When comparing GarageBand vs Sequel 3, the Slant community recommends Sequel 3 for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs? ” Sequel 3 is ranked 24th while GarageBand is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose Sequel 3 is:
Sequel 3 was made by the folks behind Cubase, and it is meant to be lighter and easier to learn. This program's focus on loops and computer generated drum patterns makes the process easier for people with no music knowledge.
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 Designed to be easy to learn
Sequel 3 was made by the folks behind Cubase, and it is meant to be lighter and easier to learn. This program's focus on loops and computer generated drum patterns makes the process easier for people with no music knowledge.
Pro Dedicated beat page
There is a page exclusively meant for generating drum patterns.
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 No GNU/Linux
Does not run on GNU/Linux
Con 32-bit only
While Sequel 3 supports VST3, it oddly (imo) doesn't have a 64-bit installer, meaning you can't load any 64-bit VST3s either. Not sure how it was even possible for that to have ever happened.