SONAR is one of the old-timers of the DAW market. The first version of this program for recording music appeared over 30 years ago, back in the days of MS-DOS.

Cakewalk Sonar is a PC exclusive, which some foreign users call “Logic for Windows”. An elegant and fully customizable interface, many editions for a wide variety of needs and wallets, and extensive audio options (see Cakewalk Sonar: 4 Features to Know About).

In 2015, the well-known guitar brand Gibson acquired Cakewalk and began active development of the DAW, releasing several different editions of the program. The situation soon changed dramatically. At the end of 2017, Gibson found itself on the verge of bankruptcy and began to get rid of unnecessary assets – the Cakewalk team fell under the distribution. DAW development was discontinued, and Cakewalk itself was closed.

While users grieved over the untimely death of the DAW, BandLab stepped in to buy Cakewalk and all of its assets. BandLab reduced the number of versions and changed the pricing policy – now SONAR exists only in the maximum edition and is distributed free of charge.

Included with the program, customers get a large library of samples, a full version of XLN Addictive Drums 2 virtual drums (see Best VST-drums, or Your Own Drummer) and a set of quality plug-ins and effects emulations from Cakewalk. For a free program, the list is more than impressive.

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FL Studio is considered to be a beginner’s program. Such a judgment is erroneous: Deadmau5, Martin Garrix, Afrojack, Anacondaz beatmaker Timur Esetov, Mike Oldfield and a parodist Enjoykin use “frutics” on a regular basis, and Avichi wrote all his hits with her help. It is hardly possible to name each of them as beginners.

FL Studio offers a slightly different approach to creating music and principles of working with tracks – in these moments the DAW is more like a soft step sequencer than a regular music recording program. Nevertheless, the possibilities of FL Studio are wide, and with the proper straightness of the arms and head on the shoulders, the workstation allows you to achieve impressive results.

Included with FL Studio is a wide selection of instruments, synthesizers, effects and plug-ins aimed at creating electronic music. The sound quality of individual elements is not the highest, but this is enough for most work tasks.

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Ask any music forum what software to use for recording music, and someone will definitely advise you on Adobe Audition. For all its popularity, Audition is not a digital workstation, but just an audio editor.

A rich selection of built-in effects and functions is primarily aimed at recording and processing voice, although any audio signal can be recorded using Audition. The editor is easy to learn and use, and supports all existing audio file formats.

Despite this, the program lacks functionality: Audition cannot work with VST instruments (only with effects), and does not have MIDI support – you can forget about Piano Roll, virtual synthesizers, and so on. If the studio work will consist only in recording audio (live instruments), then Audition will become an indispensable assistant, but if you want versatility from your studio, then choose something else.

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The richness of functions and prevalence directly affect the price of the final product – the cost of some programs can go up to several hundred dollars. Nevertheless, the high price does not guarantee ease of use: among the less popular programs there are those that not only cost less, but may also be more convenient to use.

Supported OS: Windows, macOS
Supported plugin formats: VST, AU
Cost: from $ 99
Official website: https://www.ableton.com

The release in 2001 of the first version of Ableton Live was a breakthrough for the music industry. The musicians appreciated the approach to designing the program interface, equally well suited for both sound recording and live performances. In addition to the traditional DAW, users got at their disposal another musical instrument, albeit a software one.

Today Ableton Live is considered the standard in the music industry. Live is the perfect choice for musicians who want to create new loops and samples in a couple of clicks, control all elements of the project and experiment with sound and effects. If you are into electronic music, start with Ableton. Besides being comfortable and flexible, it will make your life easier during live performances.

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