Bug-free Mac DAW?

[Forgotten]

time to switch to windows

How will that help? Windows software is not inherently more stable than on a Mac, and OS updates on Windows can break installed software.

[Passing Bye]

Logic 9.1.8 on 10.6.8 (maybe even 10.9.5) should be rock solid.

[perpetual3]

Ive only been using Bitwig for a few weeks, but so far it’s been much more stable than Live 9.7.7.

[EvilDragon]

There's no such thing as bug-free. Ever.

[EdgarRothermich]

There's no such thing as bug-free. Ever.

Amen.

People might be lucky by not encounter any bugs in their DAW, because they don't use a specific feature or a combination of actions that would cause a (known or un-known) bug. BUt bigs are always there.

Also, often the actual bug is in a Plugin and not the DAW itself and the DAW developers have no chance to fix that.

[Michael L]

Thanks for all your replies, everyone! It's reassuring that most DAWs can be stable under OSX (I've read many contrary stories). I will stay on Mojave for the foreseeable future but even so, OSX point or developer Xcode upgrades can cause incompatibility e.g. with older Core Graphics. Because I use both old & new software, 'bug-free' is thus a shining ideal! I have no DAW preference (each has +/-) so it seems that pest extermination requires Logic and AU, because Apple is less likely to break compatibility with its own software, yesno?

[simmo75]

I’ve switched to Reaper recently, it’s a bit weird and a learning curve but it’s not crashed in 3 months of using it, not once. It’s really light on system resources too and feels proper snappy. I used to hate Reaper, now I’m a big fan.

[machinesworking]

Thanks for all your replies, everyone! It's reassuring that most DAWs can be stable under OSX (I've read many contrary stories). I will stay on Mojave for the foreseeable future but even so, OSX point or developer Xcode upgrades can cause incompatibility e.g. with older Core Graphics. Because I use both old & new software, 'bug-free' is thus a shining ideal! I have no DAW preference (each has +/-) so it seems that pest extermination requires Logic and AU, because Apple is less likely to break compatibility with its own software, yesno?

Not really. IMO you want a bug free experience? stay one version behind the bleeding edge in terms of OS and DAW. Not true for Bitwig, but the last stable version of Live 9, 8, 7, 6 was always the best thing to do. Don't be a beta tester for the last major bugs, wait 3-9 months for everyone else to catch them and proceed.
Switched to Mojave a year after it came out, and have only switched to using VST3 primarily in Bitwig, I find them less stable 9 times out of 10 in Live and DP10 than VST2 versions. In Bitwig at least a crash doesn't down the ship. Plus minor updates all the time like Bitwig does tend to be more stable than upgrades with a ton of new features.

In general barring an errant VSTi that crashes most DAWs, all of the DAWs I own ( I have a few because I was searching for an MPE DAW that I liked), Bitwig, Live, DP10, Logic and Reaper, are stable.

[jonljacobi]

Every DAW save one that I tried was certainly stable enough to work with save one, Tracktion. That may have changed in the last year or so. I own 10 but haven’t tried it recently.

[jonljacobi]

Oh wait. You said bug free. None.

[revvy]

Thanks for all your replies, everyone! It's reassuring that most DAWs can be stable under OSX (I've read many contrary stories). I will stay on Mojave for the foreseeable future but even so, OSX point or developer Xcode upgrades can cause incompatibility e.g. with older Core Graphics. Because I use both old & new software, 'bug-free' is thus a shining ideal! I have no DAW preference (each has +/-) so it seems that pest extermination requires Logic and AU, because Apple is less likely to break compatibility with its own software, yesno?

OP, which Mac DAW is causing you issues?

[drdriller]

time to switch to windows

How will that help? Windows software is not inherently more stable than on a Mac, and OS updates on Windows can break installed software.

i've never seen a windows update generally breaking plugins compatibility, i've you already read a official announcement from a plugins company for not updating to any windows version ?

[dupont]

On El Capitan

Reaper 6 OK
Live 10 OK
Studio one 4 OK
Logic 10 OK
Waveform 10 crash fest

[dupont]

It think we can make a difference between a DAW with bugs and DAW which crashes to desktop.
You can work with a DAW and a few bugs but not with a DAW which crashes at the middle of a projet !
Most af the time, third party plugins crashes DAW.

[Michael L]

Most of the time, third party plugins crashes DAW.

Quite true, but unpredictable.
For example, I opened a simple, recently-updated and Catalina-compatible plugin (iZotope Vocal Doubler) in four hosts under OSX Mojave. It ran fine in one (VST), crashed two (VST and AU), and had a half-blank GUI in one (AU). Every plugin I own will run fine in at least one host, but no host will run them all. Thus I was wondering if there was "One DAW to Rule Them All" or if this erratic OSX compatibility is an endless game of Whack-a-Mole.