Best and worst DAWs?
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- KVRian
- 1156 posts since 10 Apr, 2006
gah. posted twins!
Feed the children! Preferably to starving wild animals.
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Pooter | Software | Akai MPK-61 | Line 6 Helix | Dynaudio BM5A mk II
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Pooter | Software | Akai MPK-61 | Line 6 Helix | Dynaudio BM5A mk II
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- KVRAF
- 6078 posts since 27 Jul, 2001 from Tarpon Springs, Florida, USA
I want to get my choice down to a single wonderful everyday DAW. Tired of jumping around from DAW to DAW. I have found all the DAW’s listed below to be well above and beyond anything I dreamt of 10 years ago. So to me the choice was based on workflow and specific features that are necessary for how I create music ignoring features that I may not use.
My current order of DAW preference.
FL Studio 12
Sonar Platinum
Studio One 3
Cubase 8
Reaper 5 may well be the winner when it is finally released. My dream DAW!?
In the future
Bitwig 2
Samplitude x3
Mulab 7
Not considering
Digital Performer 9
Live 10
Mixcraft
My current order of DAW preference.
FL Studio 12
Sonar Platinum
Studio One 3
Cubase 8
Reaper 5 may well be the winner when it is finally released. My dream DAW!?
In the future
Bitwig 2
Samplitude x3
Mulab 7
Not considering
Digital Performer 9
Live 10
Mixcraft
My Studio: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7760&p=7777146#p7777146
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- KVRian
- 728 posts since 29 Aug, 2013
Best: FL Studio.
Worst: You name it.
But hey, there's Bitwig in the middle....
Worst: You name it.
But hey, there's Bitwig in the middle....
• I don't speak English "by default", so... 
• Small Feature Requests for Bitwig.
• Do you want a Step Sequencer device for Bitwig? Click here.
• Small Feature Requests for Bitwig.
• Do you want a Step Sequencer device for Bitwig? Click here.
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- KVRAF
- 4329 posts since 26 Jun, 2004
Best: Mine.
Worst: Yours.
Worst: Yours.
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 37262 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from Scottish Borders
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- KVRian
- 584 posts since 12 Jul, 2007 from Sweden
Best answer!Ciberithm wrote:Best: The one I don't own (yet).
Worst: All the one's I already have.
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Belgium Waffle Belgium Waffle https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=360667 - Banned
- 2 posts since 15 Jun, 2015
Just because you can pickup a violin, doesn't mean you can play it.
Just because you can play a violin, doesn't mean you've mastered it.
Just because you can buy a DAW...
The worst DAW is the one that restricts your creative work flow.
The best is the one that doesn't.
Just because you can play a violin, doesn't mean you've mastered it.
Just because you can buy a DAW...
The worst DAW is the one that restricts your creative work flow.
The best is the one that doesn't.
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Robert Randolph Robert Randolph https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=7328 - KVRAF
- 2226 posts since 25 May, 2003 from Saint Petersburg, Florida
Not everyone is using a DAW to 'be creative'. Some people are using it to facilitate someone else's creativity.Belgium Waffle wrote:Just because you can pickup a violin, doesn't mean you can play it.
Just because you can play a violin, doesn't mean you've mastered it.
Just because you can buy a DAW...
The worst DAW is the one that restricts your creative work flow.
The best is the one that doesn't.
They are completely different workflows and goals.
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- KVRAF
- 2158 posts since 11 Oct, 2007 from Almanya
I can't understand people voluntarily using Windows instead of OSX, and I'm sure most of those opting to use Windows instead of OSX can't understand me just the same. I don't drive a BMW or a Harley, I don't play Fender or Gibson, I don't eat vegetarian or drink PBR, I don't pop diet pills, I will never wear boxer briefs (tried once, left me traumatized) and I have a tendency to not care a lot about humanity.
They may not make any sense to someone else, but that's not why I made those choices. These decisions make sense to me, they work the best for me and my sense of taste, individualism and moral, so I live by and with them.
It's the same with host software. What works for me might not work for you, what works for you very likely won't work for me, unless it's Reaper. You can compare feature charts, prices and user opinions, you can watch YouTube videos about "who uses what", you can ask questions that require subjective replies in online forums, sure.
Or you can just go ahead and demo most of the stuff yourself to see which makes most sense to you. The ones you can't demo, you'll find videos on YouTube about that will let you watch and compare their workflow to the ones you already tried.
Back in my Windows days, that was around the time when the whole x64 thing really took off, I always thought Sonar would be the ultimate solution for any and all of my troubles. It looked OK, it offered a lot, that Kjaerhus guy with the freeware hype had just developed a channel strip for them, it was fairly affordable and all that. When I finally tried the demo, it constantly crashed and the whole UI didn't make any sense to me, I'd always find myself thinking "uhm... where?!" despite RTFMing quite a lot.
Same goes for most others.
I actually started out with FL Studio, which was cool for pattern-based stuff like programming drums, absolutely great for that. At the time (around v4-v6) it didn't even have audio recording functionality, so I couldn't record guitars or bass to go with the drums I had just programmed, which was kind-of sad. Sure, they added some sort of audio editor to the more expensive versions to use as a workaround, but... nah. Now you can record audio, but they don't have a usable Mac version, and is FL12 x64 by now? Their "bridge every plugin in a separate process" wrapper might be a great "don't let FL crash" feature, but it leads to error dialogs from plugins hiding behind FL Studio and not telling you something's wrong until you close or hide the main Application, plus I find the routing clunky to say the least. Automatically have a Limiter inserted into every "empty" project? Having to re-load the entire project just to switch sample-rate? No-go.
There also was a time when I thought Cubase might be my saviour, you know, "if HZ uses it then it must be great". Got hold of an LE version and later an AI4, none of them made any sense to me, too cluttered, too obstructive, too clunky workflow. Can't start putting a track together without creating a new folder on my hard drive and creating a project? And where do I do the drag and drop routing? Whut, there isn't? Hm. Quadro track workaround for sidechaining? (in those days) ... Couldn't be bothered. Now it looks like an iPad app and feels just as clunky. Open instrument rack, load an instrument. Create an instrument track, pick instrument from instrument rack to assign. Create a MIDI track and record something, route MIDI track to instrument track that then plays instrument in instrument rack. WTF? Reaper's "Create track, load instrument" is the clear winner here.
I thought StudioOne would be a great new contestant, but when I tried that it constantly crashed and when I reported those bugs in near-400€ software, all that happened was that their arrogant staff offended me with replies like "sorry that our software wasn't designed for people on OSX dragging instrument plugins into FX slots". In v3 it still takes 2 clicks to remove a plugin from an insert, which is 1 too many, and folder tracks still don't automatically bus without additional clicky clicky. Try removing an empty instrument group. And what, on OSX the default for "remove track" is SHIFT+T instead of Backspace? Honestly... At least they finally put the "cursor to start on stop" setting from the "Options" menu into the "Transport" menu where it belongs, only took them 1.5 major versions. *sigh*
Samplitude also had an important role in my past, think it was around the v5 or v6 when I first used it. At the time it did what I wanted. I later bought the v10 or v11 used here on KVR, just because my Reaper license was running out and I thought it might be great to go "back to the roots", but even today it still looks like it was made B.C. and you have to pay for extras like a "crossfade editor" and gimmicks like that. Ask the people who recently had to pay a huge amount of money to "upgrade" to the new bestest biggerest version, but actually lost (!) their right to use some included sampler thing or so.
What I'm trying to say is: stop asking questions, start using and evaluating them yourself. The only "best" and "worst" host software is the one that fits you and your creativity/workflow requirements most and least, and not what anyone else tells you is the "best" or "worst".
Get the demo of one that has a demo, start a project and start working on that project from scratch to export, try doing what you think you're likely to do after purchasing it. Read about what its specialties are, try implementing them into your workflow, see if you like how it behaves, see if you "click" with what is expected from you as the operator.
When the demo runs out, get the next one and start over.
Yes, it takes a lot of time, but once you did all the above you won't have to rely on others anymore to tell you what's best or worst for you, because you'll know from trying everything hands-on.
By the way, Reaper has a "two version" license.
You buy it now while it's in v4.x, and your license will also include everything through to v5.99. I bought my v4.0 in 2011, it's taken 4 years to come to not even v4.8 yet, so I'm fairly certain that v5.0 is still a year or so away. And in a year or so, I'll get v5.0 and the (estimated) following 5 years of upgrades for free, as well. <3
They may not make any sense to someone else, but that's not why I made those choices. These decisions make sense to me, they work the best for me and my sense of taste, individualism and moral, so I live by and with them.
It's the same with host software. What works for me might not work for you, what works for you very likely won't work for me, unless it's Reaper. You can compare feature charts, prices and user opinions, you can watch YouTube videos about "who uses what", you can ask questions that require subjective replies in online forums, sure.
Or you can just go ahead and demo most of the stuff yourself to see which makes most sense to you. The ones you can't demo, you'll find videos on YouTube about that will let you watch and compare their workflow to the ones you already tried.
Back in my Windows days, that was around the time when the whole x64 thing really took off, I always thought Sonar would be the ultimate solution for any and all of my troubles. It looked OK, it offered a lot, that Kjaerhus guy with the freeware hype had just developed a channel strip for them, it was fairly affordable and all that. When I finally tried the demo, it constantly crashed and the whole UI didn't make any sense to me, I'd always find myself thinking "uhm... where?!" despite RTFMing quite a lot.
Same goes for most others.
I actually started out with FL Studio, which was cool for pattern-based stuff like programming drums, absolutely great for that. At the time (around v4-v6) it didn't even have audio recording functionality, so I couldn't record guitars or bass to go with the drums I had just programmed, which was kind-of sad. Sure, they added some sort of audio editor to the more expensive versions to use as a workaround, but... nah. Now you can record audio, but they don't have a usable Mac version, and is FL12 x64 by now? Their "bridge every plugin in a separate process" wrapper might be a great "don't let FL crash" feature, but it leads to error dialogs from plugins hiding behind FL Studio and not telling you something's wrong until you close or hide the main Application, plus I find the routing clunky to say the least. Automatically have a Limiter inserted into every "empty" project? Having to re-load the entire project just to switch sample-rate? No-go.
There also was a time when I thought Cubase might be my saviour, you know, "if HZ uses it then it must be great". Got hold of an LE version and later an AI4, none of them made any sense to me, too cluttered, too obstructive, too clunky workflow. Can't start putting a track together without creating a new folder on my hard drive and creating a project? And where do I do the drag and drop routing? Whut, there isn't? Hm. Quadro track workaround for sidechaining? (in those days) ... Couldn't be bothered. Now it looks like an iPad app and feels just as clunky. Open instrument rack, load an instrument. Create an instrument track, pick instrument from instrument rack to assign. Create a MIDI track and record something, route MIDI track to instrument track that then plays instrument in instrument rack. WTF? Reaper's "Create track, load instrument" is the clear winner here.
I thought StudioOne would be a great new contestant, but when I tried that it constantly crashed and when I reported those bugs in near-400€ software, all that happened was that their arrogant staff offended me with replies like "sorry that our software wasn't designed for people on OSX dragging instrument plugins into FX slots". In v3 it still takes 2 clicks to remove a plugin from an insert, which is 1 too many, and folder tracks still don't automatically bus without additional clicky clicky. Try removing an empty instrument group. And what, on OSX the default for "remove track" is SHIFT+T instead of Backspace? Honestly... At least they finally put the "cursor to start on stop" setting from the "Options" menu into the "Transport" menu where it belongs, only took them 1.5 major versions. *sigh*
Samplitude also had an important role in my past, think it was around the v5 or v6 when I first used it. At the time it did what I wanted. I later bought the v10 or v11 used here on KVR, just because my Reaper license was running out and I thought it might be great to go "back to the roots", but even today it still looks like it was made B.C. and you have to pay for extras like a "crossfade editor" and gimmicks like that. Ask the people who recently had to pay a huge amount of money to "upgrade" to the new bestest biggerest version, but actually lost (!) their right to use some included sampler thing or so.
What I'm trying to say is: stop asking questions, start using and evaluating them yourself. The only "best" and "worst" host software is the one that fits you and your creativity/workflow requirements most and least, and not what anyone else tells you is the "best" or "worst".
Get the demo of one that has a demo, start a project and start working on that project from scratch to export, try doing what you think you're likely to do after purchasing it. Read about what its specialties are, try implementing them into your workflow, see if you like how it behaves, see if you "click" with what is expected from you as the operator.
When the demo runs out, get the next one and start over.
Yes, it takes a lot of time, but once you did all the above you won't have to rely on others anymore to tell you what's best or worst for you, because you'll know from trying everything hands-on.
By the way, Reaper has a "two version" license.
You buy it now while it's in v4.x, and your license will also include everything through to v5.99. I bought my v4.0 in 2011, it's taken 4 years to come to not even v4.8 yet, so I'm fairly certain that v5.0 is still a year or so away. And in a year or so, I'll get v5.0 and the (estimated) following 5 years of upgrades for free, as well. <3
Reaper user? Get my free JSFX plug-ins, also available via ReaPack extension.
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musical android musical android https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=298141
- KVRist
- 251 posts since 5 Feb, 2013 from spain
Have tried some different DAW's and I return to Reaper after each test as it is so stable!
Alright so do not have the strongest PC a portable run of the mill Toshiba with 4 GB of ram and a m-Audio sound card.
Also mostly compose in SunVox and Caustic and diverse other apps for mobile but Reaper just works great specially for recording and dealing with audio when it comes to cutting up audio and moving stuff around. Do not have problems with any VST's as I do in other DAW's plus that the freezing of tracks are very simple in Reaper which is a must on a the computer that I use as I do like to use CPU hungry effects!
If Renoise had more accessible audio tracks that would be considered to as it seems very stable and I do like the tracker way.
My favorite would of course be if SunVox had audio tracks and VST support! But that is not going to happen anytime soon...
Alright so do not have the strongest PC a portable run of the mill Toshiba with 4 GB of ram and a m-Audio sound card.
Also mostly compose in SunVox and Caustic and diverse other apps for mobile but Reaper just works great specially for recording and dealing with audio when it comes to cutting up audio and moving stuff around. Do not have problems with any VST's as I do in other DAW's plus that the freezing of tracks are very simple in Reaper which is a must on a the computer that I use as I do like to use CPU hungry effects!
If Renoise had more accessible audio tracks that would be considered to as it seems very stable and I do like the tracker way.
My favorite would of course be if SunVox had audio tracks and VST support! But that is not going to happen anytime soon...
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- KVRAF
- 6159 posts since 4 Dec, 2004
I like The Hulk. He's the best. Thor might be close but Hulk rules. He also has cool pants. He grows 10x and his pants never rip off. Must be those futuristic rubber pants.
Hulk smash.
Hulk smash.