Bitwig VS Ableton

[ATS]

I have not dove very deep into either one but really been thinking about getting Ableton. Abelton seems to be the king but Bitwig seems to be the closest competitor. Why would someone go with Bitwig over Ableton if you had a choice?

[acYm]

the far superior control surface experience is what drove me to the now old and stale Ableton instead of the shinier newer Bitwig when choosing a new daw not long ago.
I think bitwig has an advantage when it comes to its advanced modulation system, but that factor alone wasn't enough to sway me. also because to me it still feels perhaps too new and, like, "unsettled".

[xbitz]

>> viewtopic.php?f=259&t=499968

[EnGee]

>> viewtopic.php?f=259&t=499968

But this is on the Bitwig's land, we need Switzerland for being unbiased

Personally, I think they have very similar workflow and design in general. I jumped between the two more than once, but now I'm using Live 9 (not even 10!) and I like it a lot really that it becomes my go to DAW now! It made me think that I don't need Reason 10 or Cubase 9.5 anymore! So, I sold the first and the second is in its way to be sold!

I think I prefer the interface in Ableton Live more and it is more elegant, but some see it ugly! So, it is down to personal taste really.

Bitwig is still a great DAW, but it inspires me less. I also believe the effects in Ableton Live (especially Compressor and EQ8) are better, but I'm not a pro so, it just seems like that for me. So, in Bitwig I tend to use 3rd party effects, but in Live, I feel the built in effects are great and I don't need 3rd party effects.

I think also I prefer doing drums with Live more. But to be honest, I prefer NI Battery sounds more than the two (Live or Bitwig). Synths are better sounding in Live although I don't have them (I have Standard).

Bitwig has one version that includes everything (ignoring the 8-track edition), so it has a better value and more defined colours. It is also more comfortable to the eyes, but in my case I have 32" 1080p monitor, so Ableton Live is great for me

I'm not crazy about those modulations. I'm old fashioned now! But maybe new EDM genres have a good use of them. I don't know. So, overall, Ableton Live wins for me

[antic604]

I have not dove very deep into either one but really been thinking about getting Ableton. Abelton seems to be the king but Bitwig seems to be the closest competitor. Why would someone go with Bitwig over Ableton if you had a choice?

Use search next time.

Here's my write up, but definitely read the whole 7 pages:
viewtopic.php?p=7070551#p7070551

Also, you gave too little info to answer your question, because it largely depends on what type of music you're making, what is your setup, what is your preferred workflow, etc.

[Tj Shredder]

For me as a long time Max user (+20 years) one would think alone because of Max4Live it has to be Live, but t isn‘t I never was inspired by Live, whereas Bitwig is just pure fun. Also because it shines with my MPE controller, Live is a complete failure in this regard...
In the end its a matter of taste... If I need Max, I run it aside Bitwig...

[Zexila]

Bitwig feels more like a traditional linear DAW and than offers most of the perks of Live and some more, no brainier really for anyone coming from linear DAW history.

[Kinh]

Yes Id agree Bitwig feels like it excels in linear mode more. It's session view just doesn't work like Ableton, ie not as fluid. You simply cant work ridiculously fast in a linear daw. That's a fact. You have to keep adjusting counters, loop ranges, copy pasting etc. this is a problem if you write loop music aka electronic.

For this reason I think Bitwig is ideal if you prefer to work slower and you dont really know what sound you're going for and need inspiration all the time. If you're more focused, know what's in your head and wanna get it out in real time then Ableton. Having said that, sometimes you need to roll the dice and Bitwig is faster at a modular level.

[EnGee]

I was trying the demo of Bitwig (version 2 is new for me). I must say I like it a lot

I found many similarities with Live than differences! But it is very difficult to choose between the two! I also tested my midi controllers (two Korg nanoKontrol 2 and one microKey) and I found all in the list to support.

I have some experience with Bitwig v1, so it was very familiar environment (but better than v1 I should say). I didn't find a big difference in CPU usage compared to Live 9 (don't know about v10). It seems to me the same usage in light synths (like Sylenth1, RayBlaster) and heavy synths like Korg ARP Odyssey.

The two are great choices because first for me they use a friendly protection and they have a friendly support as well.
I would definitely bid on one of the Bitwig licenses in the "Call to Arms" charity if I didn't have Live 9 already (I might bid on one anyway )

[andypryce]

If you are not planning on getting a Push2 then definitely get BWS. Push is great. I can not think using Live without it. But I think since the release of Push, Ableton became lazy on the software innovation or progress side.

[antic604]

Yes Id agree Bitwig feels like it excels in linear mode more. It's session view just doesn't work like Ableton, ie not as fluid.

Can you elaborate on that, because the only shortcoming of Bitwig's clip launcher compared to Live's session view is lack of legato clips. Otherwise there are many improvements, like the much more visual feedback you get with actually seeing what's inside the clip and where the playhead is, native scene follow actions, true bounce-in-place, etc.

[thecontrolcentre]

Isn't Bitwig using subscription now? Ableton tend to update between version numbers without charging. Live 10 has been updated several times since release, and new packs for Suite have been added free-of-charge. There's the new synths too ... Wavetable is great.

I should mention I'm a long time Live Suite user, and have never tried Bitwig. It doesn't seem to offer anything extra that I really need.

[Klinke]

I started to work with Live due to Push2, but I must say, beside Push2 and Live4Max I found Live disappointing. Routing is extrem cumbersome, for things I have done in Reaper using 1 track, I need 4 tracks in Live as e.g. a track can't send MIDI and Audio. And support is non exisiting, what is IMHO unacceptable for a product in this price range (my worst experience till now was IK multimedia, but even they answer your support request, Ableton just ignores them and also they are not reachable via phone, allthough they claim to have telephon support on there homepage).

So without Push I wouldn't use Live for sure.

[thecontrolcentre]

I've always had fast, useful responses from Ableton support (via email). YMMV

[antic604]

Isn't Bitwig using subscription now? Ableton tend to update between version numbers without charging. Live 10 has been updated several times since release, and new packs for Suite have been added free-of-charge. There's the new synths too ... Wavetable is great.

I should mention I'm a long time Live Suite user, and have never tried Bitwig. It doesn't seem to offer anything extra that I really need.

No, it's not subscription. You buy a version and get 12 months of updates for free and then can use the last version you own indefinitely or get a new one (+ next 12 months of updates).

And those updates really are something! This is what Bitwig delivered in point updates between x.0 and x.4 in just 18 months:
- new devices: Phase-4 synth, new Sampler (granular+wavetable), Amp, Time Shift, Instrument & Effect Selector, Note FX Layer,
- new modulators: Audio Rate, Polynom, Quantize, Sample & Hold, Voice Stack, ParSeq-8, Note Counter
- comprehensive MIDI channel support throughout the engine,
- z-plane elastique time stretching,
- time-signature changes,
- extended device views,
- on-screen keyboard,
- voice stacking,
- Ableton Link support,
- MIDI clock slave,
- new sound packs.