# Staffpad or Symphony pro/Notion iOS



## Woodie1972

Tempted to get my hands on one of those, as I will be a lot on the road in the next months for work. Both major programs seem very good, not sure about Notion iOS, but thought to include it.
Is there anyone who has compared them, has experience with this kind of notation software and can give some insight in the pros and cons?

I tried Notate me, but this one has some serious problems, so that's a no go.

Looking forward to read some thoughts.


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## Sami

They all ultimately inhibit my workflow, so I don‘t use any of them anymore...Just Sibelius with a keyboard or paper. 
I guess if you invest the time, they can be strong. Tried Notion, it was OK. I just got annoyed at having to find a toolbar to input a note when I can do it on paper quicker and then input it in Sibelius.


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## Woodie1972

I wasn't clear enough with the reason why I want some info: I would like to use it to be able to write notes on the screen with a dedicated pen, so no midi keyboard or typing on screen.


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## mikeh-375

Woodie,

I've got both, but only use StaffPad. I use Sibelius to engrave professionally, but if you are looking to just compose on the road, I'd personally go with Staffpad. Once you get used to the writing quirks (it doesn't take much work), it is very intuitive to write almost as you would on paper.​


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## Woodie1972

Thanks for your input. I read that support for symphony pro has been canceled, so another reason not to choose that one. Now the next step is to find a not so expensive Surface 3...


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## Leandro Gardini

I use StaffPad and I like it even with its current shortcomings. However, if you want a professional solution for your scores you will have to have the support of another "mouse notation software".
Unfortunately none of the handwritting notation software now are good enough to be compared with Finale or Sibelius.


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## Woodie1972

Yeah, I know. I use Finale and Dorico 2 for engraving and Cubase for midi, so it's more meant to sketch some ideas, import it into one of these above and then work it out. I use a desktop pc, which I can't take with me when on the road, hence the search for a solution like this.


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## DANIELE

Here I am. I need a notation with hand writing option for study and orchestration purposes, I'll do the final work with Reaper so I need this only for sketching.

I'd love to have something like this because writing by hand is more intuitive that using the mouse and I need something that plays what I written.

I'm thinking to buy Staffpad but I have a few question on this:

1) Can I use it with a graphic tablet on my main PC?
2) I'd like to buy a Surface for this but they are very expensive, can you advice me on the right one to buy for this purpose?
3) If I buy it on PC can I use it both on PC and Surface (with the same Microsoft account)?

In the end, are there other choices out there?

Thank you.


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## mikeh-375

Daniele, ask Staffpad directly, the CEO will get back to you very quickly and on the site you will find an exhaustive list of compatible tech. If you like writing to paper like me, this will be a joy to work with.


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## DANIELE

mikeh-375 said:


> Daniele, ask Staffpad directly, the CEO will get back to you very quickly and on the site you will find an exhaustive list of compatible tech. If you like writing to paper like me, this will be a joy to work with.



Thank you for the answer. Well I'm not an experienced musician and I started with MIDI many years ago but years of self made studies brought me to think that paper is always the best thing to get faster ideas, then cames MIDI.

So I still have to learn many things of paper writing (this is why I need to listen to what I'm writing) but for my counterpoint, harmony and orchestration studies I think it is the best idea.

I'll write to CEO but I'd like to now about other choices too and maybe if there are bugs that could affect the workflow of using this kind of stuff. For this I need users opinions.


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## mikeh-375

No major issues here with StaffPad. All software will have idiosyncrasies though, none are perfect - it's always a question of being aware and finding ways around any issues. The one thing you have to get used to is the handwriting to which you will have to adapt yours. It sounds horrendous, but in practice you find the right strokes quite quickly and it soon becomes second nature, it just takes a little getting used to - in effect you have to learn it, just like anything else, but it is worth it imv.


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## chikitin01

mikeh-375 said:


> Daniele, ask Staffpad directly, the CEO will get back to you very quickly and on the site you will find an exhaustive list of compatible tech. If you like writing to paper like me, this will be a joy to work with.


O really?
I have a ticket from 9 days ago. Haven't been answered!

If you mean the CEO is the bot, you are correct!


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