Piano Roll - What's the next best DAW after FL Studio?

[LoveEnigma18]

FL Studio has been my only DAW, but I can confidently say that it has hands down the best Piano Roll (Key Editor).

However, I would like to know what DAW comes next in terms of being closest to FL Studio in this regard especially for the speed of working with it for basic operations. Of course, it's all subjective opinion here and the intention is not to argue/compete, but it is just for my knowledge in case I want to try some other DAW in future. The Piano Roll is one of the most important things about any DAW for me.

Thanks in advance!

[LoveEnigma18]

What I think: I feel that Cubase has a pretty good one, but I am not sure if others have it better.

[xbitz]

the MIDI chart of DAW compersion https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/DAW-Chart.html shows quite well FL and Cubase are the best ones if the question is the Note Entry related tasks but Cubase is way more powerful compared to FL otherwise

this is my personal experience too, you can try Reaper its piano roll can be configured to mimic the FL one just has quite a clunky UI, not tried DP too much, if you have mac can try Logic too almost good as the Cubase one

my Note Entry based list would be
FL
Cubase
Logic
S1
Reaper
Waveform
Live
Bitwig
Reason

so quite similar to the list above, if u use not just mouse but some MIDI keyboard too then Cubase is ahead of FL with mouse only FL is the best for sure

[Passing Bye]

Logic

[xbitz]

yepp try Logic too if you can this is why,

Cubase doesn't support modulation at all, the workflow of Logic stand up closer to FL and has just a bit worse piano roll as the Cubase one

ps. but I would wait for FL Studio 20.9 Beta 5 maybe it will be a magically one who knows

[jonljacobi]

Best for what? And for whom? The one I find the best is one of the lowest rated. Most have a lot of stuff I simply don't need.

[VitaminD]

FL Studio has been my only DAW, but I can confidently say that it has hands down the best Piano Roll (Key Editor).

However, I would like to know what DAW comes next in terms of being closest to FL Studio in this regard especially for the speed of working with it for basic operations. Of course, it's all subjective opinion here and the intention is not to argue/compete, but it is just for my knowledge in case I want to try some other DAW in future. The Piano Roll is one of the most important things about any DAW for me.

Thanks in advance!

How can you validate your initial claim if, in the very next sentence, you are asking for the next best? The question implies you haven't tried the others, thus it is impossible to validate your initial claim yes?

I'd say Synapse Audio Orion had the quickest piano roll when it comes to note editing out of the box. I'm not sure that makes it the 'best' since as you say 'best' is subjective in such a feature. Plus it's a dead duck these days (discontinued).

But I'm sure both Cubase and Reaper can behave in similar ways if you're after that. Cubase probably has more control of MIDI data over FL Studio.

[LoveEnigma18]

the MIDI chart of DAW compersion https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/DAW-Chart.html shows quite well FL and Cubase are the best ones if the question is the Note Entry related tasks but Cubase is way more powerful compared to FL otherwise

this is my personal experience too, you can try Reaper its piano roll can be configured to mimic the FL one just has quite a clunky UI, not tried DP too much, if you have mac can try Logic too almost good as the Cubase one

my Note Entry based list would be
FL
Cubase
Logic
S1
Reaper
Waveform
Live
Bitwig
Reason

so quite similar to the list above, if u use not just mouse but some MIDI keyboard too then Cubase is ahead of FL with mouse only FL is the best for sure

Perfect, the kind of reply I was looking for. Thank you.

Yes, I do use MIDI a lot and use a MIDI keyboard too. I cannot access Logic due to being on Windows, but I have Cubase Elements to explore Cubase. Going by this information, it would be best to attempt Cubase first if I want to explore anything outside FL Studio, especially in this regard.

[LoveEnigma18]

Logic

Honestly, I would have loved to try Logic Pro. I absolutely love it just based on watching videos. But I cannot and do not want to buy/move to a Mac.

ps. but I would wait for FL Studio 20.9 Beta 5 maybe it will be a magically one who knows

Well, I am tired of waiting for Beta 5. I hope there is some surprise in store for us. I see you on the Looptalk forums btw, so I know you are also a long time FL Studio user. What other DAW/s do you have and use most?

[LoveEnigma18]

Thanks in advance!

How can you validate your initial claim if, in the very next sentence, you are asking for the next best? The question implies you haven't tried the others, thus it is impossible to validate your initial claim yes?

I'd say Synapse Audio Orion had the quickest piano roll when it comes to note editing out of the box. I'm not sure that makes it the 'best' since as you say 'best' is subjective in such a feature. Plus it's a dead duck these days (discontinued).

But I'm sure both Cubase and Reaper can behave in similar ways if you're after that. Cubase probably has more control of MIDI data over FL Studio.

I say next best for two reasons - first, I am not going to switch DAWs, and second, FL Studio Piano Roll is indeed the best in class from ease of use and fast editing point of view (at least for me).

I was curious if other DAWs have improved their Piano Roll in all these years, because last time I demoed a DAW it was 7-8 years ago. Only recently I installed Cubase Elements since I have it and it brought a different perspective and a refreshing change since all these years I have been only looking at FL Studio.

I thought for a change and experimentation if I want to try out some other DAW, what would be the next best thing to FL Studio in terms of Piano Roll so that I feel more at home while still being able to access new features and see a new interface (and colours). So, before committing to spending more time to learn Cubase (which I know is going to be dongle-free in future and which presents an opportunity to upgrade to Pro in future), I wanted to know a general opinion on this matter.

Based on the comments so far, which are enough for what I wanted to know, I have understood that the answer seems to be Cubase.

[LoveEnigma18]

Thank you everyone for your replies and suggestions.

[expecto]

There won't be any as long as the midi keyboard is considered the main input device for composition. FL Studio was lucky in that it was made by a non musician (gol) so he had to perfect the mouse+keyboard experience.

[LoveEnigma18]

There won't be any as long as the midi keyboard is considered the main input device for composition. FL Studio was lucky in that it was made by a non musician (gol) so he had to perfect the mouse+keyboard experience.

Yeah, that's a fair point. But it helps if you have a mixed workflow of MIDI keyboard and mouse-keyboard editing. Also, FL Studio Piano Roll is more "spacious" (for lack of a better term) in term of looks and is very simple and easy to work with.

[xbitz]

if you would choose Cubase check the workflow-related tech tips of Protoculture https://www.sonicacademy.com/courses/te ... otoculture first the "Tutorial 455 - Logical Editor and MIDI Functions" is the topic related one



the created "macros" can be assigned to shortkeys too, no way back to FL be warned

[LoveEnigma18]

Thanks again, such recommendations will help in the process.

I hope FL Studio 21 introduces custom shortcuts, but honestly, it is not a deal breaker for me.