Picking a DAW is hard…

[Papuzzo]

There is no perfect DAW. There is no perfect woman. There is no perfect beer. Perfection simply cannot exist in an imperfect universe ruled by entropy.

[talby]

The best overview I've found online is
Admiral Bumblebee's, and it's here...

That overview is meanwhile 4 years old and absolutely no more reflecting the current state of features, performance improvements and bug fixes!

[Michael L]

The best overview I've found online is
Admiral Bumblebee's, and it's here...

That overview is meanwhile 4 years old and absolutely no more reflecting the current state of features, performance improvements and bug fixes!

Not true.

If you go to his website you will see that his scoring system focuses on fundamental differences in the structure of each DAW, not on little details.

The Admiral's method can be quite helpful to systematically choose a DAW.

[talby]

In the last years mayor changes and improvements have been introduced to some of the DAW and none of them are considered in that comparison. Just think about how MIDI Control Surfaces evolved and that finding proper Control Surface and also MPE support is nowadays of broad interest, or consider in the case of Waveform, what I am myself using, that meanwhile its core audio engine became substituted and understandably many performance optimizations could be achieved. I am pretty sure that for each of the DAW in that comparison there will meanwhile have been implemented mayor improvements. DAW are sold on a very competitive market, and the competition expedites the ongoing development, enhancement and improvement of the products. Ignoring these for the sake of not having to admit that a comparison chart is outdated is not serving the one in search for good advice.
That referenced work was a really important contribution when it was published and the author earns my full respect for the work he had put into it. But meanwhile the outdated data is only of interest to historians. Users needing help in the selection of a DAW and reading this thread can be assumed to be new users going to start out now (settled users don't need such help anymore, they have sufficient experience to not ask such question anymore), and they should base their decision on which DAW to try first on up-to-date data.
Unfortunately, there is no such up-to-date comparison available. Well, this thread could develop it.

[gauderbock]

There is no perfect DAW.

Reaper

There is no perfect beer.

Augustiner Edelstoff

There is no perfect woman.

My wife's sister.

[stoopicus]

There is no perfect beer.

Augustiner Edelstoff

Yeah I was down with his whole post but there absolutely is a perfect beer. It just changes depending on mood.

Right now it's McMenamins Terminator. Haven't had it in years. Will always be in my top three.

[Papuzzo]

There is no perfect DAW.

Reaper

There is no perfect beer.

Augustiner Edelstoff

There is no perfect woman.

My wife's sister.

OK, per dollar Reaper is the undisputed world champion of DAWs. I've been using it since version 4 10 years ago. But perfect it ain't. As for beers, there is a microbrewery is Saronno, Italy that makes a beer named "69" and from my travels, it is the best beer I ever tried. Still not perfect but damn close. As for your wife's sister, is she Dakota Johnson? Hard to find a flaw with her, but I am sure she has a pointy elbow or something.

Perfection can't exist, but close enough is everywhere. All the major DAWs are close enough, most microbrews are, and it's the little imperfections in women that make them so attractive.

[MrJubbly]

Oh, to have had such a luxurious wealth of options to choose from, back in the late 1980s, when I started making music on basic music trackers (C64 and then Amiga A500).

If you genuinely have the drive within you and the will to create your own music, then none of these DAWs should be posing any kind of barrier. Quite the opposite. Since, they are ALL more than capable of assisting in the creation of literally ANY kind of music you could ever dream of.

And all these modern DAWs are light years ahead of what most musicians had access to decades ago. When music was typically a lot more creative than most new music being made today is. So there are no excuses in that regard.

Perhaps, what you are suffering more from, is instead "choice paralysis", rather than anything else. If the abundance of options available, is causing the problem of not being able to narrow down a personal preference of one over another. Then simply pick one at random and stick with it, feature/workflow annoyances be damned, until you can find specific genuine reasons why you should switch to one specific DAW over another.

[havran]

Wouldn't it be less expensive money- and timewise to just forget about DAWs and "making music" in general?

[Scoops]

Reaper’s need for customization beforehand

Never got this point, because I haven't customized Reaper while using it since v3 (or 4?). Okay, I've tried one or another theme back in the day but always flipped back to the default one.

+1

Even though, through the years I have customized Reaper to suit my needs

[whassup]

Oh, to have had such a luxurious wealth of options to choose from, back in the late 1980s, when I started making music on basic music trackers (C64 and then Amiga A500).

If you genuinely have the drive within you and the will to create your own music, then none of these DAWs should be posing any kind of barrier. Quite the opposite. Since, they are ALL more than capable of assisting in the creation of literally ANY kind of music you could ever dream of.

And all these modern DAWs are light years ahead of what most musicians had access to decades ago. When music was typically a lot more creative than most new music being made today is. So there are no excuses in that regard.

Perhaps, what you are suffering more from, is instead "choice paralysis", rather than anything else. If the abundance of options available, is causing the problem of not being able to narrow down a personal preference of one over another. Then simply pick one at random and stick with it, feature/workflow annoyances be damned, until you can find specific genuine reasons why you should switch to one specific DAW over another.

The wisdom of the experienced.
Way too good advice to let go unnoticed.

[Michael L]

I picked MuLab because when I had a musical idea, I could easily explore it in any direction. That’s due to its deep integration from being developed by one person. This is important for me, but I rarely hear people talk about learning to play a DAW as an expressive instrument. That is one way to pick a DAW.

[shyguy13]

If I am comfortable with FL Studio as someone relatively new to music production/mixing, would it be worth it to learn another DAW like Ableton?

[Michael L]

If I am comfortable with FL Studio as someone relatively new to music production/mixing, would it be worth it to learn another DAW like Ableton?

What is it worth spend your life time doing?
Learning the latest technology?
Developing your musical ideas?
Something else entirely?
Only you can answer.

[Akanomad]

If I am comfortable with FL Studio as someone relatively new to music production/mixing, would it be worth it to learn another DAW like Ableton?

You should assess your needs and preferences, then decide accordingly. Every DAW can more or less do everything, but I believe it’s best to understand each one's "niche" or target user base to see what fits you best.

I don’t use FL Studio myself, but it seems very popular in hip-hop, lofi, electronic music, and indie game soundtracks. Cubase or Studio One are often preferred for orchestral music, rock/metal, or anything that requires advanced MIDI editing with real instruments. Pro Tools is the standard in professional studios and widely used by mixing engineers. Bitwig is great for detailed sound design and experimentation. Ableton Live is a powerhouse for electronic music and also well-suited for live performance. These are just rough guidelines. Pick one or two at most based on what resonates with you.

Personally, I use a combination of Cubase and Ableton Live because I’m equally interested in progressive rock/metal and electronic music — but that’s a luxury. I could do everything in one or the other.