When comparing GarageBand vs MOTU Digital Performer, the Slant community recommends MOTU Digital Performer for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs? ” MOTU Digital Performer is ranked 6th while GarageBand is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose MOTU Digital Performer is:
You can change themes and waveform and meter colors.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Great sounding instruments
Pro Free if you have a Mac
Pro Extremely easy
GarageBand is one of the most basic and user friendly DAWs, making it very easy to learn.
Pro Good MIDI editing with quantization, piano roll and notation
Pro Amp Sims/ Pedal Effects/ Mics
There are several amp sims for guitar and bass or other direct input instruments. Different style speaker cabinets, microphones and mic placements. It also comes with a good selection of pedal effects.
Pro Allows 3rd party plug-ins
Plug-ins for effects or sample instruments can be installed and work great. Must get the AU plug-in for Mac if available.
Pro Easy automated drummer
Pro Customizable UI
You can change themes and waveform and meter colors.
Pro 64 bit compatibility
Digital Performer 8 does away with low RAM limits by including 64 bit compatibility.
Pro Stable DAW
Pro Easy to learn
Easy to learn with the included videos on the websites.
Pro Comprehensive MIDI and audio editors
Pro Multiple sequences
You can have multiple sequences for variant ideas.
Pro MIDI friendly
Pro Unlimited tracks
Pro Easy to use
All clear and easy, yet a powerful DAW.
Pro VST3 Support
Pro Easy to install
Pro Pitch correction
Correct audio like in Melodyne.
Pro Support for 32- and 64-bit floating point sound files
Pro Advanced film scoring capabilities
Equipped with tools and film scoring features.
Pro Nano Sampler 2.0
Great Sampler for more audio editing.
Pro MPE Support
MIDI Polyphonic Expression. Good For recording multi-channel output from an MPE controller.
Pro Beat Detection Engine 2.0
Pro ZTX PRO technology
Speeding up or transposing audio material of any kind.
Pro DP training webinars
You can become a DP expert software user.
Pro Live Performance Mode
Good for live performance.
Cons
Con No send/buss tracks
Tracks can't be sent into a buss channel for grouping tracks together.
Con 44.1K sample rate
The maximum sample rate is 44.1K. No 48K or higher.
Con Mixer console panel not available
Mixing must be done on the channel strip or by smart control panel only. There is no mixer with fader, vu meter and effects chain listing.
Con No sidechain effects
Can't manipulate other tracks with a sidechain trigger such as ducking with a compressor.
Con Platform dependant
Only for Mac.
Con Clunky a bit
Con A bit expensive
Costs $500 for both box and download version.
Con Not so great support
Con Substandard audio stretching
DP 8 supports audio stretching, but the quality often doesn't remain after the sound has been modified.