Picking a DAW is hard…

[jamcat]

If I started today as a youngster I would probably learn Reaper for its very cheap, almost free ... but also Bitwig. I try Reaper every other year but still think its a mess and has weird workflow that feels backward.

If Reaper is a mess why would you want to try to use it at any experience level?
Who cares if it's cheap, if it sucks?

I absolutely couldn't imagine using anything other than Studio One at this point. I'd probably give up music first. Cost is the least of my concerns.

[chk071]

I couldn't agree more.

If you think something is a mess and has a weird workflow, then, frankly, every kind of approach is pretty pointless.

[BBFG#]

I found Bitwig to be very decent, until I upgraded to the new version. It's been such a sh*tshow that I've started using Cubase more. Thinking of giving Presonus another try. Seems like just when you get something working nicely, they find a way to kill it.

[HOTF]

stop being a bitch and use Max, Puredata or Supercollider

[_leras]

I found Bitwig to be very decent, until I upgraded to the new version. It's been such a sh*tshow that I've started using Cubase more. Thinking of giving Presonus another try. Seems like just when you get something working nicely, they find a way to kill it.

I haven't upgraded yet. 5.1.8. you can still d/l this or 5.1.9.

Hopefully they'll get 5.2 sorted for your issues. I hope you contacted their support.

[stoopicus]

I found Bitwig to be very decent, until I upgraded to the new version. It's been such a sh*tshow that I've started using Cubase more. Thinking of giving Presonus another try. Seems like just when you get something working nicely, they find a way to kill it.

I haven't upgraded yet. 5.1.8. you can still d/l this or 5.1.9.

Hopefully they'll get 5.2 sorted for your issues. I hope you contacted their support.

5.2 has been fine for me. What's the issue folks are having?

They just shipped 5.2.1 last week addressing some issues...

[machinesworking]

I don't get the "this DAW or die" crowd at all. I have about 7 on this computer, and I almost always use DP, but it's just not that hard to learn a new DAW, they all do pretty much the same things.


I'm currently spending most of my time in the MPC because flatly it's the most compact for travel, and I travel a lot. A DAW on hardware like the MPC live and all I really need is a Tonex pedal, the most compact setup I could have, and it gears you a bit towards drums.

[ontrackp]

If you have a Mac, Logic is the best choice. Lots of value for the price, and the updates are free. Apple also keeps improving it. Bitwig is good for some of its note processing tricks which can be fun, and the grid which is fun but time consuming, but it lacks some professional features. Logic still feels made for musicians rather than computer programmers who also produce music. Same thing with ProTolos for mixing. The mixing board analog is great and makes those of us brought up with hardware feel very much at home.

[daExpert]

Just get Acid Music Studio in a [box[. Very quick for sketching out song ideas and loops!

[jamcat]

If you have a Mac, Logic is the best choice.

I have a Mac, and I hate Logic almost as much as I hate Pro Tools. Neither work the way I would expect them too. You could try to chalk it up to me just not being familiar with the workflow, but I wasn’t familiar with Studio One’s workflow the first time I tried it, but it just did what I wanted it to.

The main appeal for me is that I can drag an ampsim preset to the arrange window and be recording a new guitar part in one click. It’s a total of 20 seconds from launching Studio One to recording. Other DAWs just frustrate me with how much fiddling is necessary just to start outing down my ideas when I’m inspired.

Pro Tools takes something like 6 menu dives just to get an audio track setup. Logic isn’t much better.

[jamcat]

I don't get the "this DAW or die" crowd at all. I have about 7 on this computer, and I almost always use DP, but it's just not that hard to learn a new DAW, they all do pretty much the same things.

Why would you want your work spread out over so many different programs?

Why would you want to put time into learning other DAWs that could have been put into learning one DAW really well?

They may all do roughly the same thing, but they don’t all do it the same way. The key is to find the DAW that works the way you want it to. Then you don’t really need to learn it.

I am “this DAW or die” with Studio One for that reason. But maybe Studio One’s one-click drag&drop workflow doesn’t make sense to everyone. I get that, too.

[machinesworking]

I don't get the "this DAW or die" crowd at all. I have about 7 on this computer, and I almost always use DP, but it's just not that hard to learn a new DAW, they all do pretty much the same things.

Why would you want your work spread out over so many different programs?

Why would you want to put time into learning other DAWs that could have been put into learning one DAW really well?

They may all do roughly the same thing, but they don’t all do it the same way. The key is to find the DAW that works the way you want it to. Then you don’t really need to learn it.

I am “this DAW or die” with Studio One for that reason. But maybe Studio One’s one-click drag&drop workflow doesn’t make sense to everyone. I get that, too.

Mostly I got pissed at my main two DAWs for not doing MPE well and bought copies of a few DAWs that did do MPE well. What I learned is they're all great, so just stick to one or two and go with it. DP got MPE so I'm with what I like to use. Like I mentioned the MPC makes you write differently and the hardware integration is obviously the best. I keep Live now mainly for collaboration, plus Bitwig and Reaper don't cost enough to sell really. Reason is a fantastic plugin in any DAW, same with the the MPC software. Logic is not sellable.

Most DAWs let you drag a whole configuration into the timeline with Amplitube, the track color, in/out settings, a preset etc. It's not just Studio One there. Bitwig, DP, Live, Reaper, all can do that. I have full orchestra setups I can drag into DP's timeline etc.

Everyone online who boasts about Studio One makes it sound as mouse heavy as Live is, and that's my main complaint about Live, I want to avoid the mouse as much as possible, but I'm sure it has great key commands too. Honestly if any DAW wins the key commands war it's Bitwig, smartest setup of any DAW that way.

[jamcat]

When Studio One came out, it was the first DAW to do intuitive drag&drop. But it would make sense that other DAWs would adopt it as well.

Studio One does have all kinds of default key commands, and beyond that, you can create your own for literally any function or even complex combination of functions. Joe and Gregor have done lots of videos on that.

However, I think most Studio One users just use the mouse because it’s so immediate and there’s nothing to learn. I don’t mind doing a quick drag&drop. Yes, there will be a key command to do it too, or I can setup my own, but either way it’s just a single action, and I don’t have to think to do it with the mouse.

[machinesworking]

When Studio One came out, it was the first DAW to do intuitive drag&drop. But it would make sense that other DAWs would adopt it as well.

Digital Performer had Clippings as far back as 1998, a good 11 years before Studio One existed.
https://www.harmonycentral.com/news/mod ... ns-r26867/

I think the key word for people you used is "intuitive", there aren't 10,000 youtube influencers stretching a two minute video on DP's Clippings into 15 minutes like there is for Live etc.

[stoopicus]

If you have a Mac, Logic is the best choice. Lots of value for the price, and the updates are free.

It's not a bad choice but I would not say it's the best. It's a good DAW and comes with a lot of helpful stuff, but I kept finding myself going back to Reaper as Logic has had some annoying bugs (for example, the recent one where resizing plugins would make them lose keyboard input permanently for that session). Its routing is also annoyingly limited compared to other DAWs.

Logic is a nicer Mac app but I definitely prefer both Reaper and Bitwig on my mac. Reaper in particular is much better value as well (even if you had been upgrading Reaper since 2006 it would still cost less than Logic does today).