POLL: Which DAW would you choose if all things were equal?

[Ploki]

But ... there is one disadvantage: Logic comes with the biggest
dongle you can imagine: The whole Mac is the dongle! And
you are forced to buy a new dongle every two years if you
wanna be up to date.

LOL. Just found out my 2011 is locked out of Mojave. By locked out I mean Apple just occasionally decides to axe older drivers for no other reason than to force users to upgrade if they want the latest OS. No doubt they’ll tie the next version of LPX to Mojave or some such.

I love LPX though it’s methodology is sometimes awkward and the learning curve is steep; it does just about everything and does it well, it’s highly configurable, with a easy interface. (Mostly) But Apple? Money grubbers with attitude.

Beh. I hate apple for their practices as much as the next guy, but:
Mojave requires Metal, if your GPU is unsupported, you're out of luck.
So no, Apple generally supports older devices with their OS for, to be honest, as long as hardware manages to handle newer OSes.
One thing they do right

[mtelesha]

But ... there is one disadvantage: Logic comes with the biggest
dongle you can imagine: The whole Mac is the dongle! And
you are forced to buy a new dongle every two years if you
wanna be up to date.

LOL. Just found out my 2011 is locked out of Mojave. By locked out I mean Apple just occasionally decides to axe older drivers for no other reason than to force users to upgrade if they want the latest OS. No doubt they’ll tie the next version of LPX to Mojave or some such.

I love LPX though it’s methodology is sometimes awkward and the learning curve is steep; it does just about everything and does it well, it’s highly configurable, with a easy interface. (Mostly) But Apple? Money grubbers with attitude.

You should hear my video editing friends who have thousands upon thousands of dollars of NVIDIA cards and some Data Scientist friends (CUDA Cores). Apple doesn't have any NVIDIA drivers for the latest OS Update and the rumor is that there isn't going to be one. So either you buy AMD GPUs or you move away from CUDA Cores if things don't change.

[enroe]

You exactly tell us why this poll is meaningful and wise.

The reason if - if I may paraphrase it - that in the end you 'll always
use that DAW which fits your workflow best, no matter what it costs.

If that is true, then really it's just the same as if the poll didn't exist. How can something be meaningful and wise if it's obvious? Rhetorical question I know, but it's like pointing out that the sky is blue.

Mostly it points out that bragging about your DAW or computer being cheap is a pointless exercise.

Yes yes.

For every serious musician, who really wants it, this poll is pointless. It is
just a "normal" poll. For him the price of DAW doesn't matter.

The difference are those have to look at the price. There may be many
reasons for that. But I guess there are still musicians who are only
slight hobbiests, or live in a country where "$500" are heaps of money. For
them prices of $0 (cakewalk bandlab) or $60 (Reaper) or $600 (Cubase)
are a big difference.

Also there is a difference if you are bound to a platform like Mac. Mac
is very special - and you depend on the hardware-policy of Apple.

[martinjuenke]

What I mean by "all things equal" is . . . same cost (lets say $100), cross-platform (PC/Mac/Linux), and you have ZERO prior experience/investment with any any of them (but you do have your eMusic experience/not a total beginner).

I would analyze all DAWs. The main points were 1. Features and
2. Ergonomy. And finally the top dog is:

Apple Logic Pro X

Why?

It really has all features you can guess or you've ever heard of.
And you can create a marvellous super fast workflow. In the early
2000s Logic had already most of the features which are now
implemented into other DAWs - in painful development. Also
the folder-structure enables you to use Logic in a linear way
(old tape-machine-procedure) or in a pattern-based way (for
electronic guys).

But ... there is one disadvantage: Logic comes with the biggest
dongle you can imagine: The whole Mac is the dongle! And
you are forced to buy a new dongle every two years if you
wanna be up to date.

My 2013 MacBook Pro runs Mojave & Logic Pro without any problems...

[EnGee]

If I were to switch, I might switch to Reaper. If NI were to go out and make a DAW I would probabaly switch to that because I am a heavy user of their products and ecosystem and things *should* integrate nicely together.

I like Maschine. It integrates perfectly with Mikro Maschine of course! I've got the "essential" version with the Mikro, which is the same as the full version minus tons of content!

Anyway, if you can find a way to demo it, then it might be what you are looking for. Once you understand the "Groups" and how the general workflow is, you will be faster producing with it mostly.
The real advantage though is the nice integration with their hardware, but it works with any midi keyboard or controller provided that plugin has midi learn function.

[machinesworking]

But ... there is one disadvantage: Logic comes with the biggest
dongle you can imagine: The whole Mac is the dongle! And
you are forced to buy a new dongle every two years if you
wanna be up to date.

LOL. Just found out my 2011 is locked out of Mojave. By locked out I mean Apple just occasionally decides to axe older drivers for no other reason than to force users to upgrade if they want the latest OS. No doubt they’ll tie the next version of LPX to Mojave or some such.

I love LPX though it’s methodology is sometimes awkward and the learning curve is steep; it does just about everything and does it well, it’s highly configurable, with a easy interface. (Mostly) But Apple? Money grubbers with attitude.

And how old is LogicX like 6 years? I doubt Mojave will be necessary for anyone for quite a while. If you have an old 2009 Mac Pro like I do you can mod it to work with Mojave. I'm on the last step which is the graphics card.

If you're cheap like I am about it but like their equipment get macs six months old on craigslist, it's still within the one year warranty, eligible for three year warranty, and is probably owned by some anal retentive graphics designer who whipped it down after every use.

Even cheaper, learn to mod the 09 models and the only thing you really miss is latest greatest bragging rights, but 12 cores will suffice for most things we do.

[enroe]

The course of this poll ...

... is mysterious:

First Apple Locig was ahead, followed by Steinberg Cubase.
Then after a time Ableton Life changed up front.
And now - what a surprise! - Reaper pushed forward to the top position.

[telecode]

The course of this poll ...

... is mysterious:

First Apple Locig was ahead, followed by Steinberg Cubase.
Then after a time Ableton Life changed up front.
And now - what a surprise! - Reaper pushed forward to the top position.

is reaper at the front because of price point? that makes sense sort of. its like the popularity of beheringer synths. they are popular and sell because they are cheap and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

[SoundPorn]

I think Justins whole ethos has a ton to do with it, but not only that, Reaper is arguably the most powerful all around DAW, regardless of price point, it's easily the most customizable DAW there it allows each user to make it the most efficient, personalized and powerful option on the market for them, and just as an icing it's cheaper.

The course of this poll ...

... is mysterious:

First Apple Locig was ahead, followed by Steinberg Cubase.
Then after a time Ableton Life changed up front.
And now - what a surprise! - Reaper pushed forward to the top position.

is reaper at the front because of price point? that makes sense sort of. its like the popularity of beheringer synths. they are popular and sell because they are cheap and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

[telecode]

FWIW.. thanks to this thread, i am trying out DarkWAve Studio just for the hell of it.

[manandmusic]

In the top 100 of senseless polls ...

[chk071]

If all DAW's were equal, there'd only be one DAW. "The DAW". It would cost $500, and have a feature list like Dark Wave Studio.

[enroe]

The course of this poll ...

... is mysterious:

First Apple Locig was ahead, followed by Steinberg Cubase.
Then after a time Ableton Life changed up front.
And now - what a surprise! - Reaper pushed forward to the top position.

is reaper at the front because of price point? that makes sense sort of. its like the popularity of beheringer synths. they are popular and sell because they are cheap and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

No no! The price point is excluded in this poll! The exclusion of price is the
specific characteristic of this poll!

Maybe what "Soundporn" is telling is the truth?

[enroe]

... i am trying out DarkWAve Studio just for the hell of it.

Sure, DarkWave Studio is the best!

[jancivil]

Another reason for me is Note Expression.

i do miss that in Logic.

I would think this is something for AU 3, but I haven't researched it.