Help picking a main DAW

[enroe]

Some in depth discussion of one man's use...
https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/DAW-Chart.html

Haaayeah! The admiral has worked with all major DAWs
and has gathered a lot of experience ... his list says:

1. Reaper (614 points)
2. Cubase (595 points)
3. Logic (544 points)

So the question for the best DAW is answered here.

[richhickey]

Some in depth discussion of one man's use...
https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/DAW-Chart.html

Haaayeah! The admiral has worked with all major DAWs
and has gathered a lot of experience ... his list says:

1. Reaper (614 points)
2. Cubase (595 points)
3. Logic (544 points)

So the question for the best DAW is answered here.

The chart quite usefully also has weights you can alter according to what you consider important, and thereby get different results. This is a fantastic, if inherently imperfect, resource and I'd certainly recommend the OP try it.

[marooned ufo]

Picking a DAW is a lot like choosing which automobile to buy and drive.

1st, stay within your budget.

2nd, consider what you need and what fits your life style.

3rd, how important are certain features and options?

4th, what are the customer reviews and has it won any awards?

5th, does it feel comfortable and would you enjoy driving it for the next 5 to 10 years?

6th, does it have high maintenance and daily driving costs to stay current and running?

7th, will next years model be affordable and have enough upgrades to consider trading in for?

8th, what is the resale value if you plan to sell it in the future?

9th, can it be resold and how is the re-buy market?

10th, test drive, test drive, test drive.

11th, don't ask the car salesman for consulting.

Very true, anyone working for a company that is heavily involved in marketing and promotion should always be heard with caution, due to their ultimate agenda to sell more of their company's products. Also avoiding fanbois and trolls tilted perspectives towards a certain opinion. Always look at all angles and ultimately decide for yourself.

One size doesn't fit all. If your goal is to have the most intuitive and time saving ways of doing things, there are DAWs you should stay far away from. But, If you want to spend most your day fiddling around and tweaking something because it's fun and enjoyable (hobby) then so be it. Ask yourself what do you really want from a DAW and how does it's work flow fit into your ways of doing things? Some things aren't designed to take an idea from start to finish in the most efficient way.

If the DAW is hard to get around in, not very user friendly and have their own eccentric ways of doing things, it might not fit your way of doing things. Same goes for enjoying the quirkiness and added workarounds that gives people the feeling of achieving something due to a creative solution. Like not having a lot of tools at your disposal, it forces you to come up with different ways of doing things.

Ultimately the only true way to tell is by demoing everything for a while, until one becomes the most comfortable to work in and you can see yourself enjoying for the next decade or more with the least amount of headaches along the way.

[ckoe]

I found my Main DAW in Reason with some REs. No need to for me to switch anymore. I've tested also Ableton, Bitwig, Reaper, Cubase, Renoise and StudioOne. But Reason makes the most fun for me.

[chk071]

Some in depth discussion of one man's use...
https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/DAW-Chart.html

I'm a bit surprised there is no mention at all about performance. One of the most relevant, and critical things about DAW's.

Also quite surprising that Reaper comes out best, in almost every category, and that scripting is a vital point of judgment. I don't know anyone who scripts his DAW.

[GearNostalgia]

Some in depth discussion of one man's use...
https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/DAW-Chart.html

Haaayeah! The admiral has worked with all major DAWs
and has gathered a lot of experience ... his list says:

1. Reaper (614 points)
2. Cubase (595 points)
3. Logic (544 points)

So the question for the best DAW is answered here.

Excellent chart even while I don't agree with some parts like giving Cubase 10/10 for chord tools it is in general a very good guide.

[todd_r]

https://sites.google.com/site/babyasoft ... babyalogic

[jjpscott01]

I've got them all... Including Bitwig. To me its a fantastic young DAW with a lot of promise and has some very modern features. With that said, I agree with several here that say Reason is the most fun to make music with. To me that's always been its strength and after years of trying (and buying) every other DAW out there, it remains the most inspiring for me. In the end, you'll find what works for you the best personally but I guess we're all just lucky we have so many great choices these days.

[benheman]

Reason and Cubase!

[THE INTRANCER]

My primary DAW, between 2001 and 2014, was Reason, and I was with it from 1.0 and thus I learned it pretty much from the grassroots...much of my music can be heard from the links I have below. I stopped at version 7.01, because the Props lost their way in so many ways from there after...both with the daw and their activity / focus in chasing other things like Iphone apps.. and allybloodyhoopa... but more than anything.. it was Reason and what was happening with it that made me want to switch, falling short of my needs, unable to cope with a lot of tracks and being able to manage them in the way I wanted, thus everything felt really slow... Workflow wise, it's something I'm sure they know about and are working on...but it's always felt that they have always been playing catch up compared to others...

But what dies for me, might be something that is born and grows for you...

In case you didn't other wise know from my postings here, I switched to Studio One, because I found it much more streamlined and with more comprehensive features, like a sharply refined tool.

Don't forget though.. that producing music isn't for everyone, if you can't decide on an application.. then maybe creating music in this way isn't for you...

[V0RT3X]

That car analogy is great

[AdvancedFollower]

Well I guess you could learn a new workflow and get comfortable with it over time.

You could save up over time and get DAW you are comfortable with.

Chances are that while you're saving up, you have enough time to get comfortable with and used to your current DAW. So when you finally have the money for it, you're no longer interested in switching and disrupting your workflow

[Zexila]

Chances are that while you're saving up, you have enough time to get comfortable with and used to your current DAW. So when you finally have the money for it, you're no longer interested in switching and disrupting your workflow

I'm talking about saving up for 1-3 months, not 3 years, c'mon, even in 3rd world country you can afford Cubase on 6 month installments with minimal wage or start with LE/AI/Elements until you can save up for Pro and upgrade on sale, almost every expensive DAW have cheaper versions with which you can work while saving.

[GearNostalgia]

I have been with Cubase for a long time, but they refuse to add a few minor fixes to the midi editing over and over again. Recently picked up Waveform9 from Tracktion and it is really fast and easy when fleshing out song ideas so I find that I am using Cubase less and less. So if you are into Pop or electronic I would advice to look at Waveform.

[Topcheese]

With that list I'd still go for Mixcraft 8 Pro which will give you plenty enough instruments plus the extra cash to grab some high quality plugins on a sale. I wanted to do my own mastering, so at least for me Studio One Pro was the one I felt had the best workflow in that area.
They are all excellent DAWs and it really depends on how much you want to invest in time and money. If I had to only choose from your list then I would probably have to go with Bitwig. I've never used it, but I've heard nothing but good things about it and some devs are from Ableton.