MOTU Digital Performer 8 Recording Software

No longer available at zZounds
More than just a powerful audio-for-video DAW, Digital Performer 8 comes loaded with incredible guitar effects plug-ins and more music-production must-haves.

MOTU's award-winning Digital Performer 8 lets you record, edit, arrange, mix, process and master MIDI and audio tracks simultaneously to produce musical recordings, sound tracks for film and television, and other audio production tasks.

Now for both Mac and Windows, Version 8 delivers 64-bit operation, VST plug-in support, a video engine, PunchGuard confidence recording, 15 UI themes, comprehensive plug-in management, another batch of stunningly accurate classic guitar pedal emulations, superb physical modeling guitar and bass speaker cabinet emulations with mixable mic positions (close, near and far), modeled analog delay, a multi-band dynamic equalizer, a de-esser, the Subkick kick drum enhancer, Springamabob modeled spring reverb processor, Spatial Maximizer (a mid-side mastering plug-in), and many other productivity enhancements.

Get started quickly with included virtual instrument plug-ins such as the analog-style BassLine bass synth, classic retro PolySynth, highly programmable two-oscillator Modulo, super easy Nanosampler sample player, Model 12 twelve-part drum module and imaginative Proton FM synth.

Shape, sculpt, twist, mangle and otherwise process your tracks with over 84 included real-time audio and MIDI effect plug-ins. You get 32-bit processing and 64-bit mastering. Highlights include the efficient ProVerb convolution reverb, MasterWorks EQ modeled after British console EQs, MasterWorks Leveler modeled after the legendary LA-2A optical leveling amplifier, MultiMode read more Filter, Pattern Gate and many more.

Use DP's unique track-based pitch automation, from simple pitch correction using the pencil tool, to individual note transposition, to wholesale transposing of an entire audio track, for unprecedented control over audio pitch, non-destructively in real time.

DP's amazing Beat Detection Engine technology gives you complete control over the rhythm, tempo and groove of your audio. Align any audio to the tempo of your project. Quantize beats within audio. Extract and apply grooves from/to any audio or MIDI. Edit beats with hands-on precision.

For studio production, song writing, film scoring, live performance, remixing, post production and surround mixing, Digital Performer delivers advanced features in an intuitive, streamlined design. Whether you're completing a surround sound DVD, or you just want to write a song and burn a CD or MP3 file, Digital Performer gets you there quickly with elegance and ease.

Features for Version 8:

- Cross platform: Now runs on Windows 7 and Mac OS X.
- Native 64-bit operation on both Windows 7 and Mac OS X.
- VST / Rewire support on both platforms for easy project exchange.
- Video engine supports full-screen video, 720/1080 HD, and MOTU video hardware monitoring.
- Punch Guard confidence recording: Capture extra time before and after punch points.
- 17 plug-ins, from meticulously modeled guitar tones to world-class mastering plug-ins.
- 14 themes: Artistically crafted UI designs including Hi-Fi, Arctic, and None More Black.
- In-line control panel conserves precious screen real estate.
- Multi-format plug-in management: Organize, manage, and quickly search for plug-ins in multiple formats.
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For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 617-576-2760

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. (1 ratings)
Submitted October 14, 2014 by brian k in lake worth, FL

"MOTU Digital Performer 8"

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Being a DP user from the mac version (around v4-5), I was very very happy to see MOTU release DP for PC. Overall, it was wonderful to be back in the saddle, so to speak. Thus far, the PC version hasn't proven to be quite as robust as the mac edition was for me, so for some, it may not be ready for prime-time. However, it's made much progress since its initial release, and I am happily using it on the latest project with minimal issues. DP is VERY deep and capable piece of software; as such, it can take some patience and effort to come to grips with. MOTU has also chosen to go its own way in terms of how things are done, so users from other DAWs may be somewhat mystified at first. Persistence is rewarded, though, as there are many unique features at play, and the nearly 1000 page printed manual (also available as pdf) is helpful.

Sound
Sound quality is what you'd expect from a DAW. The bundled masterworks plugins are very good, and bring to mind shades of sonnox. The amp sims are pretty useable as well, combined with LiveRoom cabinet/mic models, and a good variety of effects pedals to round things out. Currently (v8.07), there are some odd issues with the amp sims in PC land. These have been reported, and will hopefully soon be fixed! The dynamic eq is lovely indeed.

Features
I love love LOVE clip automation. Each clip has "layers", so you can draw automation on a clip to modify the clip's volume (before read more it goes to the fader...so you can do fader "rides" pre-compression, etc), pitch correction (monophonic), as well as fader/panner automation. The ability to create multiple mixes (switchable on the fly) is wonderful as well. Song/chunks mode is great for larger scale projects, and each project can have multiple sequences that reference the same virtual instruments or plugins. Very slick. Tempo automation and grid adjustment (draggable grid inserts the appropriate tempo changes) are old favorites.

Ease of Use
It's a bit quirky, so for most, there will be quite a learning curve (it's very capable software, so there's plenty to learn). It's not really an immediate, "plug in and go" sort of affair, so as stated earlier, those newer to DP might be a bit baffled, but with a little reference to the manual, one can find their feet pretty quickly.

Quality
It's software, and as such constantly in development. For first major version on a new platform, they did a pretty good job, and have sorted a good number of issues already. It's not a crashfest for me. If they can get it to the mac version's level of solidity, I'll be a very VERY happy camper.

Value
It's worth the money to me, as a previous user. I'm just happy to have it back, on PC no less!

Manufacturer Support
Support via techlinks seems to work. The techs have been helpful thus far, and some bugs are reported/replicated at their end, and passed along to development. We'll see how quickly they're addressed. I haven't used their phone support, however.

The Wow Factor
I love the GUI (there are some nice themes in there), and the variety of unique features. The workflow appeals to me, though it may not be for some.

Musical Background:
20+ years, semi-pro audio nut.

Musical Style:
rock, pop, hiphop, alt
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