When comparing SADie 6 vs Ardour, the Slant community recommends Ardour for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs? ” Ardour is ranked 15th while SADie 6 is ranked 55th. The most important reason people chose Ardour is:
Ardour is cross-platform and works on Windows & macOS.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro The Trim Editor enables impossible edits
Pro Easy to learn
Wonderful editing.
Pro An exellent Mastering DAW
Very intuitive. Crazy to learn. They continually upgrade the system since 1995.
Pro The MasterWAV function is a game changer
Makes making individual WAS stupidly simple. Helps ease the workflow.
Pro Good for multiple inputs
This DAW supports multitrack editing, which allows the recording of many inputs simultaneously.
Pro Customized iZotope bundle
iZotope is a very respected audio tech company that makes great plugins. SADie 6 is now bundled with a customized iZotope program that has 9 functions. Many of these functions are standard, but other are harder to find, such as pitch-shift, exciter, widener,and analogue delay.
Pro Compatible with Linux, Windows 7/8.1/10 and macOS
Ardour is cross-platform and works on Windows & macOS.
Pro Open source
Ardour is open source, so it can be downloaded and modified without restriction.
Pro Free version with minimal limitations
Unlike some other DAW's which often limit saving, exporting, or advanced features, Ardour permits you to try all the features for free, with the only limitation being ten minutes of project length maximum.
Demo.
Pro Multi-display support
Pro Linux version has JACK support
On Linux, you can use JACK to freely route audio and MIDI to and from other software as hardware.
Pro Clean linear interface
Pro Inline mixing console
You can view and edit plugins directly from the console's mixing channels.
Pro LADSPA plugins support
Pro LV2 plugins support
Pro VST3 Support in version 6+
Pro Powerful routing
Thanks to JACK support, and the inclusion of built in tools, the routing options of Ardour are limitless.
Pro Excellent support community
Cons
Con Windows only
SADie 6 is only compatible with Windows OS.
Con No MIDI functionality
SADie 6 is geared towards mastering and radio/TV production, so there is no MIDI input.
Con Too many plugins
It is hard to find good useful plugins. It looks like every developer's plugin has ended up in the list.
Con No support for VST plugins for OS X
Plugins can be used on OS X only if they are downloaded in AU format, which is supported.
Con Builds are paid
Pre-built releases are paid and the only way to get the program for free is to build it yourself.
Con Quirky UI and navigation
Con Not user friendly
Ardour can be difficult and unconventional to use.
Con Relies on JACK
The Linux version relies on JACK to function correctly, and JACK is extremely difficult to install and configure. Ardour should have JACK support, but it should also connect directly and play audio on its own by default.
Con No 'scenes'
Ardour doesn't have 'scenes' like Ableton does (would be very handy for live-preformances).
