I've been using Ableton for some years now, bought the whole suite and invested a lot of time into learning it to record on ans synthesise everything else. I recently started collaborating with an engineer in a local studio who uses Pro tools. He tells me that it is a better DAW for audio recording than Ableton which is more suited for EDM/DJ stuff but also does the job of audio recording just fine.
A quick search on here shows that people like Reaper a lot and I haven't seen too much mention of Pro tools so my questions is - is Pro Tools in some way better for recording audio/guitar signals - or is that more down to the interface/gear?
Reason I'm considering it is that there is a free version of pro tools (first) I can get and then 'rewire' with Ableton if it provides a better audio recording as I do everything else in Live (I make jazzy/funky/EDM type stuff). Is this worth doing or should I just stick with Ableton which I know and am used to now?
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Studios use Protools because it is the best software for editing multitracked drums and other areas of real audio. Plus it has the most universal acceptance amongst professional studios, bit like MS Office does in the business world. For the home user it's not essential
My own way of working is usually to start a tune in Ableton, get a rough arrangement going and then export the individual tracks as audio files which I then import into Cubase (similar workflow to PT and Reaper) for final editing and mixing. This is probably because I'm too lazy to learn how to use Ableton properly, but as a long term Cubase guy I just find this way easier.
There is no inherent reason for PT to be better at recording audio than Ableton, that is down to your audio interface and recording chain. It used to be the case that a (very expensive) Pro Tools rig was the only way to do low latency multi channel recording, however with today's interfaces and fast computers that is no longer true.
It's definitely worth trying Reaper, which you can do for free, to see if it suits your workflow, but at the end of the day the best DAW is the one that you can be the most creative with in the shortest possible time, so for your style of music it sounds like Ableton may well be the right choice.
Ableton & Reason (again via ReWire) is a monster setup. You can record audio in either these days.
It depends what you're trying to achieve really. If you want to exchange parts/ideas then whatever will work ought to be fine, rather than HAVING to go ProTools.
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I've recently been persuaded to use Reaper for a new project, and so I've had to learn how to do the same things in that DAW that I find come naturally in Abelton. I'm not so keen on it, as its 'new' and I'm less comfortable with it as I am with Abelton - I'm sure its great, and there's lots of extra potential that I haven't scratched the surface of yet but I still find myself drawn to what I know when I have an idea that I want to persue.
The point is... if using a new piece of software connects you to someone who you want to work with, its worth making the leap. However, there is nothing intrinsically "wrong" with Ableton as a DAW if its what you like using. The other option, of course, is to render stuff to WAV (ensure all the tracks are flattened - ie include all the plug in information etc) then send the files to the other party to use within their own software, and visa vera. That is a faff, though.