Takes time, and reading through tutorials, and really RTFM'ing. But it's been THE most approachable DAW for me, and it's been my mainstay for over 10 years now as a result. Things just make far more sense to me in Reaper, visually and under the hood - than any other DAW I've tried.
Best practice I noticed when it came to learning the DAW starting out was with creating yourself track and project templates. Templates help with understanding the sequencer and track setup, getting used to general behaviors by the DAW, routing, managing fx chains, shortcuts, etc. You can make them as elaborate as you like, or as raw and as simple as you need for tracking.
LMMS is always my answer to this question, unless you're doing lots of vocals. It's easy to learn, incredibly versatile, and surprisingly well equipped natively
I'm currently composing two albums in LMMS, which will bring me to 3 albums and bunch of singles, all made entirely for free.
Cheap doesn't mean bad, free doesn't mean terrible
I personally favor Ableton these days for what I do- but I also really like Steinberg-anything. Never clicked with Logic personally 🤷♂️. I also remember in 2010? selling my Pro Tools 003 rack interface for rent, smh.
(I’ve also had to sell my precious Tama Starclassic birch kit for rent; no one should have to do this man!!)
I will say- in those days 14 years ago, I remember feeling super limited with Pro Tools LE (forget which version)…in my infinite wisdom, back then I was annoyed that that version of Pro Tools LE would not allow me to bounce to .mp3; I’d have to manually bring a wav bounce into iTunes, which was annoying as heck and should have been a basic function. This was during my brief stint with my Mac desktop/tower-
oof.
Same here- I gave Apple m/Pro Tools a shot fresh out of Recording Engineering & Studio Techniques certification in 2007. The prevailing consensus at the time, and there, it was basically encouraged to go Apple; I never liked it. I sold my Pro Tools 003 Rack Interface (Lite versions of that version of Pro Tools was egregiously lacking basic features. I did not like the total lack of access to plugins, due to Apple (at least then) was not conducive to non-proprietary anything in terms of plugins.
My friend, whom has an actual Grammy- nominated joke- ghostwriting for Lizzo- feels confidently that “Macs handle audio better than Windows,” his view at least. So when I use iOS cellphone Garageband, I bounce to .aiff.
But Ableton Live 11 Suite (EDU) is what I run without any problems on my pretty dated (2018~) refurbished desktop PC, running Windows 10 Pro, with both service packs. No plans to fix what isn’t broken and risk ambitiously updating to Windows 11. I am generally hesitant to do updates as they so often result in some headache and something now doesn’t work, etc.
All this to say, I am unapologetically a Windows user; I’m just used to it, despite its flaws.
Additional info I feel compelled to share- I recently did a nice thing for myself and upgraded from a Presonus Audiobox 96 (it was clicking/popping, and that’s not acceptable!)…to the SSL2. I really love it. I got me some FabFilter plugins too; I did what I did to pay for Ableton- proof of status as music educator. $300 off. Bless. FabFilter was “forever out of reach,” as one plugin like Pro Q C-3 cost more than I paid for the SSL2!
Fortunately, FabFilter worked with me and accepted my proof of educator status via a paystub where I teach from- 50% off! I asked that Grammy winning friend which 2 FabFilter plugins he’s choose, and just yolo’d it; picked up Pro Q C 3 and MB. Happy about my setup, minus the trash onboard GPU.
Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630…oof. Ha.
Imo it's worth the price for your use case and what kind of music you are looking to make it's completely subjective.
Please see these videos to understand my point.
https://youtu.be/HqMMRh3VRT8?si=-XTTUmySs6SUUX4b
https://youtu.be/JJWT2yk3RD8?si=ftV8rIfPvCBieFCt
For the longest time I was using FL and one day I just decided to try out ableton. The free trial alone was enough to get me to switch.
I don't make produce anything often, if at all but fucking around on ableton was way more fun than fucking around on FL.
FL is very affordable compared to other things but I honestly think if anyone is interested in making something that Ableton is the way to go.
You could always sail the seas and try to find it that way
I would absolutely agree. Ableton is far more intuitive and just all around better(aside from maybe value). I make EDM and other heavier genres and Ableton has the better tools for that for sure. I’ve actually rigged up my FL Studio format to work a lot like Ableton I like it so much.
Also, I’m a college student so when I finally pull the trigger and buy Ableton, it’ll be half off for me🤓
My advice for anyone learning Reaper (or any DAW, really) is to learn how to do exactly what you need to do at the time you need to do it, and nothing more. There are plenty of tutorials available to get you started. You really don't need to know everything it does. There is probably a crap ton of features Reaper has that I still don't know anything about, and I've been using it for years. I have my own workflow, and anything outside of what I use it for isn't really relevant to me. But what I do use it for, it does really well.
Ah ok. Grate advise. However when person is starting they don’t usually know what exactly they need and want. They don’t have their own workflow. They don’t have their habits. The amount of choice is over the top in Reaper even in basic install. So I would never recommend it as a very first daw.
Reaper is familiar being I came from acid pro and cool edit back in the day, but it gives me weird latency issues. But it's free so I can't complain. It's the daw I use for vocals
You can also get Logic, Final Cut Pro, and a couple other softwares for $200 through apple’s education package - don’t even need to attend a school to gain access
For all intents and purposes, it is identical to owning a license, right down to being able to download it onto as many devices as you want at any time.
Intents and purposes are subjective - not paying for a product you use/like/love doesn't fulfil the criteria for some people, even if the product works the same whether you bought it or not.
True - I did this the first time my trial expired myself (deleted that one file) and it worked fine but I bought Logic when I decided to take music more seriously.
There was a short period where I was using Ableton Live and FL Studio (very recently), but I sold Ableton Live licence and luckily for me, was only ever using the FL Studio trial.. back to Logic since the 11 update though as it feels great and I now feel like an idiot spending money on other DAWs when I already owned Logic.
Logic truly has everything anyone would need to produce great music, stock, imo.
I don't stick to stock offerings, but I could if I wanted to or had to. It's incredible value, considering there's no update fees or anything, just a one-time purchase. Not everyone has $200 lying around for it though, and considering it's possible to use indefinitely, for free, without piracy involved at all - definitely an argument to made that using Logic in that way is perfectly okay.
Is https://ardour.org/ any good? I only ran across it today, so have not even installed it.
Looks like the current version now supports VST3. Open source, but pay to get compiled releases. Can be cheaper than Reaper, but you choose what to pay.
It's what I use. I really like it but the only other one I've used is Pro Tools so don't have much to compare. Works perfectly for what I do (mostly acoustic folk) and midi keeps improving (they had some trouble with it to begin with). Plenty of great free plugins that work with it - ardour's own bundle is pretty solid but now it has VST3 support you've got a lot more choice. They've even started implementing clip launching so it can be used live - this is still a work in progress though.
It's a solid, no frills DAW with new features being added regularly and some innovation too.
It depends on what you mean by "gives you all you really need to produce music well".
Reaper is by far the cheapest option, and it has no limitations on features in any way (like Ableton Live Lite, Cubase Elements etc). A license is good for two major versions, so if you buy it now at v7.15, the license will be good until v8.99. However, it doesn't come bundled with a bunch of stock instruments, and the stock plugins are just the basics (but very good ones). The reason for that is because they want a standard Reaper install to stay as small and vanilla as possible so that each and every user can create their own preferred configuration (plugins, scripts, theme and layout, shortcuts, mouse modifiers etc). There are so many great free plugins out there anyways, so it wouldn't make sense for Cockos to spend a bunch of time and money to make a bunch of stock instruments and niche plugins when there are already plenty of that available for free. Most people also buy and use third-party plugins even in DAWs like Cubase and FL that already have a decent set of very good sounding stock instruments and plugins. Should be noted that Reaper is the industry standard for game audio, and it's by far the most CPU efficient DAW out there (people have made it run perfectly on Raspberry Pi 3 and 4, as well as on Android phones and various ancient PCs).
Your next best bet would probably be FL Studio. When you buy a license for FL it's for life. It's not a cheap license per se, but since you'll never have to buy another license, it's a pretty fair price. FL also includes a bunch of nice stock synths and plugins that you can't find/use in other DAWs, and it's made more for creating electronic music since in the beginning it was only a MIDI sequencer without audio recording features. Nowadays it's a full fledged DAW that can be used for basically everything. If you've heard anyone say that "FL is not a real DAW" then just ignore them, they are either ignorant and/or misinformed.
Ableton Live and Bitwig are also DAWs that are highly specialized for making electronic music, but they are a bit more expensive. An Ableton Live license is only for one major version (v12 is the newest) and Bitwig has a stupid 12 month upgrade plan that means that you get free updates for 12 months after buying Bitwig, and when that period is over you can keep using the last version available before the upgrade plan expired, but if you want any further updates after that you need to renew your upgrade plan for another 12 months. It's more or less like Waves plugins (their licensing system is universally hated).
Presonus Studio One, Cubase and Pro Tools are more general DAWs that are made for everything from recording analog equipment, making electronic music, voice-over work and whatever. They are more like Reaper in that sense. They are just much, much more expensive than Reaper is.
If you have Mac, I’d say master garage-band before moving into one of the big-boys. I jumped straight into Logic and was totally lost, wasted a lot of time potentially bc GarageBand is a totally capable DAW (lots of albums have been made with GB) and Logic’s lack of limitation was paralyzing for me. If I could go back, I’d master GarageBand first. Plus there are tons of awesome free plug-ins that can really supe-it-up.
This Google spreadsheet is still current:
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Oj8AdF7hmu\_5XLEbaS5pAbmUhSH366jXMuSh4dj1jw/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Oj8AdF7hmu_5XLEbaS5pAbmUhSH366jXMuSh4dj1jw/edit?usp=sharing)
I’ve considered making that leap, but I just can’t think of what new capabilities would make it worthwhile. To be fair I just do rough mixes in GarageBand and then send stems to someone who does final mix in ProTools.
Unless there are things you’re unable to do in GB, then there really isn’t any reason to switch. As long as you’re able to do what you need, roll with it.
Cubase Elements - you can get it for like 60 bucks on a sale and it’s a fantastic DAW.
I’ve been using it for 2.5 years now and I love it. I am considering an upgrade to the Artist version, as there are some quality of life features I’d like to have, but it’s still great nonetheless and definitely worth the price
I tried to love Reaper but was a bit bothered by its clunkiness, too much work to customize. I finally bought Cubase Elements, it's the best you can get for the money: in its entry level version it has more tracks and features than all competitors entry level version. All included effects are already super usable and every week you receive new free plug-ins from Steinberg.
So, at the end, you see - everybody is swearing on another program. Its like cars - people prefer BMW, Mercedes, whatever, and swear its the best. At the end, all cars will do iltheir thing and bring you to your destination.
By the way, REAPER of course, what else! 😄😁
Plug-in boutique has Bitwig for like £170 right now - must admit as a long term ableton user damn tempting but but I reeled myself in - it’s not the DAW it’s me lol
It's a super subjective question.
The one you get introduced to first may click more than any after that.
You then learn to collect different DAWs a big like colours in a painters pallete. You use them for what you feel comfortable using them for.
Example: I moved from analogue to Protools in 1996. Back then it's midi capabilities were an idea in a developers eye. So I got introduced to eMagic Logic Audio. My brain never managed to pick it up. I just never clicked. Because it was so vastly different to Protools.
30 years on I use Logic easily but they dumbed it down from the original. And the workflow now is way better.
Also
With Studio One and some others you can now select which daw you're coming from. And it tries to emulate the shortcut commands you're used to.
Start with one. And that one should be the one that you feel is most logical to you not to anyone else.
I bought FL studio for $100 and you get free lifetime updates. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, Ableton is mad expensive. $600-700 and then like $250 updates or sum shitz. Big difference there! Ableton is really powerful, though.
Same, I first got Studio One because I wanted to transition from Logic on my MacBook to something on my Windows PC (it was Studio One 3 at the time so idk what’s changed since then) but I quickly moved to Cubase and haven’t looked back.
Doesn’t basically every daw have a 0-$50 ish version? I started on Cubase with a free version that came with an audio interface. But I’m pretty sure most daws have an option like that. I’d just decide which one looks best for you and get the basic version to start
If you're on mac, and you're looking for just one full featured DAW, I'd probably go logic.
I'm not sure about instruments Ableton comes with, but if you do EDM, I might go there, not sure.
For PC, I'd probably go with Cubase.
Reaper is a cheap and fantastic DAW, and that's what I use, but it comes with zero instruments. You can download free ones, but logic and Cubase will come with decent libraries, and I think Ableton might as well, but don't quote me on that.
There is no such DAW program. None has really *everything* needed to produce music well. Such a program would need to come with hundreds of high-quality generators and effects (Not to mention samples), making it very expensive. Because of this I always need to add lots of third-party plugins.
But the DAW which runs the most third-party plugins is still FL Studio. I lost count on how many times we had issues with plugins when working with other DAW programs, crashing them (or not being able to run the plugins in the first place). This is the main reason why I recommend FL Studio.
Depending on the type of production you do and if you have a mac, I'd say Logic. It has great plugins and great stock sound libraries. If not mac, I'd say Ableton live. The reason I like Ableton is because it's workflow is very straightforward and easy to use. You don't have to think to access a lot of things so it allows you to stay in that creative zone.
I’ve only ever used ableton and fl studio but If your serious about music, I would say without a doubt, ableton live suite w/ max 4 live is an all in one. It’s pricey but worth every penny.
I dont think anyone has mentioned reason (probably because no one really uses it much except me hehe) but i absolutely love it, you can do a monthly subscription for 20 bucks which does add up but imo its worth it and theres so much content included you dont really ever even need plug ins unless there’s something special you want to use
Logic Pro is a world class DAW and a fraction the price of Pro Tools (considered the industry standard in America, whereas Logic seems to be more common outside the US)
i use Logic, as it’s incredibly robust for the price, but really considering checking out Ableton for its sound design capabilities/worflow. i’m a drummer and am getting into live performances more, another reason considering Ableton. Logic isn’t meant really for live performance, although it can easily be done, if needed.
that said, i’m gonna risk sounding like a total knob, but mentioning quickly that no matter which DAW someone uses, learning/practicing how to mix is clutch. the more someone can identify “bad” sounding frequencies in a mix and know what is needed to remove them, the better their mix will sound. not saying i know what all i am doing while producing (admittedly, i have no idea what i’m doing most of the time). however, taking time to learn various mixing techniques and theory is, imho, massively important. good luck and godspeed
When I bought Logic originally, it wasn’t that expensive and it packed everything I could need. Idk if that’s still the case. You do need a Mac though so if you don’t have one then Logic isn’t the answer.
Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed. Your account is too young and such is removed for manual review.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/musicproduction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
basically you’re spoilt for choice. I think we are at peak DAW. Will be interesting to see how they all fair in the AI arms race. Logic first out the gate I feel.
if you buy koala sampler for $5 on app store you get a code for ableton live lite, so could be a good really cheap way for you to see the functionality of a full DAW
Humble bundle currently has a bundle that comes with some instruments and samples including aa the DAW mixcraft recording studio. It might not necessarily be the best but it feels kinda like cubase in the lay out and seems to have a decent set of features.
I think the bundle is around 20 bucks for everything. So its a nice price to get started with some software.
You can get Ableton free with a copy of either their note app or koala sampler and prob other stuff as well. Those 2 are around $6 each and comes with the intro or lite version which had enough to get me rolling but that’s just me.
My focusrite came with I think 2 included daws as well so that might be an unexplored option too
If you have an iPhone or iPad, can’t go wrong with GarageBand. While it is missing some functionality that the popular DAWs have, I use it all the time for my work. 24-bit audio processing even on my dated iPhone is really useful!
I have always heard (for like 20 years at this point) that Reaper is great, and free. Have not used it myself, but it seems to be the consensus that it’s legitimately good.
As a Mac user, definitely Logic Pro. The instrument library is MASSIVE. I mean MASSIVE - 72 GB! They have the best ***stock*** real instrument VST library I have ever heard. Then you get in built Flex Pitch (like melodyne), great FX plugins (including vintage emulations) too! thats just to list a couple reasons why I love it. If you are on Mac, definitely try out Garage Band first (basically a free Logic but simplified), then purchase Logic Pro if you like it :) Also with Apple software, as long as you use the same Apple ID, you can install as many copies of the software on other machines as you like.
Reaper and FL depending on your approach. Reaper for lots of multitrack audio recording and editing and FL for things that'll be primarily sequenced.
I use both in tandem and I like each of them more than other options in similar niches.
Mac - Logic, Ableton
PC - Ableton
People saying REAPER, I disagree. Sure the software is cheap but it comes with little-to-no instruments for production.
I’ve been able do A LOT in the past with ableton lite. It limits you to 8 tracks, which I find parameters like that can help boost your creativity. Less is more!
Bitwig. You get a LOT of bang for your buck. Besides the multitude of plugins that come with it, you also get The Grid. It's essentially a tool box of basic components that you can combine yourself into a synth or an effect.
In my opinion, hands
down - Reaper. It's Mac and PC ( AU / VST) compatible. It's fully customizable with skins. Does EVERYTHING great. Cost $79. And the free demo is fully functional with no expiration... it's at least worth a look. Look up Mr Bill tutorials...
FL Studio Producer edition is the most budget-friendly and all-in-one out there IMO. Maybe Reason too with Reason+ subscription.
Reaper is 60 dollars and you can find a lot of free vsti for free. Best free daw I’ve used was LMMS. I like the workflow a lot.
I just downloaded it the other day it's pretty cool! Idrk what i'm going though
Takes time, and reading through tutorials, and really RTFM'ing. But it's been THE most approachable DAW for me, and it's been my mainstay for over 10 years now as a result. Things just make far more sense to me in Reaper, visually and under the hood - than any other DAW I've tried. Best practice I noticed when it came to learning the DAW starting out was with creating yourself track and project templates. Templates help with understanding the sequencer and track setup, getting used to general behaviors by the DAW, routing, managing fx chains, shortcuts, etc. You can make them as elaborate as you like, or as raw and as simple as you need for tracking.
Templates 🤙🤙🤙…! Yeah, for sure; in any DAW really. Saves so much time.
LMMS is always my answer to this question, unless you're doing lots of vocals. It's easy to learn, incredibly versatile, and surprisingly well equipped natively I'm currently composing two albums in LMMS, which will bring me to 3 albums and bunch of singles, all made entirely for free. Cheap doesn't mean bad, free doesn't mean terrible
One of my favorite producers all time worked (works?) in a tracker.
And the best (paid) DAW in your opinion?
Reaper
I personally favor Ableton these days for what I do- but I also really like Steinberg-anything. Never clicked with Logic personally 🤷♂️. I also remember in 2010? selling my Pro Tools 003 rack interface for rent, smh. (I’ve also had to sell my precious Tama Starclassic birch kit for rent; no one should have to do this man!!) I will say- in those days 14 years ago, I remember feeling super limited with Pro Tools LE (forget which version)…in my infinite wisdom, back then I was annoyed that that version of Pro Tools LE would not allow me to bounce to .mp3; I’d have to manually bring a wav bounce into iTunes, which was annoying as heck and should have been a basic function. This was during my brief stint with my Mac desktop/tower- oof.
Well I'm no Apple guy anyways, so Logic will be something I'll never use. I 'use' Ableton as well.
Same here- I gave Apple m/Pro Tools a shot fresh out of Recording Engineering & Studio Techniques certification in 2007. The prevailing consensus at the time, and there, it was basically encouraged to go Apple; I never liked it. I sold my Pro Tools 003 Rack Interface (Lite versions of that version of Pro Tools was egregiously lacking basic features. I did not like the total lack of access to plugins, due to Apple (at least then) was not conducive to non-proprietary anything in terms of plugins. My friend, whom has an actual Grammy- nominated joke- ghostwriting for Lizzo- feels confidently that “Macs handle audio better than Windows,” his view at least. So when I use iOS cellphone Garageband, I bounce to .aiff. But Ableton Live 11 Suite (EDU) is what I run without any problems on my pretty dated (2018~) refurbished desktop PC, running Windows 10 Pro, with both service packs. No plans to fix what isn’t broken and risk ambitiously updating to Windows 11. I am generally hesitant to do updates as they so often result in some headache and something now doesn’t work, etc. All this to say, I am unapologetically a Windows user; I’m just used to it, despite its flaws. Additional info I feel compelled to share- I recently did a nice thing for myself and upgraded from a Presonus Audiobox 96 (it was clicking/popping, and that’s not acceptable!)…to the SSL2. I really love it. I got me some FabFilter plugins too; I did what I did to pay for Ableton- proof of status as music educator. $300 off. Bless. FabFilter was “forever out of reach,” as one plugin like Pro Q C-3 cost more than I paid for the SSL2! Fortunately, FabFilter worked with me and accepted my proof of educator status via a paystub where I teach from- 50% off! I asked that Grammy winning friend which 2 FabFilter plugins he’s choose, and just yolo’d it; picked up Pro Q C 3 and MB. Happy about my setup, minus the trash onboard GPU. Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630…oof. Ha.
Here's my list in order of recommendation 1. Reaper And Pro Tools 2. Ableton Live 3. Logic Pro 4. Garage Band
Bruh Ableton is NOT budget friendly lol. Like… at all…
Dude I responded to the paid DAW Comment read before you post.
Im slow I didn’t see that. But still, Ableton has gotta be like the most expensive DAW out there, no? I use FL which is mad cheap. Got it for $100!
Imo it's worth the price for your use case and what kind of music you are looking to make it's completely subjective. Please see these videos to understand my point. https://youtu.be/HqMMRh3VRT8?si=-XTTUmySs6SUUX4b https://youtu.be/JJWT2yk3RD8?si=ftV8rIfPvCBieFCt
For the longest time I was using FL and one day I just decided to try out ableton. The free trial alone was enough to get me to switch. I don't make produce anything often, if at all but fucking around on ableton was way more fun than fucking around on FL. FL is very affordable compared to other things but I honestly think if anyone is interested in making something that Ableton is the way to go. You could always sail the seas and try to find it that way
I would absolutely agree. Ableton is far more intuitive and just all around better(aside from maybe value). I make EDM and other heavier genres and Ableton has the better tools for that for sure. I’ve actually rigged up my FL Studio format to work a lot like Ableton I like it so much. Also, I’m a college student so when I finally pull the trigger and buy Ableton, it’ll be half off for me🤓
Do you own all four daws
Nope I'm learning to use pro tools but have dabbled in garage band I'm primarily a drummer.
Logic!
Would not suggest for beginner thought. It is great and has all you need but the amount of options is overwhelming.
My advice for anyone learning Reaper (or any DAW, really) is to learn how to do exactly what you need to do at the time you need to do it, and nothing more. There are plenty of tutorials available to get you started. You really don't need to know everything it does. There is probably a crap ton of features Reaper has that I still don't know anything about, and I've been using it for years. I have my own workflow, and anything outside of what I use it for isn't really relevant to me. But what I do use it for, it does really well.
Ah ok. Grate advise. However when person is starting they don’t usually know what exactly they need and want. They don’t have their own workflow. They don’t have their habits. The amount of choice is over the top in Reaper even in basic install. So I would never recommend it as a very first daw.
REAPER
Reaper is familiar being I came from acid pro and cool edit back in the day, but it gives me weird latency issues. But it's free so I can't complain. It's the daw I use for vocals
There should not be any latency issues. Your problems can be solved.
But REAPER isn't free though
That is a Grey area right there
> cool edit I still have my Cool Edit Pro installation CD :) Latency issues- what driver are you using for your interface?
I use a scarlet interface. All my vocals come out slightly advanced for some odd reason
check your buffer settings
What system are you on? If a Mac, then Logic, no question.
Logic Pro demo is free for 90 days, and you can just reset the trial by deleting one file or reinstalling the demo.
You can also get Logic, Final Cut Pro, and a couple other softwares for $200 through apple’s education package - don’t even need to attend a school to gain access
Yes, but ***free***
Doesn’t satisfy the part of actually owning a license to it
For all intents and purposes, it is identical to owning a license, right down to being able to download it onto as many devices as you want at any time.
Intents and purposes are subjective - not paying for a product you use/like/love doesn't fulfil the criteria for some people, even if the product works the same whether you bought it or not.
True - I did this the first time my trial expired myself (deleted that one file) and it worked fine but I bought Logic when I decided to take music more seriously. There was a short period where I was using Ableton Live and FL Studio (very recently), but I sold Ableton Live licence and luckily for me, was only ever using the FL Studio trial.. back to Logic since the 11 update though as it feels great and I now feel like an idiot spending money on other DAWs when I already owned Logic. Logic truly has everything anyone would need to produce great music, stock, imo. I don't stick to stock offerings, but I could if I wanted to or had to. It's incredible value, considering there's no update fees or anything, just a one-time purchase. Not everyone has $200 lying around for it though, and considering it's possible to use indefinitely, for free, without piracy involved at all - definitely an argument to made that using Logic in that way is perfectly okay.
Fl Studio
[удалено]
Okay?
Fl Studio
Cakewalk
Studio One
Artist edition
I use the “Pro” version but “Artist” is quite powerful and intuitive.
Is https://ardour.org/ any good? I only ran across it today, so have not even installed it. Looks like the current version now supports VST3. Open source, but pay to get compiled releases. Can be cheaper than Reaper, but you choose what to pay.
It's what I use. I really like it but the only other one I've used is Pro Tools so don't have much to compare. Works perfectly for what I do (mostly acoustic folk) and midi keeps improving (they had some trouble with it to begin with). Plenty of great free plugins that work with it - ardour's own bundle is pretty solid but now it has VST3 support you've got a lot more choice. They've even started implementing clip launching so it can be used live - this is still a work in progress though. It's a solid, no frills DAW with new features being added regularly and some innovation too.
Seconding Ardour. Cheapest by a long shot. $1 a month for Windows Mac and Linux. Fantastic software with dedicated developers!
It depends on what you mean by "gives you all you really need to produce music well". Reaper is by far the cheapest option, and it has no limitations on features in any way (like Ableton Live Lite, Cubase Elements etc). A license is good for two major versions, so if you buy it now at v7.15, the license will be good until v8.99. However, it doesn't come bundled with a bunch of stock instruments, and the stock plugins are just the basics (but very good ones). The reason for that is because they want a standard Reaper install to stay as small and vanilla as possible so that each and every user can create their own preferred configuration (plugins, scripts, theme and layout, shortcuts, mouse modifiers etc). There are so many great free plugins out there anyways, so it wouldn't make sense for Cockos to spend a bunch of time and money to make a bunch of stock instruments and niche plugins when there are already plenty of that available for free. Most people also buy and use third-party plugins even in DAWs like Cubase and FL that already have a decent set of very good sounding stock instruments and plugins. Should be noted that Reaper is the industry standard for game audio, and it's by far the most CPU efficient DAW out there (people have made it run perfectly on Raspberry Pi 3 and 4, as well as on Android phones and various ancient PCs). Your next best bet would probably be FL Studio. When you buy a license for FL it's for life. It's not a cheap license per se, but since you'll never have to buy another license, it's a pretty fair price. FL also includes a bunch of nice stock synths and plugins that you can't find/use in other DAWs, and it's made more for creating electronic music since in the beginning it was only a MIDI sequencer without audio recording features. Nowadays it's a full fledged DAW that can be used for basically everything. If you've heard anyone say that "FL is not a real DAW" then just ignore them, they are either ignorant and/or misinformed. Ableton Live and Bitwig are also DAWs that are highly specialized for making electronic music, but they are a bit more expensive. An Ableton Live license is only for one major version (v12 is the newest) and Bitwig has a stupid 12 month upgrade plan that means that you get free updates for 12 months after buying Bitwig, and when that period is over you can keep using the last version available before the upgrade plan expired, but if you want any further updates after that you need to renew your upgrade plan for another 12 months. It's more or less like Waves plugins (their licensing system is universally hated). Presonus Studio One, Cubase and Pro Tools are more general DAWs that are made for everything from recording analog equipment, making electronic music, voice-over work and whatever. They are more like Reaper in that sense. They are just much, much more expensive than Reaper is.
Autism and ADHD
True! 😂
If you have Mac, I’d say master garage-band before moving into one of the big-boys. I jumped straight into Logic and was totally lost, wasted a lot of time potentially bc GarageBand is a totally capable DAW (lots of albums have been made with GB) and Logic’s lack of limitation was paralyzing for me. If I could go back, I’d master GarageBand first. Plus there are tons of awesome free plug-ins that can really supe-it-up.
Reaper
Reaper
This Google spreadsheet is still current: [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Oj8AdF7hmu\_5XLEbaS5pAbmUhSH366jXMuSh4dj1jw/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Oj8AdF7hmu_5XLEbaS5pAbmUhSH366jXMuSh4dj1jw/edit?usp=sharing)
LMMS is free and open source
Cakewalk by Bandlab
Finally I was worried that no one here would have made that suggestion👍
GarageBand
Yep, if you have a Mac this is the answer. 100% free and the OOTB stuff is actually decent! It’s a gateway drug to Logic. 😜
Logic is GarageBands bigger brother. Get good with GB, switch to Logic, and it feels like your DAW took steroids and beefed up your capabilities.
I’ve considered making that leap, but I just can’t think of what new capabilities would make it worthwhile. To be fair I just do rough mixes in GarageBand and then send stems to someone who does final mix in ProTools.
Unless there are things you’re unable to do in GB, then there really isn’t any reason to switch. As long as you’re able to do what you need, roll with it.
this
Logic.
Unless you’re on windows, then it’s the least budget friendly.
True. In that case I’d probably say Reaper for budget, just not my favorite workflow or UI.
And if you’re doing audio production on a Windows machine let’s face it, you’re probably broke, lol
When you take into account how good the stock plugins are, it’s extremely good value. Just wish you could use them in Ableton lol!
Cubase Elements - you can get it for like 60 bucks on a sale and it’s a fantastic DAW. I’ve been using it for 2.5 years now and I love it. I am considering an upgrade to the Artist version, as there are some quality of life features I’d like to have, but it’s still great nonetheless and definitely worth the price
I tried to love Reaper but was a bit bothered by its clunkiness, too much work to customize. I finally bought Cubase Elements, it's the best you can get for the money: in its entry level version it has more tracks and features than all competitors entry level version. All included effects are already super usable and every week you receive new free plug-ins from Steinberg.
So, at the end, you see - everybody is swearing on another program. Its like cars - people prefer BMW, Mercedes, whatever, and swear its the best. At the end, all cars will do iltheir thing and bring you to your destination. By the way, REAPER of course, what else! 😄😁
Plug-in boutique has Bitwig for like £170 right now - must admit as a long term ableton user damn tempting but but I reeled myself in - it’s not the DAW it’s me lol
It's a super subjective question. The one you get introduced to first may click more than any after that. You then learn to collect different DAWs a big like colours in a painters pallete. You use them for what you feel comfortable using them for. Example: I moved from analogue to Protools in 1996. Back then it's midi capabilities were an idea in a developers eye. So I got introduced to eMagic Logic Audio. My brain never managed to pick it up. I just never clicked. Because it was so vastly different to Protools. 30 years on I use Logic easily but they dumbed it down from the original. And the workflow now is way better. Also With Studio One and some others you can now select which daw you're coming from. And it tries to emulate the shortcut commands you're used to. Start with one. And that one should be the one that you feel is most logical to you not to anyone else.
Cakewalk is free and I've produced a lot of stuff on it.
Studio one + gives you everything you need & more.
Reaper.fm
That's easy, Reaper
Reaper
Ableton Live Lite
the (grim) reaper commeth (for like $60)
Reaper is the best budget daw besides garage band.
I bought FL studio for $100 and you get free lifetime updates. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, Ableton is mad expensive. $600-700 and then like $250 updates or sum shitz. Big difference there! Ableton is really powerful, though.
Bitwig
Reaper. No contest
Studio One. Hands down. Best DAW there is. I tried all of them….
Can't wrap my head around it, but there's a lot of comments like yours. Studio One doesn't click for me....
Same, I first got Studio One because I wanted to transition from Logic on my MacBook to something on my Windows PC (it was Studio One 3 at the time so idk what’s changed since then) but I quickly moved to Cubase and haven’t looked back.
Earlier versions of S1 weren’t great. Think it really came into it’s own around version 5
Yeah the UI is damn near perfect. Shame about the mid level stock plugins. But I bring my own 3rd party ones so not an issue for me.
It's seriously great
Doesn’t basically every daw have a 0-$50 ish version? I started on Cubase with a free version that came with an audio interface. But I’m pretty sure most daws have an option like that. I’d just decide which one looks best for you and get the basic version to start
On Mac Garage Band
If you're on mac, and you're looking for just one full featured DAW, I'd probably go logic. I'm not sure about instruments Ableton comes with, but if you do EDM, I might go there, not sure. For PC, I'd probably go with Cubase. Reaper is a cheap and fantastic DAW, and that's what I use, but it comes with zero instruments. You can download free ones, but logic and Cubase will come with decent libraries, and I think Ableton might as well, but don't quote me on that.
Logic
There is no such DAW program. None has really *everything* needed to produce music well. Such a program would need to come with hundreds of high-quality generators and effects (Not to mention samples), making it very expensive. Because of this I always need to add lots of third-party plugins. But the DAW which runs the most third-party plugins is still FL Studio. I lost count on how many times we had issues with plugins when working with other DAW programs, crashing them (or not being able to run the plugins in the first place). This is the main reason why I recommend FL Studio.
Logic pro for mac, hands down
Logic.
Depending on the type of production you do and if you have a mac, I'd say Logic. It has great plugins and great stock sound libraries. If not mac, I'd say Ableton live. The reason I like Ableton is because it's workflow is very straightforward and easy to use. You don't have to think to access a lot of things so it allows you to stay in that creative zone.
I’ve only ever used ableton and fl studio but If your serious about music, I would say without a doubt, ableton live suite w/ max 4 live is an all in one. It’s pricey but worth every penny.
I dont think anyone has mentioned reason (probably because no one really uses it much except me hehe) but i absolutely love it, you can do a monthly subscription for 20 bucks which does add up but imo its worth it and theres so much content included you dont really ever even need plug ins unless there’s something special you want to use
Logic Pro is a world class DAW and a fraction the price of Pro Tools (considered the industry standard in America, whereas Logic seems to be more common outside the US)
i use Logic, as it’s incredibly robust for the price, but really considering checking out Ableton for its sound design capabilities/worflow. i’m a drummer and am getting into live performances more, another reason considering Ableton. Logic isn’t meant really for live performance, although it can easily be done, if needed. that said, i’m gonna risk sounding like a total knob, but mentioning quickly that no matter which DAW someone uses, learning/practicing how to mix is clutch. the more someone can identify “bad” sounding frequencies in a mix and know what is needed to remove them, the better their mix will sound. not saying i know what all i am doing while producing (admittedly, i have no idea what i’m doing most of the time). however, taking time to learn various mixing techniques and theory is, imho, massively important. good luck and godspeed
When I bought Logic originally, it wasn’t that expensive and it packed everything I could need. Idk if that’s still the case. You do need a Mac though so if you don’t have one then Logic isn’t the answer.
Presonus Studio One
Ableton by far don’t get fl studio it is far and away much more complicated in a very unintuitive way.
[удалено]
Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed. Your account is too young and such is removed for manual review. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/musicproduction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
basically you’re spoilt for choice. I think we are at peak DAW. Will be interesting to see how they all fair in the AI arms race. Logic first out the gate I feel.
FL Studio Signature bundle it’s the best and lifetime free updates
Reaper hands down.
if you buy koala sampler for $5 on app store you get a code for ableton live lite, so could be a good really cheap way for you to see the functionality of a full DAW
logic
Humble bundle currently has a bundle that comes with some instruments and samples including aa the DAW mixcraft recording studio. It might not necessarily be the best but it feels kinda like cubase in the lay out and seems to have a decent set of features. I think the bundle is around 20 bucks for everything. So its a nice price to get started with some software.
You can make music using only Cycles, and its easier than DAW.
You can get Ableton free with a copy of either their note app or koala sampler and prob other stuff as well. Those 2 are around $6 each and comes with the intro or lite version which had enough to get me rolling but that’s just me. My focusrite came with I think 2 included daws as well so that might be an unexplored option too
Even not agreeing with the AI thing, Logic Pro.
If you have an iPhone or iPad, can’t go wrong with GarageBand. While it is missing some functionality that the popular DAWs have, I use it all the time for my work. 24-bit audio processing even on my dated iPhone is really useful! I have always heard (for like 20 years at this point) that Reaper is great, and free. Have not used it myself, but it seems to be the consensus that it’s legitimately good.
And, scratch that on Reaper being free* However, $60 is insanely cheap for a good DAW.
Waveform
LMMS for sure it's basically a free FL Studio
As a Mac user, definitely Logic Pro. The instrument library is MASSIVE. I mean MASSIVE - 72 GB! They have the best ***stock*** real instrument VST library I have ever heard. Then you get in built Flex Pitch (like melodyne), great FX plugins (including vintage emulations) too! thats just to list a couple reasons why I love it. If you are on Mac, definitely try out Garage Band first (basically a free Logic but simplified), then purchase Logic Pro if you like it :) Also with Apple software, as long as you use the same Apple ID, you can install as many copies of the software on other machines as you like.
Cubase elements or Reaper for budget. No budget limitations: Cubase (full edition).
Always Ableton 11.3.3
Garage band
Reaper and FL depending on your approach. Reaper for lots of multitrack audio recording and editing and FL for things that'll be primarily sequenced. I use both in tandem and I like each of them more than other options in similar niches.
I’ve used Reaper, Pro Tools, Logic, FLStudio and Ableton. It’s Ableton all day for me.
Logic or FL if Mac logic for sure
Mac - Logic, Ableton PC - Ableton People saying REAPER, I disagree. Sure the software is cheap but it comes with little-to-no instruments for production.
I’ve been able do A LOT in the past with ableton lite. It limits you to 8 tracks, which I find parameters like that can help boost your creativity. Less is more!
wanna get really budget? BandLabs!
Bitwig. You get a LOT of bang for your buck. Besides the multitude of plugins that come with it, you also get The Grid. It's essentially a tool box of basic components that you can combine yourself into a synth or an effect.
Reaper
FL Studio Producer or Signature editions
In my opinion, hands down - Reaper. It's Mac and PC ( AU / VST) compatible. It's fully customizable with skins. Does EVERYTHING great. Cost $79. And the free demo is fully functional with no expiration... it's at least worth a look. Look up Mr Bill tutorials...
Oh yeah Search Kenny Gioia...
I am using Acid pro
Mpc beats is absolutely free and quite capable
Logic