In my honest opinion, FL Studio is not a beginner's DAW. I have met a lot of people who call it a beginner's DAW and a toy. FL is so much more than that. From the outside, it looks like a weird, easy program, but from the inside, it is an extremely deep and flexible software. A lot of people take its flexibility for inability.

The synths you get are fantastic. While they do not have many presets, you can always learn them inside-out by simply reading the user's manual, which, by the way, is extremely fun to read— especially with all that jokes. That, and the user's manual also contains many tips for getting a commercial quality music.

The stock effect plugins are excellent as well. Some of them do need a UI update (Chorus, Flanger, Compressor). For the compressor you could always use FL Limiter as an alternative — it provides the same quality. Most of the other plugins are very well-designed. I particularly like Delay Bank (8 steps delay), Reeverb 2, and Param. EQ 2 (which gives you Harmonic spectrum).

For mastering and mixing, you have excellent side-chaining and routing system, and also a very good multi-band mastering tool called Maximus. I master all my songs using this, and also several other stock plugins. I don't use third party mastering plugins, and I'm still very satisfied with the results I get with ImageLine's plugins.

There are a few other things to consider though. You can't automate time signature in FL Studio. And you don't get samples for the sampler DirectWave (which, I forgot to mention before, is very good as well) along with the DAW; you need to purchase them separately. There are so many shortcuts and under-the-hood stuffs that sometimes you might get confused! While usually, a large number of features is a good thing, it can get terribly confusing.

All in all, I am very satisfied of this DAW, and highly recommend it to people who are actually serious about making music! 10/10 from me.

I am, I admit, a newbie to FL Studio, and not an owner yet. But I have a few things to say from my evaluation of the demo. THe program has among the best VST synths included of anything else I've tried. What is a drag, tho, is the need to use the presets "browser" over and over--due to the lack of a true well-done browser in the softsynths, even on flagship Sytrus. Having a "spreadsheet" preset menue, as on Sytrus, which upon selection of a preset closes is absurd. The process of selecting a preset can take time, and SHOULD NOT involve dozens of unnecessary mouse clicks. For examples of a great browser in a synth see Tone2 Rayblaster or Electra2. SO, despite being a newbiw, I'll drop a feature suggestion right now for FL Studio. In the browser, under "generators", each icon should have a sub-icon which on clicking opens that generator's presets. The way it is, having to return to the main browser menu, find the "generator presets, than the particular generator, then the presets is a very poor example of "workflow".

I also find the step sequencer over ridgid, and involves way too many clicks to work smoothly. DragnDrop is always good, but the program's architecture needs work. What I would think should be "intuitive" is not so intuitive. Part is my inexperience with FL Studio, but I am no novice to using DAWs in general. The DrangnDrop is not as intuitive as it could be. The program is not quite--tho almost--worth the VSTs alone.Having said that, FPC does not work, makes no sound, even the presets don't play. The drum implementation --in terms of poundage of drum dreck in the machine, with specialized Kick, Sampler, etc----- requires making "beats" from scratch. Why make ridiculous drum loops when there are so many great loops available? FL Studio should include a bunch of high-quality MIDI drum loops. Final word: way too much clicking needed in the browser.

Since the last review is from 2 years ago, I thought I'd add my five cents' worth. FL Studio is now on version 12 and has been updated significantly, most notably the modern, slick-looking, vectorial GUI. This new look may seem rather imposing at first glance but, as FL veterans and newcomers alike spend more time with the new FL, they will quickly become comfortable with it. Version 12.2 is the latest stable build but the 12.3 beta promises to add new features such as real-time timestretching. Let's hope Image Line implements this feature as easily as Ableton Live and Reason. Speaking of time and pitch manipulation, that is the only reason I haven't given FL a perfect 10 here. These features have always seemed a bit clunky. However, as with most things FL Studio, once you become more familiar with the workflow, the easier tasks become. You'll find yourself wondering why all the other DAWs don't do things like FL. There are many ways to skin a cat and this metaphor is especially fitting when talking about FL. Image Line gives you so many ways to get the job done that sometimes your choices can become a little overwhelming.

I have used FL Studio for 10 years and it is the most impressive DAW on the market. Lifetime free updates, you can customize the interface for aesthetics and workflow, compatibility with any VST, VST2, and VST3, interfaces well with most MIDI controllers, are just some of its key features I love. This DAW is a dream for any computer music composer/songwriter. Now, if they would only implement some notation features or enhance the sheet music exportation to feature, that would put this DAW over the top.

FL Studio, unlike some DAWs is not only fun, fluent, flexible and imaginative and innovative, is also easy to learn and use. It has many easily understood and high quality plugins, such as Harmor and GMS, that not only you can edit and make up yourself, it includes presets made by professional musicians, who, if you like their music, you can create just as good or better, because, with just a computer and this software, your practically a producer. Furthermore, its easy controls and plug-ins make it fun and easy to make a signature style by just tweaking and clicking save. It comes with many presets, packs, and loops already preloaded for you to edit and use and it all comes standard with FL Studio. And on top of all this, matching the quality and fun of FL Studio could cost you $1000s in VSTs, software, hardware, and more, but it costs just $299. So go let your imagination free and make some bad-ass music.

Valve.