When it comes to digital audio workstations (or DAWs) there are many options out there, definitely more now than ever before. While there doesn’t seem to be any new ones popping up as of the last couple of years, the ones that already exist and have been well established for several years just continue to get better.
I’m not going to write this post and tell you which DAW I think you should get.
There's simply no way to do that, and I encourage you not to listen to people who say that there is one right answer to this question. What works for me might not click the same way for you, and I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all option when it comes to something as potentially subjective as software. All of the available options have their respective strengths and weaknesses, but by and large they all do very similar things in slightly different ways. I truly don’t think there’s such a thing as “the wrong DAW”, though I do think there are some that are better-suited for different workflows or uses. (For example, Ableton is great for live performance and does things in that environment that a program like Pro Tools isn’t built to do.)
What I am going to do is encourage you to follow the same trajectory I did, which ultimately made choosing and learning my DAW a lot easier.
I got started with GarageBand for Mac. I’m sure a lot of people who were getting into music production around 2010-2012 could say the same thing. GarageBand comes as a free app for any iOS device or macOS device, so it’s an easy option for people with those computers. I then transitioned to GarageBand for iPad for a little while, just strumming an acoustic guitar and singing into the built-in microphone. When I started to push the limits of what was possible in GarageBand for both desktop and iOS at the time, I started to research what would be a good full-featured DAW. The obvious next step from GarageBand would have been Logic, but I remember feeling that Logic was geared more towards electronic production, which wasn’t the path I wanted to be on. Not necessarily true, but that’s how I felt. I felt the same way about Ableton, so that one was out, and I had no interest in learning Pro Tools.
What ultimately made me land on Cubase was not the cost or the features or the flashiness of the program, it was simply because of two YouTubers whose videos I watched on repeat to learn about production: Misha Mansoor of Periphery and composer Tom Holkenborg, more commonly known as Junkie XL. I absolutely devoured any studio video those two guys posted around the 2014-2015 timeframe, and something they both had in common was that they used Cubase. Back then it seemed like Steinberg Cubase was not as popular of an option, at least not based on the majority of content creators who were uploading studio tutorials in those days.
I figured if it was good enough for Misha and Junkie, I should take a look at it. I jumped in with Cubase Elements 7 back around early 2014.
This was one of the first videos I watched to learn about recording guitars at home:
If I had watched that video through the lens of trying to learn how to use FL Studio, I wouldn’t have had an easy time transferring those principals. What helped me learn how to make music was seeing other people use the tools that I had - or I suppose in this case choosing a tool because people I watched a lot happened to use it. I wanted to make heavy music like Misha and Periphery, but I also wanted to compose and do more cinematic music like Junkie XL. If I was trying to learn Pro Tools but watched their videos on how to do things in Cubase, I probably would have been lost right at the beginning. Turns out I could learn what I wanted to learn from both of them because they both used the same thing.
Find out what the people you enjoy listening to or watching use, and get the same program as them. You will learn so much about how to make music from those people because you’ll have the same user interface, the same stock plugins, the same project layout, the same hotkeys - so much of it will be transferable to the workflow you are developing. I chose Cubase because the people I watched most used it, and I learned so much from them. If a YouTuber or streamer or producer you watch a lot uses Logic, get Logic. If they use Ableton, buy Ableton.
The easiest path to learning a DAW will come from learning the same thing you are watching. I still end up gravitating more towards creators who use Cubase than creators who use any other DAW, just because it’s what I use and I’m extremely familiar with it now. I can understand how people do things in other programs, but seeing someone use the same thing I use starts me off on the right foot and I can come to the same conclusions as them with little to no issues.
Once you’ve familiarized yourself with a DAW, you really can hop around between them with minimal effort. It might take a little bit of time to learn a few of the smaller differences, but if you use Pro Tools and someone needs you to do something in Logic you could probably figure out the basics quickly.
Another thing to consider is the cost of the software. Some of these programs are not cheap, fortunately most of them come with extremely discounted upgrades or crossgrades. You can start out at a lower version of the software, like I did with Cubase Elements, and then if you decide you want to upgrade to the full-featured version down the road the cost will be a lot less. A great example would be (at the time of writing this) Apple Logic Pro. Logic comes with lifetime upgrades for a flat purchase price of $200. That’s an extremely generous offer for how powerful Logic is, and it makes it a lot easier to justify that hefty upfront cost. Without a discount, Cubase 13 is currently $579.99. That is a lot of money, especially if you are just starting out. However, Cubase Elements is only $49.99. You can do a lot with that “starter” version of the software. Just because it costs less doesn’t mean it isn’t as good, though make sure you read through the list of features and see if some of the things that are left out would still allow you to do what you need to do. Ableton has a similar software tier and pricing structure for their products.
Do be on the lookout for sales and even occasional free offers for software. I’ve been able to grab past versions of Ableton Intro for free through various website partnerships, or whatever the case may be. It does happen.
Bang for your buck, I do think Logic is the best DAW at the moment. For the price, the features, and the included upgrades, there isn’t another full-featured workstation that comes close. The downside is that it’s only available to Mac users. If you’re on a Windows computer, I would highly recommend at least Cubase Elements for getting started. More and more people are using Cubase these days, and I’ll be able to point to some of them when I write some more Cubase-focused articles in the near future. If that doesn’t sound good to you, do your own digging. See what the people you watch use, and learn by watching them. I do truly believe anyone can learn how to make music using any DAW on the market right now. We live in an incredible time where there are hundreds of tutorials for everything out there, and I’ll be compiling some great lists of videos, articles, and other guides for all of the major digital audio workstations.
I hope you’re able to find a DAW that works for you. As I said, they all do similar things, just in different ways. Be on the lookout for more DAW user guides coming soon.
Somehow Pro Tools became the “industry standard” and for whatever reason will hold that title for… well, I guess forever.
If you need to learn Pro Tools, go for it. I’ve never touched it.
If you’d like to discuss music production and share ideas and feedback with other creators, a link to our Discord community is available to members of all levels of our Patreon - even the free level.
