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

[machinesworking]

Great post, all of it. You know me too well!

Anyway, regarding that particular bit I quoted - the problem with Ableton is that it's very hard to work in it after you've 'tasted' Bitwig. It just feel very constrained and rigid, for some reason: audio editing workflow is terrible, clip launcher feels like a separate part of the DAW, there's no mixer to speak of, LFO/Shapes/Envelope steal your device controls, browser is very inefficient (other than for searching samples - this is leagues better in Live!), they have some brilliant devices but using Racks is a chore compared to Layers, Selectors and Splitters, and so on... And its CPU use is ridiculous.

With Reason it's easier - I'm keeping it even if it won't be my main. I've sunk too much money in 3rd party REs and even if I'd never upgraded my 11 Suite it's got more than enough sounds and devices for a lifetime

DP is horribly awkward in parts, it's one of the oldest DAWs out there. Clips are at this point still tacked on, they still don't feel 100% integrated. It still treats instruments and MIDI as separate tracks, track selection is really powerful but really complicated to get your head around. The "Arrangement Page" is split into two windows, it finally got some love from intelligent MIDI controllers, but nothing like what Bitwig and Live can do.

I still get more complex arrangements in it than I do in Bitwig and Live, which is in the end of the day all that matters. I jumped around a lot because I get bored and I end up getting overly annoyed at a perceived limitation in DP etc. This is the biggest thing, you talk the most about loving Reason, and getting work done in Live, so the choice is between those two.

I'm sticking with DP and Live, but it's not easy, mostly because I almost think of them the way I think of soft synths. I've always jumped between the "fun DAWs" and DP or Logic so it's nothing new. I don't think they have the best UX, that would be Bitwig and Logic, but DP and Live have features I want, that make me more productive, that I want to use in my music. It's all a compromise, so at some point you have to accept the limitations of the DAW you choose.

[In the bigger picture it's the opposite problem, nearly every DAW has something about it that's best of class, and if you jump around you are acutely aware of this, making choosing one that much harder.]

[BONES]

So a DAW like Reaper would make the most practical sense for me (with Logic in a close second), but i find it a chore to work in. And i it actually does turn into work in those programs. It's easier recording guitars and programming drums, but i make less music. Live is not the most practical choice, but i am always more creative inside it. Since my music is just an outlet and not income, fun and creativity is at the top of my value structure. So the creative problems have to be solved first. For an engineer, professional sound designer, or someone who creates outside the DAW and just needs a stable recording and editing platform, the practical problems might need much more attention.

Just out of interest, which one have you been using the longest, which do you know the best? Because that was the kicker for me with Studio One - after using it for just a few months, I knew it much better than I knew Cubase after 18 months. OTOH, my bandmate seems perfectly at home in Cubase and doesn't want to move to Studio One, which means I have to do a lot of converting of the stuff he sends me. Even that doesn't make me want to change back, though. I'd still rather use the one I feel like I know best.

Overall, though, I am pretty sure I don't think about it as deeply as you do. For me, creativity happens as I work, it's not like the creativity comes first and then I have to do the work to get it down. So I am perfectly happy taking my time, doing things slowly and methodically, because that's where the magic happens for me. It only breaks down when the tools or the environment throw up roadblocks. e.g. The other night when I couldn't work out how to add a new, empty MIDI clip to a track in Cubase, I gave up in disgust and went back to Studio One.

if it shows a bug I find to be a showstopper

How often does that happen? I can't say it is anything I have ever experienced with any DAW. In fact, I'm struggling to think of any persistent bug I've come across in any of the DAWs I've used over the years. There are a few I can think of with Adobe CC but that is very much the exception in my experience, the rule is that everything just works.

I think it's just hard to not want to play with all the toys if you aren't setting hard goals like Bones was talking about with putting out an album.

TBH, I've never wanted to "play with all the toys" because they have always just been tools, a means to an end. As with any tools, you only buy the things you are going to use, so mine has always been a quest to find the best tools for the job, long before we ever thought of putting out albums. So once I find the best tool - Orion for 20 years or so and now Studio One - I stop looking and start doing the thing I bought it to do.

What I've realised is that the thing I like is having songs. I don't think I have ever been happier than since I worked up the 60-odd 80s covers I've got. Add in the NOVAkILL songs I've ported over to S1 and I've got 100 or so songs to go through. I can spend a whole week, 4 or 5 hours a night, doing nothing other than loading them, one after another, and belting out the vox as they play through. My laptop screens are constantly covered in spit, despite my best efforts to avoid it. Even when I get up in the morning, I used to put on an album but now I fire up the laptop and put on a few S1 projects. With so much stuff to choose from, I can find something to fit any mood. Overall, the process - playing with the toys - is mostly an annoyance, the satisfaction for me comes when a new song is in a performable state.

[Effectsworks]

Nuendo, without a shadow of a doubt.

[Dax50]

Studio 1.
I have Fender guitars and Amps and I am looking forward to the future for development with their new partnership.
Used to use Sonar and Reason, not so much anymore,except to transfer old projects to S1….

[voidhead23]

Just out of interest, which one have you been using the longest, which do you know the best? Because that was the kicker for me with Studio One - after using it for just a few months, I knew it much better than I knew Cubase after 18 months. OTOH, my bandmate seems perfectly at home in Cubase and doesn't want to move to Studio One, which means I have to do a lot of converting of the stuff he sends me. Even that doesn't make me want to change back, though. I'd still rather use the one I feel like I know best.

I actually had the same experience as what you just described. I used Logic for seven years and never really understood it; it just kind of baffled me, and so i used it as a glorified tape recorder. I then started using Live for work in 2014 (and purchased it the same year) and within six months i was flying with it, and actually eager to dig in and discover all the functions and features of the software. Oddly, it was also in Live that i started learning how to mix properly, and i find it really easy using the built-in stuff for basic mixing purposes. So after eight years, i know Live best, for sure. I've been learning Reaper since 2013 but have never remotely bonded with it. But after learning in Live, i now can get around much easier in Logic and Reaper than i could before. They just don't click with me, though.

Overall, though, I am pretty sure I don't think about it as deeply as you do.

Yeah, usually way too deeply. But i still manage to get a lot of music made, so it works out.

[3lu5iv3]

Reaper on the desktop and Sputter on mobile.

[Tj Shredder]

The main quality a DAW has to have:
It needs to be inspiring. Bitwig is, Live isn’t. Which is completely my personal taste.
All DAWs I know get the work done! More or less efficiently, but done…
Interestingly, professional sound engineers do not lurk at KVR. ProTools 0 votes…
If you’d run a professional studio, ProTools is mandatory (unfortunately - I hate the company behind it…)

[xbitz]

^^^ there is a vocal trance based course by Craig Connelly https://www.sonicacademy.com/courses/vo ... g-connelly he uses ProTools/Maschine 2/and tons of LFOTool combo

he may know something

[antic604]

...he uses ProTools/Maschine 2/and tons of LFOTool combo

It's pretty jarring to see this type of music in ProTools

[xbitz]

btw. I liked this one so share it

[Guenon]

For me, this would have to be Reaper, out of personal preference and practical necessity. If I literally had to use only one DAW, this is the only one that can do everything I need, in one place.

[harryupbabble]

same reasons as above, almost word for word.

[xbitz]

...

• MIDI capture (in Live) - if like me you can't play keys to save your life, this is literally life saver I often fool around on keyboard to find some inspiration or ideas and when I find one I attempt to record it live, but for some reason whenever that red button's blinking I get nervous and my playing falls apart completely - I miss the notes, I go waay out of time, etc; MIDI capture lets me record a nearly perfect take in those moments when I don't feel the pressure. And things recorded live just sound differently than those painted with a mouse
  
  ...

if you will gonna keep Cubase (or FL Studio which can't be sold anyway) it can be connected with Bitwig with some virtual midi cable, so just need a track in Bitwig with enabled monitoring (from your MIDI keyboard) with a HW Instrument on it to be able to send MIDI from BWS to Cubase and done, Cubase will able to log all the MIDIs in the background (MIDI clips can be dropped back to Bitwig with simple drag and dropping)... just tried

the retrospective recording is accessible in all the versions (from Cubase LE 11> )

[fmr]

Just 16 votes for Logic Pro. It seems macOS is losing ground each year.

[xbitz]

^^^ although Logic was the winner on SOS again https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/20 ... ds-results