I like Digital Performer because...

[Nama]

Because there is no "pro" or "LE" version of it.

(apart from Audiodesk)

[soundsun]

Because there is no "pro" or "LE" version of it.

(apart from Audiodesk)

I would have to say that this was the biggest reason I decided to give up on ProTools.

[stickwolf]

Strongly agreed! Somehow the idea of hampering or impeding the functionality of something in order to make an LE version seems just wrong. And in the end the consumer gets crappier product and the "pro" gets ripped off because they overprice things assuming that the pro should be able to afford it and because they're making so much less on the LE version.

Ok, but yeah it's complicated. Arg. There's always pros and cons and arguments on either side. I can see the other side of this too, and it isn't crazy. But I like DP the way it is.

[Frodo]

I like DP because the GUI overall makes SO much sense.

[glmusic]

For me, they have done the best job of translating the "studio" into a software environment. When you first boot into DP, it feels familiar. I think Pro Tools has captured this vibe as well. Other stuff does the job and sounds good, but to my eyes and sensibilities, they look and feel "artificial." I like Garageband for this reason. You don't need a manual to use it, it just makes sense. For instance, when I look at all of the colors present in the Cubase program, it looks kinda of cartoonish to me. Logic looks a little Sci-Fi, etc.

[Tim]

Because Digital Performer likes me.

[Shooshie]

I used to like DP because it was so rock-solid, and everything worked as advertised. I still love DP for many, many reasons, but that particular one is slipping away. Lots of tiny, annoying bugs are starting to make me concerned about the programming in general. Don't take this as a slam. I'm 100% committed to this platform, having made my living with it since 1988, I'm not in any mood to switch, but I feel like my longevity also gives me the right to speak up about the trend toward sloppiness. I would highly recommend that everyone, and I mean everyone, write MOTU about this. I don't recall if we have a current bug report thread, but we need to consolidate that kind of information into one thread to make it easier for MOTU to read it.

Sorry to change the mood. Let me add that I agree with all the above posts. It is one amazing application. OS X has just thrown some special challenges at it, and we don't have the years of fixes behind it, yet. We'll get there. DP has so many amazing features. Sometimes I challenge my own creativity just to see if I can use a feature I haven't tried or don't use often. DP has plenty to offer this way.

Shooshie

[MarkH]

Shooshie - While I know the severity of bugs is relative to each user's requirements, I have to voice my opinion about one thing. Bugs are causing heartache on every DAW to the point where the forums are a disaster and I see so much anger. Whether its performance issues in Pro Tools, tons of bugs in Logic, or even more bugs in Cubase, the bugs are everywhere. I know it's not an excuse to say that just because everyone else has bugs it's ok for DP to have bugs..but cutting MOTU some slack and looking at all the DAWs collectively, DP ranks pretty well.

I figured that since you've been using DP for so long maybe you haven't ventured lately to see if the grass is greener on the other side, and while there are some nice green patches in other people's property it's by no means worth hopping the fence.

I fully support writing MOTU, but it needs to be done in a respectful and tasteful manner so they don't see it as an attack on them.

[williemyers]

...I'm a masochist!

[Aramis]

I like and use DP because it make sense on a MAC ...
DP is the most friendlyuser daw I know ....
Aramis

[Guitar Gaz]

Many times I wondered if I made the right choice when moving on from Vision DSP and OS9 to DP. However having dabbled with Logic, I never got the hang of it or liked it, and Cubase seems alien to my way of working. Pro Tools seems the way to go if you have tons of processing power. But for your average Mac user, DP is probably the best package - it is quirky and difficult to use intuitively at first (compared with Vision), but eventually the ability to customise makes it a very usable option. It is a deep program, and maybe too complex to take in all at once - the number of users who seem to have grown with the program seem to suggest that sticking with it brings rewards.

I am beginning to like it - and this is after a year or so of frustration. This forum is a real plus - it makes DP even more viable. Compared with other forums I dabble in there is little unpleasantness or argument - people try to help each other.

[Silicon Beach Studio]

like GG I switched from Opcode's vision to DP4 (actually having used a v early version of Performer in the mid 80's), as it seemed to have the most similar approach - particularly having discrete sequences open in one file, which i really couldn't do without ... in fact, i don't see how anyone scoring to pix could work without that ...

Apart from that, it's the most "musical" from a composer's point of view and (along with Logic) the most Mac friendly.

[wvandyck]

The Audio editting capabilities.
The Mixer layout and routing capabilities.
The Consolidation Window.

The supplied plugs: Generally gorgeous interfaces, and a bucket full of presets. More importantly, going beyond the presets yields highly useful results.

The Trim plug. The ability to indpenedently adjust pan and volume on stereo tracks=

Masterworks EQ.

I find DP to be amazingly stable on my older machine loaded with third-party enhancements

[KarlSutton]

Shoosie - I understand where you are coming from - but I wanted to chime in and point out that the earlier "more stable" versions of yesterday had fewer 3rd partry VI's & plugins to deal with. I don't know about you guys but when I started using DP3, I was still using samplecell and an old TDM system. So my non DP plugins were all TDM. I was pretty impressed that all of that worked then, now with everything being integrated within the DP app itself I am really happy with its performance. Plus all I have to upgrade now is my CPU instead of a whole set of PCI cards etc.

Currently my only weird crash happenes when I quit DP! How can it unexpectedly quit when I told it to? It's like "your fired" "no I quit!"

[markwayne]

I used to like DP because it was so rock-solid, and everything worked as advertised. I still love DP for many, many reasons, but that particular one is slipping away. Lots of tiny, annoying bugs are starting to make me concerned about the programming in general. Don't take this as a slam. I'm 100% committed to this platform, having made my living with it since 1988, I'm not in any mood to switch, but I feel like my longevity also gives me the right to speak up about the trend toward sloppiness.

I have to agree with Shooshie and I have also used Performer/DP since around 1989. I think that there is a misunderstanding that occurs whenever someone brings up bugs in DP here. When others such as myself bring up bugs or problems with DP, please understand that we are not talking about crashes or anything so dramatic. Those are usually easy to fix and, thankfully, rare in DP. I can count on one hand the number of times DP has quit, crashed or locked up on me in the last year. The bugs I'm talking about are more subtle problems which is what makes them so frustrating. While all the major DAWs out there have bugs, the ones that cause me the most grief are the ones that sneak up and interupt the creative flow. Saddly, these seem to be growing in DP at the moment. I'm using Live more and more for writting at the moment to protect the fragille muse. I used to start and finish every project in DP.

Wayne