If you had to stick to one DAW, which one would it be?

[Trensharo]

Due to some developments in my life I'll soon be getting rid of multiple DAWs, plugins & hardware to slim down my "collection" and focus my attention. I will likely make a spreadsheet for myself to help decide on the DAW I'll stick with going forward - realistically between Bitwig Studio 4, Ableton Live 11 Suite or Reason 11 Suite.

So I was wondering which DAW you lot think would be enough to cover most - if not all - of your needs, if you could never touch any other?

I hope I've not left out any important one

Obviously comments are welcome!

I am in the midst of doing exactly this. I think I'm largely done when it comes the plug-ins, virtual instruments and sample libraries. I still keep a secondary DAW around on my laptop, cause eLicenser and all that. Once Steinberg moves their stuff over, I'll be deleting the "backups."

Also, I do find it useful to maintain some level of proficiency in another DAW. Not only is it a good strategy (particularly if you already own them), but using the other can actually clue you into things you may not have looked for (but are there) in your primary. That's not necessary at all, though.

In your case, Reason Suite is not just a DAW, it's also comparable to something like Komplete 13. You can keep that around without having to care about using the Reason DAW/Sequencer. The Instruments and Players are worth it, IMHO.

Your choice is mainly between Bitwig Studio 4 and Ableton Live 11 Suite.

Personally, I'd go with Ableton, but I like Ableton's usability and minimalist design. It really depends on what features you value, though. Bitwig has this focus on modulation that some people really like (especially people really big into sound design).

[Trensharo]

I am already stuck on one only. Reason 11. All that I need + an open ended modular environment should I ever need more. Importing audio in and out of several daws would not be a pleasure to me.

Audio is not bad as most DAWs will use BWF and the clips will snap to their original position. Issue arises when you start doing any type of processing to the audio. At that point, I consider the project locked in and will just finish producing there and then only bring stems into the other DAW if I want to mix there (and, honestly, this is the only reason I'd be bringing Audio from One DAW to another).

Also, if you do a lot of comping, then that is not something I'd want to attempt to move between DAWs should you wish to maintain the ability to go back and easily make changes. I'd just finish things there and then bounce stems for mixing elsewhere.

I think many people have multiple DAWs because one or two didn't work out, but they continue finding reason to use them becasue they don't want that investment to be wasted.

Unfortunately, if you don't drop them, then they will probably just end up costing more in time as you move forwards. Better to make a choice, ASAP.

Only time I'd absolutely keep another is if I were using a Subscription DAW (non-Perpetual Pro Tools user) and needed a fallback in case I decided to drop that subscription. Beyond that, it's just something I do just to keep an option/back door open.

[rod_zero]

I already stick to one DAW, Ableton Live.

[wetdentist]

i picked Cakewalk because that is the one i use (Maschine isn't considered a DAW), and it works great for me. one thing i love about it is the whole free thing, which frees up money for other music things, like totally revamping my pedalboard over the past few years. yeah, i know, most people here don't like Cakewalk, but i use it almost every night. the current version is the best one yet by far, and i have been using since 2001. admittedly, i don't use all of its features, but my workflow is solid

[Erisian]

FL Studio can get cluttered easily. It's a side effect of the UX Design and how the software is organized.

FL Studio's Piano Roll seems like the universal retort that many people mention whenever addressing any criticism of the software, Lol.

Maybe I haven't used FL Studio to the extent others have but I have never found it cluttered in my simple usage of it. For my part, my mention of the piano roll wasn't to address the criticism, it's simply another plus IMO that might set it apart from the other two that were mentioned.

[THE INTRANCER]

If there is no revolutionary / exciting DAW to come out that redefines what a DAW can do, then I'll continue with the old generic one that I moved to from Reason.

[AnX]

The same one I've been using for over 20 years....

[EnGee]

Cubase mostly because it's my safe choice as I know it better than others and most of my tracks I finished in that DAW.

Anyway, nowadays I'm using mostly Live 10 Suite. I can probably use only Live plugins and instruments beside my MODX and DeepMind. This can be a future-proof more than 5 different synths that I might sell/abandon (for any reason) after 5 years!

There are some annoying and missing features in Live that I feel comfortable with in Cubase, but the environment in Live is more creative and easier to manage.

I don't know! For now, I'm keeping those as my main DAWs (Live more used recently) and with S1 installed for comparison or just in case!

[cryophonik]

i picked Cakewalk .... yeah, i know, most people here don't like Cakewalk, but i use it almost every night. the current version is the best one yet by far, and i have been using since 2001. admittedly, i don't use all of its features, but my workflow is solid

I hear ya, man! I still have a special place in my heart for Cakewalk/Sonar and will never understand all the hate it gets. Actually, since switching to Mac, I'd say that the underlying reason that I like Logic so much is that it has enough of the same/similar features that I always used in Sonar for so many years that it feels sorta like an extension of my old Sonar workflow.

[kritikon]

Would doesn't come into it. Only ever used one DAW at a time, and that will continue.

Using several DAWs at once - some people are masochists...life is way too short to learn multiple DAWs.

[summer2000]

For me it's Cubase 11 (soon v12). It has its flaws but the pros more than outweigh the cons. Cubase coupled with my AKAI MPC-X give me a well rounded environment to produce, mix, and master my tracks.

If I'm pleased with everything Cubase 12 has to offer when it's released I may look to sell my Bitwig, Studio One, and Reason licenses.

[Karlatin]

The issue I always had with Reaper is its uninspiring GUI, it's cramped menus full of options you can't really distinguish much, and its "Configure me to make me usable" approach. I don't expect the software to hold my hand the whole time, but, I expect at least a bit of user friendliness, and a bit contemporary interface, and that's something I don't think Reaper really offers.

That's how I feel about Reaper, too. In a special case scenario where Bitwig's challenge-and-response activation became a problem, I might fall back to Reaper as my one and only but, failing that, I choose Bitwig.

I'd agree with Antic about Bitwig sometimes being "oblivious to wider user-base needs" but for all I know a single update (being optimistic) could bring in the most important of what's on the 'what's missing' list. I mean workflow minutiae, not major features.

Though, we will need to wait on even that as it looks like Bitwig will do an early-cycle release of 4.2 to support CLAP (Reaper will be doing the same) and therefore I do not expect many minor tweaks again until some 4.3 release in the fall.

I wonder if Steinberg will hold off on 12 and Ableton will keep 11.1 in forever beta until they, respectively, see what sort of antics Bitwig and Reaper are up to regarding this plugin format. Probably not, I guess, big fish don't usually care about a small fry.

[Trensharo]

i picked Cakewalk .... yeah, i know, most people here don't like Cakewalk, but i use it almost every night. the current version is the best one yet by far, and i have been using since 2001. admittedly, i don't use all of its features, but my workflow is solid

I hear ya, man! I still have a special place in my heart for Cakewalk/Sonar and will never understand all the hate it gets. Actually, since switching to Mac, I'd say that the underlying reason that I like Logic so much is that it has enough of the same/similar features that I always used in Sonar for so many years that it feels sorta like an extension of my old Sonar workflow.

The hate Cakewalk gets comes mostly from hobbyists/enthusiasts who spent hundreds on something else and need to validate spending that cash, because otherwise... the level of regret will go through the roof.

This is a huge driver for all vs. DAW debates. Many people got really expensive DAWs like Live Suite and Pro Tools because it was popular in the circles they frequent, and due to FOMO. People like having their choices validated, and saying Cakewalk is as good as it is (and it is really good) at $0 devalues what they have invested in anything they've paid for ... considerably.

This is because any value proposition must factor in what can be acquired for a lower price). Would anyone here buy Live if Bitwig was free? Cakewalk is kind of that choice in the Studio DAW market for Windows users. Unless you have specific requirements for something other - which costs more... or anything, really - it realistically should be the default go-to for those users.

I'd say the same thing about GarageBand/Logic Pro on macOS. Nothing else can compete with value proposition Apple has on offer.

For legit professionals, this is not an issue, as those people buy based on requirements or "proficiency due to history" with the software they use. They generally don't care, because they don't mind paying for software and if SONAR was what they needed, they'd have gotten it before it was free. That's why if you go to the Pro Tools forums, it's actually a pretty pleasant place and people don't tend to entertain these types of discussions - despite being the most flamed DAW on the market

FL Studio can get cluttered easily. It's a side effect of the UX Design and how the software is organized.

FL Studio's Piano Roll seems like the universal retort that many people mention whenever addressing any criticism of the software, Lol.

Maybe I haven't used FL Studio to the extent others have but I have never found it cluttered in my simple usage of it. For my part, my mention of the piano roll wasn't to address the criticism, it's simply another plus IMO that might set it apart from the other two that were mentioned.

My statement about that common retort has to do with how discussions usually go when discussing different software applications. People will always say FL Studio's Piano Roll is the best ever, because it needs that handicap when someone asks about the Audio-related workflows in that DAW, for example. Or the idiosyncratic way its tracks work (instruments tied to clips, not tracks, etc.). Or the cluttered nature of its UI.

It's a common theme, not an accusation. A "talking point" that that community always has ready to throw out there, for lack of a better term. Other DAWs have theirs, as well.

Before many other DAWs got Articulation Maps and MPE, Expression Maps and Note Expression were common talking points Cubase users would throw out there.

Chunks and V-Racks (which are amazing, admittedly, and it also has those nice ZTX alogorithms) are thrown about for Digital Performer.

Session View and Audio Warping for Ableton.

Workflow (whatever that means, these days) for Studio One - people always say it, but they never really demonstrate an actual workflow and tell us how its as superior as they say it is... so, I have tuned this out (Cakewalk used this type of "repeat it ad nauseum" workflow marketing, as well).

The Audio Editing in Pro Tools and Samplitude Pro X are used as a way to minimize those DAWs' lacks in other areas all the time.

REAPER's "configurability" is always stated as if this is a viable excuse for a piece of paid software to have such a bad UI and such horrible menu design (it's $225 for legit professionals - more than Logic Pro, for example, and approaching crossgrade pricing for many DAWs (and price during promotions, which Cockos almost never has)). Oh, and REAPER is apparently "Free." Can't complain about free!

These are the "DAW Wars," baby!

Every DAW/Developer has a small army of unpaid PR Spokespeople. Some just happen to be much larger and a bit less pleasant than others

This is also why it's not advised to ask for DAW choice advice on a user forum. You're better off asking on the [different] product forums for things the users like than asking a comparative question on a general forum. Generally, people will default to their own personal choices, and they will tend to grasp for any reason that can be conjured up to anchor that bias.

General forums also have feedback tainted by hobbyist and non-professional users who collect software and do very little with it. These users are very sensitive to marketing and product herding, and also very good at regurgitating talking points, as they tend to hang out in places that validate their choices and assimilate the rationales offered to them by other like-minded individuals.

[cryophonik]

I hear you, and I agree that there is some of that going on re: Cakewalk being free, but the hate started long before it became free. I was a Sonar user for 15 years before it became free and people always complained about it being unintuitive, cluttered, difficult to use, etc.

[BONES]

I will likely make a spreadsheet for myself to help decide on the DAW I'll stick with going forward

Right, because all the best creative decisions are made using spreadsheets.

As I can make the same music in any of them, big part of the decision is what I can expect from those DAWs going forward.

I kind of get this but, ultimately, I don't think it makes any sense. Yes, I left Bitwig because I didn't think development was likely to go in a way that would suit me but that was predicated upon the fact that Bitwig didn't suit me at the time, either. But if you are happy with something today, why would you care what it's going to be like next year or in a decade? They are mostly already very mature applications, anything new is not going to offer any radical changes in direction. Reason, for example, has taken a long, long time to get to what it is today, they aren't about to decide it was all a waste of time and go back to how it was in the beginning.

If you're used to Cubase or Studio One, Reaper isn't a "far shot" either. Works very similar.

I just installed Cubase this week, for the first time since I bought my current laptop last year, and I can't believe how different it is to S1. In my mind they are very similar but in reality I have to accept that I can no longer use Cubase in anything approaching an efficient manner. I can't even remember how to do simple things, like get the cursor to go back to the start of a song or how to add a MIDI clip to a track. More to the point, I don't have any desire to re-learn it, even those simple things. I want to spend my time making music, not learning or re-learning software.

Bitwig suits me fine and it is super stable and reliable which is my #1 feature.

Surely they are all super-stable? Every host application I've tried is certainly at least as stable as Bitwig was. If that's not been your experience maybe you need to look at your computer set-up?

I can't see myself switching from Studio One. It does everything I need (and a million things I don't), it's unbelievably intuitive to work with, which means I have managed to learn it much better than I ever learned Bitwig or Cubase, in much less time and with far less effort. You'll notice I said "switching" because I have so little time to put into music that I am not going to waste a second of it learning multiple applications or moving shit from one host to another. I thought maybe we'd keep using Cubase for recording but after installing it last week, all I can say is f**k that! Life is way too short.