DAW software lacks innovation

i agree to an extent with your overview of DAW's. but sometimes, as stated above, nothing specific seems less than productive. i have used too many software programs and in my mind, i'm not a programmer though, i just don't know what could possibly be done to appease all?!

Silicon/Silicium, hm, excuse me but that's look like: "Be a guitar hero in less than an hour" (if you buy and read that book which I wrote but that's another question). And so many books and classes promising something like that. I for maybe 5 years am recording stuffs and still do not know how to make a record for a song I wrote. Yes, to keep it as a file it is not a problem, but to make a record. It would be some kind of a record itself if done in less than an hour... I guess. I think Reaper (as it's in a ascending development progress) is a very, very impressive software NOT JUST a DAW. Almost genius.

Just a quick addition to my post about Tracktion: it tried to innovate. Everything was laid out in a way that just made sense, with little regard for how anyone else did things. And nobody bought it. It failed specifically because few users are willing to take a chance on anything that doesn't follow Cubase/PT's example. I've never seen the inside of a studio in my life, but so far I haven't found a DAW that took more than a few minutes to figure out. Reaper looked intimidating at first, with the fancy routing matrix and all, but once I found the IO window it was smooth sailing. You DID find the IO window, right?

sounds like you need to try Ableton live... very inspiring program...I cant do a full production on it like reaper but it can get me out of a creative rut...

Funny thread. ;) I think the entire concept of music software "inspiring" anyone is silly. Musicians are inspired by many things. 1. A great instrument. 2. A love lost. 3. A new lick or vibe or harmony. 4. Good sex. ;) 5. Any number of things that makes you pick up your axe, pen some lyrics or whatever. Software is just software. I've never seen a 24-track tape deck or a mixing console that inspired me to write a song. No matter how hard or easy they were to use. These are tools for *capturing* the result of your inspiration. You need to find your inspiration elsewhere. :D If you use software that gets in the way of that... you're using the wrong software. When musicians start to focus too much on software and mixing and all the technical stuff that engineers live for, the music often suffers.

Most disappointments are unrealized expectations.... 

and by that, I mean that many musicos have this expectation that audio engineering should be easy, when in fact, it is built on decades of hard work, discipline and study. Modern audio recording is built on history, and if you want to master it, you have to respect that history. All of these wonderful applications that we have access to, do for the most part, an amazing job of condensing that history into a single desktop. There is no shortcut, no paint by number solution. The application is not there to inspire...it is there to facilitate. Applied knowledge helps to give life to the inspiration. Right brained musicians may not always have the linear technical aptitude required to successfully navigate a sophisticated recording session....there is still room...thank God, for the accomplished, confident, and efficient engineer. That's what I've discovered over time, as musical friends have asked me to set up their home studios, and have discovered that they just can't get their heads around recording conceptually, regardless of the software they were facing. Good news....I'm in big demand as an engineer again, only this time, I show up at their studios and help them capture their visions. Cool way for things to turn out...

PA LEEEEZZZZ 

I ask you,, which routing scheme would you rather have,,? this one below. SONAR 6PE 1 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 2 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R 3 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 4 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R 5 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 6 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R 7 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 8 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R 1 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 2 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R 3 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 4 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R 5 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 6 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R 7 Asio driver 12432421u21919n L 8 Asio driver 12823482820oi4r R Or REAPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I rest my case