MOTU Digital Performer 8

Every DAW has it's killer feature. Everybody that owns a DAW dreams of their DAW adding a feature another DAW has. With Cubase it's Expression Maps, Live Dynamics and maybe note Expressions with VST 3. Logic is closely tied to Apple (or better or worse), and is a very fun DAW to use. There are others but I'm sticking to the 'big three" film DAWs. Here are what I feel are the pros and cons of Digital Performer.

Pros:

So what are DP's killer features? There are many. I'll touch in two big ones.

Chunks with VRacks is workflow powerhouse. This feature allows you to put all of your Instrument tracks (VI Tracks) - which are separate from MIDI tracks (more on that later), and put them in Chunks. So, here's the deal in plain english. In the Chunks window, you can create an entirely new project (called a Sequence), without closing out of your current project and having to reload all your VIs, etc. In the Chunks window (which looks like a playlist) you "Add new sequence", with the option of copying the track layout of the first sequence. A brand new Sequence appears. And again It can be blank or it can copy the layout and track assignments (more on that later) of the first sequence. You can also store all of your VIs in the Chunks window in a Vrack (just a fancy name for a place to keep your VI tracks so they can be accessed across multiple sequences).

But DP goes a step further. Once you have more then one Sequence in the Chunks Window (and remember you're not taking up any more RAM because the Sequences are just a collection of empty tracks that share the VIs), you can move up the hierarchy and create a Song Window. A Song Window allows you to drag and drop sequences from the Chunks window into the Song window (which, again, is like a playlist, but this time much more visually editable). so that you can arrange every single cue in a film. Your entire score for a film could be played back with the video window without every leaving or closing the original project. This makes transitioning between cues and segments fantastically easy. And to top to off, DP's syncing to video is second to known. Rock solid. Btw, DP supports 1080p video.

Here's another big one. DP keeps it's MIDI tracks separate from it's VI tracks. This is where some people say, "wha'? That creates more work. right? That's an old-school way to work, right?

No, it's not and here's why. How many of you use Kontakt? How many of you use Vienna Ensemble Pro? If you use Logic for example, you know that you have to switch to multi-timbrel mode. Kind of pain, right? In DP you're ALWAYS in multi-timbrel mode. Setting up a template with Kontakt and VEP is a piece of cake. Almost like they were made for each other, In fact VSL has a MAS version of the Vienna Ensemble Pro plugin. MAS is DP's AU or VST. And ironically it's superior in many ways. MAS contains 64 ports of 16 channels of MIDI. AU only has one port with 16 channels. Same with VST 2. MAS supports up to 99 busses. AU? Usually 8 or 16. MAS is more like VST 3 but with less developer support. Luckily two major players VSL and Audio Ease have MAS versions of their products.

If by chance you use VEP (Vienna Ensemble Pro), all of your VIs are hosted in VEP while DP is just a MIDI sequencer, not getting bogged down with anything other than a Master Bus channel of effects and possibly some aux channels set up as busses with reverbs inserted. In this method DP takes up a very small foot print and remains quick (and yes, Vienna Ensemble Pro Server Interfaces can reside in Vracks so you can share them across multiple sequences). This comes in very handy when scoring to film or other visual media, where you might want to use a different template for a different kind of scene. Besides being able to save Templates, you can save Bundles, which is your organized I/O (bus assignments, ReWire assignments, Instrument assignments, etc..) for a project/sequence. And in DP, you can save Bundles and import them into any sequence within a Chunk.

One good example goes like this. Let's say you'e composing an orchestral cue for a section of the movie, then you decide to do some sound design or compose something with synths and also track live instruments like bass or percussion. You open a new sequence in the Chunks window, and import your saved synth Bundle. This will automatically setup all of the busses, instrument assignments and channel configurations. All the while DP is masterfully keeping track of movie times and is ready to sync your new sequence up perfectly.

There are other great features like Device Groups, Freezing Tracks (and offline and online bouncing), Broadcast WAVE is the default file format but DP can export to over 20 formats including Quicktime Movie and all Core Audio formats. DP also has a powerful Conductor track, a Consolidated Window system, Window Sets, and support for Themes (currently there are about 30 and 3rd parties make more). Track color themes are editable with a bunch of built in presets.

Finally, Digital Performer supports MAS, AU and VST2 natively. There are MANY other features that most people don't know about. But to give you some idea. Digital Performer's 8 User Manual was 992 pages long! DP also comes with a searchable PDF version of the manual which is available in the Help Menu.

There's a 30 day no restrictions demo for Mac and Windows on MOTU's site.


Cons:

MOTU, for some reason, does not include their sampler MachFive with DP. That's a mistake. I've seen some well know developers try to release MachFive versions that didn't sell well, so they stopped. Even the Dp users were buying the Kontakt version. MachFive should be in the hands of every DP user and then we might see some serious adoption for this great sampler.

I've tried my hand at Logic and Cubase and there were a few features in each DAW that felt wonderful to use so when I went back to DP I really missed those features.

It's pretty obvious to anyone composing with MIDi orchestral instruments that Cubase has two features that are so good that they've raised the bar in MIDI note entry and editing. It really begs the question, what are MOTU and Apple going to do about it? MOTU may find a way to work it in somehow, but Apple, they live and die with AU. So what's the latest with the AU spec anyway?

Note Expression, Expression Maps and VST Dynamics are the elephants in the room. Those two features alone are causing users of other DAWs to migrate to Cubase. For me personally Expression Maps are definitely a nicety that I would love to have in DP, but IMO it's VST Dynamics that's the killer feature. Both speed up the workflow tremendously, but VST Dynamics like some notation programs allows one to insert a simple dynamic mark and the CC data is written automatically. Why don't other DAWs have this? It seems so obvious. Dp and Cubase are pretty neck and neck. Dp adds some features first and Cubase follows suit, or Cubase will add a feature that DP eventually gets. Well Expression Maps and VST Dynamics better be on the top of MOTU's list for DP10. I need to work with Note Expressions more to see how or where it's really useful. Plus you need VST3 plugins for it to work.

I like how note names are displayed in the Key Editor. Simple but effective.

ASIO-Guard 2 on the Windows version sounds pretty cool too.

Other than that, if you really compare the to programs they have many features in common. For instance Vari-Audio in Cubase is Pitch Automation in DP. Track Group editing, Take comping, Sample Editor is Waveform Editor, both have a Drum Editor, both export Music XML, VCA faders, Plug-in manager is the Effect Chooser, Rendering in place, similar effects, and the list goes on.

So, DP has Chunks and Cubase has Expression Maps and VST Dynamics. I want all of them. But I'll take Chunks for now.

Logic has some cool features. The first thing I noticed was dragging a MIDI note upwards and adding to the velocity. Brilliant! The Quantize feature was so easy to use. Why don't they all do it like that? One of my favorite is Logic's Score editor. It almost felt like a notation program. Really good. Editing MIDi in Logic is fast. Editing CCs in DP is unmatched though. DP gives you three different ways to view CCs. Cubase gives you lanes but I find that a waste of space. Logic has a great suite of plugins and then there's MainStage. If you use a DAW live DP is actually really good and a lot of big and not so big names take DP on the road with them. But MainStage is for the guy on stage who needs to get a whole list of things done at the same time done with a minimum of fuss. I see bands at local bars who sound like a 10 piece band and there's 2 guys up there. That's MainStage.

Conclusion:

How does DP stack up to Cubase and Logic? Very well. I like Logic and Cubase. DP and Cubase seem to have a lot in common although the are some significant differences. Cubase's Expression Maps and VST Dynamics are huge, and make DP and Logic users envious. But running a notation program that's ReWired to DP almost does the trick.

All are great DAWs. If I had to rate them for MIDI orchestrators it would go like this:

1) Digital Performer - Chunks is just too powerful to overlook. And Cubase has no answer for it.
2) Cubase - Expression Maps and VST Dynamics make Cubase a VERY close second.
3) Logic - It's still the great program it's always been. Logic X added some great new features. Previous versions had a very weird and confusing menu structure. Apple added Track Stacks. Buying Alchemy didn't hurt. But you have to wonder who Apple's audience it. Logic X didn't make great strides for the MIDI orchestrator.

All three are great creative and composing tools. And all three can do the job. But feature wise for the orchestrator, some are aggressively adding features, some not as much.