Nerd s*** incoming

Back in the early days of synthesized music (late 70’s-80’s), a discerning music listener could detect which synthesized instruments the artist was using to create a particular sound.

An easy example is the Linn Drum machine. This thing was particularly everywhere on 80’s pop radio (MJ used it on Thriller, Aha’s Take On Me, etc) and has seen a resurgence in popularity today. It is particularly synonymous with Prince’s productions in the 80’s:

Prince’s beats, as you could see in this vid, were pretty easy to replicate for anyone who had access to the technology.

Today, the music world is way different than it was in the 80’s, with most artist/producers using advanced DAWs on computers.

The point of the thread? I wanna know if it’s possible for music listeners today for them to detect if an artist is using FL Studio, Logic, Pro Tools or even GarageBand? Or have these DAWs become so good that they’re indistinguishable aurally?

2013-2015 nexus run in trap beats

TECHNICALLY you cant. like you can ostensibly get any DAW to sound like any other daw (garageband is maybe a bit limited but Ableton/Logic/Reason/FL aren't)

but imo FL just has a knock and texture to it. I think the built in compressors and soft clippers make s*** sound really good without much work. The hi hat rolls also have a rigidness to them that i think you can pick out of a line up

You can make Ableton/Logic sound like FL ofc but imo with most modern rap beats you can tell which are FL and which aren't

last second of the beat when the last sound does the lil loop i know that mf used a nexus preset

i would say no, unless the song has a stock vst in it and you recognize it

but i wouldn't be surprised if you could find out this info using the og exported file or something like that

real loooool

Nope outside of that early Garageband and FL Studio stuff that Tyler was doing

Any examples of this? New to the DAW game

Thanks in advance

I never understood when people say they can hear a sound difference, I can never tell

But its a real thing

bandlab

A DAW isn't equivalent to a drum machine though.

There are drum kits, synth presets, vst plugins etc. Closer to that in comparison.

WOAT era

Only way I can tell off rip is if they are using specific vsts that are typically native to that DAW. For example, I can immediately tell that someone is using Gross Beat therefore can assume that they are using FL Studio

Omnisphere and Serum’s era now

Lowkey the game needs a new Nexus/Omni/Serum level power synth to come out of left field to give the game some new sounds lol

And yes

Rolling hi hats VST presets and 808 spam is fl studio

Less quantization and less typical drum kit sounds is ableton or Logic

Lol

ur buggin

they probably exist tbh just not popular/signature enough yet

Feel like you were able to tell in the early-mid 2010s but after that to currently I highly doubt it. Especially since there's nothing stopping producers from pirating whatever plugins and presets they want from one DAW onto another.

Like I'd say you were definitely able to tell the difference between something like Ableton and FL or Garageband

Examples ?

u can use gross beat on ableton too tho

Oh ok. Yeah, I'm seeing now that ImageLine made it a standalone vst

James Blake has confirmed he uses Logic Pro, but that man sometimes straight up uses stock instruments

second part for sure

i can’t tell when i’m listening to songs but it’s very noticeable when i try to make beats

you can use the same exact drum pattern w the same drum samples and s*** will hit diff in ableton vs fl