Yes indeed Lukas is a very detailed trainer diving deep into many S1 fields!
I have been using Cakewalk DAWs in one form or another for over 30 years (it is crazy to think it has been that long). Being on Windows early on it has always felt very comfortable and friendly to use.
Joyfully,
Simeon
Reaper and Reason 13
1 Like
Reason 13 (full standalone) 
Ableton Live 12 and Digital Performer 11.
Sold on Bitwig and have been using it for 6 years. Before that I used Pro Tools, Reason, and Ableton.
Cubase now. Started in Reaper, but also tried Ableton before I moved to Protools. Got tired of Protools subscription but could probably still find my way around if I needed. Cubase only in the last year.
Reason 13 and been at it since Reason 1ā¦
1 Like
I am using Logic Pro X 11 and have just updated to Cubase 14 and have been working on a song during the trial period. The sound quality is much better and the monitoring is easier to listen to. However, there are so many features that I found it difficult to handle what Logic Pro X could easily handle. Familiarity is a terrible thing. However, I am still not ready for the latest version of Cubase.
Reason, Logic, Cubase, Live and the list goes on. They all have pros and cons.
2 Likes
I started with Cakewalk but in the early 80ās and now moved to Studio Pro 7
2 Likes
I started with Cakewalk and Acid Music back in the early 2000ās. Now I use Ableton Live 12, Cockos Reaper, Magix Sequoia, and Universal Audio Luna.
2 Likes
Nothing wrong with that! ā tools are tools, itās the work you do with them that matters.
1 Like
Logic Pro X . I used to use Cubase and Protools Studio. Found PT Studio confusing to use with its routing and it stopped my composing and energy. Logic Pro X always works and is fab.
I use Studio One 6 Pro.
I also use Nuendo for more complex composing, as well as Cubase.
FL Studio. I know the reputation it has, but my decision to stick with it as long as I have was a pragmatic one, formed by learning of their lifetime free updates, especially after looking at the prices of comparable DAWs and their update pricing. I think FL Studio is much more capable DAW than itās usually given credit for, if you can get past its idiosyncrasies, though, itās definitely more tailored for electronic musicians (which I am one) because things composers might expect out of the gate, like the ability to switch tempo on the fly arenāt necessarily easy (though possible) and having a video player to write to picture to, is only available in the pro edition of FL. Iāve also used Ableton for a time, and messed with Reason, Bitwig, and Logic a bit and I use Reaper on occasion depending on the project, but FL is still my go-to DAW.
logic also has lifetime free upgradesā¦ also UADās LUNAā¦. and i think presounus studio one also has free updates foreverā¦ and theyāre all about $200ā¦ soā¦ idk if that part is quite the argumentā¦ but if you like the cereal box DAW and you can do whatever it is you wanna do with it then whatever, go for it
Iād love to use Logic, but itās only available on Mac, and Iām unfortunately stuck on Windows for the time being. Luna was not around when I made my decision to go with FL Studio, and Iām not seeing a comparable update system to FL Studio for Presonus Studio One, just a perpetual license for the particular version you buy (not the same as FL). Also I tried the trial once for it, and I didnāt care for the workflow at the time I used it, it was also very buggy from what I remember. And not localized, I got error / notification messages in different languages.
Aside from Logic, neither of the options you mentioned have a large enough community to where I would have felt confident enough to find an answer to any question or problem I might have had. Thereās countless videos and tutorials on pretty much anything you might want to know on FL Studio (of varying levels of quality). It matters to me less now, both as a more experienced producer, and just the times weāre in where chatbots can search the whole manual for you, but when I was in the market for a daily driver DAW, as a novice musician, that was important for me.
I bought FL Studio Producer Edition in 2018, for like $130 (discounted price) and a year or two later updated to the all plugins edition for about the same price, and thatās all Iāve had / will ever need to pay. They were at FL Studio 20 at the time I bought it, theyāre now at FL Studio 25, and Iāve received every new version, plugin and feature for free, and will continue to receive them for free. I could leave, switch to different DAW and still have the newest version available when I come back
And I have considered switching before. Iāve had a good experience with Reaper for mixing, and sound design, (also video editing, imagine that!), but not as much when working with MIDI. When I buy a Mac Iāll probably get Logic Pro, but Iāve started to adopt using FLās Patcher as part of my workflow. It acts as a plugin, and lets you use all your VSTS like a modular synth rack using nodes and knobs to modulate signal flows. It can work as a regular effect rack (like in ableton), for parallel processing, layering and sound design (great for large textural ambient pads as seen in the image) and you can create your own plugins with it. I havenāt seen anything native in other DAWS like it.
Bitwig has The Grid, but it works more like NI Reaktor. Maybe Ableton has something close, but ultimately, I donāt see the point in switching just for that, when I already have Patcher and am comfortable using FL Studio. It works for what I need it for. The main drawbacks are the perception that it is a lesser DAW as you have alluded, and I wish it were easier to alternate between different tempos in a single track, and had the ability to draw out automations in the playlist section like in Ableton. It could also look sleeker, but thereās also not one particular DAW that I could pinpoint as the pinnacle of UI design. They all seem to be either minimalist or analog hardware skeuomorphism / somewhere in between. FL is at least, unique, in that way.
Pro Tools for anything that needs to be shared with another studio (90% of my work) and Cubase when itās all about my music and production.