native plug in, but I can use Steinbergs built in voltage/wave monitor. Bigger screen than VCV.
AND was about as stable as nitroglycerine being handled by Bobcat Goldthwaite.
-- Lugia
@Lugia Excellent simile. Curious to know how it will land with the younger crowd on here though lol. Showing (y)our age!
I like Reaper, myself, but in fairness I haven't tried anything else in years.
