Welp, it’s decision time.
Over the past few months, I’ve explored four different DAWs – Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic Pro, and Reason. Links on my reviews for each are below.
The plan was to wait until either Christmas or Cyber Monday to make my final decision, and I opted for the later, because, well.. I’m REALLY stoked to work with something other than Garageband.
It also means I can get back to full song-making, which has been on extended hiatus since I started playing with DAWs.
So let’s get to my decision:
Logic and Pro Tools were both awesome, for different reasons, but neither of them seemed well suited for my type of music making. Logic’s Alchemy synth was very tempting, but structurally, the workstation didn’t seem to have the level of control I wanted.
Ableton and Reason were biased for me, with both of them having a reputation for being good choices for EDM artists. I found myself impressed with the range of synths they sported.
Reason’s layout was very intuitive and friendly, and I loved most of their instruments. However, I struggled somewhat with arranging – it seemed like it lacked the shortcuts that other DAWs used.
Ableton, while having a slightly less impressive (IMO) set of synths, had far more capabilities in the arranging – and especially automation – side of things. Also, I liked the session view, which allows the DJ to play variations on a riff for live shows to tailor it to the audience.
In the end, it was the session and automation options that decided me. I hope to play some live shows in the future, and having more control over the sound is always a good thing. And I can always purchase the synths I want in the future.
The other big purchase decision (coming in a few days – stay tuned) will be for a MIDI controller I can hook up and play directly into Ableton. I’ve narrowed it down to four options, and will include my reasons for picking the winner when I do.
DAW Reviews: