Bitwig vs Ableton and other DAWs. User thoughts please!

[c-wave]

Yeah I know they've been working a breakneck speed with updates. But you never know what might get passed over in favor of something else, or things could just generally slow down.

Still in my case I can't say I am missing much after the 1.1 update.

> things could just generally slow down.

Yeah, but if you are a developer and have met some of the developers of Bitwig, you know for a fact this is not the case, Bitwig is their dream and baby, good parents don't abandon a child they waited years to have.

Mike

Wow you're impressing me today Mike.. I am serious these analogies tells me the thinking process you go thru.. a lot like mine. I am an ex-programmer so I know how creative coding can be.
Anyway Sami,
Chinese proverb says "May you live in interesting times".. Definitely interesting times for Bitwig for the next couple of years I would say.. Not so much for Ableton, speaking of slowing down.
Edit: And I am inclined to think that everyone on this forum have tried Ableton at one time.. but they're here, aren't they? Can't say that for most of the Ableton forum guys that tell me a lot about Bitwig.

[xbitz]

the "Crossgrade" to Max 7 is 299$, so ... u gonna need to buy a Complete Max 7 License for the new devices even if u use only the M4L ones... be warned

so 599 € for Live 9 Suite + Max 7 ... not too good not too good

[hibidy]

Blur comes to mind. I love Bitwig's Blur effect.

I'll address the rest later, but I needed to single this out and plus one. It was a selling point

[hibidy]

Ok, this is an older thread with some new bumpage so......

@vs: There is no vs. There are things that for the time being I'll want to hold onto my live license for, and some exciting things about bitwig that are not rehashed features with a new look.....GENUINELY unique differences. I can't explain them all. For me it's a different way of looking at things. I was blind until recently.....I just didn't get it. Now, I do. But I'll miss thing about live that bitwig can't do right now. I'll not bog things down with what (because it's rather irrelevant) but I'm happy to have both right now.

@interesting times: Truer words were never spoken

@live not being updated: Honestly, I'm more concerned about push not being updated. It was gangbusters for a while and then they just stopped. I'm not the only one who has noticed it.......has got all kinds of rumors about "push 2" and the likes. But live is the real deal in many ways, there isn't anything wrong with it persay, I'm still quite interested in 10. In the meantime I'm enjoying my exploration of bitwig. It's pretty f'n deep. I can't keep up with it yet

The only pressing "issue" I have with bitwig is why in won't close down sometimes. I thought I had it pinpointed but FAIL, so, I'm really not sure what info to give support. It's not critical, it's not like it's crashing during anything I'm doing.

[buhrmi]

The way the guys at bitwig have started to engage with their customers is simply phenomenal. Pick bitwig dude cause the developers are actually listening and seem to enjoy their work. Feels almost like they're creating a second Image-Line but this time it's in berlin where all the cool people are

[viceverser]

I would say the biggest issues I have with the software ATM are No audio analyser... (I know I can add a third party one but) when I buy a fairly expensive Audio software like this, with a visual interface, I'd like to be able to see what's going on... Especially possibly an audio analyser in an EQ so i can pinpoint what frequencies (and what key) I am pushing or pulling, but an analyser with key (pitch) graph in it would be a major addition for me.
And...
In my case, I use J74 Analyser in max4live devices in Ableton to decipher chords and key of samples I chop up... This is major for my workflow... I've tried using Melodyne for this in bitwig, but every second update seems to kill Melodyne.

Just my 2 cents worth

[buhrmi]

Yes, true. Miss that too. I put in a feature request for a visual audio analyzer device or some visual feedback in the EQ devices ages ago.

[c-wave]

The only pressing "issue" I have with bitwig is why in won't close down sometimes. I thought I had it pinpointed but FAIL, so, I'm really not sure what info to give support. It's not critical, it's not like it's crashing during anything I'm doing.

I smell a Graphics driver issue here.. Typical behaviour. Are you on Windows? The reason I'm asking is that Bigwig devs can't test it with every Driver as is the case with standard Apple setups so it becomes harder to catch.

[hibidy]

I would say the biggest issues I have with the software ATM are No audio analyser... (I know I can add a third party one but) when I buy a fairly expensive Audio software like this, with a visual interface, I'd like to be able to see what's going on... Especially possibly an audio analyser in an EQ so i can pinpoint what frequencies (and what key) I am pushing or pulling, but an analyser with key (pitch) graph in it would be a major addition for me.
And...
In my case, I use J74 Analyser in max4live devices in Ableton to decipher chords and key of samples I chop up... This is major for my workflow... I've tried using Melodyne for this in bitwig, but every second update seems to kill Melodyne.

Just my 2 cents worth

That chord dealy J74 put it out IS dope. But unfortunately, m4l isn't terribly stable (and the man himself is aware of it as is ableton)

[hibidy]

The only pressing "issue" I have with bitwig is why in won't close down sometimes. I thought I had it pinpointed but FAIL, so, I'm really not sure what info to give support. It's not critical, it's not like it's crashing during anything I'm doing.

I smell a Graphics driver issue here.. Typical behaviour. Are you on Windows? The reason I'm asking is that Bigwig devs can't test it with every Driver as is the case with standard Apple setups so it becomes harder to catch.

I'll look into it. I don't think I'm up to date. Sometimes I wish I hadn't installed the nvidia drivers at all (I think I did because of some vst I demoed)

I'm not sure though because it seems to happen when I'm looping stuff for an extended period of time (like making a passage for a couple of bars/or using clips and then playing guitar over it. But then again it happened once w/o that

Again, it's probably a good idea to update my drivers AND I'm going to install the beta tonight as well.

[qtheerearranger]

I would recommend buying bitwig WHILE waiting for the DAW to mature more. While it shows more promise than any other DAW as each day unravels. The reason being is, I don't care who you are or how much you know about routing, your engineering background or whatever, bitwig is just a different beast than any other DAW and it takes some time to understand truly all the cool stuff it can do. Everytime I use bitwig I learn something new and I find it fascinating and next level. I also like how there isn't just one way to do something in bitwig. For instance you can bus an effect with fx layer or you can send it to a traditional bus. Both helping you achieve things a little differntly. Overall, the signal flow is just different. I am very excited for the future of bitwig and it will not be a DAW that one masters very quickly. I imagine it to be like golf where one can get good quickly because its very user friendly but to learn all the hidden features will take forever.

That being said, I use studio one. If studio one didnt exist I would use ableton. If ableton didnt exist then bitwig would be my primary DAW atm. So personally I think its ranked 3rd right now. But let me repeat, I am very confident it will be one of the most successful DAWs and it will allow people to breath creatively in this restricted computer environment. Until someone has used it successfully in the industry (not some lame ass European modular dude no offense) as lame as that sounds, id just stay away from it. Because if the pros can't show you professional results yet or don't think it meets the criteria to even use yet, you should maybe stay away from it and value their experience. I think the DAWs sound quality is amazing but its quality does not seem to be stable, I don't have any proof to back up that statement but I will say I certainly trust my ears.

Overall, if you believe in bitwigs approach like it seems you do. You should support them and help them continue to grow. Only with support will they gain more resources to make this DAW the easy pick to be our first choice.

Dont sweat about features foreal tho all music can be made on all DAWs shit kaskade uses pro tools like lol imagine him taking forever with his modulations hehe.

[LawrenceF]

Actually didn't know the beta was public now, I just happened to stumble on the direct link in the other thread, so I gave it a quick spin with some old stems.

I put some random impressions in the video. None of the comments have any relevance to producing music in it so keep that in mind. I had to also bring the cool cat back.

Nice app.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WDC9ma ... e=youtu.be

[TristanMendoza]

Not only do I love the DAW,but the company is great and I love the devs and they way they do business and interact with us.
Thats a HUGE part of it for me personally

[c-wave]

Again, it's probably a good idea to update my drivers AND I'm going to install the beta tonight as well.

I am on Win 8.1 pro 64-bit, with latest Nvidia driver and latest Bitwig Beta.. All is very stable here. Not one crash. If you need any ideas I am more than happy to help.. old fellow like you

[hibidy]

I updated. Tomorrow will hold the key. I also wanted to update my windoze graphics and maybe try that as an alternative........wouldn't install