Help me decide between Ableton & Bitwig please...

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To the OP, i use Live and don't really get on with Bitwig, but if you're mainly focusing on sound design, i think Bitwig would be a great option. i always saw Live as a better tool for songwriting. They're both fantastic for sound mangling and design, i just think Bitwig's modularity lends itself more towards that sort of thing, which is why i don't find it particularly useful.

You might also want to take a look at Tracktion (T7 and their paid DAW, Waveform). It's too buggy on my system but it reminded me a lot of certain aspects of Bitwig and FL, especially the FX chaining system.

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Isotonik Signal can add some Bitwig like twist to Ableton Live too, far from Bitwig but fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBnNksZHtU
"Where we're workarounding, we don't NEED features." - powermat

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xbitz wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:51 pm Isotonik Signal can add some Bitwig like twist to Ableton Live too, far from Bitwig but fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBnNksZHtU
Ooh, didnt that just come out? lots of cool stuff happening in ableton at the moment. What a time to be making music.
how much is the isotonic? might have to get that

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Just saw the 'swing' module. Im sold!!
thats one of the things i have always loved about BW - the beat lfo that syncs to global swing. Freaking awesome. I can really understand the OP's problem deciding between the two - im going back and forth all the time! And using studio one for quite a few things

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DavidCarlyon wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:52 pm
xbitz wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:51 pm Isotonik Signal can add some Bitwig like twist to Ableton Live too, far from Bitwig but fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBnNksZHtU
Ooh, didnt that just come out? lots of cool stuff happening in ableton at the moment. What a time to be making music.
how much is the isotonic? might have to get that
it's on sale for £49.99 (reduced from £59.99)

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For sound design: Bitwig, because of the crazy modulation options. And also because Bitwig 3 will have Grid, some crazy modular stuff :)

Midi editing: Both are very similar really, but I prefer Bitwig because it's more versatile. For example: in Bitwig you can automate with relative values, like decrease a volume with 20%. In Ableton you can only define absolute values, like -20db. Moreover you can combine absolute and relative automation in Bitwig. Really neat.

Also - and this is not limited to midi editing - Bitwig has a lot of quality of life features everywhere that just make life easier compared to Ableton. It's mostly small things, but many of those add up overall.

Value for money: Probably Ableton, because it has more/better audio effects, 60GB of samples (Bitwig has 7GB iirc) and a larger user base so there are tons of tutorials out there. Ableton is probably cheaper over time as well because of the yearly subscription for Bitwig (if you want updates).

Cubase? I never considered it. But sure, many film composers use it, like Hans Zimmer, but that doesn't mean it's the best for me. I'd probably go for Studio One since it's the more modern incarnation of a traditional recording DAW.

Btw, if you _really_ want to dig deep into the differences, check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nadjzN8y2f8

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Very good question I’m about to buy it too but still thinking .

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xbitz wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:51 pm Isotonik Signal can add some Bitwig like twist to Ableton Live too, far from Bitwig but fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBnNksZHtU
:shock:

Holy... how could I miss this? Just watched only 5 minutes of the introduction video and I'm already sold. :hyper:

:hail:

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elassi wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 5:42 am
xbitz wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:51 pm Isotonik Signal can add some Bitwig like twist to Ableton Live too, far from Bitwig but fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBnNksZHtU
:shock:

Holy... how could I miss this? Just watched only 5 minutes of the introduction video and I'm already sold. :hyper:

:hail:
I picked up Signal and have been playing around with it quite a bit. I don’t think it really compares to Bitwig’s Grid, but it does add a whole ton of modulation power to Ableton. Lots of fun!
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.

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quite nice to able to clone the already exist routings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IEm-xrnYQg
definitely not a BWS Grid (no poly etc.) but nice
"Where we're workarounding, we don't NEED features." - powermat

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Live also has relative automation in clip envelopes.
dedication to flying

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Live. Once you learn the basics of the interface, production workflow is incredibly streamlined. 10.1 has some nice new features on the way: https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/live-10 ... -upgrades/

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I have found myself going back and forth between live, bitwig and studio one a hell of a lot this year. It is starting to look like i am not going to settle into one. Maybe i just have to make peace with that. Each one can do things the others can't
I do like the look of the isotonic thing tho. Doesn;t look as quick or direct as BW.

I think thats the appeal of BW - speed and workflow. There are some things missing in bw still (not too many) but it is so damn quick and makes so much sense.

Ultimately all three of the ones i mentioned are all absolutely awesome.

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excuse me please wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:24 am Bitwig 3 will be released soon, so I would wait and then compare. Just saying.
geez you arent tryin to reason here, do you?

:phones:

oh and btw

i own both daws, but capture still nails it for live 10 so far. so many ideas on the fly that otherwise would be lost^^.

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DavidCarlyon wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:41 pm I think thats the appeal of BW - speed and workflow. There are some things missing in bw still (not too many) but it is so damn quick and makes so much sense.
That's interesting, actually. After being FLStudio user for many years, I moved to Ableton Live, and one of the reasons was that workflow is much, much faster. The fact that you don't consider Live the fastest one makes me wonder what does Bitwig offer to improve Live's workflow.
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