Picking a DAW

[hlgr]

Hey everyone

Does anyone else seem to have a problem picking a DAW and sticking to it? I’ve used FL and bitwig 16 and am considering moving to Logic Pro X, if only for the lifetime updates and M1 Mac optimization.. is it worth it? Not really a fan of bitwig 16 track.

[Tendou]

nothing wrong in trying out the DAWs and then decide. thats imho actually the only way.

I started with Ableton and still wo der if I would be better of with Bitwig. Even Logic seem to fit my workflow better but Im a hardcore windows user so no luck there. However I stick now for years with Ableton and even tho it doesnt fit 100% the time Ive spent in the DAW is much more valuable than trying to get a perfect fit bc that will probably not exist for anybody, so try every DAW you like and once decided try to put the necessary hours in

[ramseysounds]

Its all about choosing a daw and sticking with it and learning it inside out. Once you get used to workflow you should be fine. Tip - create shortcuts

[kvotchin]

It’s down to the workflow that suits you best, and possibly the kinds of extra things bundled with the DAW - their relevance to your plans, their quality, etc. Also, whatever third party plugins you happen to own, or are very likely to buy regardless, could be another factor in making a decision.

Oh, and then there’s the cost, including cost and frequency and usefulness of updates.

That would be most of it anyway, I think. Luckily, you can in most (all?) cases try a demo version of a DAW for a while to see how it works for you. Some of these demo versions are even 100% functional, just time-limited, or in the case of Reaper, with a very brief bit of nagware when opening the program.

[hlgr]

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I will give reaper and logic a shot, then decide and stick to it.

[AnX]

Hey everyone

Does anyone else seem to have a problem picking a DAW and sticking to it?

nope

[Passing Bye]

Logic is amazing DAW, it got little bit of everything workflow wise, amazing bundled content, if you are in the market for a new laptop too, M1 and Logic Pro are great deal, you will get amazing audio laptop for decent price and amazing DAW for really great price. On the long run you will probably save few bucks, there will be no additional upgrade fees and if you decide to take full advantage of stock content, you will find so little to fill in with 3rd party vendors, than if you just get native Silicon stuff, you will probably have just best developers who did solid optimizations and less decision paralysis.

https://www.bluecataudio.com/Blog/behin ... benchmark/

[Tendou]

Logic is amazing DAW, it got little bit of everything workflow wise, amazing bundled content, if you are in the market for a new laptop too, M1 and Logic Pro are great deal, you will get amazing audio laptop for decent price and amazing DAW for really great price. On the long run you will probably save few bucks, there will be no additional upgrade fees and if you decide to take full advantage of stock content, you will find so little to fill in with 3rd party vendors, than if you just get native Silicon stuff, you will probably have just best developers who did solid optimizations and less decision paralysis.

https://www.bluecataudio.com/Blog/behin ... benchmark/

Im wondering if a Mac Mini or a Macbook both with M1 would be a better choice bc I‘d connect a bigger screen and peripherals to both?!

[Passing Bye]

Im wondering if a Mac Mini or a Macbook both with M1 would be a better choice bc I‘d connect a bigger screen and peripherals to both?!

For the price Mini definitely than, especially if you really don't need mobile device.

[BONES]

Logic is amazing DAW, it got little bit of everything workflow wise, amazing bundled content

I think you'll find that's true of all the big players. It is certainly true of Cubase and Studio One.

if you are in the market for a new laptop too, M1 and Logic Pro are great deal

No you won't. You'll get an over-priced laptop and a DAW that could be killed off at any time on a whim. How anyone who saw what Apple did with Shake and Final Cut Pro can have any faith at all in the future of Logic beggars belief.

https://www.bluecataudio.com/Blog/behin ... benchmark/

First of all, they are comparing low power Intel chips, when it is easy and cheap to buy a gaming laptop with desktop processors. Secondly, like most of these gee-ups for Apple, it's just Mac vs Mac because they know that any half decent PC will match or exceed the performance. e.g. My laptop uses a 6 core i7 and it cost half as much as an M1 MB Air, or about the same as a Mac Mini. Lastly, they used the CPU meters built into the software they were testing, so who knows how reliable those figures are?

Im wondering if a Mac Mini or a Macbook both with M1 would be a better choice bc I‘d connect a bigger screen and peripherals to both?!

I dunno, as I said, my gaming PC laptop cost the same as a Mac Mini and it came with a 17" screen, dual drives (SSD + HDD) and discreet graphics (M1 Macs share RAM between the CPU and graphics like Intel CPUs). Seems like way better value to me for something likely to offer similar performance (at the expense of battery life, of course).

[revvy]

Logic is indeed a fantastic choice OP.

[Passing Bye]

So who knows how reliable those figures are?

You can address your concerns to the author of benchmark, think he knows thing or two about the matter he is exploring

viewtopic.php?t=562890

[BONES]

I don't need to, I can see the issues with his testing and they are what they are. Think about it, if the M1 is so powerful why did they stick it in their smallest, consumer-focused laptop and not in their pro-sumer machines? Why do all their top-of-the-line machines still run on Intel processors? IF I was trying to convince people my CPU was more powerful, I'd put it in my top-level machines first, wouldn't you?

[revvy]

Nope

[Passing Bye]

I don't need to, I can see the issues with his testing and they are what they are. Think about it, if the M1 is so powerful why did they stick it in their smallest, consumer-focused laptop and not in their pro-sumer machines? Why do all their top-of-the-line machines still run on Intel processors? IF I was trying to convince people my CPU was more powerful, I'd put it in my top-level machines first, wouldn't you?

Because they are going to use more powerful (M1X?) chip in those, even with Intel, entry level devices had weaker CPU's and integrated graphics, it's nothing uncommon. Thing is their entry level CPU is powerful enough to replace their Intel top of the line Macbook Pro, entry level iMac Pro, top of the line Mac Mini and entry level Mac Pro, they did smart thing, they first sorted their consumer market and not too demanding professionals, gave developers more time to get on board, now they gonna focus on expanding Pro line and sales of new machines during Covid seems good.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... ovid-sales

Everyone that used and tested is convinced it's great chip, video guys were shouting about it first, now audio guys gave a shot and found the chip excellent for real time audio, Urs from U-He have interesting findings also, seems like he can pull out more out of his synths from that chip, again, those people are on this forum, if you want to have debate with actual facts with more than competent people, go ahead, I don't have any first world experience with M1 and we are just throwing uneducated opinions that doesn't really have much merit outside of speculation realm.

Logic, as Cubase and Studio One, is their premium full blown offering, but it cost 200 bucks and it's free updates for life, which makes it such an great bargain and investment over time, their updates over years were huge and bug fixes also, that would cost more than few hefty upgrades in Steinberg world.

Personally despise Apple as an company, but also Microsoft, Steinebrg and quite the few of audio vendors, but I'm not religious about my music gear, so will just use whatever makes more sense to me, advise everyone to do the same.