Topic: Why Podium?

@AngelicLight wrote:

Hi, there,

I just followed a KVR link to this site and I am wondering if those users who switched from other DAW’s would please share their reasoning?

Hi,

Well for me I just got frustrated with the envelope issues with Sonar.

While Cakewak without a doubt have made many efforts to keep them working 100% (6.2 seems ok) it has been an on and off problem since Sonar 3. I appreciate Sonar may be many times more complex than Podium but automation is far too important to not work every time.

Even though Cakewalk are a very responsive company (especially considering the large number of products they offer) Frits is even more responsive and frankly can pretty much guarantee a fix for even the smallest of bugs in Podium.

If Frits can reproduce it he will fix it. There are no “known issues” in Podium. WYSIWYG.

Simple and 100% reliable. That is a very big deal. Saves time and money. I spent money looking at other options I could have saved if Sonar was more reliable at the time. There were other issues as well.

Cakewalk remain one of my favourite developers but I just cannot rely on Sonar alone for my work. I currently use it for things that cannot be done in Podium. Plugs like V-Vocal have no equivalent option in Podium and it would probably be unfair and unrealistic of me to expect such a plug in from Frits as he does not have Cakewalks resources.

As powerful as Sonar is, it is not the easiest host to get into or use. When it all comes together it is really great…. 8) But so many times if you cannot hear something or you are about to do something that will cause problems Sonar gives you little or no indication that what you are trying to do will not work. 😕

Podium at least will show a yellow or red icon that quickly lets you know somethings wrong. I think with a feature packed host like Sonar, those sort of indicators are a must. Too much is assumed of a user in Sonar IMO. The new Cakewalk vids are great but more can be done internally within Sonar to make the whole experience much easier.

There are many things I still need Sonar for, but right now Podium lets me work without a thought for bugs of any kind which is extremely rare with audio and midi hosts.

I still have Tracktion2 and may upgrade it to 3 for collaborative work.

Any thoughts on productivity, workflow, and others as to why you like Podium?

Podiums Project Start page is the easiest of any host I have used (Cubase, Sonar, ACID, Tracktion, EXT to name a few) so getting started is really easy IMO. Most of the action in Podium for me takes place in the Track panels. Preset browsing is the simplest I have come across. Very transparent. Some aspects of the Inspector area in Podium are very advanced (more than any host I have used) yet easy to get into and be productive.

Have a look at this…

http://www.zynewave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6741&highlight=group+panels#6741

You may also want to have a good think about certain features you really like in Tracktion or Cubase and find out if Podium has them or can provide something similar. Just guessing. That may not even be a deciding factor for you. In any case I am sure Frits is happy to answer your questions. 😉

True, Podium is the most stable host out there that I’ve used. This is probably one of the things I’ve never experienced with other hosts, once you’ve had real stability you don’t understand why you just accepted instability with other hosts in the past.

I’ll let you know my hosts in order that I used and tried extensively over the years since 1999

Fruity Loops from 1.3 up to 6.0, Reason from 2 to 3, Sonar from 4 to 6,
Samplitude 8, Cubase vst 5, sx1, sx2, sx3, & 4, Reaper, EnergyXT 1.36 to XT2 beta, Pro Tools, Buzz, Ableton Live 3 to 6, Acid Pro 5 & 6, Cool Edit (in early stages just manipulating audio)…I’m sure there are some that I’m forgeting. edit: Emagic Logic audio 4-5.5

The point is that I’ve given most of these hosts a good run for their money, retried them over the years again and again, searching for that perfect host.

I’ve spent too much money buy at least a few of those apps above only to end up being unsatisfied.

I’ve come to find I can only work with programs where the developer is in it for the right reasons, I’m oddly drawn to good people and their work.

Okay so in comes Podium, it was strange how everything clicked for me.
The keyboard shortcuts make sense. I’ve always been picky about automation curves….Podium has the best hands down!
I enjoy looking at it while I work, the gui is beautiful, but not just trying to be the “cool” new thing.
It’s everything I wanted in all those hosts that none of them had on their own.

The other thing is that it helps me to be organized and I’m not an organized person believe me. I find myself making everything neat in the project. You can rename and reorganize your vst’s from the project browser and it doesn’t move the orginal .dll’s. The way it automatically names bounces with the tracks name and increasing #’s helps you to keep
your audio files organized. I actually delete stuff I don’t need!!! First for that. Being able to hide all your midi tracks under a bounced track ready for use if you need it is amazing!!

Basically it’s a practical host that thinks about how Human Beings work and fits to their way of functioning. The program grows as you grow allowing you to work faster and faster with it. I see it as a long term solution not just some quick fix!

Maybe it’ll work great for you maybe it wont, give it a good long run
make sure to set up everything how you want it, then start working and work with it for a while.

Good Luck

I started recording on computer about 9 years ago with N-Track, then went to Logic, and still have licenses for FL Studio and Energy XT. Podium is the best application I have used. The Audio handling is far superior to what I find in FL. Audio files and samples are visible from within the application (with the ability to delete them) in the List page. Pluggins can be defined and arrange in any desired order. This and file management puts it ahead of XT for me. XT was close to my ideal, but numerous takes that were never used and hard to find and delete made it untenable. Podium gives me every opportunity to arrange and work with system files.

In addition, you can easily bounce and freeze at any point in an effect chain. Collapse, expand and hide any tracks, making complex arrangements easy to work with. Memory management (something FL decided was unnecessary) and CPU utilization are very efficient. With regard to CPU, don’t be fooled by relatively high CPU usage with an arrangement that has a few initial tracks. I don’t understand the reason, but as you added more effects, VSTi’s and audio tracks, CPU usage increases at MUCH slower rate than it does in other DAW’s. While a DAW like REAPER or XT will have a very low CPU usage with only a few tracks, they will have comparable or even higher CPU usage than Podium as the arrangement becomes more complex.

Finally, to say Mr. Nielsen is a responsive developer is a huge understatement. He will help with issues you encounter and always listen to suggestions for improvements (regardless of how stupid they might be, and he does a good job of weeding those out without making you feel like an idiot).

The appeal of software for music creation is a very personal thing. It depends on how one approaches song recording. Fortunately, there are number of applications with a variety of approaches to choose from. For me, I haven’t found a better one that Podium.

Funny how many users around here seem to have an energyXT-license.
Forgot to mention, I hold one too. Grew tired of the neverending beta-story and the bug hunt, though. Too many features too soon and many new bugs before the old ones are fixed. Hope, Jorgen gets that sorted out one day.
But to get some music done I needed a reliable quality host and feel very comfortable with Podium now.
Another host , I found very likable in the past was the good old Muzys (wish its muzynth existed as a vst). Too bad, the developer sold it to some company, which obviously just let it die. It’s still usable to some point. There used to be a free version with the CM-Magazine. The followup Luna is not yet as feature rich, but is a good simple slim host to start with.
Never liked the bloated commercial “Big Boys Hosts”.

I am more likely to use EXT 2 as a plugin chainer within Podium, a very powerful chainer that would be.

Exactly what I thought.
And I’m glad Podium got me focused to actually being productive again, instead of “test-toying” around.

You guys have convinced me to give Podium a try.

Thanks for your opinions.