Picking a DAW is hard…

[spliffy_mcweed]

People greatly overestimate how consequential their choice of DAW is. If you are not capable of making your musical dreams come true with a 3rd rate indie DAW, then your failings will not be because you didn't choose FLubendotonwig XXXtreme Edition instead. Even if some are a more pleasant experience for some tasks than others.

Imagine if all of the pioneering musicians from the 70s and 80s decided just to wait until the 2040s to make music because all of the tools they had at that time were terrible.

[machinesworking]

I’m trying to get back into music production after a few years away from it and I’m feeling overwhelmed.

I feel like I’ve trialed every DAW, but none of them is for me. Off the top of my head I’ve tried Ableton, Bitwig, Cubase, FL Studio, Logic, Reaper, Renoise and Studio One

There is room for nuance. I know that's not a popular opinion in practice but we all act like it's true in theory.

Your're using FL Studio, you admit to mostly being all about the piano roll and entering notes in by hand. That severely limits the DAW choices right there. It's about as drastic of a specific use case as saying "I own a recording studio and want to replace Pro Tools". Nobody in their right mind would suggest Live or Bitwig for a recording studio DAW, because neither are built for that. Yes anyone using those DAWs and occasionally recording a live band has no real reason to use another DAW, but if it's to be the main focus of what you do, you would be pretty much a fool to choose a real time non dual buffer DAW for a situation where 90% of the time you're mixing down in non real time recorded music.

On the other hand, knowing that you're all about the piano roll, and step recording, that gives us IMO more specific options. Old school DAWs tend to not be as attuned to this workflow and personally being mostly familiar with: Reaper, Logic, Live, DP, Bitwig, Reason, and the MPC software I would say of that batch Live is the obvious choice. Live 12 is offering more choices in terms of chance, scales, slicing MIDI and the like; previous versions all have quick step sequencing, MIDI note drawing, quick arrow key based movement of notes and generally a good experience using the piano roll to write music. On top of that it's a solid UX in general.

Live is the obvious choice here, especially considering how you work, maybe even Push in your future, but you won't need Push 3, which means affordable!

[harryupbabble]

sometimes i'm like "reaper might as well be klingon"
but i cling on

it takes time to learn just one daw
got no time to learn so many other daws?
it s like earning all the languages of the world?
who really needs to learn bob dylan's mumblery?

who do people think they are?
leonardo da vinci?

the ocean is deep and earth is about 4 billion years old?
who knows what's buried under there and elsewhere
does everything have to be unearthed?

i can't find my imaginary really large boat
what's james cameron's phone number?

[Big DAW Audio]

They all do roughly the same thing and can achieve roughly a similar sound - only the process of getting there is different. Choose whatever you are most efficient with based on your particular work flow. This will vary depending on the genre, whether you use lots of samples, whether you need any built in effects that come with a particular DAW, etc...

[NeinKVR]

I Like live the Most because of the Creative process but if i would start today id Consider Logic because of the free Updates

[ThunderingMantis]

The trick is to not limit yourself to one

But seriously, I think most producers end up owning multiple DAWs, even if there's one they use much more than the others.

I think you've got to trust your gut and just make a decision, then learn what you have rather than worrying about what you might be missing out on

[stoopicus]

The trick is to not limit yourself to one

But seriously, I think most producers end up owning multiple DAWs, even if there's one they use much more than the others.

I think you've got to trust your gut and just make a decision, then learn what you have rather than worrying about what you might be missing out on

So true. If I could have Logic's UI except with Reaper's plugin management, MIDI routing, audio routing, and basically everything else for that matter, I would never look back.

Actually the Logic skins for Reaper do come close to that now that I think of it.

[andyrichmond]

I do everything in REAPER, Recording, mixing. $60. I use Goldwave to maximize volume of a stereo mix, do some very basic trim/edits and populate the metadata. I don't remember what I paid for Goldwave but I think I've had it since the early 1990's.

I do metal, EDM, Electronica, Synthwave, Ambient, prog, rock and pop. It works fine for me.

I started with Pro Tools, and for me (and my system) it was too massive and a pretty bad resource hog. So I moved over to REAPER. I'm a disciple.

For me it works great, and it has a huge free plugin collection. The plugins may look goofy and simple because they still have the old Windows GUI look and feel, but the sophistication is staggering. Forget about how it looks, the coding and stability are there. For example the convoluter can be used to do reverb or speaker cabinets; anything that uses an IR. Another plugin will "listen" to the audio and create and output of MIDI notes which I use to replace our drummer's kick and snare with some EZDrummer2 kit. I didn't have to pay extra for that. For me, that was impressive.

In the beginning I didn't have to do much to get it to record and playback. I eventually did make a few of the "tweaks" on some of Kenny Gioia's YouTube videos.

I will say having used other DAWs and looked at a few more none of them were "intuitive" to me. So there is going to be some reading/watching videos time no matter what you chose in my opinion.

I hear different people talk about "workflow" which I suppose is a term being used to describe the way you like to create and how you organize your DAW. I came up in the the old school tape world, so I kept my DAW layout pretty stock. But I know there are templates/themes etc you can grab and change the look and feel.

The number of releases is fantastic. Frequent bug and feature additions.

I will say; I did have to make myself sit down and start the very uncreative part of learning to use the DAW, VST's, plugins, MIDI and audio interface before I could create anything. You just gotta settle on something and RTFM at some point.

Hope you found something compatible with how you create.

[ThunderingMantis]

I do everything in REAPER, Recording, mixing. $60. I use Goldwave to maximize volume of a stereo mix, do some very basic trim/edits and populate the metadata. I don't remember what I paid for Goldwave but I think I've had it since the early 1990's.

I do metal, EDM, Electronica, Synthwave, Ambient, prog, rock and pop. It works fine for me.

I started with Pro Tools, and for me (and my system) it was too massive and a pretty bad resource hog. So I moved over to REAPER. I'm a disciple.

For me it works great, and it has a huge free plugin collection. The plugins may look goofy and simple because they still have the old Windows GUI look and feel, but the sophistication is staggering. Forget about how it looks, the coding and stability are there. For example the convoluter can be used to do reverb or speaker cabinets; anything that uses an IR. Another plugin will "listen" to the audio and create and output of MIDI notes which I use to replace our drummer's kick and snare with some EZDrummer2 kit. I didn't have to pay extra for that. For me, that was impressive.

In the beginning I didn't have to do much to get it to record and playback. I eventually did make a few of the "tweaks" on some of Kenny Gioia's YouTube videos.

I will say having used other DAWs and looked at a few more none of them were "intuitive" to me. So there is going to be some reading/watching videos time no matter what you chose in my opinion.

I hear different people talk about "workflow" which I suppose is a term being used to describe the way you like to create and how you organize your DAW. I came up in the the old school tape world, so I kept my DAW layout pretty stock. But I know there are templates/themes etc you can grab and change the look and feel.

The number of releases is fantastic. Frequent bug and feature additions.

I will say; I did have to make myself sit down and start the very uncreative part of learning to use the DAW, VST's, plugins, MIDI and audio interface before I could create anything. You just gotta settle on something and RTFM at some point.

Hope you found something compatible with how you create.

Goldwave is an amazing piece of software - like you I've also been using it for the longest time, I think since the late 90s or very early 2000s. It's still my basic sound editor of choice

[sciolo]

I have Reaper and Izotope's RX10 DAWs and much prefer Reaper.

[enroe]

I’m trying to get back into music production after a few years away from it and I’m feeling overwhelmed.

...

If any of you have a recommendation for me regarding this, I’d appreciate it. Whether it is a magical fix for my (possibly petty) issues or another DAW for me to trial (gotta try ’em all)

Yeah, everyone who posts here is promoting their own DAW. I don't know if this helps you.
The so-called "Admiral Bumblebee", however, took a more systematic look at all DAWs and
evaluated them here: click here: DAW-chart

I think this overview gives a nice impression of the DAWs. Of course, you always have to
look at it individually: “How is my workflow?” and “What exactly do I need?”

[_leras]

The trick is to not limit yourself to one

But seriously, I think most producers end up owning multiple DAWs, even if there's one they use much more than the others.

I think you've got to trust your gut and just make a decision, then learn what you have rather than worrying about what you might be missing out on

Or the trick might be to pick one and spend a decent amount of time working with it an learning it.

Bitwig, Cubase, Logic, FL, Live etc are all more than capable of being used to make music.

You can't really work out if it works for you without trying a serious(ish) project with them.

[Borbolactic]

FLOSS, Enclosed-App DAWs & Closed-Code Abandonware

I’m trying to get back into music production after a few years away from it and I’m feeling overwhelmed.

I feel like I’ve trialed every DAW, but none of them is for me. Off the top of my head I’ve tried Ableton, Bitwig, Cubase, FL Studio, Logic, Reaper, Renoise and Studio One

I have found stuff that annoys or hinders me on every single one of these DAWs...

If any of you have a recommendation for me regarding this, I’d appreciate it. Whether it is a magical fix for my (possibly petty) issues or another DAW for me to trial (gotta try ’em all)

Choosing Ardour, being FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open-Source Software) was a no-brainer for me. I like it, it compares favourably, including where price is not considered, against other DAWs I've investigated, and it's actively and well-maintained.

When comparing software products, I'm sometimes dismayed that some people don't seem to recognize the important ethical philosophy behind FLOSS and/or to be able or at least willing to make the distinction between 'freeware' (free in cost but still closed/proprietary and usage-/sharing-rights-limited) and FLOSS (often free in cost but also WRT personal usage and sharing rights).

Again, in this regard, Ardour was a no-brainer. It's perfectly professional too (and apparently modelled to an extent after actual analogue mixing systems), and unlike some DAWs, it doesn't grab and lock in such software as Harmor or Alchemy where people are forced to use those 'gated community' DAWs. Carrot and the stick.

As a related aside, I'm also dismayed when some devs abandon their closed/proprietary software while not releasing their code to the general public. It seems ethically dubious. I mean, if you want to do that, then maybe don't bother making software for the public in the first place?

[ESMedia24]

I'm in the same boat somehow. Made a break with music for ten years and wanted to dive back in. I spent many hours researching for the last three months but made some mistakes nevertheless. For example, buying Ableton Live Standard 11 too early. Now I have to sell it, because it is not the best option for what I am going to do, and I do not want to invest more money in it.

As I want to write orchestral music, I would need to buy Max for Life and an Extension, otherwise Ableton Live is not capable of expression management, which is pretty vital when dealing with instruments with many articulations. Problem is, that I found out about that recently and not back then, when I needed that info. Ableton looked pretty cool and seems to be very popular, so I thought it will do what I want it to do. Now I know that Cubase would be best for orchestral stuff or Logic Pro if you have a Mac.

So I am going with Studio One now (because I had an old license and the upgrade cost was okay), which has proper Articulation management and a listen bus, which is also useful for me as I want to mix with headphones (+ Morphit and Can Opener).

So yeah, take your time for research and don't be impatient like me.

BTW, if anybody is interested in the Ableton Live license, just send me a pm (if that's possible).

[cdbaksu]

After years and years of Logic Pro, right now I'm completely smitten with UAD LUNA. The speed in which I can plot down a new VI and start tracking is quite simply unbelievable on my  M1 Pro. I didn't even know there exists such snappiness™ in a DAW.

My MIDI workflow is pretty simple though: I track everything on the timeline with my Nord Piano, performing pianos, basses, guitars, drums, percussion, synths, orchestral instruments, everything by hand; I rarely quantise anymore, if it's really bad, I'll just delete and record again, so for MIDI I actually am overjoyed by LUNA's "barebones" timeline and how easy it is to plot everything down.

Then as far as mixing, I only have a few habits of using a "better" panner like Auburn Sounds' Panmagement or klevgr. Pana on each channel, a strip like UAD's Century, small things like Little Radiator on my Rhodes, a bit of TODD AO on a send track, and just master everything in session with limiters and EQs.

So yeah, honeymoon period with LUNA is looking quite amazing. The speed difference between it an Logic is staggering to me.

If you're on a Mac do yourself a favour and at least look up the basics of LUNA playlist on UAD's youtube.