Almost every DAW available these days is a good one so it’s difficult to make a bad choice. They now all pretty much have the same features, but the big difference is in the price and user interface. Sometimes because of the forums or groups that we hang out in we might get a perception of which one is the most popular. And I bet that impression is wrong.
Production Expert did a survey of 5,000 DAW users and the results were surprising. . . at least to me.
Because of the feedback that I get from subscribers and followers and what I see online, I would have bet that Logic Pro X would come in at #1. Yes, that’s a popular one, but the winner by a margin of almost 2 to 1 is Avid Pro Tools. It turns out that figure matches almost exactly with the results from a year ago as well.
Here’s how it all shook out (music studios only):
Avid Pro Tools
Apple Logic Pro
Presonus Studio One
Ableton Live
Steinberg Cubase
Cockos Reaper
Reason
Steinberg Nuendo
Cakewalk
FL Studio
Bitwig Studio
Digital Performer
24%
12%
9%
6%
6%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
2%
1%
Granted, Production Expert is true to its name in that it attracts mostly pros to the site, so DAW use is notably skewed on the pro studio side. I’m sure the differences would be profoundly different if hobbyists were involved.
Still this survey shows that despite Pro Tools having many critics, including a number who are quite publicly hoping for it’s demise, it’s still the DAW of choice in pro music studios everywhere (post too). It may not be the best, and it may not be your favorite choice, but you better have some chops on it if you want to work in a pro environment.
You can see the full results to the survey here.
