BEST DAW of 2023/2024 

I've been using Ableton Live since 6... and still haven't finished a song.

Problem of most of DAW users is that many people don't learn their DAW deeply and when they discover a new DAW that they learn more thoroughly, they will conclude that it is better when in fact they haven't spend time on a previous DAW.

00:49 Logicpro 01:22 Ableton Live 01:57 FL Studio 02:52 Pro Tools 04:05 Studio One 04:54 Cubase 05:27 Reason 06:10 Digital Performer 06:27 Sonar(Cakewalk) 07:04 Acid 07:22 GarageBand 07:42 Reaper

I've been using DAWS since the year 2000 as a commercial recording engineer and my favorites or Steinberg Nuendo/Cubase and Studio One. They seem to be up to date for shear audio production without a bunch of unnecessary lights, whistles and bells. I'm sure other DAWS are better at electronic music production or at least come better equipped right out of the box for that but I'm strictly an audio man. ProTools is okay but not worth it anymore. I started professional studio engineering in 1972 and analog gear was all we had. I had racks full of all the sought after hardware. Neumann mics and the whole nine yards. I can hear the difference in tone using plugins but I don't miss all the tape hiss, wow and flutter, misaligned heads, cards being recalibrated every week, cleaning headstacks and demagnetizing. Small forklift to get a 24 track to the maintenance tech. Wonderful world musicians live in today. Wish I was a young man again.

Studio One is awesome

I'm gonna stick with what I know. Cubase 12 Pro. I've been a user for years and I"m just too old to try to learn a new one these days even though I do have a basic version of Studio One. It baffles me. I also use a Series 3 Studiolive mixer. Great video!

If you're on Apple Silicon, currently only Reaper and Cubase use all available cores. Even Logic only uses the Performance cores while the efficiency cores remain idle. This is of 3/29/24

Acoustica Mixcraft - Lots of features for a budget price.

From my point of view documentation and community support are most important. To be honest, I learned the most about creating music by using the Renoise tracker. And my top DAW for everything else is Reaper, because it is an extremely robust and flexible allrounder. I found nothing else that runs as stable and reliable as Reaper does. I use both for around 7 or 8 years, and I guess I'll stick with this duo forever. 🙂

This video is The Best Video Ever about different DAWs. Thank you for your work, you did a great job, keep it up bro 🤜

Studio One is my main and then Reaper & Ardour as alternatives. I have used FL Studio for over 10 years and it's really flexible too but Studio One does the job for me.

I use reason to produce and pro tools to record vocals and mix .... I’ve been using reason since 2003 .... 20 years .... time fly’s

Thank you very much.

Is there no mention of Mixcraft and Bitwig? These are somewhat under the radar DAWs that have a small but close-knit community. Mixcraft could possibly be the most intuitive and ease of workflow DAW on the market.

Reaper is the Swiss knife fir doing the craziest routing and sidechaining stuff. No other DAW can do this.

Nice, but I am a bit sorry you did not mention Acoustica Mixcraft. It has - IMHO - the most agreeable workflow, very logical, easily remembered, many features, for example piano roll, score and Ableton Live-esque MIDI editors. Also, very affordable, with two versions. I am absolutely not related with Acoustica except I like their products, and I regret that they are not better known. Anyway, nice video !

Keep up the content. I enjoy channels that have no agenda or sponsored content monetizing! Excited to see more 👍

You didn't include Mixcraft which is really a great affordable DAW that has a really intuitive workflow. They just released version 10.

Another DAW that I have heard a little abut is MIxcraft 9 Pro... has any one here had any experience with this DAW. I also hear that it also had released a Bata 10 version.

It depends on your needs.. for me it’s Cubase.. I switched from FL studio & it was a great move

Loving all of your gear and your perspective. Earned a sub.

REAPER!!!

I haven't explored all of the daws, but currently my favorite is studio One (5)... Coming from a background of using pro tools, cubase and FL studio back in the day... I feel like studio one is a combination of all of them , Great workflow when I'm creating... That's just based on my current overall experience, Not to say they're probably aren't other ones that are better

There´s 3 more.....Mixcraft 9 Pro Studio, Magix Samplitude Pro Studio and the Master of all , Harrison Mixbus 32 C V 9.......

The DAW that keeps you most inspired is the one you should use. The DAW that teases but does not deliver are the ones to skip. I started on Cubase, Pro tools and now I'm on FL studio. The w-flow is is inspiring and the fact that image line does not rest on their laurels keeps me locked in. I stopped working in pro tools because I find it to cumbersome to work freely for creating beats fast. I would use it for mixing and still do but I can do it more effortlessly in Fl studio. Image line has raised the bar for sure. They don't look to be stopping anytime soon.

I'm just a home hobbyist and have only used Cakewalk/Sonar for many years. Now they're going back to a paid version of Sonar. I'll probably stick with it. I'm 67 and don't want to have to learn a whole new DAW. I've invested way too much time already and still learn something new every day. It still blows my mind how with a computer and a DAW, you have an entire recording studio at your fingertips. When I first started recording myself, just an upright piano and singing, I had an Akai reel to reel tape deck, and a little echo box. That was almost fifty years ago!

Reaper, hands down. After you see the capabilities, everything else looks like a toy lmao. But I'd put S1 in the close 2nd for me, I've used it for couple of months but still Reaper edges out all DAWs with the flexibility and customizability.

I have been using the Magix Samplitude DAW since 2006, it works perfectly for me, without paying too much money.

Thanks for the great break downs.

Thanks

I mainly produce orchestral mockups and enjoy the fluidity of Reaper above all. Outstanding support community, not to mention Kenny Gioia's easy to follow fun tutorials! For me it's been a fun learn as you need type experience if that helps anyone's choice

Protools is like the older brother of DAWS , that wears the same t-shirt everyday and don't have no swag .

Excellent video: objective, informative, not selling a particular interest and based on field knowledge. Thanks!

People tend to stick with what they have and get tired of learning new technologies. But because I have used Logic and Cubase for years and Ableton Live Suite for 2, for specific projects, I am happy with Studio One now as my main DAW for everything. Especially for orchestral music because of the sound variations and the tight integration with Vienna Symphony Libraries. And for some great workflow tools as well. It's not perfect, it still has things that need to be added, like XML export. But overall my first choice.

It is one of the easiest almost complete DAWs for the money. I have 11 gold and platinum records for rearranging and editing hit songs in the past and I wish o had this back then !!!

My main DAW is Cubase. I started with it back in 2003 back in high school and haven't moved away from it. Wow that was 20 years ago, sheesh time flies. I can say my brain is wired for Cubase. I also use Logic as well as Ableton when I work with other artists who do live shows. I've never tried Studio One but always hear great things about it so I plan to check it out. For 20 years though, Cubase has been my mainstay.

Thank you so much for making this video!

Reaper and mixcraft!

I am surprised Magix Samplitude Music Studio is so rarely mentioned in this kind of "What are the best DAWS ?" videos. It doesn't have the most fluid workflow, but it's not difficult to memorize either, and the DAW is rather powerful while being very affordable. BTW, the score editor allows for a page view and usable printed scores.

I feel like you were most enthusiastic about Studio One, FL, Reaper and Ableton. You seem to know waayyyy more than I do cause ive only used FL and watched a ton of videos about ableton for edm bass music production and FL takes a while to customize and learn all the shortcuts but it is the most flexible arguably and programmably to fit any workflow. It just takes a lot of time and shortcuts which I use a stream deck for sometimes but its great and lifetime free updates are so nice. Image line has been great with and for the community. Im glad I dont plan on picking up pro tools . Dont feel like they are the future anymore

For me it’s not about the DAW, but more about the sound quality. Meaning if I making a song does it give me the emotion I want?

Cubase ❤

The Best DAW is : The One We are using. Period.

I’ve really been enjoying bitwig recently it has a very similar workflow to ableton but it’s half the price. While I personally don’t think I’ll switch over it’s worth looking at especially if you are choosing which daw to buy

former hardcore Pro Tools, Logic and Studio One user. Now primarily on Cubase 12 and...very happy. Yes, Cubase has the best flexible daw mixer and the best midi editing composing capabilities. Cubase onstock effects and synths are top notch in these days and absolutely comparable to expensive purchased plugins. I really like the fast creative Samplertrack, Direct Offline Processing and the Control Room e.g. great GUI too. Highly recommend, I must say.

Thanks for covering these I have been using Mix craft pro which is an upgraded version of Garadge band made for PC users full of options and virtual instruments that you may check out as well if you get a chance.

No mention of Bitwig. It’s worth a try with their free demo 😉 I have Ableton, reason and cubase too and find Bitwig is now my go-to.

I use a very underrated Daw since 4 years Mulab from Mutools it include a modular system to build own instruments , plugins and containers of vst.

Reaper for me ..he's incredible

I come from Cubase, Logic, Samplitude and most recently Reaper. Now I'm at the totally underrated Daw Mixcraft. The usability in Reaper is really terrible compared to Mixcraft. When it comes to features, Reaper is unbeatable, but if you really want to make music and don't want to spend hours for stupid configuring or searching through endless context menus without any icon, then I highly recommend mixcraft. In my case the CPU and ASIO usage is also better. I no longer use the other DAWs voluntarily. Anyway, with the new version I'm finally putting Reaper on the shelf. Just my opinion.

i mentioned this in another video earlier. the sacred cows that champion pro tools dont want it to change. thats always going to be a road block to their 'inovation' but great vid thank you for the content

Reaper is evolving so fast, no other DAW can keep up with it. It does things now that other DAW will only be able to do in years.

I have the full Ableton Live suite 11 and Cubase Pro 13, i like them both, fantastic pieces of gear, but in my opinion, Cubase engine just smacks harder, everything sounds pristine, 3d and spacious. Plugins sound better in Cubase than in Ableton. Ableton is an amazing bit of kit but Cubase has an extra 3% in sound quality that makes it hard for me to quit it. I use Ableton for sound designing and messing about inside to get quick ideas, if Cubase wasn't so good i would ditch it. Ableton 12 looks tempting with all the new piano roll/midi editor chord stuff and randomisation and variation of midi patterns, but its not enough for me to mix in, A DAW has to have a dedicated monitor section to even be considered worth mixing full blown projects in. Ableton lacks in this area.

Nuendo

I know most people think Reason is for electronic music production, but it's my go to DAW for post rock and guitar based ambient music.

For me the Best DAW is Digital Performer. A little hard to learn but really the best when you know it well.

No Adobe-Audition?

Great review!

Great video... would be easyer for us users to get an overview of you content if you added chapters,- and made a full screen logo of the daw to make it faster to find. Thanks man,- cheers from Denmark

I been using Fl studio and pro tools for 20 years. Still love FL but im over pro tools... i need something with quality, features, user friendly

Very informative!

I chose Reason.

What do you mean you can use daws such as reason in studio one as instrument?

Cubase from the first edition in the late 90' I think...At fist it add a lunrning curve if you never worked whit a daw before.. I've work whit others that use logic and garage band when working whit them.

Studio One is truly tha best DAW overall.

Reaper is awesome but could potentially hinder a new producer, especially one making beats. It tempts noobs with the infinite demo and $60 price tag but is very hard to get started in due to the lack of included virtual instruments/samples and the archaic plugin interfaces don't help either. It definitely hindered me and set me behind my peers when I started on Reaper while everyone else was using FL. Now that I've obtained some awesome third party plugins/samples and learned Reaper inside and out I do feel like I'm the one ahead now. It can do things producers that haven't used it just don't know are even possible.

badass video

The best daw is the one that is easier to get you're work done more efficiently.

What about mastering Quality and production?

Which one is best for sampling. I found reasons to be the best for that.

Bro named all the main DAWS everybody knows

You mentioned in studio one that you can open up FL, Maschine or Reason... you can open those up inside any DAW.

I would say if you getting started try reason, ableton or CUBASE. The latter being the best in my opinion

i like fl and ableton

1:19 ? “ableton live is only offered on apple computers”? thats wrong ableton is available for windows PC as well what did he mean?

I'm a Logic user (16 years). But Cubase has been winking at me persistently lately.

How can you load a DAW inside of Studio One @04:25?! Aren't those merely Rewire, VST Extensions, and other things which most Flagship DAWs can launch? Saying that they can launch a DAW sounds a bit "questionable". Not trying to be a jerk, I just don't want people to have unrealistic expectations.

Cubase/Nuendo user. I've tried them all. Midi Production in Cubase is still the most intuitive of all DAWS. Audio recording in Cubase is equal to most DAWS.., easy. Most DAWS are great with midi, except Pro-Tools. FL Studio is mainly for Beat making, but severely lacking in Audio Tracking. Logic & Cubase are the most preferred. They can't be Beat !! You can do everything in them w/o having to use another DAW. Reaper is the most CPU efficient of all !! Reaper, just requires a little more time to customize. They have improved on the midi, yet it isn't as intuitive as Logic or Cubase is in composing. Yet, for recording audio, Reaper has features that other DAWS don't - (oversampling). Yes. An amazing DAW.

For me…My rankings are 1-Logic, 2-Cubase, 3-Ableton, 4-Studio one, 5-Pro Tools

Try cakewalk by banlab

You can get abelton on a windows

What exactly you couldn't do with protools you wanted to break the PC

If you're serious about music production, you at least have to know 2 DAWs. One you can compose and work fast, and the other one is Pro Tools.

Excellent video but you seem to be sitting in the shadows.

Ableton Live for me.

i thnk many choose over complex daws bcoz they know deep down thiyre compensating for their lack of imagination. lol. Mixcraft 9 pro studio with plenty vst's and a focus rite 2i4, a bass guitar, an electric guitar, one mic, and a cajon . Now.....if you cant make a st of decent songs with that setup then your not a musician. u dont need 20 forks to eat a meal

A De-esser would be nice on that voice 😅

Probably Cubase. It's always been the best standard DAW out the box, the only competition was pro tools which hasn't been great for years. A lot of the others are even Cubase clones or just a bit quirky.

Being a S1 user yourself, you must know that S1 can actually do it all, and do anything and everything other DAWs can do, but do it easier and faster too.

no mention of maschine? I just want to make some basic beats

Why u didnt montion logic pro x ...whyy ??????????? And wt about nuendo .........

Which daw will be best for recording guitar

most always say..its what the person is good at lol

David Guetta uses DIGITAL PERFORMER 6:51

For me Steinberg Cubase 12 Pro

It’s a discredit that you skipped Bitwig. It’s by far the best DAW.

Different DAWS for Different Days

S1 is very similar to Logic and Cubase if anyone interested in using Logic and doesn't want to make transition to Mac Studio One is the closest DAW to Logic

U went srlttait to the point

Can someone guide me - i've tried different DAWs but still haven't found one i like. The closet i got to one was Abelton Live. The other i tried was Pro Tools and Cakewalk I have a 6 yr. old PC, a Komplete Audio 6 soundcard (also about 6 yrs. old) and a M-audio oxygen49 usb keyboard. I need a DAW where i can record and program my songs. That means building the songs from scrath. It has to be a DAW that does what I want. So if i want a song to be in shuffle instead of strait 1/8 notes or 1/16 notes it has to be able to do that pretty easy. Also the drum programming has to be easy. I don't have alot of moeny to buy extra plugins, so it must also have some good sounds that comes with it. Please give me some suggestions cause i'm gettin frustrated here.