Reaper and Live here. I use Live more for syncing and tracking synths and drum machines, but I like Reaper much better for things like multitrack acoustic drum tracking/wave editing or recording traditional “band” instruments.
Still on the fence about where to do final mixes. Kinda been wishy-washy on sticking to one or the other, and will probably continue to use both depending on the material.
I tried a lot of different DAWs way back and settled on Live for over 10 years now. Spent a fair amount of time on Logic but back then in the mid/late 2000s it was a massive faff trying to use multiple midi controllers on different tracks at the same time (environment window ) and was so easy on Live. These were the days when me and some mates would try and live jam with midi drum pads and controllers all plugged in to one struggling crap laptop… although it was more of an excuse to get high Tried Logic again more recently but just couldn’t gel with it. So used to how Live does things now. Definitely a believer in new gear (or DAW) can spark new ideas but I’d much rather a new bit of hardware with a focus than a whole new DAW.
Edit. Brief brain blip made me forget I’ve been using Serato Studio recently but it’s not a proper DAW, but I do like that’s it’s focused and quick to get ideas down. Still dumping it into Live after a while though!
I’ve always just used Reaper. I started when the thought of spending a few hundred on what seemed (to me) like a tool to record and manipulate multiple wav files didn’t make sense.
For the most part it still doesn’t. I’ve tried a few limited bundled versions of things over the years, Cubase, Studio One, Ableton, and from a basic usage point of view nothing enticed me away from Reaper. I imagine you would have to be a power user of several to really know which made life easier for different tasks to the point it made migrating projects between them worthwhile.
I’m really curios how Logic on iOS is going to play out (from a non-Logic user point of view). In my experience the challenge with a DAW on iOS is all in the interaction and GUI. You just always want to see more than a small screen allows and want finer control than touch screen allows. Constantly zooming in and out so you can grab the corner of a take to drag it or fade it in or whatever just gets tiresome. And mouse implementation on iOS is still a bit clunky vs desktop.
I tend to use three. Ableton Lite, Maschine 2, and my current favorite, Bitwig. I’ve actually enjoyed Bitwig with controllers so much that I began selling off most of my hardware.
I use Maschine because I love the controller, but the DAW needs serious work. I never finish projects there.
Ableton is great, but I’m waiting for an announcement of Push 3 to decide whether or not to get the Suite version.
I’ve used Cubase since the 90s. Sometimes I try one of the alternatives for a while to see what the competition is doing, but it has been a while since I last did that. So I’m happily ignorant of what I might be missing out on.
Now that the USB dongle is (finally!) gone, my only complaint as an owner of many Steinberg products is that I feel paid upgrades are too frequent.
The majority of the feedback and comments here are confirming what I already thought… reintroducing another DAW will just cause a distraction and probably have a negative impact on my relationship with Ableton Live.
I was on Logic Pro for just over 10 years and never felt as gelled to it as I do now with Ableton after 2 years of using it. Before Logic I spent about 12 years working hybrid with Digital Performer and ProTools (because DP was the only way I had native control over my PT sessions), but that was way more orthodox audio/studio/band work.
So, I think I’m going to skip iOS Logic Pro and stick to Ableton Live.
I am open to the possibility of switching; one day, but any switch would need to be permanent. Ableton for me has the best combination of the fast & intuitive workspace and tight MIDI controller integration, and it’s as close to plug & play as it gets. I’ve been warned so many times not to change the DAW that there has to be wisdom in there.
One thing that I’m beginning to feel as I start outputting more stuff is the “more trouble than it’s worth” effect. Uprooting the knowledge I’ve built in the last year or more would take a fair bit of effort and I’d rather not distract from the tune making process.
Maybe with more experience it’d be a 2 DAW thing, or even a switch. But I guess for now I’d be switching away from something I’ve just invested in, so it makes little sense for now.