Let‘s speculate about 6.0

[id4kvr]

looking forward for beta test bitwig 6.0, hope it will start at the end of the summer sale.

[BobDog]

...
But as far as I know, Ableton has fundamental technological limitations that prevent any substantial changes to the audio engine.

There is no such thing in any software system, that is just not how things work.

"fundamental limitations" and "prevention" would make you think software could never be changed, software can always be changed, like most things really. Immutable things are quite rare.

You’re right, and I wasn’t clear. They would need to do a whole rewrite of the audio engine, in order to implement substantial changes - as far as I know.

Much better put

[BobDog]

...

I'm in the Live camp again for now, but I still really root for Bitwig to just plow everyone under with amazing features in the future. I'll always appreciate a scrappy underdog over a large successful company, whether or not it makes sense to; in Bitwigs case it completely makes sense to.

...

This is about where I stand now, I rarely start up BW at all now which is a shame.

I'm very interested in what they do with 6 though, especially if it makes it out in my update period and I can get to play with it. Who knows maybe it will change my mind.

[koalaboy]

I still use Bitwig as my main DAW because it has the least blockers to me getting going. Sure, I could maybe template things in others, but Bitwig allows me to just drop whatever I like, in whatever order, on any device rack, modulate easily without needing additional tools, and just have fun.

Would I like a score view ? Sure. Would I like the grid to be more user-programmable ? Absolutely. There are many things I'd like to see in it, but to just get up and running, it's the one I reach for the most.

Annoyances ? Yeah - having to manually set every VST to be 'do not stretch' is a pain, and not being able to set defaults for the device browser, etc... but again. Small things.

I still use Live, Cubase, Studio One and Reason amongst others for specific tasks on occasion, but I rarely start with them.

For 6, I guess it really depends what they see Bitwig as 'being'. It can't be a Live replacement without a Max-for-live replacement. It can't replace other DAWs for anything Orchestral without some sort of score view, or integration with something similar, etc. So what 'is' it aiming to be - who are the main personas that are the target audience.

[dellboy]

So what 'is' it aiming to be - who are the main personas that are the target audience.

Good question. Only the developers know the answer. The one thing we do know is that whatever direction they choose to go it will be orange.

[monolithx]

So what 'is' it aiming to be - who are the main personas that are the target audience.

Good question. Only the developers know the answer.

Very professional... how can I invest time and money with such an attitude?

[Greenstorm33]

So what 'is' it aiming to be - who are the main personas that are the target audience.

Good question. Only the developers know the answer. The one thing we do know is that whatever direction they choose to go it will be orange.

The identity of Bitwig’s target audience is surely one of the great mysteries of our time.

[pdxindy]

I'm in the Live camp again for now, but I still really root for Bitwig to just plow everyone under with amazing features in the future.

I hope not... I prefer Bitwig to stay niche.

[machinesworking]

I'm in the Live camp again for now, but I still really root for Bitwig to just plow everyone under with amazing features in the future.

I hope not... I prefer Bitwig to stay niche.

I think you misinterpreted what I meant there, I meant "amazing features", I didn't mean them becoming as big as Live, Cubase, FL, Logic etc.

[coroknight]

There’s a difference between being niche by offering a unique design and unique features, and niche by being weirdly limited and only useful to certain people.

The first is obviously ideal and the second is silly. You can be useful and interesting at the same time.

[sunthief01]

I might be able to speak to the audience question a bit. I've been making music for 25 years and have been using FL studio the whole time. I've also used a number of modular environments heavily - AudioMulch, Reaktor, recently PlugData.

I have customized FL and have a template I like, but have been routinely running into issues with FL's internal modular environment (Patcher) as well as with automation / modulation and complex routing

I bought Bitwig in the summer sale because I want a DAW that has been designed from the ground up with modularity in mind. I've demoed and even used Ableton extensively even on released material, but it has never gelled with me creatively. I like Bitwig's implementation of the Grid (reminds me of Reaktor Blocks which I love and use all the time) and the Clip Launcher.

I've never been huge on Max and have not been willing to buy into the the whole Ableton Suite. I think I've also had peers who've become "Ableton-pilled" over the years and always found that annoying.

I'm in week 1 with Bitwig and we'll see if its truly able to replace FL as my daily driver / main production environment, but those are the reasons I was willing to invest and switch

[coroknight]

Well you picked an exciting time to start. There’s a major update around the corner, probably within the next month.

[xbitz]

I've noticed that under Bitwig Studio need a stricter time schedule — X time for composing, Y for sound design, Z for device building — compared to FL Studio. It's way too easy to get lost down the rabbit hole here...Since you can have multiple tabs, I think it makes sense to work on different phases of multiple projects in parallel with it.

(Maybe it's a bit better with the u-he CLAP synths — even though they're modular too, you still can't break them down to their atoms like you can with the Grids. Plus, they just sound better)

[coroknight]

An under-rated use of multiple tabs is starting a new project as a scratch pad.

Sometimes I’ll do things like copy-paste an entire channel into an empty project just to hear it “pure” without all the bus fx, sends, and whatnot. Then edit it freely without worrying about “ruining” the original.

[pdxindy]

Scratch pad projects are something I often use as well.