Bitwig 6 Beta coming soon

[ghettosynth]

Um, no, LOL! I thought that your statement that there is some tension or confusion regarding whether Bitwig is a modular composition or a DAW is a red herring. Bitwig is a DAW. The Grid is a native plugin in the DAW. Everybody knows this. No tension. No confusion.

No, that's not what the Grid is. It can serve as a native "plugin", but that is a very limited and procedural interpretation. In short, your comparison is trite. To diminish the grid as just another native plugin is a category error. It's like saying that MFL is just another native plugin.

There is absolutely tension here. I've seen it in these threads since Bitwig was released. I'm not really sure what argument that you think that you're winning. It's exactly the same tension that happens in any product that appeals to uses of broadly different technical abilities. For example, Reaktor Blocks, as an idea appeals to casual users and those users wanted features like front panel patching. However, technical users were more interested in deep improvements to the product that maintained the original vision of the product.

That tension is OBVIOUS in these threads. People asking for piano roll improvements and begging for Bitwig to favor musicians over nerds is exactly the tension in practice.

[xbitz]

Now with version 6, it looks like there’ll be a one-off, user-request-driven adjustment (a bit of a side quest for the devs)

You're really going strong in the "silly hot takes" category recently.

Polarity:

"This is obviously a pretty subjective post and opinion, but that’s totally fine to express. Personally, I’d say that since version 3.0 or when The Grid was introduced, there hasn’t really been anything that I’d say truly pushed me forward. That said, all the other updates and features that have been added are definitely very important for other people. And I get that Bitwig isn’t just made for me... other users have different priorities. A lot of these changes were necessary and are already standard in other DAWs, so I totally see why they needed to be added. If you look at what other DAWs have released in terms of features, you can’t really say any of it has been groundbreaking either. For me as a bit of a nerd, it’s all kind of standard stuff, things I’ve known from other DAWs for years. So really, you can look at it from any angle and still not reach a clear conclusion. In the end, the upgrade plan gives you the flexibility to jump in whenever or just wait it out. So honestly, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal."

- https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwig/comment ... g_updates/

Since this is the most-upvoted opinion on Reddit, it’s fair to say the hardcore crowd hasn’t felt Bitwig was aimed at them since 3.0.
6.0 checks off most top-voted Bitwish requests — but those were backlog “must-haves,” not wow-factor features, so the core sentiment probably hasn’t shifted much, and now the real question is: will Bitwig go for another Grid-level breakthrough, or keep focusing on catch-up/QOL updates for the wider user base?

I’m still betting that version 6 wil be a one-time move towards the ‘DAW for the masses’ direction, there are a few too many sunny days in August, but soon we’ll find out who the fool is.

If the 6.0 piano roll turns out to be Fugue Machine Rubato, then we’ll be coming back to this topic

would be fun

[stoopicus]

I am so confused. Bitwig is a DAW. U-he makes plugins to be used inside a DAW... including Bitwig.

I really don't understand what one has to do with the other.

Bitwig can be thought of a modular composition environment, at least that's how I view it. Thus there is this tension between sound generating tools within that environment and external to that environment. That's what that has to do with this.

I have never once felt any tension from the fact that both The Grid and plugins exist in Bitwig

Nor have I... and Bitwig's modular composition environment is not the Grid, it is the whole DAW and the Grid is one tool in it.

100%, the tension isn't in the product, it's in this conversation regarding where effort should go in the product. I should have been more clear, it was a quick comment asking what these things have to do with each other. Those who value the product for its modularity see these features as core to the product, those that just want a better ableton largely see them as a distraction from the product.

Ahh, got it, and yeah, I agree with both of you there.

[stoopicus]

(For some reason, I was completely under the impression that the HW devices were there from the start not just from 2.0)

Specifically which hardware devices do you think appeared in 2.0? There were MIDI-CV and DC-coupled interfaces before that, and the Connect was not released until this year (i.e. 5.0).

[xbitz]

^^^ these ones, the BWS HW family

Screenshot 2025-08-14 at 21.35.03.png

https://www.bitwig.com/stories/bitwig-studio-2-221/

[stoopicus]

Oh you meant the internal software modular interfaces to hardware CV. Your post read like you were trying to say Bitwig was targeting an interface like the Connect from 2.0.

[xbitz]

Oh you meant the internal software modular interfaces to hardware CV. Your post read like you were trying to say Bitwig was targeting an interface like the Connect from 2.0.

sry don’t always know what I’m writing — just trying to make it through the Serum2 manual. I’ve been reading it for three days and finally made it to the spectral synthesis section. This thing is insane... https://xferrecords.com/manual/serum-2/docs

[ghettosynth]

I’m still betting that version 6 wil be a one-time move towards the ‘DAW for the masses’ direction, there are a few too many sunny days in August, but soon we’ll find out who the fool is.

You can almost smell this in the screenshot that they posted.

If the 6.0 piano roll turns out to be Fugue Machine Rubato, then we’ll be coming back to this topic

would be fun

Indeed.

[Sonic Illusions]

And like MIDIkeymoder. An app that can transpose any key/mode to any other key/mode.
Oh well.. what am I even talking about? Basic math.

[_leras]

Yes, there are some Bitwig devices that use a lot of CPU, but also plenty that don't. I have some lovely pads using the lowly Organ device. It's kinda pathetic... except each partial can be modulated separately, including at audio rate and since it has the voice stacking, suddenly it can do some lush sweet sounds. With longer release and the voice stacking, I can easily have 30 or 40 voices playing at once and it barely touches the CPU meter.

I also have a bunch of beautiful sounds using FM-4. It's pretty low for CPU use. When you include the modulation possibilities, voice stacking and note expressions, it becomes more capable than it might seem.

I'm going to have to try that, and this might be the motivation I needed to try voice stacking.

Ive been dragging Triaz midi patterns to midi tracks to use with drum machine (for sharing projects) and for some reason they default to Organ as an instrument.

It's given some nice textures at times, especially with a little tweaking. I'll have to push it further with some partials modulation.

[pdxindy]

Yes, there are some Bitwig devices that use a lot of CPU, but also plenty that don't. I have some lovely pads using the lowly Organ device. It's kinda pathetic... except each partial can be modulated separately, including at audio rate and since it has the voice stacking, suddenly it can do some lush sweet sounds. With longer release and the voice stacking, I can easily have 30 or 40 voices playing at once and it barely touches the CPU meter.

I also have a bunch of beautiful sounds using FM-4. It's pretty low for CPU use. When you include the modulation possibilities, voice stacking and note expressions, it becomes more capable than it might seem.

I'm going to have to try that, and this might be the motivation I needed to try voice stacking.

Ive been dragging Triaz midi patterns to midi tracks to use with drum machine (for sharing projects) and for some reason they default to Organ as an instrument.

It's given some nice textures at times, especially with a little tweaking. I'll have to push it further with some partials modulation.

I wish the Organ (stripped from extras) was available in the Grid as a simple additive osc.

[liquidsound]

. This thing is insane... https://xferrecords.com/manual/serum-2/docs

354 pages… “You” are insane

[_leras]

- https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwig/comment ... g_updates/

Since this is the most-upvoted opinion on Reddit, it’s fair to say the hardcore crowd hasn’t felt Bitwig was aimed at them since 3.0.
6.0 checks off most top-voted Bitwish requests — but those were backlog “must-haves,” not wow-factor features, so the core sentiment probably hasn’t shifted much, and now the real question is: will Bitwig go for another Grid-level breakthrough, or keep focusing on catch-up/QOL updates for the wider user base?

I’m still betting that version 6 wil be a one-time move towards the ‘DAW for the masses’ direction, there are a few too many sunny days in August, but soon we’ll find out who the fool is.

Whatever people do or dont want Bitwig needs to keep improving and evolving.

They've just done tons of core work, so hopefully now can get some core features and improvements to arranger and clips type stuff.

They need to do this and they need to keep matching what the other DAWs are doing. With the better underlying workflow they are still the best DAW to use.

They also need to work on ease of use. You can do anything in Bitwig, but it isn't always obvious how to combine multiple things to do another. They can easily pad out with some more useable options.

[_leras]

. This thing is insane... https://xferrecords.com/manual/serum-2/docs

354 pages… “You” are insane

Luckily for xbitz it's got lots of pictures.

[liquidsound]

. This thing is insane... https://xferrecords.com/manual/serum-2/docs

354 pages… “You” are insane

Luckily for xbitz it's got lots of pictures.