Hi All,

Longtime Logic user here and even though I really like it for audio multi-tracking, I do get a little frustrated by the AU ecosystem when it comes to plugins.

That being said, what are you guys using? I've been looking into BitWig, Waveform and Reaper as alternatives to Logic.

I've used Ableton a little in the past and I've got Reason 10.

70% of my time is spent dealing with audio; 30% with synths/MIDI.

What are you using and why?

Also, if you've jumped from Logic to another platform, are you happy that you made the transition?

I also use Logic and Live but my main DAW is Reaper.
I use mainly VST instruments.
Reaper is very good at audio handling.

Once I got used to Reaper, logic seemed too basic to me, poor automation, no vst support, no personalisation of the UI, no media bay drag & drop.

I'll give Reaper a much stronger look. Thanks mate!

- Benjamin Harrison wrote:
I'll give Reaper a much stronger look. Thanks mate!

You're welcome
I even manage to transfert data from microtonic to PO32 on a Ubuntu old netbook running Reaper under Wine.
No other Daw is so versatile.

I'm primarily a Reason user, but do use Live and Logic in certain cases. I love the rack UI and the Rack Extension system, I never liked using VST/AU because of how inconsistent it is. Pop-ups? Not my Jam. That's one reason I love Live - it has a great UI for native plugins. Logic's Plugin UI (esp legacy plugins) is its main detriment, but at least they have the Smart Controls.

I really wanted Bitwig, but at the time that I trialed it, it didn't have ReWire support. So I skipped it.

Bitwig 3.0 is looking pretty interesting. I've been messing a bit with Studio One 4 lately. So far, so good.

I use Propellerhead Reason, it as a big update on Rendering and Latency, VSTs work like a charm now. Thumbs Up.

- Luis Bicho wrote:
I use Propellerhead Reason, it as a big update on Rendering and Latency, VSTs work like a charm now. Thumbs Up.

Same here. And yeah, the 10.3 update is great!
For fans of Sonic Charge, if you choose to use Reason, you can use the VSTs as well as the Rack Extensions, but you also get Malström included as a native device.
https://www.propellerheads.com/en/reason/instruments/malstrom

Reason 11 was just announced and it will include the Reason Rack Plugin, a plugin version of the Reason Rack (VST and eventually AU as well).

So those Sonic Charge fans who want to get their hands on Malström to use in their DAW of choice, will be able to. The Rack plugin comes with both the full version and Intro version of Reason, but unfortunately Malström is only included with the full version of Reason (unless that changes, it's not included with R10 version of Intro).

I use both Renoise 3 (Tracker) Ableton Live 9.

I have a lot of experience with Reaper and moderate experience with Logic and Cakewalk but my preferred DAW is FL Studio.
Reaper is great for editing audio.
Logic is balanced, can edit audio decently and has decent musical plugins for making beats.
Cakewalk is trash at almost everything IMO lol, it works though.
FL Studio is the king for beat-making for me, how it simultaneously operates as both a sequencer and piano roll works miracles for my workflow. It has great musical plugins and effects too. I can make a beat much faster and much more in-depth inside FL Studio than any other DAW. Editing audio inside the playlist is not too great but editing audio inside FL Studio's "Edison" is amazing.

Mixcraft 9 and Renoise 3 for me

Reaper - here is why / my personal experience so far:

I worked in FL Studio for around 15 years. Now I switched to Reaper last year. It is THE best DAW for my personal workflow! I should have switched way earlier, but to be honest: I do not want to say that any DAW is bad or good. It totally depends on the own workflow and needs. For example: FL can be nice to have something with which you can just start making music out of the box. Reaper on the other side feels like you can have everything - even if there might be something which is not being supported natively, there is probably a script out there or (if you are a bit nerdy like me) you can write your own to suit your needs. Same goes for the theme. Internally Reaper feels extremely solid and stable to me. Also there is some pre-buffering magic going on under the hood making the DAW a bit more performant compared to FL. The difference is just that FL can play stuff without even the slightes delay, while there is a tiny delay after pressing play in Reaper. And you could even turn this off. Speaking of you can: you can configure ... well, basically everything. Updates are frequent and just 13 mb installers, while with FL I always had to download aaaaall the content inside the installer and it was around 1 GB. With my slow internet connection this was no fun. With Reaper it's updated after just a few seconds. Reaper also does not cost so much and the trial policy is basically WinRAR in as a DAW. :D

Other DAWs:
I am honest here: I have not that much experience with other DAWs. I think I also tested Studio One in the beginning 2020, when I was open to switch my DAW. I think I liked it as well, but not 100% - again: according to my personal workflow needs. The there is Bitwig, which a mate of mine uses and loves a lot. And what he tells me about it also sounds very interesting. So one should also check this out for sure! (-;

Other thoughts:
After working in only one single DAW for around 15 years, it was very hard for me to even only try another DAW. I thought I could never switch, because I was just to deep into using this single DAW. But when I suddenly switched (again: in my case Reaper) I immediately felt how right it was for me. It took me ... maybe some days or weeks at most and then I was even faster in my workflow than I was in the DAW I used 15 years before that. So what I want to say: you have to keep in mind that when it comes to testing another DAW there can always be some kind of mind barrier, which trys to tell you that "it is not right". But in the end this comes just from a matter of habbit, I guess. (-;

Good luck finding the right DAW!

Bitwig Studio. Also use Logic for scoring video, but LOVE Bitwig!

Merry Christmas ppl! <3

Renoise! Renoise! Renoise!

- Alexey Sobolev wrote:
Renoise! Renoise! Renoise!

:-D

I switch back and forth between Reason and Logic Pro, those are like my main DAWs though Reason Rack Plugin has made me use Logic Pro even more. Before then, my projects would start off in Reason and end up in Logic.
But I'm also a Cubase user, an Ableton Live user etc. So many DAWs have their pros and cons depending on the project I'm working on.

Started off using Protools through version 11. I was using Reaper as a rewire client, but realized rather than using reaper inside PT, just use Reaper from the start.

I eventually moved to Studio One around 2014. It's been good and solid until recently--I seem to be having a problem crop up infrequently--after recording a longer performance--it takes up to 10 minutes or more to save, and sometimes has gone unresponsive. Not enough to ditch it, but
certainly frustrating.

Bitwig