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

[pdxindy]

If you can select multiple DAWs on a survey then the most 'popular' DAW therefore could be one that's not used as a primary, And I think that explains Logic's userbase in the wild.

That‘s definitely true in my case. I have it installed and maintain my plugin list everytime I get something new. Don’t actually use it, though, anymore.

True for me too... and I do use Logic for some stuff (it's freakin amazing in a bunch of ways!) but I mostly use Bitwig.

And as far as DAW popularity, my DAW is far less popular than the big names. The only thing I care about is that enough people keep using Bitwig so that the developers are happy to keep developing it.

[machinesworking]

Oh I don't presume it's more prevalent, I'd say it was less. Much more likely 70-30 in Windows favour across all users. And that's based on people I know, and various reviews/tutorials/streams online.

I live right next to Microsoft and I know only one musician using a Windows machine. A decade ago one of the higher ups at Ableton told me their sales were 50/50. Music is different that way, Apple less than 15% of the computer market.

Which is why I find the reported dominance of Logic higher than expected, and thinking of the reasons why this is.

Because Logic when Apple bought it was one of the top 4 DAWs. Then you have a company with endless pockets who've dumped serious tech into Logic for the last 20 years. There's an "AI drummer" in Logic, and it's been there for years. A serious amount of people think that integration matters. To the point to where anecdotally I've had dozens of people tell me they're getting a mac specifically to run Logic.

I found that one interesting as it shows FL to be quite prolific in being a source of creation. So I don't think it's necessarily about studio gear in the traditional sense - Likely including the bedroom producer and that facet of the process.

Yep, all the online accolades about pro VS bedroom or hobbyist musicians, that's all for the ego of the person typing, in no way does any DAW maker want to alienate the person putting out an occaisonal release on Bandcamp. FL are successful because they aren't elitist about it. People who can't play an instrument feel they could cobble a beat together in FL, and that's a sizable market.

As a Cubase user myself, I would be curious to know 'how they're doing' as it seems to me that Steinberg have found themselves overwhelmed with legacy and unable to take the strides of newer/fresher DAWs and I think it's hurting their brand a little. Dropping the dongle hopefully has helped that however.

They could be in the shit for all we know, as there's no metric for us to get an indication.

Same with Presonus and Fender - is everything ok there? Is their subscription model working? ...Will Steinberg go that route in the next 24 months?

IMO Steinberg get some bite in sales from Studio One, along with Reaper IMO the fastest growing DAW. That said, it's still in the top 5.

i.e. I don't think Ableton would ever be the success it is today if people weren't jumping on the warez scene as an inroad. Could it be that this model of creating interest and being in people's eyelines is more important than securing a product nowadays?

Ableton is a success for multiple reasons, their demo is super accessible, what with just not being able to save a song, but you can save audio. The time stretching was so far ahead of the rest, along with the "uninterrupted audio engine", that a massive amount of people used Live as a secondary DAW, until they stopped using their main one for everything but final mix and mastering.

[machinesworking]

And as far as DAW popularity, my DAW is far less popular than the big names. The only thing I care about is that enough people keep using Bitwig so that the developers are happy to keep developing it.

I'll be honest, I'm slightly less likely to want to use something based on it being the most popular. Thinking that popularity is a sign of quality makes no sense whatsoever.

[pdxindy]

Because Logic when Apple bought it was one of the top 4 DAWs. Then you have a company with endless pockets who've dumped serious tech into Logic for the last 20 years. There's an "AI drummer" in Logic, and it's been there for years. A serious amount of people think that integration matters. To the point to where anecdotally I've had dozens of people tell me they're getting a mac specifically to run Logic.

Yup... Drummer is impressive! It works very well.

Plus Logic Step Sequencer is great, the tempo mapping is great, then there is Alchemy, excellent groove capability, Auto-Sampler, plus so much more... and now Logic has added clip launcher.

Apple is doing an excellent job on development... fresh and creative.

[machinesworking]

Yup... Drummer is impressive! It works very well.

Plus Logic Step Sequencer is great, the tempo mapping is great, then there is Alchemy, excellent groove capability, Auto-Sampler, plus so much more... and now Logic has added clip launcher.

Apple is doing an excellent job on development... fresh and creative.

To be honest, part of the reason I don't use Logic is my own stubbornness. I used it for years and left back to DP after an unstable version. I was using Live more often then anyway. Logic was also late to the game with multi MIDI input, and their MPE setup is sort of a leftover bonus from that point in their development. Beyond that though, they get a massive amount of great tools made specifically for them, spacial audio, spot to sequence, articulation mapping tools, their comping is great, and they didn't entirely screw up the great navigation and tool selection they had years ago. I mean I could literally just use Logic for everything, without any plug ins beyond the embedded ones, and it wouldn't be that bad at all. It's dull as hell to look at though, that's one thing. I prefer Bitwig by a mile in terms of GUI, and DP has a few end user skins that are fantastic.

[liquidsound]

Another great feature in Ableton, which really helps me to feel more at home with the visual aspect, is the Theme builder
I don't know if there are other DAWs capable fo offering such a feature.

https://www.livethemes.co

[rod_zero]

i.e. I don't think Ableton would ever be the success it is today if people weren't jumping on the warez scene as an inroad. Could it be that this model of creating interest and being in people's eyelines is more important than securing a product nowadays?

Teenagers don't have money for software, so they get FL studio or Ableton illegally, at some point some stop making music, others buy the software when they have a new income.

[Michael L]

I don't know if there are other DAWs capable fo offering such a feature.

MuLab.
You can go into detail on the colours of 60 GUI elements plus design knobs, buttons, sliders. Also redesign modules, create your own, and share themes by replacing just one .xml file.

[liquidsound]

I don't know if there are other DAWs capable fo offering such a feature.

MuLab. You can go into a lot of detail, like the angle and gradient of the fill on one of five different knob styles.

I know. I've been using it since v2.0 IIRC and it's very flexible indeed, but the system created on that website is exceptionally easy to use and at the same time non-destructive with selective views of each element in isolation, sharing and remix capability.
I was able to load up few themes, made by other users, and in few minutes I made personal modifications to suit my needs.

[Michael L]

I was able to load up few themes, made by other users, and in few minutes I made personal modifications to suit my needs.

I do the same thing with other user themes in MuLab. It has a color picker, copy/paste color, preview, etc. Maybe different paths to the same end.

[liquidsound]

I was able to load up few themes, made by other users, and in few minutes I made personal modifications to suit my needs.

I do the same thing with other user themes in MuLab. It has a color picker, copy/paste color, preview, etc. Maybe different paths to the same end.

Yes.
But I have no time to work the themes and the ability to pick a ready made one is a plus (as of now they listed 24,286 themes ) but they can be narrowed down quite quickly from the search filters available.

I got 5 themes (and adjusted 2 of them) in less than 5 minutes and they look fanatstic (to me of course...).

[ramseysounds]

The colour scheme in Cubase is completely editable

[Michael L]

(as of now they listed 24,286 themes)

That's so Ableton

[cryophonik]

Funny how different the results in these polls can be (2023, 6,601 respondents)…

https://www.production-expert.com/produ ... he-results



(2023): https://musicianshq.com/most-popular-da ... ucers-use/

(2017, over 30K respondents): https://www.macprovideo.com/article/new ... -voted-for

[liquidsound]

The colour scheme in Cubase is completely editable

I’m referring to the online builder. That’s the kicker for me. Even Reaper don’t have such a simple way of using a ready made themes to be modified on the fly.

Of course Reaper goes to the end of a black hole to customize the UI but I need to make music