Logic Pro X Choosing a digital audio workstation is one of the toughest decisions to make for your studio. First off, there are so many...
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| Logic Pro X |
Choosing a digital audio workstation is one of the toughest
decisions to make for your studio. First off, there are so many great options
to sort through that it’s hard to narrow down just one. On top of that, you’ll
want to commit to whichever one you choose, learning it inside and out to be
get the most benefit from it. You can try a bunch of different DAWs in the
beginning, but you’ll definitely have to settle down with one eventually!
What are the best DAWs?
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or
application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files.
DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on
a laptop, to an integrated stand-alone unit, all the way to a highly complex
configuration of numerous components controlled by a central computer.
Regardless of configuration, modern DAWs have a central interface that allows
the user to alter and mix multiple recordings and tracks into a final produced
piece
DAWs continue to evolve, building in musical tools,
expressive control and production devices that take us forward. But which DAWs
bring the workflow that frees us to make the best music we can?
It’s a great question and one that really only you can
answer. But here are my picks of what’s really doing the business in 2020.
In
no particular order, here are what Produce Like A Pro considers the best
digital audio workstations in 2020
This list references the analysis made by Home Studio Hub
1. Ableton Live
Ableton
Live is on the more expensive side but is considered one of the best
DAWs for live performance and recording and creating music.
The simple interface will pleasantly surprise you and take
you a little to get used to, but you’ll be impressed with the array of options
it presents.
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| Ableton Live |
The controls are very straightforward, the software can
handle VTS
instruments and has everything that other DAWs offer, such as built-in
instruments, sound effects and so on.
Features
- Available
in 3 versions — Intro, Standard, and Suite with their own set of features.
- Extremely
easy to install, no tweaks required, works out of the box.
- The
ability for dual workflows, excellent for sketching music ideas on the go.
- Excellent
for live performances; it lets you create drum patterns, chords,
basslines, and melodies using drum clips and MIDI clips.
- Best
used for hip-hop, electronic music, trance, house, experimental, ambient,
or noise music.
2. FL Studio
This has been around for the last 20 years and boasts of
a complete
package that will allow you to edit, mix, master, compose and arrange
to create the track of your dreams.
It is also one of the DAWs which you will see mentioned the
most in music
forums, and has come to be known as somewhat of a “production powerhouse”.
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| FL Studio |
Now also available on the Play Store and the App Store, you
can also download a trial version that lets you experience it with a few
limitations.
Features
- To
celebrate their 20 years, FL studio is now offering free lifetime updates with every
purchase.
- This
legendary piece of software finally comes to the macOS platform with
shared licenses.
- Great
selection of plugins on offer such as delay tools and MIDI creation;
inclusion of Graph Editor.
- Major
improvements to the playlist section with a lot of tweaks while making it
more flexible to use.
3 PreSonus Studio One 4
Studio
One 4 by Presonus claims to be customer curated and offers over 70 new
features in this offering. This is one of the most affordable software when
compared with its contemporaries and has a loop library which has a great
selection of music across genres.
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| PreSonus Studio One 4 |
Studio One 4 offers a great number of presets that will save
you a lot of time and eliminate the need to download extra plugins. It also has
an audio batch conversion feature that you can use to convert files and add
effects to at the same time.
Features
- Optimization
for virtual instruments; multi-processing enhancements.
- “Reverse
sidechain” workflow.
- Better
group management; great plugin manager for managing large systems.
- The
DAW is available for both Macs and Windows PCs.
- One
can use unlimited instruments and audio tracks.
- Chord
track feature lets you make changes to audio and MIDI data.
4. MOTU Digital Performer
One of the oldest DAWs in existence, MOTU has been around
for nearly 3 decades when MIDI was still a new concept.
Now in its 10th version, MOTU only became available to
Windows users in 2012 and became 64-bit compatible.
MOTU’s evolution has been fascinating, and the latest
version is capable of MIDI, mastering, mixing, arranging, recording, editing
and much more.
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| MOTU Digital Performer |
The DAW has been known in the film circles for long because
of its comprehensive features, such as a 5GB instrument library.
Features
- The
highest possible audio quality, thanks to ZTX PRO technology from
Zynaptiq.
- Equipped
with a beat detector. Once detected, the beats can be manipulated any
which way to meet your requirements.
- The
very powerful content browser makes everything accessible instantly,
increasing your workflow productivity.
- Intuitive
and in-depth waveform editor lets you do pitch correction, precision beat
editing and much, much more.
5. Apple Logic Pro X
Logic was
bought over by Apple in 2002 and is one of the most popular DAWs in existence.
Known for its simple, yet intuitive design like all things Apple, using this
will come easily to you.
This is a Mac-only product, which means it cannot
be used on a Windows machine.
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| Logic Pro X |
The software offers more than 50GB of content that includes
thousands of plugins, effects, instruments and much more, making it a complete,
cost-effective package.
Features
- Use
Smart Tempo to automatically match the tempo of your tracks.
- Packed
with goodies such as thousands of plugins and keyboards, synths and other
instruments.
- Great,
clean uncluttered interface, smooth performance.
- Customizable
virtual drummer; you can even create a customized kit for it.
6. Avid Pro Tools
Avid
Pro can almost be called the industry standard when it comes to music
recording. This has been one of the major DAWs that is used by professionals
that have the industry experience for post-production.
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| Avid Pro Tools |
Avid Pro works with Avid Link, a free platform for anyone who is looking to
collaborate to promote their work, get discovered and to show off their
creative side.
Features
- More
than 60 virtual instruments, a 2GB loop library and thousands of sounds.
- Great
for mixing big productions such as 512 instrument tracks, 128 audio
tracks, and 1,024 MIDI tracks.
- Extensive
support from Avid, a great knowledge base, an active support community and
marketplace to communicate with other users.
- Detailed
MIDI editor to tweak and layer, and a score editor to create music using
notation.
7. Cakewalk SONAR
Cakewalk SONAR claims to be the most experienced music
production package with 25 years of experience and lets you compose, record,
edit, mix, master and even share.
The DAW has all the instruments you’ll need to build your
production from scratch, regardless of your standing in the industry, whether
you are a producer, a songwriter or a composer.
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| Cakewalk SONAR |
SONAR offers integrated tools for a superior workflow with
the help of in-built features and offers the latest technology such as VST3 support, a 64-bit mix engine, resampling,
and ARA support.
Features
- Available
in three versions to suit your budget and requirements.
- Support
from unlimited audio, MIDI, loop, auxiliary tracks and instruments.
- Fully
customizable interface to align with your workflow.
- Great
selection of virtual instruments in the absence of a band.
- Ability
to directly export your creation to YouTube.
- Can align
multiple vocal retakes; the capability of producing a perfect composite
track.
8. Propellerhead Reason
Reason claims to have everything that you will ever
need to create music. It features a bundle of instruments, and if you are into
hip-hop or electronic music, you can think of this as an all-in-one solution.
The feature-rich DAW has been popular for its features, and
the new versions have just added to the already versatile interface.
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| Propellerhead Reason |
From the layout to the browser, to the drag-and-drop
functionality, and the mix-all-you want capabilities, Reason will literally
keep you in your seat for hours!
Features
- Discover
new and exciting sounds with the help of the Grain Sample Manipulator, an
experimental and fun tool.
- RV7000
MkII Advanced Reverb, which is easy to use and offers a rich and immersive
user experience.
- Ready
to use tools help you edit, compose, rearrange and tweak easily.
- Combine
and control devices with Combinator — a synth, sampler and effects unit
all rolled into one.
- Available
for a 30-day trial for Windows and macOS with no
feature restrictions.
9. Steinberg Cubase
Cubase is another DAW that has been in existence since
the late 1980s. This used to be a MIDI-only platform which has also been
dealing with audio for the last two decades now, so Cubase has had a loyal
following since long and still enjoys it.
Its developers popularized the Virtual Studio Technology which is now standard for
most DAWs.
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| Cubase |
In its latest version, Cubase has retained all of its
nimbleness. They are also the developers for Nuendo, intended for post-production.
Features
- Synchronize
stack recordings (vocal and otherwise) quickly with the help of an audio
alignment tool.
- Turn
your songs into radio-friendly productions using the channel strip module.
- Compose
creatively with chords using chord pads.
- An
immersive drum editor for playing around with grooves and beats.
- A
virtual analog synthesizer in the form of Retrologue 2 for classic
electronic music and electronic dance music.
10. Cockos Reaper
Reaper has
been around for more than a decade and has come a long way since then.
Short for Rapid Environment for Audio Prototyping
and Efficient Recording, Reaper lets you change every aspect of the
interface, such as macros, menus, and toolbars for complete control of your
working environment.
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| Cockos Reaper |
Reaper is available for both Windows PCs and Macs, with
plans to release a working Linux version soon. The beauty of this program (and
the reason for its immense popularity) is that it takes a tiny amount of space
on your HDD (less than 70MB!), and can be run from a portable drive. Great for
portability!
Features
- Supports
an untold number of plugin effects and popular virtual instruments such as
ST, JS, VST3, DX and AU.
- Throughout
multichannel support with MIDI and audio routing.
- Loads
fastest, compared with other DAWs in its category.
- Record
to, render and export to a wide variety of media formats.
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