If you had to stick to one DAW, which one would it be?

[Jim Roseberry]

Projects composed primarily of prepared multitracks, rather than actual Pro Tools project files are received more often these days by professional studios for the mixing and mastering parts of the process. The DAW used in creating these multitracks has become largely irrelevant.

It's quite alright to have intelligent discussion (including disagreement) without either party going off the deep end.

I'm certainly aware that projects can be moved between DAW applications.
One could prepare "Stems" or individual audio track files (starting from the top).
Where this becomes a PITA is when you're going back/forth or dealing with multiple stages.

ie: For the songwriter I'm working with, we want to be able to take parts into the studio, record more at the studio, and then be able to take the results back home... to continue working/developing. We could technically do this with any DAW application (I have all the majors). To me, the obvious choice is to use ProTools... where no conversion is ever necessary.
The entire process is seamless. No additional time/effort required at any stage.
Though Reaper, Logic, Cubase/Nuendo, Studio Pro, Live, Sonar are all fine DAW applications... none would improve our workflow. All would increase workload (logistical busy work)... just to avoid using ProTools. To me, that makes no logical or logistical sense. ProTools runs well on my Macs and PCs... and I'm able to work quickly/efficiently.

If someone is working in a more isolated scenario, this is much less of a concern.

In the case of the client I mentioned, he's running ProTools for the very same reasons.
He's a guitar player, the DAW application is just a tool to record his guitar parts.
If PT is working well, why bother switching to another DAW app... and create extra work?
Projects are sent to mix engineer... and can be opened immediately (no conversion, no importing individual audio tracks, no setting up a new project). It's as efficient as possible.

Do I love the cost of ProTools? No.
I'm also not crazy about Avid.
Those facets alone won't stop me from using ProTools (if it's the best tool for the job).

If someone disagrees with my logic, I'm fine with that.

[audiojunkie]

Projects composed primarily of prepared multitracks, rather than actual Pro Tools project files are received more often these days by professional studios for the mixing and mastering parts of the process. The DAW used in creating these multitracks has become largely irrelevant.

It's quite alright to have intelligent discussion (including disagreement) without either party going off the deep end.

I'm certainly aware that projects can be moved between DAW applications.
One could prepare "Stems" or individual audio track files (starting from the top).
Where this becomes a PITA is when you're going back/forth or dealing with multiple stages.

ie: For the songwriter I'm working with, we want to be able to take parts into the studio, record more at the studio, and then be able to take the results back home... to continue working/developing. We could technically do this with any DAW application (I have all the majors). To me, the obvious choice is to use ProTools... where no conversion is ever necessary.
The entire process is seamless. No additional time/effort required at any stage.
Though Reaper, Logic, Cubase/Nuendo, Studio Pro, Live, Sonar are all fine DAW applications... none would improve our workflow. All would increase workload (logistical busy work)... just to avoid using ProTools. To me, that makes no logical or logistical sense. ProTools runs well on my Macs and PCs... and I'm able to work quickly/efficiently.

If someone is working in a more isolated scenario, this is much less of a concern.

In the case of the client I mentioned, he's running ProTools for the very same reasons.
He's a guitar player, the DAW application is just a tool to record his guitar parts.
If PT is working well, why bother switching to another DAW app... and create extra work?
Projects are sent to mix engineer... and can be opened immediately (no conversion, no importing individual audio tracks, no setting up a new project). It's as efficient as possible.

Do I love the cost of ProTools? No.
I'm also not crazy about Avid.
Those facets alone won't stop me from using ProTools (if it's the best tool for the job).

If someone disagrees with my logic, I'm fine with that.

I’d agree in that case that it makes complete sense to use Pro Tools. My only point was that this is not the majority of jobs that studios “these days” take on. There have been other valid use cases mentioned, from orchestras and big bands. I’ve never disagreed with these cases.

Furthermore, Pro Tools from the beginning of the process (from the creative part of developing the song idea, to the initial track recording), then to hand off to the mixing experts, and the finally to the mastering experts, used to dominate in all stages of the process. It wasn’t just in the Pro Tools dominated publications that Pro Tools was the top DAW, but rather, it dominated in all DAW surveys.

But things have changed. My guess is that the cost of tracking in pro studios played a big part of it, but I’m not naive enough to not be aware that that is surely an oversimplification. But that is beside the point.

My point from the beginning was simply that projects composed primarily of prepared multitracks, rather than actual Pro Tools project files are received more often these days by professional studios for the mixing and mastering parts of the process. The DAW used in creating these multitracks has become largely irrelevant—except of course, in the cases and examples the we all agree are still valid currently used situations.

The pro studio’s bread-n-butter these days come more from the mixing and mastering steps in the music making process, than from the tracking part of the process, where musicians have largely found cheaper ways of getting the tracking part done before ever having to involve a pro studio. This part of the process is no longer dominated by Pro Tools, or even pro studios, for that matter. It is dominated by DAWs of all types, in home studios of all types and levels of size and professionalism. That was the only point I was trying to make.

[keys_au1]

TBH, I am in a state of flux at the moment. Long time Reaper user (after Sonar demise) but only ever scratched the surface with basic audio recording and editing. At times I get overwhelmed by all the control parameters that need to be/should be setup by the end user. With SWS, scripting, Extensions - all way above my "pay grade" hahaha! Even getting the Keylab setup is a chore! To the point where I simply do not bother.

I am at the point now where I just want something that works out of the box with my new Arturia Keylab, is easy to use and does most things automatically.

I have had a brief look at Ableton Live, FL Studio, Bitwig and Logic Pro (Im on a MAC) and they all seem to promise to be easy to use for someone who does not want to do a lot of system/app tweaking but I am undecided as to which would be best to replace Reaper. In Reaper I am constantly find ways to block any sort of creativity as I keep coming across roadblocks in it to productivity and in the end I juts give up and go and do something else.

This thread is timely for me because of these reasons, however I am in flux due to being indecisive about which one!

[VOODOO U]

Who picked Acid Pro? I want to point and laugh.

[J Veronica]

Reaper needs a lot of setup to be on par with the more popular DAWs.

It's all painful menu-diving until you build your own toolbars.

There's too much reliance on volunteers to improve workflow with scripts and themes. Cockos should be hiring them to improve the stock experience.

When I install Logic or Studio One, everything is there and ready to go. I can focus on songwriting. Obviously YMMV.

[synthesite]

Reason — yesterday, now, tomorrow!

[elxsound]

TBH, I am in a state of flux at the moment. Long time Reaper user (after Sonar demise) but only ever scratched the surface with basic audio recording and editing. At times I get overwhelmed by all the control parameters that need to be/should be setup by the end user. With SWS, scripting, Extensions - all way above my "pay grade" hahaha! Even getting the Keylab setup is a chore! To the point where I simply do not bother.

I am at the point now where I just want something that works out of the box with my new Arturia Keylab, is easy to use and does most things automatically.

I have had a brief look at Ableton Live, FL Studio, Bitwig and Logic Pro (Im on a MAC) and they all seem to promise to be easy to use for someone who does not want to do a lot of system/app tweaking but I am undecided as to which would be best to replace Reaper. In Reaper I am constantly find ways to block any sort of creativity as I keep coming across roadblocks in it to productivity and in the end I juts give up and go and do something else.

This thread is timely for me because of these reasons, however I am in flux due to being indecisive about which one!

No pressure, but might be worthwhile to create your own thread, only because if you're looking for any helpful feedback, it'd be good to know your workflow and if you are creating end-to-end projects alone, or if there's a hand-off to anyone else, or if any part of it is collaborative.

My brother switched to Live I think partly because it was easier for us to share tracks between us (as I'm a long-time Live user) and then the final push was that I gave my old Push 2. It's been an incredible time-saver that we're both on the same software. The big difference is he's on Windows and I'm on Mac, but plugins open as expected as we're both using VST3, M4L and native Live devices.


From a simplicity standpoint, I'd keep PT, Reaper, Logic and Cubase in similar complexity box. Obviously, they can all be used simply, but because they're built for more, you see more. I think Logic has best tools to simplify the appearance, but there's still more.

Definitely demo Live and Bitwig. I'm 20 years in on Live, so I obviously think it's extremely easy to use! Both have cutdown versions with Live Intro, or Live Lite (bundled free with hardware and probably someone has an extra license to gift), and Bitwig 8 track (free) followed by Essentials.

I have no insight on FL, but it's crazy how far it's come, and with free lifetime updates it is an insane value.

[twal]

TBH, I am in a state of flux at the moment. Long time Reaper user (after Sonar demise) but only ever scratched the surface with basic audio recording and editing. At times I get overwhelmed by all the control parameters that need to be/should be setup by the end user. With SWS, scripting, Extensions - all way above my "pay grade" hahaha! Even getting the Keylab setup is a chore! To the point where I simply do not bother.

I am at the point now where I just want something that works out of the box with my new Arturia Keylab, is easy to use and does most things automatically.

I have had a brief look at Ableton Live, FL Studio, Bitwig and Logic Pro (Im on a MAC) and they all seem to promise to be easy to use for someone who does not want to do a lot of system/app tweaking but I am undecided as to which would be best to replace Reaper. In Reaper I am constantly find ways to block any sort of creativity as I keep coming across roadblocks in it to productivity and in the end I juts give up and go and do something else.

This thread is timely for me because of these reasons, however I am in flux due to being indecisive about which one!

It seems like you are looking for a specific way of using a DAW (using Keylab out of the box). Whatever the case is and what you want to do with it, I would recommend watching some of those videos that compare DAWs and their pro and cons if you are unfamiliar with them. Seems like you want plug and play. I think Studio One/Fender Pro would be the best one for getting things out of the box going relatively quickly. Live is electronic music driven, and is expensive, with Max Live. Bitwig is similar but cheaper. Logic Pro is great for the Mac and seems pretty straight forward and complete, so that would be my other one I would recommend. Cubase seems like it would take some time getting used to but has a lot of features. FL is lightweight like Reaper, but you have to figure out its ecosystem which is completely different from anything else. If you don't want to spend the time on Reaper and are not into professional mastering, video game music, huge compositions with a lot of navigation required, enjoy building your own system, or care for system efficiency, stability, and streamlined presentation I wouldn't go for Reaper.

I think people spend too much time thinking about this, I would just use what is fun for you. Reaper isn't alien to me because I can sit for hours and hours and build something that is interesting to me while learning; and frankly, it never seems very complex or hugely sophisticated and time consuming like others express even after spending a lot of time with Reason and FL Studio (coding itself takes 10x the work). Those have a learning curve as well. It's all choice, there is no wrong choice. Making a big deal about what to use and what others are using is a waste of mental energy. Reaper out of the box with a month or two of tweaking, or less (OMG forbid spending such a large amount of time on learning a DAW) and you are off to the races...

[Michael L]

I think people spend too much time thinking about this, I would just use what is fun for you.

Trust your own artistic heart, and not others' intellectual opinions.

[BONES]

TBH, I am in a state of flux at the moment. Long time Reaper user (after Sonar demise) but only ever scratched the surface with basic audio recording and editing. At times I get overwhelmed by all the control parameters that need to be/should be setup by the end user. With SWS, scripting, Extensions - all way above my "pay grade" hahaha! Even getting the Keylab setup is a chore! To the point where I simply do not bother.

Thais has ever been my dilemma - I just want something with a good workflow and a few handy tools that gets out of the way and let's me do my thing. The basic free version of most DAWs would work for me if they didn't put stupid restrictions on them, like limiting the number of tracks.

For several years Studio One Artist served me quite well but even it had way more stuff shoveled into it than I needed. Sadly, in the end, it seems the only way to get all the features you want/need is to put up with 1,000 that you don't, so the trick becomes finding a DAW that doesn't let those unwanted features get in the way. Studio One/Pro does that pretty well, I think, in that the Artist and Pro versions felt exactly the same, so all those extra features in Pro that I didn't want stayed completely out of the way. They still do and in the last couple of versions you've even been able to get rid of the buttons to open things like the Scratch Pad or Clip Launcher, so they become completely invisible.

Definitely demo Live and Bitwig. I'm 20 years in on Live, so I obviously think it's extremely easy to use! Both have cutdown versions with Live Intro, or Live Lite (bundled free with hardware and probably someone has an extra license to gift), and Bitwig 8 track (free) followed by Essentials.

I think both those applications suit certain style of music far more than others. I hated Bitwig, it was clunky and horrible and since I ditched it has only gone further away from anything I would be interested in. I'm not a fan of Live, either. Again, it feels like it is made for someone else's workflow, which is very different to the way I like to work. In the end, we all do different things and have our own workflows and while it sometimes make sense to adapt your workflow to a particular set of tools, most of the time it makes more sense to find the DAW that thinks the same way you do.

I would just use what is fun for you.

I wouldn't take any advice from someone who thinks "fun" is important when doing production work. To me it is work, hard and mostly boring work. I want it over and done with so I can enjoy the fruits of my labour. It's like my car, I don't enjoy working on it at all but I love driving a car in perfect, tip-top condition so I do the work. In fact, enduring all the hard work just makes the pay-off sweeter when it's done.

[elxsound]

I don't agree with the idea that Live suits certain styles of music. You're not limited to session view, but some people tried Live and got stuck with looping clips. It's definitely not all there is.

The Arrangement view is more traditional for a recording program. What Live lacks is audio editing tools that you'd find in PT, but there's lot of tricks when someone wants to explore.

[twal]

TBH, I am in a state of flux at the moment. Long time Reaper user (after Sonar demise) but only ever scratched the surface with basic audio recording and editing. At times I get overwhelmed by all the control parameters that need to be/should be setup by the end user. With SWS, scripting, Extensions - all way above my "pay grade" hahaha! Even getting the Keylab setup is a chore! To the point where I simply do not bother.

Thais has ever been my dilemma - I just want something with a good workflow and a few handy tools that gets out of the way and let's me do my thing. The basic free version of most DAWs would work for me if they didn't put stupid restrictions on them, like limiting the number of tracks.

For several years Studio One Artist served me quite well but even it had way more stuff shoveled into it than I needed. Sadly, in the end, it seems the only way to get all the features you want/need is to put up with 1,000 that you don't, so the trick becomes finding a DAW that doesn't let those unwanted features get in the way. Studio One/Pro does that pretty well, I think, in that the Artist and Pro versions felt exactly the same, so all those extra features in Pro that I didn't want stayed completely out of the way. They still do and in the last couple of versions you've even been able to get rid of the buttons to open things like the Scratch Pad or Clip Launcher, so they become completely invisible.

Definitely demo Live and Bitwig. I'm 20 years in on Live, so I obviously think it's extremely easy to use! Both have cutdown versions with Live Intro, or Live Lite (bundled free with hardware and probably someone has an extra license to gift), and Bitwig 8 track (free) followed by Essentials.

I think both those applications suit certain style of music far more than others. I hated Bitwig, it was clunky and horrible and since I ditched it has only gone further away from anything I would be interested in. I'm not a fan of Live, either. Again, it feels like it is made for someone else's workflow, which is very different to the way I like to work. In the end, we all do different things and have our own workflows and while it sometimes make sense to adapt your workflow to a particular set of tools, most of the time it makes more sense to find the DAW that thinks the same way you do.

I would just use what is fun for you.

I wouldn't take any advice from someone who thinks "fun" is important when doing production work. To me it is work, hard and mostly boring work. I want it over and done with so I can enjoy the fruits of my labour. It's like my car, I don't enjoy working on it at all but I love driving a car in perfect, tip-top condition so I do the work. In fact, enduring all the hard work just makes the pay-off sweeter when it's done.

It seems like the individual is looking into a Daw to just play some keys. That is my understanding. I believe the person is smart enough to pick up the right tool for the job if they need it, and are doing serious work.

Yeah, I stick by what I was saying, most people should go with what they want to if they enjoy it. That's pretty good advice here. Most people on here are cold, logical, and like to hear themselves talk to make some irrelevant point. They aren't actually out to help people or solve problems.

[keys_au1]

WOW! Thanks to all the folks who responded to my "musing out loud" post, really appreciate the time and care taken with the posts. Was not trying to derail the thread though.

I have had a lifetime upgrade version of FL for about 20 years, but after comments here loaded it back up again to try, goodness, it is quite a ,long way away from the early days, very complex now so I think that is out.

I had a play with Live and it does seem very easy to run, especially as you can work on tracks in one view, more like a trad DAW, and then simply switch to the other view for using it a gigs. Something Reaper and its devotees have been trying to nail for a long time. Even now the work arounds are so convoluted.

For me, it's simply about being able to record and create, without necessarily needing two hours of research to figure out HOW to achieve it, by which time all the spark has gone haha! And the second requirement is use on stage.

I was going to use a touchscreen, but the touchscreen drivers available for Mac are no that good, so I will need to probably go back to iPad (13" Pro) on stage...so the Mac mini M4 will be redesigned to home studio only, and then port to iOS.

Had never really considered the Fender apps but thanks for the mention I will check them out for sure.

Bitwig I looked at but a bit too expensive as it is relatively close to Reaper in it's MO.

I guess Logic Pro might be mebbe best option as it's available on MacOS and iOS with some very tidy integration I am told. Yet to check it myself.

Anyhoo, again my sincere thanks for the thoughts of all of the above posts concerning mine!

[legendCNCD]

Reaper needs a lot of setup to be on par with the more popular DAWs.
It's all painful menu-diving until you build your own toolbars.

And this is where I tapped out, I want to MAKE music, not fiddle with the host. Hosts dropped because of this are Cubase, Logic and Reason. Yeah I landed on Live, especially now one can just start to hit keys and midi is being captured without record being on (I hope they would do same for audio too).

I have Reaper on my laptop for those boring train trips, if I get bored enough...

[VOODOO U]

Every DAW is hard and every DAW is easy. What makes it hard is lack of passion. What makes it easy is passion. Those wasting time complaining about a DAW haven't found passion in their music.