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

[harryupbabble]

me too.
i intially found reaper hard to use
but i stuck with it
and found solutions to problems
thanks to google and helpful folks

[MVRCK]

It was Studio One for years. Now I'm liking Ableton Live.

[Michael L]

I have used MuLab since 2014 because I naturally think that way. I like being able to musically explore a sample using ten different devices, and route audio/devices/plugins/tracks/etc just by drawing a line. I also find the main GUI to be a peaceful resting point in between deep dives to other levels.

[anttimaatteri]

i dont use it, but if i had to stick with one its reaper. not even a close decision

[thecontrolcentre]

Ableton Live ... I've used it exclusively since v.5 was released in 2005.

[Smasha]

Reaper's stability with plugins is what wins me over.

[DJMaytag]

I was a hardcore Cubase user from 2001 (a cracked SX2) to Cubase 7 Artist (first legit purchase) and then Cubase Pro up until 9.x, when I finally got tired of how buggy it was. Reason 9.5 & VST support was enough to pitch that Steinberg eLicenser in the trash, and go to Reason full time.

OK, I’m kidding about pitching the eLicenser, as I have some old computers that can still run Cubase, if I ever want to get to some old project files. I can’t sell the Cubase license, as it’s NFR due to buying Cubase 7 Artist EDU.

[GuyaGuy]

Honestly I don’t think I knew so many people use multiple DAWs. I got Ableton Lite with my first interface and just stuck with it. I’ve used Reaper and Logic when collaborating but the idea of learning another DAW deeply is just too daunting.

[DJMaytag]

Honestly I don’t think I knew so many people use multiple DAWs. I got Ableton Lite with my first interface and just stuck with it. I’ve used Reaper and Logic when collaborating but the idea of learning another DAW deeply is just too daunting.

Rewire from Reason to Cubase or Ableton probably was the first “dual DAW” situation for a lot of people on here.

When I was jumping ship from Cubase, I was strongly considering switching to Ableton. The one hog preventing me from doing it was not wanting to learn a whole new way of thinking and doing things from what I knew in Cubase. Thankfully Reason 9.5 solve my Cubase problem.

[concealed identity]

I think the main reasons for it's popularity is that it's cpu efficient, small, fast to start and has all the functions in audio and midi.

I think it is more because there are a lot of noodlers around here who enjoy playing with the software, rather than getting anything done. If you'd never visited KVR, it's possible you'd never even know it existed. OTOH, you can walk into any music shop anywhere and buy Cubase, Studio One, ProTools, Live, Reason or even FL Studio, which makes a big difference. We here at KVR are not, by any stretch of the imagination, representative of the wider music industry.

I'm trying to not judge or conclude how the others are using Reaper really. For me, the only way I can be productive in Reaper is to spend a whole lots of time making my own shortcuts and my own workflow. This is however is a damn time consuming task! I need to list all what I need beforehand! So for me, it is like DIY DAW, which I'm not in that kind of things at all. However, I guess some users really like to do their own customised DAW. They see it as a bonus, but I see it unfinished DAW because it lacks a real workflow. If you try to see any tutorial, they immediately jump to how to do your own shortcuts! I see this as a flaw because all other DAWs have already most of what you want under your click or right click. Most of the setup of audio and hardware I can do in other DAWs without seeing any guide! In Reaper however, it is another world.

Anyway, maybe I missed something!

I don't think you've missed anything, I think you understand exactly why some people love and some people hate Reaper. It's basically a fully customizable, personalized DAW - but only if you know what you want in your DAW, enjoy customizing things, and have the time to set everything up.

And that's a fairly common type of person - I know loads of people that love tinkering with and customizing software so that it fits exactly how you work and how you think.

The other way to look at it, is that a big part of what you pay for in a DAW is a designed UI, workflow, and set of features. Reaper is cheaper (heh) because it cuts that part out. I want music making to feel as little like work as possible, and customizing menus, UI, etc. is excruciating for me. If it was something I enjoyed, I'd probably be all over Reaper. But for me, even setting up the preferences, VST menu, etc. in a fresh install of Cubase is a chore.

Reaper users will hate me, but I always secretly wished that Reaper would slowly develop into something with a crafted and ready-to-use workflow, so that I could get a fully-functional and easy-to-use DAW for $60. But that's just not what it is, or what the developers (or users) want it to be.

[milesdeem]

I started with trackers, used various versions of Cakewalk for years, sometimes FL or Ableton, and now I only use Bitwig. I will probably be using Bitwig indefinitely. I was always impressed at the capability of working quickly & creatively with Ableton but Bitwig is what really clicked for me. It has all the features I liked about Ableton but the interface for arranging & writing is way more intuitive. The ability to modulate literally anything you want to is so easy in Bitwig its ridiculous.

[Jac459]

I started with trackers, used various versions of Cakewalk for years, sometimes FL or Ableton, and now I only use Bitwig. I will probably be using Bitwig indefinitely. I was always impressed at the capability of working quickly & creatively with Ableton but Bitwig is what really clicked for me. It has all the features I liked about Ableton but the interface for arranging & writing is way more intuitive. The ability to modulate literally anything you want to is so easy in Bitwig its ridiculous.

Feel the same. Was a kind of DAW geek, trying to navigate multiple until I found Bitwig. I don't feel I will look at another DAW ever again because I like its overall quality and it is largely feature-rich enough for me... And then obviously, the modulations features are just unmatched (not even close) by any other tool...

[milesdeem]

I don't feel I will look at another DAW ever again because I like its overall quality and it is largely feature-rich enough for me... And then obviously, the modulations features are just unmatched (not even close) by any other tool...

For real, the modulators are unbelievably good, and even make some excellent plugins w/ modulation features unnecessary because it's so easy to modulate parameters in Bitwig. The built in devices are also so good that I probably would not have bothered to buy many of the FX I have bought, if I had Bitwig before.

Bitwig feels to me more like a bridge between a more traditional DAW and Ableton Live, with the best of both.

[neverbeeninariot]

Reaper users will hate me, but I always secretly wished that Reaper would slowly develop into something with a crafted and ready-to-use workflow, so that I could get a fully-functional and easy-to-use DAW for $60. But that's just not what it is, or what the developers (or users) want it to be.

I think the problem is that there is so much functionality packed under the hood that setting up one workflow to rule them all would be almost impossible. That said, it could do with some default toolbars out of the box (at a minimum) for some basic common editing tasks - and the context menus could be much better organised. They do tweak them from time to time, but still...they can be overwhelming, especially for new users. At least you can customise them too.

On the other hand, you only need to set it up the way you want it once and you're good to go. Prefs can be exported and imported for new installs, etc. My customisations were done over the course of many projects, adding or changing what I needed at the time and what I thought that I would need readily to hand in the future, it wasn't that difficult or onerous to do. It doesn't have to be endless tinkering, some Reaper users like to make music too. : )

Yes, there are some usability quirks (mostly workaroundable), and some fugly UI bits that are not themeable yet and so, for now at least, have to be accepted as part of the package, but that doesn't bother me so much as long as I can get the work done, and it's more than capable of that. I can always go play in Bitwig when I want a bit of pretty...

[skijumptoes]

I started with trackers, used various versions of Cakewalk for years, sometimes FL or Ableton, and now I only use Bitwig.

I played with a Polyend Tracker a few weeks back. Oh man, that relit some nostalgia in me from Amiga days.

I'd successfully forgotten about it until now, I was trawling auction sites and reverb for a few days after to see if I could pick one up cheap, and now you've reminded me again!