Good Reasons To Switch Your DAW?

[chk071]

Yep, it's pretty new: https://www.ableton.com/en/products/live-lite/

[THE INTRANCER]

What made me wakeup in the last time was learning the fact, that the most pro´s (in my genre) never switched their DAW... they are mostly still at the DAW they learned first...

They do not complain about missing features or what others do better, they just use what they got and work their way around any hassles...

I don't know what age bracket you are classifying 'Pro's' to fall into but for me, those of which I'd consider professional producers were producing music with probably no DAW at all, using tape to tape 4 track recorders, hardware keyboards, hardware mixing desks, and probably using Atari ST's or Amiga computer based DAW's... They won't still be using what they were using in the 1990's... Professionals will use the best, and most reliable tools for the job as technology advances and if that means there is a better tool, it's what they will go and use.

Companies like Steinberg and Presonus communicate directly with big studio's, and tailor the software to meet their needs as well as those of their general users. In fact, there is custom software which will be completely foreign to many people here, which is used for mixing purposes, and that of which in a live stage setting... and I know this because, I've worked right along side professional mixing engineers from the front of house. Here's a photo I had taken a few years ago whilst doing some Sound Monitoring & Control FOH work...

[Trancit]

I don't know what age bracket you are classifying 'Pro's' to fall into but for me, those of which I'd consider professional producers were producing music with probably no DAW at all, using tape to tape 4 track recorders, hardware keyboards, hardware mixing desks, and probably using Atari ST's or Amiga computer based DAW's... They won't still be using what they were using in the 1990's...

1. there are of course many many pro´s out there, who started their career after the early 90ties
2. I wrote, they never changed their DAW, not that they never changed their way of working... if there was no DAW before how can they switch???

Nevertheless as modern DAW´s appeared they settled on one of these big ones... mostly Pro Tools, Cubase and Logic and the most I know about are still using the same software...
Perhaps the one or the other changed one time or use multiple ones because it´s matching their workflow respectfully they need them for different tasks...

The final point (for me) is and what they proove with their success, it is a better investment of time, energy and money to work your way around one DAW with all it´s shortcomings, bugs and annoyances instead of software hopping because the market offers so much variety and finally noting that they all have their shortcomings, bugs and annoyances... status quo...

Professionals will use the best, and most reliable tools for the job as technology advances and if that means there is a better tool, it's what they will go and use...

After this I personaly would set a big question mark...

Even if there is a "better" DAW, do they have the time to completely settle on a different system with learning everything again until they get familiar with the new software like they did with the other???
With plugins, I think you are right... there is much fluctuation, but with the DAW...??? No no no...

Second, what is the best??? Is there anything like the best???
The best for one is the worst for the other and other way round...

[EnGee]

What's the relation the Professionals have with us?! We are mostly hobbyists and semi-professionals or part time professionals!

Anyway, I know two "Professionals" who switched from a DAW to another! Alan Wilder some 10 years ago has switched from Cubase to Pro Tools and few years back I watched a video (most of KVR members sure watched it!) about Jean-Michel Jarre talking about how he likes Ableton Live and why he switched to it from Pro Tools.

I don't see a reason why not switching from DAW to a DAW?! Or even working with more than one DAW! It is not a marriage! Is it?!

[voidhead23]

It is not a marriage! Is it?!

Sometimes i feel like it is...in fact, i think there are posts on here where i've used that exact analogy when talking about Live.

i've switched DAWs twice. CoolEditPro to Logic, then to Live. i'm really, really glad i didn't stick with CoolEditPro/Audition. Logic is a toss up.

i would argue there might be a 'best for you', which is sort of why i started this thread, to see what experience other users had to sort of gauge anecdotally how petty or realistic i was being in my quest for the perfect system.

[EnGee]

It is not a marriage! Is it?!

Sometimes i feel like it is...in fact, i think there are posts on here where i've used that exact analogy when talking about Live.

i've switched DAWs twice. CoolEditPro to Logic, then to Live. i'm really, really glad i didn't stick with CoolEditPro/Audition. Logic is a toss up.

i would argue there might be a 'best for you', which is sort of why i started this thread, to see what experience other users had to sort of gauge anecdotally how petty or realistic i was being in my quest for the perfect system.

Well, even if it is! Divorce is not uncommon
But anyway, do what you believe is best for you.
For me, as I'm getting older, I begin to like practical things and tools that is both easy to use and powerful enough to do the job. I believe Ableton Live is one of them

[Trancit]

You both missed the point I wanted to make...

It´s not about switching the DAW is something bad...

I was just refering to many pro´s working/stick with their DAW till ages and live with their shortcomings, while I (and I guess it´s not only me) was hopping from DAW to DAW without being able to make a final decision and was complaining that this and that doesn´t work the way I wanted it to be....

[spendthrift2]

I have been thinking about getting a DAW and with that the possibility of using Reaper instead of Ableton. I have never used a DAW to its full potential and don't know if I ever will. That probably sounds a little pessimistic. But I guess since I'm taking a class in music technology, followed by one in electronic music I will wait to make my final decision until after the course concludes.

[Tj Shredder]

I switched tools in my life of course for various reasons. The engineer would rather stick to its known tools as long as they develop and deliver support. (Avid/Digidesign can be as nasty as they, want a lot of engineers stick to ProTools, the (over)price paid doesn't matter at all in that case...)
Musicians and creative producers also need inspiration, and learning a new tool can give a push in a new direction...
The first sequencer I got deeper into was StudioVision from Opcode, later killed by Gibson, which recently committed suicide... I turned away almost completely from sequencers/DAWs for a long time concentrating on Max/MSP. During that time I did learn ProTools for jobs in mixing and production. When Ableton introduced Live I thought that would bring me back, but it didn't inspire me at all. As a fan of open sourceI tried to do some jobs with Ardour, but it failed back then to connect to my interface (now this is no issue any more and occasionally I use it again). Out of need I used Logic instead, did the job but wasn't that inspiring either, especially the unprofessional waveform display bothered big time.
Then I got Bitwig in a bundle with a keyboard, and this is until now constantly inspiring as its adding new toys and is deep - much to explore...
Still I use different tools for different tasks...
I will look into Reaper as a potential full replacement for ProTools - I will never throw money at Avid...
In the end its a matter of taste...

[Straight2Vinyl]

I use Reaper and the lack of an audio to MIDI function is bugging me a bit. I wanted to try and record myself tapping my desk and then turn that into a groove quantize including timing and velocity. Unfortunately, Reaper has no such feature. I also can't do it in Kontakt because that only captures timing, but does not capture dynamics/velocity.
Reaper is great for a lot of things, but MIDI groove quantize stuff it isn't. It's possibly the biggest weakness of the program.
My PC needs some serious service done this week, but once that's resolved(either fixed or buy a new PC) I'm going to take a long look at Samplitude. They have a lot of big discounts and for what's included, along with how stable it's said to be, it seems like a steal. I've read a couple comments about Samplitude being somewhat of a Logic for Windows. That doesn't seem like a bad thing at all.

[InLight-Tone]

I've switched DAW's many times in fits of insanity and I don't recommend taking the decision lightly. Especially if we're talking about the big dog's like Cubase, Logic, Studio One, Live, f**k Reaper, that's a major time suck. Most of the DAWS are the same with more or less features that overlap for the most part..

Speaking of which that's the worst part of switching, the amount of time it takes to actually get prolific and proficient with the DAW like it's an instrument. Sure you can do basic functionality, but every DAW has different keyboard shortcuts, different ways of editing and if you use something like Lemur different ways of remote controlling the thing.

That being said, I think having maybe 2 maximum DAW's can be beneficial for the aspiring professional, i.e., someone who wants to make money and have music be their profession. One would be the traditional linear DAW like Cubase and one be a non-traditional like Live or Bitwig. That can help to mix things up enough to enhance possible creative output. But hey, have you mastered Max4Live and all it can do? Of course not, and that's part of the Live DAW experience, pretty much endless, so do you really need another DAW OR dive in deeper and deeper?

Most are merely skimming the surface when using multiple DAW's and for someone who is a hobbyist and a tinkerer, that's fun and fine. But you'd NEVER see Hams Zimmer change up his setup as he always has jobs coming in and to do so would be disastrous and kill his career. Depends on what you want out of music...

[zenophilix]

I've tried to switch DAWs multiple times before, demoed pretty much every one I could find. Studio One, Reason, and FL were the three that I felt like I could switch to.

Having said that, I'm still on Live. It's hard to beat knowing damn near every inch of your tools.

[Psuper]

There's only 1 reason to switch your daw - when your last daw doesn't cut it anymore. There's a huge learning curve switching, so its no easy decision.