The Best DAWs Compared 2018

In this article we are taking a look at the latest version of the four most popular DAWs, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio & Cubase.

In today's digital world computers have come to impact our daily lives tremendously. They’ve become a true extension of ourselves and greatly enhanced our capacity to create and record music anywhere at any time. Every day brings infinite new possibilities in the computing cloud. Music production software also called Digital Audio Workstation or DAW have matured into complete music production suites featuring excellent plugins and audio processors.

We can now find a large choice of software to compose music as well as sites that offer advanced music creation tools and sequencing in the web browser.

Today I’d like to take a look at the 4 DAWs that dominate the market: Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Fl Studio and Cubase. Most of these software offer different versions, from entry level with limitation to full software suite including gigabytes of samples and a multitude of virtual instruments. Prices for the full fledge version vary from $200 to $800.

Comparison chart:

Ableton Live

https://www.ableton.com/en/live/

Ableton Live definitely scores highest in our current DAW offering. Every new update considerably expands the creative possibilities. The full version includes top quality synths like Analog, Operator and the brand new Wavetable while the suite version comes with quality audio processors and effects like echo, convulsion reverb, spectral blur and re-envelopper to name only a few. Ableton is more geared toward live performances. It is in fact the only DAW that puts emphasis on performing, so they definitely have the edge here.

About:

Ableton is a Berlin-based music software company that produces and distributes the production and performance program Ableton Live and a collection of related instruments and sample libraries, as well as their own hardware controller Ableton Push.

Ableton was founded in 1999, Live was first released as commercial software in 2001.

Listen to Ableton Live Templates

Logic Pro X

https://www.apple.com/lae/logic-pro/  

Logic Pro X is our favorite here. The user interface and workflow are the best among all DAWs. Developed by a company obsessed with design and user experience, Logic Pro is the ultimate creative tool for musicians … using a mac! Lately they’ve added quality synths like Alchemy, Retro Synth, and have improved on the already great drum synth Ultrabeat. On the audio processing side, the compressors have further sidechaining options with easy switching between different compressor types all in one plugin. The creative process in Logic Pro is straightforward, logical and flowy.

Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic by a German software developer C-Lab. Apple bought Emagic in 2002. Logic Pro is now only available through the Mac App Store.

Listen to Logic Pro X Templates

FL Studio

https://www.image-line.com/flstudio/

FL Studio is the DAW of choice for a lot of us, especially after the recently announced new release of a mac version with V20! The once underdog now features advanced editing functions and top quality composition tools with easy-to-use automations. The full version offers  audio processors and FX of great quality. It also includes an array of quality synthesizers like Sawer, Sakura and Poizone to name a few. Please note however that some of them are only available for Windows! FL Studio has grown into a complete music production platform with many top artists using it with pride.

FL Studio is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface based on a pattern-based music sequencer.Image-Line offers lifetime free updates to the program. Image-Line also develops FL Studio Mobile for iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

FL Studio can also be used as a VST instrument in other audio workstation programs and also functions as a ReWire client.

Listen to FL Studio Templates

Cubase

https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/start.html

Cubase has been around for a long time They are the ones who set the standard for what is the VST technology used today to drive most cross compatible virtual instruments and audio processors. It is a long-time favourite for musicians to produce and record music. While Cubase offering isn’t as vast as its rivals, synths like Voltage, Auron and Anima are of a superb quality. The suite also includes classic processors like Wah Wah, Envelope shaper and the Reverence reverb. The audio engine of Cubase resembles the console sound. While mixing in Cubase might be harder than in other DAWs, the results are nonetheless very impressive.

Cubase is a digital audio workstation developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989.

In 1999 a virtual instrument interface for software synthesizers was introduced known as VSTi. This made it possible for third-party software programmers to create and sell virtual instruments for Cubase. This technology has become the de facto standard for other DAW software, when integrating software based instruments on the Macintosh and Windows platforms.

Steinberg was sold to Yamaha Corporation in December 2004.

Listen to Cubase Templates