Which DAW Is The Best? (Surprising Answer from Pro Audio Engineer)

I rarely hear Digital Performer in some of these "the best" conversations. The gentleman gave a pretty encouraging take on it.

The best DAW is the one you can use best and gets your work done. It's the only criteria.

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.
I´m in Post Pro, Voice Over video, Orchestral Midi Composing and EDM Sounddesign. For all tasks a solution, highly recommend, I must say.

I understand your frustration with the lack of shortcuts and the seemingly arbitrary differences between DAWs. Cubase/Ableton works for me, and I find that Logic's extensive access to pitch bend and other features is a bit too much for my liking, even though it has great sounds. I prefer simplicity. FL studio/Pro Tools, I will never use due to a tiresome work flow. Why would someone design a car with a steering wheel that turns the car right when you turn left? Ultimately, it doesn't really matter which DAW you choose as long as you feel comfortable using it.

i work exclusively in logic and fl. those 2 are the best. i mix and produce from both

why ableton is the new standard???

The point he’s making is absolutely true. It’s all about workflows, how you want to work and what DAW is better at accommodating that workflow. It might take a bit of effort to arrive at a good choice, but it’s so worth it. Myself I was a Cubase Pro user for like 20 years, when I happened upon Studio One. I reluctantly learnt to use it, and now I can’t see myself ever going back. But is S1 a better DAW than Cubase Pro? Not necessarily. For my workflow though, it’s leaps ahead of the competition. The only caveat I might add is ProTools seems to survive mainly on its history as a de facto standard. I don’t see why anyone would choose it in 2023, unless they need to be exchanging projects with other ProTools users with maximum ease.

..I did some tests, logic x latest and cubase 12 latest..and I find out that yes..they null when you using imported audio samples(even with the same plugins and settings)same comp with same preset...BUT!!! they don't null at all if you are using a vst synth..the same synth same preset same settings...!!! gotta be vst3 vs au...thats it!!!

Was on Sonar and Cubase since early days.. but now im on Cubase due its significant imporovement in the last 5years , Cubase its go get House now from all Angles

Its bloody annoying that Logic doesnt run on a PC, I was resdy to switch.

I own studio 1 and I love it. There’s so much under the hood with them waiting to explore. It’s a learning curve but I love that I can mix and master and create in the same space. And yes, it’s so all about “painting.” Very hard work but once some magic happens it’s so exciting for me

Just going to give a shout out to Cubae 12 Pro here, amazing DAW, and the entry level one is very powerful. If you use Virtual Instruments in my experience it's easily the best even better (and more stable) than Logic (including on a Mac which is surprising). But it's also a very well rounded midi, production and virtual instrument package - it's basically the best when you want the best of everything in one package.

Cakewalk for me. Been using it almost from the beginning starting as my MIDI editor via smpte and then when the computers got fast enough to make latency negligible I've been using it for midi and audio. Paid for it when it wasn't free but now it's free! Unbelievable program. It just works. Never a problem with plugs at all. But then, I do have a good computer and that helps. 48 channels in and out via lightwire thru Hammerfall interfaces into a Yamaha DM2000 board. A dream set up! But then, I go back to my first studio job in the 60's when we used two 2 track Ampex machines to record with lol! A punch in was taking the best of 3 or 4 takes and splicing them together with a razor blade, splicing block and tape. An overdub was sending your band track from one machine thru the board, adding the vocal or whatever and into the second machine. Glad I lived long enough to get to use what we have now!

Studio One all the way..best move I made professionally.

You post a video like this and you're not talking about software like the global giant pyramix and sequoia. i hate this video. even the software in this video can't get close to pyramix and sequoia.

More importantly do you have a decent song to put in the daw? Without that I’ve found it doesn’t really matter. Having said that the one you know best is best.

Auspicia - el viejo que cobra de Logic.

Logic Pro stock sounds suck that’s the only problem I’ve came across.

Cubase👍🏻

it work thankssss

5 years ago dj turn tables were live mixing anything into a hit song with 1-2buttons. now these programs are just eating your takes till you cut it in the garbage

Used Cubase for years and its great and every bit as good if not better than Logic. But Reaper just charmed me and allowed me to customise so much how I like it. It might lack in the instrument and plugin area, but it covers the basics enough and is more all about the DAW than the samples and treats. With the money you save just buy more samples and a plugin packs elsewhere, job done.

I use presonus studio one and logic pro x. If I was doing movies I would use Cubase. For Live I would use Ableton live.

Logic comes with 50GB of samples. Cubase comes with 35GB, but it gives you VST with instruments exceedeing far beyond capabilities of any other DAW on the market. That includes sound generators, pad makers, drum machines, sampler and ADSR based synthesizers with 8 genarators included with trhe DAW! So my answer to Logic as a best DAW is " B**TCH PLEASE"! The guest said: it is whats in the package - Cubase (wont even mention Nuendo) comes with best mixer, best stock plugins, best workflow, best virtual instruments, best samplers, best routing, best features and best suport for VST technology..... Only DAW that can get close to it is Studio One. And i tired all of them. Worked on some for years (Pro Tools, Ablerton and Logic) and there is no comparison. None (appart fron Stidio One recently) come close to the podium. There is no third place, just void and a mile of mud between them.

The surprise is there is no surprise. The best DAW is the one that works best for how you work, it best organized to how your brain perceives things, and you can get the most work done on for the music you’re trying to make. The is no best DAW. Only what works best for you. It’s really that simple.

Demo a few that catch you eye and pick the one that best serve your purposes.

GarageBand could be great but it can’t have control surfaces on it otherwise Apple wouldn’t make as much money.

started on Nuendo in '00, Reason/Recycle in '02, pro tools, cubase, logic, ableton, and to been on Studio One since version 2 (wasn't amazing then), now Studio One 6 is beast mode finally and Ive never been able to program midi faster and manipulate audio than I have with Studio One. Highly Recommend for anyone living in the piano roll! Happy producing!

Wow 1minute in and I feel like a young grasshopper… learn from the wise and this is a video full of wisdom

What is so surprising? WASTE OF TIME.

Reaper. Fastest, easiest, most powerfull, superb for vst. Thank You. Logic?? Hahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahahah

An important fact when being a power user / DAW is the workflow AND a well designed physical Controller. S1 with Faderport 8/16 is an unbeatable combination.

Cakewalk used to have a great DAW but Studio One is the best i have used.

Another pointless "which is the best DAW" video. It absolutely depends on what you wish to achieve and how comfortable you are. They are ALL good pieces of software. There are virtually no "weak" DAWS and they all have strengths. You can test run nearly all of them and that's the best thing to do.

Awesome interview, I use Logic gets the job done :)

if it aint tape. then youll never know if youre good. theres a real challenge to. live. recordings. and musical peoductions. easy on daws. but. the majority of. daw recordings. are crap.. besides how will you know if you dont try it.

The narcissism, nothing like talking down to your customers.

Used to be a ProTools guy, but since you have to lease it I’m looking for something new.

Digital Performer is the best but you have to spend a little time to learn it…

Its dope what people choose to use but lets place a nice wager that i can beat or sound just as great in REASON STUDIO 12 that yall dont recognize 🙌🏿

I’m mainly using Studio One but lately find myself learning more towards Cubase because it is way superior in every way.
To name few;
Stock Plugins, Stock Instruments and samples, midi and audio editing (audio alignment for example), Variaudio is awesome too! - External instruments patch script-!! Did I say CONTROL ROOM? The best feature of all DAWs!
Cubase comes with almost everything you may ever need, everything is native so no need to worry about “when will Presonus snd Celemony relationship break” etc…

Still like some things in S1, like arranger and chord tracks, scratchpad etc. but nothing major
Also, I find Cubase more stable on my PC 🤷‍♂️

studio one!

I started with Cubase in 2005. Hated it. Ive been using Logic for the past years and works flawlessly for me, but I wan to give Studio One a try

What happened to Mr. Worf? He is somehow pale 😲

I’m a Ableton user but logic stock sounds do go hard!

Digital Performer is a really good DAW for me because of real time midi plugins you can insert on the mix track. Doing this allows me to stack midi plugins one after the other just like I would with an audio plugin. So I can apply a little bit of quantization and then copy that setting to other tracks. Or I can make slight adjustments if something sounds too robotic. Most DAWs force you to commit to a certain quantize setting so later on I wouldn't be able to see what quantize settings I used originally. This can be critical with midi as some patches have a different feel due to the ADSR envelope so if I change a patch on the keyboard I need to change my quantize settings to maintain the feel I want.

Imo / exp (production) Bitwig - (Live performance) Ableton - (mixing) Logic or Harrison mixbus

Great advice, Work flow preferences.

You know that plume of smoke that follows the Road Runner. The same plume would trail me to my car if I heard the 5 year old analogy. I couldn’t work with someone that assumed I had the musical mentality of 5 year old just passing me on the street. As a professional graphic designer of 30+ years by day, I’m not going to assume that everyone I encounter is just trying to stay within the lines on a kids menu with crappy crayons.

Can you show us the other way round just remove the vocal and listen to the music separately in all the app you have shown us. That would be much appreciated.