Jump to content

Digital audio workstation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 24.68.243.82 (talk) at 01:04, 19 December 2005 (→Products). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is a system designed to record, edit, and play back digital audio. A key feature of DAWs is the ability to freely manipulate recorded sounds, much like a word processor manipulates typed words.

The term "DAW" simply refers to a general combination of audio multitrack software and high-quality audio hardware —the latter being a specialized audio converter unit which performs some variety of both analog to digital (ADC) and digital to analog (DAC) conversion. For example a digital 8-track system could have eight discrete inputs, and a certain number of outputs —perhaps only stereo output for playback and monitoring.

Because "tracks" are symbolic in the digital medium, multitrack systems could have only a pair of mono inputs and outputs —the discrete audio inputs and outputs provide for simultaneous multitracking capability, wheras limited inputs require audio mixing or later overdubbing.

A professional DAC performs the same function as a common sound card, but is generally an external and sometimes rackmounted unit which offers the advantage of far less noise (hum, static), higher recorded resolution, and better dynamic range, when compared with its consumer cousin.

While almost any home computer with multitrack and editing software can function somewhat as a DAW, the term generally refers to more powerful systems which at minimum have high-quality external ADC-DAC hardware, and some usable audio software, some of which is commercial such as Pro Tools and Logic Pro, some of which is free software such as Audacity or Ardour.

DAWs generally come in two varieties:

  • Computer-based DAWs consist of three components: a computer, an ADC-DAC, and digital audio editor software. The computer acts as a host for the sound card and software and provides processing power for audio editing. The sound card acts as an audio interface, typically converting analog audio signals into digital form, and may also assist in processing audio. The software controls the two hardware components and provides a user interface to allow for recording and editing. Many radio stations in the U.S. prefer using computer-based DAWs over integrated DAWs. Pro Tools, Sound Forge and Adobe Audition (formerly known as Cool Edit) are widely used commercial PC-based DAWs.
  • Integrated DAWs consist of a mixing console, control surface, and digital interface in one device. Integrated DAWs were more popular before personal computers became powerful enough to run DAW software. As computer power increased and price decreased, the popularity of the costly integrated systems dropped. However, systems such as the Orban Audicy once flourished in the radio and television markets.

Development

Musicians and composers long had a desire to integrate stereos, turntables, recording equipment, MIDI keyboards and even electric guitars with computers. Serious computer-based composition tools began to appear with the Atari ST and Amiga computer systems. Enthusiasts continued to seek more integrated, easier-to-use and higher-performance tools for audio creation tasks. Many current DAWs even support integration with video streams allowing full A/V production.

See also: digital audio, digital audio editor, VST (Virtual Studio Technology)

Commercial Systems

Consolidation and commoditization in the commercial space has left Pro Tools by Digidesign as the de-facto standard for multi-track production on the MacOS and Windows. The main competitors are Apple Logic and MOTU Digital Performer, however both products are Mac-only.

Nuendo and Cubase suffered from fragmented development and marketing and a recent bout of "pass the potato." Despite a rabid fan base many were surprised to learn that Steinberg was running at a significant loss, even cancelling an IPO. In under a year the products were acquired by Pinnacle, then spun off again prior to Digidesign/AVID acquiring Pinnacle, and are now owned by Yamaha. Steinberg's VST standard lives on, and is supported by all commercial DAW products in some fashion (additional third party adapters are sometimes required), as well as some open source packages.

Apple has developed an alternative to the VST plug-in standard for OS X based Macintosh systems. This new standard, the AudioUnit (AU), has become very popular for Macintosh OS X based DAWs and was designed in some respects to overcome limitations of VST.

Sony Sound Forge (acquired from Sonic Foundry), Adobe Audition (formerly "Cool Edit Pro" and acquired from Syntrillium) and WavePad Sound Editor are leading products primarily used for single-track editing. Both are only available for Windows. BIAS Peak fills the void on Mac, and Apple's GarageBand incorporates much of the technology of Logic to create a somewhat different take on the DAW for consumer use. Metro is a very competent Macintosh DAW that supports both VST and AU.

Reason is cross-platform and has a tremendous installed base. However, the product is primarily an electronic instrument and therefore lacks many of the core features of a DAW and as such requires a DAW for many production tasks.

Open Source

Audacity screenshot

Given the chaos in the commercial marketplace (not to mention the expense of much professional audio editing software), it's not surprising that open source DAWs have flourished. They are free-to-use and often designed to run on a variety of operating systems. For example, Audacity is an open-source DAW that can run on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and GNU/Linux. Ogg Vorbis is an open-source codec which Audacity supports in addition to mp3 and wav audio file formats. The free version of the WavePad Sound Editing Software is also very popular for Windows.

Open source development of digital audio workstations created technologies such as ALSA drivers and JACK. The Linux Audio Development mailing list, LAD is a major driving force in developing standards like the LADSPA plugin architecture for Linux systems. The LADSPA plugin architecture, the JACK API and the ALSA soundcard driver represent the 'cutting-edge' in open source DAW development for professional audio production.

Linux and BSD also support the aRts (audio Real-time synthesizer) platform, distributed with the K desktop environment, KDE. The aRts system is a modular software synthesizer and soundserver that handles system sounds, recording, playback, and other audio tasks within KDE. aRts modules may be assembled in custom configurations using aRts Builder and used in audio production.

The VST plugin standard is supported as an option by some open source programs, but is generally implemented as a separate plugin, not a built-in option, due to Steinberg's licensing scheme. Among others, the creators of Audacity provide an optional, somewhat minimalist VST-to-LADSPA bridge plugin for their software, but it is a separate download.

Common Functionality of Computer-Based DAWs

File:Audacity-windows-small.jpg
Setting envelope points in Audacity

Most computer-based DAWs have a standard layout which includes transport controls (play, rewind, record, etc.), track controls and/or a mixer, and a waveform display. In single-track DAWs, only one (mono or stereo form) sound is displayed at a time.

Multitrack DAWs support operations on multiple tracks at once. Each track typically has controls that allow the user to adjust the overall volume and balance (pan) of all of the waveforms contained within the track. The pan control allows the user to adjust the balance between speakers. In addition, plugins can be placed on a track to process the sound.

Another common DAW feature is automation, commonly performed through "envelope points." Each dot represents one envelope point. By creating and adjusting multiple points along a waveform, the user can specify parameters of the sound over time (e.g., volume or pan). During playback, the characteristics of the waveform change in real-time!

Products

Commercially-available Macintosh or PC-Based DAWs include:

Free and open source PC-based DAW systems include:

Integrated DAW systems include:

See also

Multitracking

Manufacturer Home Pages

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Digital_audio_workstation&oldid=31910244"