Which DAW would you recommend coming from FL Studio? Bitwig, Ableton, Cubase etc.

[Caine123]

hi guys,

im bored so i will open this topic now , FL Studio will still be my main DAW cause i got still too many unfinished projects with it but i want to dive in a 2nd DAW finally more and more and not just fiddling a bit around and thats it, nah i want to be able to know how to arrange, use the basics etc.

few years ago i was so frustrated about FL Studio before FL 20 patch which boosted the performance and kinda the stability that i bought a license for:
- Studio One
- Reaper
- Bitwig
- Ableton
- Cubase (which i sold 2 years ago as it was an unused license)

Studio one i used for mixing and mostly mastering, it was much more solid and stable for this case but i didnt use it since then anymore.
Reaper, i never invested much time in there, the license was so cheap i only bought it and it rots on my ssd.

Bitwig, i used it more than the other DAWs cause of the modulations etc. still i feel not comfortable as i just dont know the basics well to start a track and work on it.

Ableton, same as Bitwig but also not common experience to have a full track finished.

so yeah, im torn between Bitwig or Ableton, which one would you suggest more?
whats important for me is especially the Piano Roll, audio editing (warping etc.) and yeah modulations and easy automations. im used to clips and patterns, but patterns are like clips/copying arrangements so i never had a prob with that.

i started to watch more basic tutorials, i just want to take the time and not start with 2 DAWs but 1 each day a bit.

thanks guys!

[twal]

IDK the answer but @quantaaudio on Youtube has some fantastic tutorials I'm watching right now on Studio One and Bitwig-

[yoursoul]

since you seem to love throwing money around, buy a mac and try logic...

[rageix]

It's kind of a loaded question, everyone and their mom is going to tell you something different. In reality it doesn't really matter that much which DAW you use (unless you have some kind of special use case). I've tried and learned several but at the end of the day I've figured out you can make great music in all of them. So it's really just use whatever you like the most.

I encourage you to try several DAWs and learn the work flow, sites like Sonic Academy or Youtube have tutorials for most of the most popular DAWs. I encourage you to watch tutorials of people producing in the DAW and you will naturally figure out if it has the features you want.

If you are looking for a good starting point here are my recommendations:

If you are on Mac and plan to stay on Mac, Logic is a very good value and a pretty good DAW.

If you are on PC or want something cross platform then Ableton would be my recommendation. Easy to use, rather popular, and tons of tutorials makes it rather easy to learn.

I also really like Cubase and would rank it pretty high as well. Good for Mac or Windows.

They all have decent trial lengths. So just pick one that looks good for you, get the trial and dive headfirst in. Also I don't think any DAW is perfect, you just have to find one that works good enough for you.

[xbitz]

"especially the Piano Roll, audio editing (warping etc.) and yeah modulations and easy automations. " ... >
Now that modulators have been introduced and a pattern-based workflow has also appeared, I’d probably start with the 60-day Cubase trial (https://www.steinberg.net/cubase/trial/). The next one would be Bitwig, because, unlike Ableton Live, it allows for multiple tabs, and you can import an existing FL Studio project into an inactive tab while recreating the project on the active tab (so you don’t have to gather samples, MIDI patterns, etc., again), then AL and S1 at the end

Dash Glitch has a quite good comparsion

&

Both are available on Splice, so you can try them out for 1-2 months with relatively minimal investment. https://splice.com/plugins/search?category=daw
even beyond the 60-day initial trial, If it's Bitwig, although I don't know what will come in version 5.3, I'd start considering buying a Push. PR isn't its strong suit, but it works great with it (I'm still usign the original Push and happy with it)

ps. Bitwig can be learned from XNB's channel, which is full, well-organized, and quite comprehensive without being boring https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 1OmYZ9w-WB

[legendCNCD]

Ableton or Bitwig would be my targets for sure. I moved from OctaMed -> Reason -> Cubase -> Ableton and am most productive with Ableton. I would think Bitwig would have fit too, but I already changed when Ableton came to version 8.
I do not use the clip section ever.

[Yorrrrrr]

Ableton.

[jonljacobi]

How about not switching at all. FLS is a perfectly viable DAW. But just download the trials and see which one works for you.

[thecontrolcentre]

Live 12 ... try the free 30-day demo to see if it "clicks" with you.
https://www.ableton.com/en/trial/

[Caine123]

thanks guys so much, i think im gonna check more about ableton vs. bitwig, guess im gonna go with Ableton and Bitwig seems not very different workflow wise.

How about not switching at all. FLS is a perfectly viable DAW. But just download the trials and see which one works for you.

yes i will still use it as my main DAW for a long time i guess or maybe forever , depends on their support and implementation of features. even if i dont use ARA, MPE and stuff it is kinda sad how old FL Studio feels with various new features lacking and not coming anytime soon at all and still having a lot of problems not solved and audio mangling still clunky and much more. it feels more and more not choesive and not being great at anything, even Ableton for example seems to be domianting the paino roll soon if they continue to add more and more features and improve it, the piano roll is still king in FL Studio i think, best workflow for me still.

[jonljacobi]

I generally don't chase features, or care much about them as I only use the basics. However, I do look for something that's efficient for my workflow. That said, I do like to play with new stuff once and again. It can clean out the sludge in the creative pipes!

[Caine123]

I generally don't chase features, or care much about them as I only use the basics. However, I do look for something that's efficient for my workflow. That said, I do like to play with new stuff once and again. It can clean out the sludge in the creative pipes!

yes me neither, i dont need every new feature etc. but if you wait for years and years and you read things still take more time without any ETA from basic features you ask yourself if it is worth it

[twal]

I generally don't chase features, or care much about them as I only use the basics. However, I do look for something that's efficient for my workflow. That said, I do like to play with new stuff once and again. It can clean out the sludge in the creative pipes!

yes me neither, i dont need every new feature etc. but if you wait for years and years and you read things still take more time without any ETA from basic features you ask yourself if it is worth it

I went from FL to REAPER and it was so much more fun. I don't know if you have used it, but REAPER is more traditional than FL and that was great for me since I initially came from Cubase to Reason then Fl...

A lot of people hate on it, but workflow is like butter when you set it up- it doesn't take much time like others say. It has the basics and routing is unparalleled. Plus Mastering-wise it is King. Just sayin, you seem like the type of guy who may like it...

[Bartone]

I tried to switch from FL Studio to Studio1 (I think it was Studio1 5 at that time, I did buy the update for version 6 when it was on sale).

Studio 1 has some very good features (ARA if you are using vocals/editing vocals) is very handy. Rearrange in the playlist view is easier than in FL Studio…

But I find the FL Studio’s piano roll so much better to use. And for me Fl Studio opens so much faster than Studio1. Also the Fl Studio’s own synths & fx are much much better at least for my use.

[Bartone]

Also the Imageline team is bringing some very useful stuff to FL Studio all the time, which is making the DAW even more powerful at least for my personal perspective:D