Shootout: 6 Pro Audio Software Products Rated

Digital Music Doctor announces the release a new analysis which compares six of the most popular Digital Audio Workstation software products from DigiDesign, Steinberg, Cakewalk, Sony, Apple, and Ableton. This analysis is an update of a previous study and now includes ratings based on the new features in Ableton Live 7. The analysis measures these products based on two ratings, an overall functional rating and a value ratio. In the functional rating Cubase 4 remains the leader by a small margin over Sonar 7. However, in the value ratio Pro Tools 7 provides the most value for the money, whereas Cubase 4 ranks lowest.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) April 29, 2008 -- Digital Music Doctor announces the release a new analysis which compares six of the most popular Digital Audio Workstation software products from DigiDesign, Steinberg, Cakewalk, Sony, Apple, and Ableton. This analysis is an update of a previous study and now includes ratings based on the new features in Ableton Live 7. The analysis measures these products based on two ratings, an overall functional rating and a value ratio. In the functional rating Cubase 4 remains the leader by a small margin over Sonar 7. However, in the value ratio Pro Tools 7 provides the most value for the money, whereas Cubase 4 ranks lowest.

PRODUCT RANK     (FUNCTIONAL RATING)
1 - Cubase 4 (4.6)
2 - Sonar 7 (4.4)
3 - Logic Pro 8 (4.2)
4 - Acid Pro 6 (3.4)
5 - Pro Tools 7 (3.2)
5 - Live 7 (3.2)

PRODUCT RANK    (VALUE RATIO)
1 - Pro Tools 7 (1.29)
2 - Acid Pro 6 (1.14)
3 - Sonar 7 (0.88)
4 - Logic Pro 8 (0.84)
5 - Live 7 (0.64)
6 - Cubase 4 (0.58)

This update of the study recognizes the new features in Ableton Live 7. The video functionality of Live has been significantly upgraded with the addition of video export, basic video editing, and support for additional video formats. Other new features which had a significant impact on the rating include spectrum analysis, dither, and REX support.

The functional rating evaluates 130 different factors on a scale of 0-5 (5 being best) which are combined to arrive at an overall rating. The second metric of the analysis is the value ratio which is the ratio of the overall functional rating divided by the representative dealer price. Each main category of the functional rating has several subcategories which provide overall ratings for such functions as mixing, MIDI editors, recording, and track management. The analysis also includes an explanation for each rating as well as a description of what a particular function is and why it is important.

This analysis is based on the materials used in the video training courses produced by Digital Music Doctor for Digidesign Pro Tools, Cakewalk Sonar, Steinberg Cubase, Sony Acid, Apple Logic Pro, and Ableton Live. The complete analysis is available at the Digital Music Doctor web site:
http://www.digitalmusicdoctor.com/shootout/shootout_summary.htm

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