TOP software for music recording and music production
There’s a concept in technology called Moore’s Law. This is the idea that with efficient engineering teams, the number of transistors on a chip doubles every 24 months. In studio terms, this means that computers become more powerful every year at an explosive rate. More powerful computers means more powerful software, and the music industry has clearly reflected that over the past decade. The power of a 2000s era digital audio workstation has no comparison to the best DAWs of 2016.
Recording Engineers in the ’80s could never have imagined fine-tuning the pitch of their vocalists using software. Virtual amplifiers were a thing of fantasy to Engineers in the ’90s, and competitive home studios weren’t possible until the 2000s without hundreds of thousands of dollars in gear. What this means for you is professional studio software that gives you previously unimaginable control and methods of taking your songs to the next level.
Digital audio workstations get the most attention in consumer recording studios, but it’s best to remember your sound quality has to remain strong all the way through the signal chain. This starts with the performance and runs through microphones, preamps, other processors, and converters before ending up on your hard drive. If this signal chain isn’t good, then you’re starting your mix from a weak base.
Modern workstations all have comparable feature sets, and nearly any professional choice will serve your needs adequately. That said, there are still major differences in how the top audio workstations approach workflow, and where they emphasize their feature sets. Does the workstation focus on creating musical ideas, or on mixing and mastering? Are the audio capabilities top-notch, but the MIDI editing lackluster? Can it be used to perform live? How much does it cost?
It’s tough to choose the best DAW when you’re just starting out, or to decide on your next platform when you’re ready to make a creative switch. Below, we’ve walked through the best DAW options in 2016.
Logic Pro
Important Data:
Price: $200
Platforms: Mac OSX | Windows
Link to Purchase: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/logic-pro-x/id634148309?mt=12
Summary of Product
Logic Pro is one of the most popular digital audio workstations on the market. More significantly, it has crossover appeal unmatched by any other DAW. Musicians from every genre flock to Logic for its clean, Apple-designed user interface, powerful editing tools, exceptional suite of built-in plugins, samples, and instruments, and affordable price. If you’re on a Mac, then Logic Pro is the safest purchase. There may be another DAW that fits your workflow better, but you simply can’t go wrong with Logic.
Strengths
- Clean, intuitive design.
- An expansive library of professional-grade plugins, samples, softsynths, instruments, and more included free of charge.
- Powerful audio editing tools, including time stretching, pitch correction, and timeline folders for multiple takes.
- Interesting ways to generate musical ideas, from the in-built Drummer beat generator to the powerful new Alchemy synthesizer.
- A huge body of tutorial content online and a ton of users, which means troubleshooting and advice are easy to come by.
Weaknesses
- Mac-only; if you’re on Windows, you’re out of luck.
- The workflow for electronic Music Producers or others working extensively with MIDI can be limited and frustrating.
Pro Tools
Source: https://www.avid.com/US/press-room/image-gallery/
Important Data:
Price: Pro Tools: $600 or $30/month | Pro Tools First: Free
Platforms: Mac OSX | Windows
Link to Purchase: http://www.avid.com/US/products/family/Pro-Tools
Summary of Product
Pro Tools is unique among workstations because it’s developed first and foremost for professional Audio Engineers, Mixers, and Mastering Engineers. Their Pro Tools HD systems are complete sets of hardware and software designed for ultimate reliability in professional sessions, and their audio tools have been honed over decades of development for optimal workflow in a studio setting. Their home-based products have never fared as well as their studio products; while you’ll still find Pro Tools in nearly every major studio, it’s never made much of a mark with consumers despite their powerful free version available cross-platform.
Strengths
- Pro Tools HD systems are rugged and reliable, which can be the most important thing in high-profile sessions.
- Most major studios and audio professionals will have experience with Pro Tools, so if you want to make this your career, Pro Tools is a strong choice.
- Their recording and audio editing tools are fantastic; from timeline editing to efficient multi-track recording to flexible routing, Pro Tools handles audio well.
- Pro Tools is pioneering a new collaborative tool that allows you to work on sessions with Engineers from around the world — they’re the first major DAW to step into this arena, though the others will be close behind.
Weaknesses
- Pro Tools is clunky, littered with remnants of old design stretching back decades. The power and flexibility needed in a pro session are often unnecessary and create confusion in a consumer setting.
- Like most audio-focused DAWs, Pro Tools swiftly falls short outside the audio realm. MIDI, easy automation, and highly flexible routing are all weak in comparison to tools like Ableton or Bitwig.
- While Pro Tools’ popularity in major studios is an advantage in that setting, it’s coupled with a parallel weakness: Pro Tools is not nearly so widespread among Producers and artists, so if you work with them you’ll find yourself bouncing stems out of your sessions constantly.
Ableton Live
Source: https://www.ableton.com/en/press/press-archive/
Important Data:
Price: Intro: $88 | Standard: $388 | Suite: $667
Platforms: Mac OSX | Windows
Link to Purchase: https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/
Summary of Product
Ableton first debuted in 2001 with a radically different workflow from the workstations that came before. This workflow stems from Ableton’s focus on both live performance and creating musical ideas, versus the standard record -> mix -> master workflow handled by audio-focused DAWs. They were one of the first workstations to provide automatic beatmatching, and their unique Clips view allowed musicians to create tracks using automation and loops rather than always staying matched to a specific timeline. Their innovations in workflow, automation, electronic music tools, and even widely-regarded peripherals like their Push audio controller have all crafted Ableton into the premier workstation for creating electronic music today.
Strengths
- Unique and (for many) intuitive workflow, helping move from generating musical ideas to finished tracks to the stage.
- A major focus on live performance, which can be of paramount importance to DJs and artists.
- Ableton’s Push is one of the very best audio controllers on the market, and it’s integrated deep into their software.
- Ableton has some of the best native samplers, soft synths, and packs of any workstation.
- Max4Live allows for profound customization and extensability in the software.
- There is an incredible abundance of video tutorials, walkthroughs, tips and tricks, and so on — all dedicated to understanding Ableton.
Weaknesses
- While Ableton shines with electronic music, producers and engineers working heavily in audio will be disappointed by the frustrating experience of editing audio. Ableton’s great at mangling or sampling — but for standard exercises like editing vocal takes, it quickly becomes a chore.
Bitwig Studio
Source: http://www.bitwig.com/en/press-room
Important Data:
Price: $299
Platforms: Mac OSX | Windows | Linux
Link to Purchase: http://www.bitwig.com/en/shop/webshop.html
Summary of Product
Bitwig is the surprise new entrant to the DAW field (most others have been around for at least a decade) and they’ve swiftly shot to the top of the DAW rankings despite still being in their very first version. Created by some of the developers of Ableton, Bitwig remained shrouded in mystery for years while under development, before suddenly launching in the spring of 2014 to a wave of hype. Since then, Bitwig’s workflow tools have kept users satisfied and their share of the market growing. The company’s philosophy centers on helping musicians create and build musical ideas as efficiently as possible, and they live up to that goal admirably.
This DAW has become my tool of choice after years of working in Logic Pro, Pro Tools, and Ableton Live. Their workstation manages to pull many of the best audio features of workstations like Logic and combine them with the routing and MIDI capabilities of Ableton.
Strengths
- Customizable workflow with a powerful timeline view or a clip launcher similar to Ableton’s.
- Plugins are all sandboxed, so if one plugin stops working, your session doesn’t crash.
- A groundbreaking modulation system that lets you connect any parameter to any other — along with plenty of routing tools to make it even easier. Automation and routing has never been more intuitive.
- Effective audio editing and MIDI editing, striking a balance between the two.
- Device nesting allows you to chain devices within each other, not just after one another.
- Common MIDI parameters like pitch, velocity, timbre, and panning can be set per note, not just on the overall MIDI clip. So you can have one snare hit pan slightly left, and the next slightly right — within your MIDI clip.
Weaknesses
- Bitwig has a limited selection of native plugins. The same complaint stretches to its library of content, synthesizers, samples, and audio.
- While the development team does an admirable job of catching and snuffing bugs in the software, Bitwig still has a much greater number of quirks and issues when compared to an older and more stable DAW like Pro Tools or Logic.
FL Studio
Source: http://www.image-line.com/press/presskitblog.php
Important Data:
Price: Producer: $199 | Signature: $299 | Total Bundle: $737
Platforms: Windows
Link to Purchase: https://support.image-line.com/jshop/shop.php
Summary of Product
FL Studio has been around for almost 20 years, though for a long time it wasn’t usable as a full workstation because it didn’t record audio. It was popular as a beatmaker for years, but when it became capable of recording audio as well it exploded in popularity and is now consistently voted one of the top workstations on the market. Even so, it’s still best know for hip hop and electronic music for its step sequencer and its workflow tools focused on beats, rather than on audio editing.
Strengths
- FL Studio has perhaps the best collection of loops and sounds of any modern workstation.
- Intuitive beat making, sampling, and virtual instruments.
- A huge number of synthesizers and plugins.
- Able to cross efficiently between working with audio and working with virtual instruments and MIDI.
- Compatible with multi-touch monitors for a touch screen experience.
- An overwhelming amount of video tutorials, templates, and instructional content.
Weaknesses
- Like other electronic music-focused workstations, FL Studio struggles with multitrack audio recording and editing.
- It’s Windows-only. If you’re on Mac or Linux, you’re out of luck. However, they are developing a Mac version which should be out in the near future.
- To get the full software, with all plugins, you’ll need to pay the hefty price of $737 — nearly 4x the cost of Logic Pro.
Studio One
Source: http://presonus-studio-one.software.informer.com/
Important Data:
Price: Artist: $99 | Studio: $399
Platforms: Mac OSX | Windows
Link to Purchase: http://studioone.presonus.com/try-studio-one
Summary of Product
Studio One stormed onto the scene in 2009 under the guidance of PreSonus, better known as an audio interface maker. In fact, this is a big reason why Studio One became so popular so rapidly — by purchasing PreSonus products, you can get Studio One for free or heavily discounted. While the software’s version 1 was more hype than substance, Studio One is now on version 3 and hits just as hard as the workstations that have been in development for more than a decade. From an intuitive scratch pad to store musical ideas as you work to an efficient timeline view and a massive library of plugins, sounds, samples, and virtual instruments, Studio One deserves its place as the rising star of professional audio workstations.
Strengths
- Flexible workflow, with a “scratch pad” section to try out ideas before integrating with the rest of your mix in the arranger.
- The latest version of Studio One brought its sound library, plugins, and virtual instruments up to speed with heavyweights like Logic Pro.
- The audio editing tools, arranger, and mixing capabilities of Studio One are particular strengths.
Weaknesses
- Limited ability to chain instruments together.
- Notable trouble with latency.
- Studio One is still missing the routing and MIDI editing of a tool like Ableton, Bitwig, or FL Studio. Stretching MIDI, arpeggiating, note-based automation, and other useful features are absent.
Notes
In a ProducerSpot.com survey answered by more than 5,000 respondents, Ableton took the top spot, followed by a survey of perennially-popular workstations:
- Ableton – 27%
- FL Studio – 21%
- Studio One – 18%
- Reaper – 13%
- Logic Pro – 12%
The Synthtopia polls offer another perspective with more than 15,000 annual respondents. In theirs, Ableton again took the top spot, but FL Studio fell off the list:
- Ableton – 29%
- Logic Pro – 15%
- Bitwig Studio – 12%
- Digital Performer – 7%
- Reason – 6%
These polls reveal preferences for Producers and electronic musicians especially, so it’s not surprising to see a bias towards DAWs like Reason, Ableton, FL Studio, and Bitwig Studio. Audio professionals tend to use a different set. While it’s tough to find pollsnot biased towards Producers, an informal poll on the audio-focusedGearslutz.com showed a different set of preferences with nearly 1700 votes:
- Cubase – 19%
- Logic Pro X – 18%
- Reaper – 12%
- Pro Tools – 11%
- Ableton Live – 7%
If nothing else, these surveys point to the most popular cross-over DAW regardless of survey respondent: Logic Pro X. And since it comes in at $200 — compared to, say, FL Studio’s $700+ — it’s eminently affordable.
Honorable Mentions
Reaper, Cubase, Reason, Digital Performer, and Cakewalk’s SONAR are all other popular choices.
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