The DAW of 2012?

[JBlongz]

ABLETON still has th best functionality.

REASON is definitely becoming a protools contender with the addition of rack extensions.

STUDIO ONE was well thought out and testing a long time before release, making a great impression.

FL STUDIO would be A more significant contender if there was native Mac support to expand it's user base.

LOGIC is also an award winning DAW, it just overdue for an update, but will not appeal t the Windows platform.


BITWIG is the biggest mystery of 2012. It boasts the the features of Ableton Live, but wth a redesigned interface and new functionality. .

Learn them all if you can.

[macbeat]

Because Ableton is the easiest to learn, has a very minimal layout, and it's workflow allows the user to lay down ideas and edit audio really quickly. But like all good things, that door of creative opportunity allowed mediocrity to sneak through. You can thank Ableton for the massive influx of crappy electronic music flooding Beatport, Soundcloud, and youtube.

And to the above poster. Even with Rack Extensions, Reason is FAR from being the next Pro Tools.

And second, you forgot to mention Cubase.

[KelevraOne]

Ableton has gotten really, really popular and it really is a great program. Reason has made some great advancements this year with 6 and then 6.5.

[jubnoske08]

gonna have to give my vote to Reaper. been using it for almost a year now and not only is the workflow excellent, the interface is attractive and the mixer is perfect. my only complaint (and it's a pretty big issue for me) is the crashing. in general i have no issues, and it never crashes on its own, but it doesn't "like" certain vsts, and will crash without fail whenever i use them in reaper.

[MegaloDeez]

Reason has NEVER crashed on me. Not once and its been 5 years. Cats is in denial, Reason is the future! The most stable system available ever. Once your favorite VST jumps on board you won't be able to say ish. And I really like Studio and Rewire but only cause of certain plugins that I "prefer". Y'all asked for VSTs and got them. Recording audio, got them. Midi out is next and its a wrap. Resistance is futile B*i*t*c*h*e*s!

[Xabiton]

From my point of view, Ableton seems to be the 'popular' and 'go to' DAW of 2012.
Does anyone else see this trend happening in todays music scene or is it just me?
I see Ableton EVERYWHERE! All these 'music schools' and 'want to become a producer ads' promote Ableton like crazy
A Daw is a Daw. they all sequence music, they all have their positives and their negatives
And yet.. it seems as though Ableton (from my point of view remember) has risen to the top
Any1 else noticing something similar??

Live has been insanely popular for years. I have been seeing schools, certifications ect for it for a long time.

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

FL Studio by a landslide.

Why? Because every producer who once used it who's got a Mac still uses some wierd hybrid process to run it on their Mac other than the ones who settle for Reason, Ableton, or Logic and whine about what's lacking while pretending to be happy with their "upgrade".

It's sound is dominant in the music world right now.

Ableton has Skrillex for ambitious users to look up to.
Logic and Pro Tools has guys who use tons of outboard gear.
But as far as "in the box" producers in the game...FL Studio hands down by a landslide. Majority of the FL guys(Lex, Tone P, Kardiak, Kane, ect)have Macs all around them, still manage to soley work in FL. That says alot.

I've spent the entire time I've been on a Mac looking for an alternative and come to realize the guys who jump ship more than likely never utilized all the features of FL in the 1st place. I'm not even being biased, i don't want to use FL on my iMac with maxed out Ram, that's working backwards IMO, but I'm seeing why others do more and more.

The arguement against the program is FL makes things "easy"...why would anyone want them to be "hard"? The arguement against it kind of proves it's worthy of it's place in the game.

[[F_or_DEAF]]

the guys who jump ship more than likely never utilized all the features of FL in the 1st place.

probably...

but HONESTLY...who uses ALL of the features of ANY audio app?

a D.A.W. is VAST

---------- Post added at 12:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 AM ----------

The arguement against the program is FL makes things "easy"...

all them arrogant-asses out there are HOLLYWOOD.

easy women, easy money, easy software - there's a time and place for EVERYTHING

[stillfunkin]

Reason has NEVER crashed on me. Not once and its been 5 years. Cats is in denial, Reason is the future! The most stable system available ever. Once your favorite VST jumps on board you won't be able to say ish. And I really like Studio and Rewire but only cause of certain plugins that I "prefer". Y'all asked for VSTs and got them. Recording audio, got them. Midi out is next and its a wrap. Resistance is futile B*i*t*c*h*e*s!

this is Reason number one problem... it is always... in the "future" Reason will do this and/or that... how about today!!!

how long before omnisphere, kontakt, reaktor, east/west, trillian, wave, etc will become Rack Extensions... i know... in the "future"... but today... i could use all the above vsti in fl studio, ableton live, cubase, reaper, DP, logic, etc..

personally... i think Reason users are in "denial"...

but... i do agree!!!

Resistance is futile B*i*t*c*h*e*s!

[Salem Beats]

gonna have to give my vote to Reaper. been using it for almost a year now and not only is the workflow excellent, the interface is attractive and the mixer is perfect. my only complaint (and it's a pretty big issue for me) is the crashing. in general i have no issues, and it never crashes on its own, but it doesn't "like" certain vsts, and will crash without fail whenever i use them in reaper.

Which ones? I've never had any particular VST crashing problems in REAPER...