Which DAW Has The Most Uncluttered Interface ?

[Dionysos]

I find "cluttered" to be a bit of a vague term. E.g. Bitwig has high information density, but it's quite well and consistently designed and doesn't feel "cluttered" to me. Some sequencers can be made to look "clean" (i.e. low information density) on the surface, but look messy or make you go menu diving to access more advanced functionality. I'd expect a truly "uncluttered" DAW to also be pretty basic or minimal in terms of what functionality it offers.

[machine_spirit]

Or just do all of those at once!

I would wait for the next FLS 21 beta

If you have a large screen and can get the toolbar to be just one row, FL Studio looks super nice and uncluttered.

I'm already bouncing around trying so many DAWs at this point that i might as well add another one i've already used. I'm way past the point where one should consider what you even need in the first place. Never tried Studio One, maybe i should check that out...

[chk071]

I find "cluttered" to be a bit of a vague term. E.g. Bitwig has high information density, but it's quite well and consistently designed and doesn't feel "cluttered" to me. Some sequencers can be made to look "clean" (i.e. low information density) on the surface, but look messy or make you go menu diving to access more advanced functionality. I'd expect a truly "uncluttered" DAW to also be pretty basic or minimal in terms of what functionality it offers.

You're right, for me, cluttered also rather means that there's a lot of inconsistencies in the GUI, or the GUI design, or lots of windows etc. Bitwig doesn't quite fit that scheme, it's just that there's a lot going on in the GUI, which can also be distracting though.

[xbitz]

but almost all of the advanced functionalities can be assigned to shortcuts (typically the most often used ones) in Cubase (macros also can be created vs Bitwig), so not just the GUI https://soundpeaks.net/blog/cubase-hotk ... h-examples what matters

+ Logical Editor

etc.

so Cubase also can be used effectively (((just it hasn't got modulators, and routing of it comes from the stone )))

[dellboy]

I just looked at Cubase

How did you "look" at Cubase if you don't own it ?

Are you saying you bought Cubase sight unseen?

There are lots of ways to look at Cubase without buying it blindly. There’s a demo, videos, even screen grabs will show you just how cluttered it is. You didn’t have to buy it to see what’s in it.

Partially, I had the most basic Cubase free version which gives a very good feel of what the Pro version will be like. The actual GUI of Cubase is clean and uncluttered, its the menus which are very Reaper like with left over clutter. But I rarely need to go into the menus anyway. Its no big deal.

[Examigan]

IMO, Studio One and Logic.

You're absolutely right. Cubase's GUI is pretty cluttered. Even more so Cakewalk.

You can tidy up Cakewalk by using many of the built-in menus.

Load/Save your Workspace or use one of the presets:

Workspaces.jpg

See only what you want for each channel strip:

Modules for strips.jpg

Same for the Control bar. I probably don't even use half of what is included:

Modules for Control bar.jpg

[chk071]

Unfortunately, that just proves the point.

[EnGee]

You can make any DAW cluttered! Just like your room

Anyway, this is very minor for me. I hear with my ears mostly while THE INTRANCER hears with his eyes! So that all of his topics/posts related to GUI. In the end there are more important factors like features, stability and how well you know this DAW.

For overall reasons, Cubase and Bitwig are still on my top but after that (slightly behind!) comes Studio One, Live and Reason. Of course Logic on Mac, but I'm using mostly Windows nowadays. Those DAWs are excellent DAWs and I can make music with anyone of them enjoying their GUI and workflow. There are some minor issues and because of those issues I chose Cubase/Bitwig as my to go DAWs. They work for me the best

Now at the bottom is FL Studio! I tried hard to delve into this DAW and even with all the enhancements, I just couldn't continue using it! The same with Maschine! Other than simple beats, they are suck for a complete song/projects IMO. Reaper is much better because it is linear, although the workflow and shortcuts are horrible for midi editing, so that I don't use it.

There are other DAWs of course, but I haven't spent much time with them like Samplitude, MuLab, Mixcraft ...etc. So, I have no idea about them, except a little bit Samplitude as I have it and install it from time to time, but its workflow isn't comfortable or similar to Cubase/S1/Logic. It has its own workflow and shortcuts and because it is a deep DAW, the learning curve is not low.

So, after all it is about how good you are with your DAW! It doesn't matter how it looks! It is like a friend/partner! What's the point of having one that looks pretty/elegant but difficult to deal with?!

[machine_spirit]

Now at the bottom is FL Studio! I tried hard to delve into this DAW and even with all the enhancements, I just couldn't continue using it! The same with Maschine! Other than simple beats, they are suck for a complete song/projects IMO.

You can get used to the pattern workflow if that's what you're talking about but yeah, if you're used to MIDI clips you're gonna feel awkward for some time with patterns. I think the other way is easier, going from patterns to MIDI clips, though that has its issues too. An empty linear sequencer is intimidating in comparison, that "where do i even start?" feeling is way worse in the beginning. Sure you can add something with a step sequencer but it's not really the same thing. Ironically i never use blocks in Reason even though i came from FL Studio.

[aMUSEd]

Waveform for me - you can strip out pretty much everything to just focus on what you need

[SJ_Digriz]

The most uncluttered DAW is the one you know how to use ...

[THE INTRANCER]

The most uncluttered DAW is the one you know how to use ...

[img[/img]

Uncluttered doesn't mean next to gimped of general usability.

[SJ_Digriz]

The most uncluttered DAW is the one you know how to use ...

[img[/img]

Uncluttered doesn't mean next to gimped of general usability.

totally agree, there is not a single function unavailable to me from that view. I can multi-track drums with a simple key combo. Multi-track guitars with another. dump stems with another etc.. etc.. Cubase is not cluttered if you know how to use it. Most DAWs are uncluttered if you know how to use them.

[hoxclab]

Bitwig, FL Studio and Live for me.

[xbitz]

Now at the bottom is FL Studio! I tried hard to delve into this DAW and even with all the enhancements, I just couldn't continue using it! The same with Maschine! Other than simple beats, they are suck for a complete song/projects IMO.

You can get used to the pattern workflow if that's what you're talking about but yeah, if you're used to MIDI clips you're gonna feel awkward for some time with patterns. I think the other way is easier, going from patterns to MIDI clips, though that has its issues too. An empty linear sequencer is intimidating in comparison, that "where do i even start?" feeling is way worse in the beginning. Sure you can add something with a step sequencer but it's not really the same thing. Ironically i never use blocks in Reason even though i came from FL Studio.

sample managing is problematic (opening-closing the diff instances of Edison/NewTone and syncing them to project etc. is PITA), it would need some Cubase sampler track or dunno we gonna see it in the next version

so some kind of this is missing from FLS