If you had to use only two DAWs (third party VSTs allowed) what would they be?

[dlandis]

Subject line says it all; I thought this might be fun since so many of us use (at least) two DAWs for different reasons. This poll is for entertainment purposes only. I do not expect to change anything I do (for example) as a result of anyone's answer here. BTW, choose two options, but only pick those that you use as a DAW proper. If you use an application as only a VST or ReWire device within another DAW, please do not select it.

Thanks to Antic604 for the idea.

[EnGee]

Cubase and Live would be my best choices. In fact I would be fine with either Cubase or S1 and either Live or Bitwig

[xbitz]

I would change it to DAW + VST wrapper, Cubase instantly getting usable with BCPatchwork and Zenith

it enables MIDI learning (and MIDI generators) in the racks ... and instant automating/remote controlling, hallo Steinberg (and Patchwork because this is the only wrapper that doesn't steal the focus from the host, all the shortkeys, transport control keys (space)etc. remain usable even from opened VST widows )

[vurt]

other.

[whyterabbyt]

Waiting for the 'if you had to only use ten DAWs' thread before I respond.

[thecontrolcentre]

Stupid thread

[Unaspected]

I thought this might be fun

might be fun

fun

fun

Thanks to Antic604 for the idea.

[thecontrolcentre]

Ouch!

[dlandis]

Waiting for the 'if you had to only use ten DAWs' thread before I respond.

I'm working on it, but thought that I might work in a political angle as well to thoroughly infuriate some here (present company excluded, of course.)

[dlandis]

Stupid thread

1) Did you see the "entertainment purposes only" disclaimer? Entertainment is intended to amuse. As such, your mileage may vary. If you don't appreciate the thread, simply do not participate.

2) Unless this is your first time to KVR, you surely have noticed that a number of those who use DAWs here have mentioned using more than one application to aid them in their work. While you may not be one of these people, others here certainly have expressed an interest in a subject that touches on the question this poll asks.

3) Many articles in journals that deal with music tech in the past three or so years have made mention directly or in a more roundabout way of the trend to use two complementary DAWs (or more) in the music-making process.

This poll is a refection of a combination of these three factors. While this thread may not be something in which you have an interest, it does not on that basis alone qualify as "stupid."

[dlandis]

I thought this might be fun

might be fun

fun

fun

Thanks to Antic604 for the idea.

Cat got your tongue?

[dlandis]

Cubase and Live would be my best choices. In fact I would be fine with either Cubase or S1 and either Live or Bitwig

FWIW, I use (and am trying to thoroughly learn) Studio One 5 and Bitwig 4. Studio One is very direct for me; I need to be able to print music and have Notion 6 as well. The integration, so far, has been very good for my needs. I'm coming from over 30 years on Cakewalk (Cakewalk for DOS 3) and decided to switch when Gibson stopped development. It kind of stung, but Studio One hasn't been a huge learning curve for me to this point. Bitwig, OTOH, feels alien, but I still like it a ton. (Oddly, I never connected with Live 8, though I had to use it in school for my M.M. degree; I consider this entirely paradigmatic on my part. I do not blame Live 8 for this disconnect at all.) The "gadget-feel" of Bitwig I think is what draws me. Perhaps it's because it's the modulation king (and electronically, I'm a Wind Driver player first, keyboardist second.)

I've fiddled with Waveform as well, use Reason 12 as a VST, and occasionally will go back to Cakewalk if an old project needs to be looked at, but overall, I can get done most things in Studio One and use Bitwig for exploration/experimentation. Like you imply, they're wonderfully complementary and I'm guessing that's kind of a breakdown that many can appreciate.

Again, thanks to Antic604; he has helped with his comments on Bitwig (particularly) in the past. I hope that he ends up on Bitwig after the dust settles. It'd be sad to lose here his comments on it.

[dlandis]

I would change it to DAW + VST wrapper, Cubase instantly getting usable with BCPatchwork and Zenith

it enables MIDI learning (and MIDI generators) in the racks ... and instant automating/remote controlling, hallo Steinberg (and Patchwork because this is the only wrapper that doesn't steal the focus from the host, all the shortkeys, transport control keys (space)etc. remain usable even from opened VST widows )

I thought about it (someone else can do a poll on that if they want, I guess), but I wanted to focus more on workflow and major features. It's certainly not a bad idea.

[EnGee]

Cubase and Live would be my best choices. In fact I would be fine with either Cubase or S1 and either Live or Bitwig

FWIW, I use (and am trying to thoroughly learn) Studio One 5 and Bitwig 4. Studio One is very direct for me; I need to be able to print music and have Notion 6 as well. The integration, so far, has been very good for my needs. I'm coming from over 30 years on Cakewalk (Cakewalk for DOS 3) and decided to switch when Gibson stopped development. It kind of stung, but Studio One hasn't been a huge learning curve for me to this point. Bitwig, OTOH, feels alien, but I still like it a ton. (Oddly, I never connected with Live 8, though I had to use it in school for my M.M. degree; I consider this entirely paradigmatic on my part. I do not blame Live 8 for this disconnect at all.) The "gadget-feel" of Bitwig I think is what draws me. Perhaps it's because it's the modulation king (and electronically, I'm a Wind Driver player first, keyboardist second.)

I've fiddled with Waveform as well, use Reason 12 as a VST, and occasionally will go back to Cakewalk if an old project needs to be looked at, but overall, I can get done most things in Studio One and use Bitwig for exploration/experimentation. Like you imply, they're wonderfully complementary and I'm guessing that kind of a breakdown that many can appreciate.

Again, thanks to Antic604; he has helped with his comments on Bitwig (particularly) in the past. I hope that he ends up on Bitwig after the dust settles. It'd be sad to lose here his comments on it.

I don't find a big difference between Bitwig and Live (nor Cubase and S1). I use the same workflow in Live/Bitwig but a different workflow in Cubase/S1 due mainly to the clip launcher/session view.

I used Cakewalk for several years. I started with Cakewalk Home studio 2003 (I think). Before that I was jumping between Cubase and Logic on PC. I also started testing Sonar 2 (which I didn't like that time). Anyway, I used Cubase SL mainly after that and this was my most used DAW. Similar jumping between the DAWs and stayed Cubase my main DAW (or the one that I keep returning to). Now, is almost the same.

After some time with Bitwig and Live, you would feel at home eventually! Like with everything and every person. It might seem odd at first, but with time, you get used to it and becomes "normal" thing in your life.

Anyway, between Bitwig and Live, I still prefer Live most of the times! It is more inviting and more elegant (subjective of course). I'm using it more than Bitwig.

Studio One is the most "straight to the point" DAW IMO! It has elegant design and workflow. Better than in Cubase, but Cubase has better tools and I trust it more (especially in midi timing). I'm learning more about mixing and mastering in both DAWs, and I find it very similar and changeable between the two DAWs. Cubase has more options though in the mixer, but I still find S1 great in mixing.

Those 4 DAWs are my world now! I have no desire to add anything (except Logic if I buy a Mac again because I already have a license and know it ok).

[dlandis]

Cubase and Live would be my best choices. In fact I would be fine with either Cubase or S1 and either Live or Bitwig

FWIW, I use (and am trying to thoroughly learn) Studio One 5 and Bitwig 4. Studio One is very direct for me; I need to be able to print music and have Notion 6 as well. The integration, so far, has been very good for my needs. I'm coming from over 30 years on Cakewalk (Cakewalk for DOS 3) and decided to switch when Gibson stopped development. It kind of stung, but Studio One hasn't been a huge learning curve for me to this point. Bitwig, OTOH, feels alien, but I still like it a ton. (Oddly, I never connected with Live 8, though I had to use it in school for my M.M. degree; I consider this entirely paradigmatic on my part. I do not blame Live 8 for this disconnect at all.) The "gadget-feel" of Bitwig I think is what draws me. Perhaps it's because it's the modulation king (and electronically, I'm a Wind Driver player first, keyboardist second.)

I've fiddled with Waveform as well, use Reason 12 as a VST, and occasionally will go back to Cakewalk if an old project needs to be looked at, but overall, I can get done most things in Studio One and use Bitwig for exploration/experimentation. Like you imply, they're wonderfully complementary and I'm guessing that kind of a breakdown that many can appreciate.

Again, thanks to Antic604; he has helped with his comments on Bitwig (particularly) in the past. I hope that he ends up on Bitwig after the dust settles. It'd be sad to lose here his comments on it.

I don't find a big difference between Bitwig and Live (nor Cubase and S1). I use the same workflow in Live/Bitwig but a different workflow in Cubase/S1 due mainly to the clip launcher/session view.

I used Cakewalk for several years. I started with Cakewalk Home studio 2003 (I think). Before that I was jumping between Cubase and Logic on PC. I also started testing Sonar 2 (which I didn't like that time). Anyway, I used Cubase SL mainly after that and this was my most used DAW. Similar jumping between the DAWs and stayed Cubase my main DAW (or the one that I keep returning to). Now, is almost the same.

After some time with Bitwig and Live, you would feel at home eventually! Like with everything and every person. It might seem odd at first, but with time, you get used to it and becomes "normal" thing in your life.

Anyway, between Bitwig and Live, I still prefer Live most of the times! It is more inviting and more elegant (subjective of course). I'm using it more than Bitwig.

Studio One is the most "straight to the point" DAW IMO! It has elegant design and workflow. Better than in Cubase, but Cubase has better tools and I trust it more (especially in midi timing). I'm learning more about mixing and mastering in both DAWs, and I find it very similar and changeable between the two DAWs. Cubase has more options though in the mixer, but I still find S1 great in mixing.

Those 4 DAWs are my world now! I have no desire to add anything (except Logic if I buy a Mac again because I already have a license and know it ok).

You know I don't doubt that with enough experience with it, Live would feel much more natural, I really don't. And I can't explain why Bitwig "clicked" more. I do feel that Bitwig is more of a polar opposite to Studio One than any other DAW I've seen (do you agree?) and I think that's why I like it. It seems to push my concentration into areas that I hadn't considered. It's almost like having ultra-workflow on the one hand (Studio One) and uber-experimentation on the other (Bitwig). Both are extremely stable on my computer, so there's no difference there. Both are good with MPE. So, I honestly can't say that I _need_ two DAWs, per se. It's just that the more I use both of them, the more I get the feeling that some projects properly belong in one DAW, some in the other. Since I'm home all the time now, I do now have time to learn this stuff thoroughly. (I retired a couple years ago because I'm a heart transplant recipient. I was a public school teacher and gigging musician for many years. You may not realize this, but organ transplant recipients are immuno-suppressed to keep the organs they have received from being rejected. Hence, COVID is far more dangerous for us than even for the "normal" public. I've probably been out of the house about 20 times since March 15, 2020.)