I love to read the results of surveys regard the most popular DAW. Most are skewed towards the audience that the publisher of the survey serves, but they’re still entertaining, and maybe even a little bit informative. But the truth is that a DAW survey is a good reflection of at least some of its users.
Take, for instance, the latest DAW survey conducted by production-expert.com. Since it’s aimed at music and post professionals, and the previous name of the site was pro-tools-expert, it’s not hard to predict the outcome. Yes, you guessed it – Pro Tools was the most popular DAW by a factor of 3.
Had the survey been done by a site focused on electronic music, the result probably would’ve been Ableton or Logic, but it’s still true that Pro Tools is considered the professional standard (especially for post).
What’s most surprising is the order of popularity for music production.
Pro Tools – 37.2%
Logic Pro – 12.6%
Studio One – 8.4%
Reaper – 7.4%
Ableton – 5.9%
Cubase – 5.5%
Other – 5.1%
Luna – 4.6%
Nuendo – 4.2%
Reason – 2.0%
Digital Performer – 1.9%
Fairlight – 1.4%
FL Studio – 1.3%
What jumped out most to me was how high Reaper was, and how low Luna was. Plus, I’m surprised that Fairlight even made the list at all.
Even more surprising was the Other category, which had no less than 18 entrants ranging from Harrison Mixbus at 33.3% of the category, all the way down to Final Cut Pro at .9%. Considering how ancient Final Cut’s audio options are, I’m perplexed how anyone could use it as a serious DAW.
When it comes to post, there are no surprises here.
Pro Tools – 63.8%
Nuendo – 10.1%
Reaper – 10.1%
Fairlight – 6.4%
Others – 9.5%
My surprise over Reaper actually came a few years ago, when a Disney dialog editor told me that his entire crew switched to the DAW and were very happy with their decision.
The fact of the matter is that most DAWs have nearly the same capabilities these days. What makes them popular is either their long-term presence in the market (like Pro Tools) or a user interface that makes you comfortable. The good news for DAW users is that it’s hard to go wrong anymore.