What´s FOSS?
Free and Open Source Software, i.e. software where you have free access to the source code and distributed under a permissive licence such as GPL or MIT, so others are free to make use of your code for whatever purpose they like. Usually also distributed free of charge although you do get some products which you pay for, but you can still access the source for free and compile it yourself if you want (I think these still count as FOSS? Not an expert though). The most famous example probably being Linux.
It’s quite a difficult model to make a business success of, so it’s no surprise Bitwig is not open source.
As an aside, the internal engine of Tracktion is distributed under the GPL: https://github.com/Tracktion/tracktion_engine (but not the UI), I’m sure that could be the basis for a great FOSS DAW (but it’s still a huge amount of work to build the UI)
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I never really liked the GUI of Ableton, because I´m a logic fan boy 
Big minus for Ableton in my eyes is, you don´t have a mixer view where you can see all insert plugins on all channels. Logic looks like a mixing desk.
And this is possible in Bitwig too! On top you have all the modulators to modulate modulators or other stuff 
I’ve used the Expert Sleepers USAMO box for syncing a Machinedrum with Bitwig in the past. Took a little bit of setting up but worked a treat.
Having had time away from Ableton while I worked on a project largely in Reason… I found that going back to Ableton quite underwhelming. All those features I’d told myself I couldn’t do without, I no longer found I needed them and I decided I really didn’t like the UI anymore.
The only thing I struggle with in Bitwig is editing, stretching and crossfading loops. In Ableton that stuff just works…
it is already great.
in real world, all software can’t be free and open source. some companies make living from making proprietary software, and that’s fine.
so, those products that have native Linux versions are already good, and if they are reasonably priced — that’s awesome.
i really disliked Bitwig pricing for a long time, but 16-track version for €99 is absolutely reasonable for the features it offers.
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Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad product. I just wish there was a better FOSS alternative to Audacity. Bitwig would be a great starting point for such an effort, etc.
I realize the legal/financial implications, though.
I think Audacity is what you get when the FOSS community develops a DAW.
There are some notable really notable examples of software for creative enterprises that is FOSS and full-featured enough to be a direct competitor to bigger, proprietary competitors (Krita and GIMP come to mind), but the reality is that 9 times out of 10, the FOSS solution will look more like Audacity than it will look like Krita. It takes a ton of talent, dedication, and consistency of vision to deliver a high quality piece of software that has a huge depth of features and is still usable in terms of UI, UX patterns/consistency, etc. If you look around the FOSS world you’ll see a lot of software that either: 1) has tons of features but is practically unusable (no interface, shitty interface, etc.); or 2) has relatively few features, but is free, accessible and very easy to use (like audacity).
Doing both is like hitting the FOSS jackpot, and it unfortunately doesn’t happen often 
It’s an insanely hard problem - and that’s why software teams get paid well, and that’s why DAWs cost so much money 
I definitely wish there was a good FOSS DAW out there as well, but I’m not holding my breath.
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As far as the original question goes, I can’t speak to Ableton from the perspective of a long-time user as Bitwig was my final decision when picking a DAW. But I did spend a lot of time demoing major options (Ableton, FL, Reaper, S1, Logic) and ultimately arrived at Bitwig for a few reasons:
- Sound design/ease of modulation/the grid - Bitwig was the only DAW that felt like I didn’t need a small army of VSTs to do deep sound design of my own custom synths. To this day, most of my plugin purchases are sampled instruments like Felt’s Lekko piano, etc., where I just don’t have the patience to multisample an upright as meticulously as they do
- Linux support
- Development velocity feels fast – maybe this is subjective, but I get the feeling that Ableton and many of the older competitors are starting to struggle to introduce huge new features, since their codebases are getting more mature and it’s harder to steer a giant ship like that.
- Launchpad controller support from DrivenByMoss - I seriously considered getting Ableton and Push 2, but a very similar experience is possible with a Launchpad and Bitwig using Moss’ scripts, and overall price is significantly lower.
I bought Bitwig just recently and haven’t used it much…Mostly because I somehow got a 6 month free Ableton 10 full working demo and I realized that I just know Ableton, and it’s quicker for me to just turn it on and get things going.
But, I do plan to move to Bitwig soon. At the moment I only use Ableton to record my tracks from Overbridge on the Heat as the soundcard.
My question for people who have made the switch. What are the best video demo’s of using Bitwig? Using Ableton for so long I get a bit confused with the Bitwig layout. In the end, I just want to use it as a multi track recorder editor, and having it simply midi sync to my Elektron boxes would be a plus.
Adding onto your questions, (for those that have used both DAWs) is Bitwig midi sync (from a soundcard to external gear) better/solid? Ableton Live is garbage in this respect.
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Use Studio One now, but abletons CV tools are really amazing now that I have some Eurorack stuff, but I am not 100% friend with the overall workflow. Can Bitwig send and input CV to Eurorack? And yes, I’ve got expert sleepers ES-3 and 6.
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It works fine with the RME, not with anything else I had though. I imagine that’s more their drivers though, Ableton.
Bitwig is miles better in that area, better CPU usage as lowest latency, tighter, more accurate. You need to run DAWs at lowest latency to get them to do (sometimes) some of these things properly, the manufactures are full of BS when it comes to that.
https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/
There’s a huge headache for everyone that uses (most) daws to unlock ^ 
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well, Audacity is not really a DAW.
but Ardour is, and it’s FOSS.
and Harrison Mixbus is based on it (plus proprietary Harrison algorithms, minus unstable or semi-stable features).
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…well well well…come down eaaaasyyyy…
…i left ableton behind with suite 8, when starting more and more going otb…
last ten years back to good old logic only for recording, arranging, final mixing with some help from metric halo and it’s outboard dsp mio console…
thought, i never gonna pick another daw again in this lifetime…
saw bitwig always just as this other ableton…
was even unimpressed, when i saw bitwigs presentation at elektron studios last winter, where the showed off big time with their flawless ob integrtion and their take on max msp, they call the grid…
but i was too blind to see it’s innersmartness back then…
that has changed this summer…
when i faced how these few developers, all once developing ableton in first place, just outsmarted the global common number one daw out there with ease…
nothing in ableton u could’nt find also in bitwig…but in a way more straight forward thinking fashion that translates into all it’s details…and well…beyond…
this piece of software is any common daw…any common synth…any common groovebox…any common modularsystem…any common sampler concepts…any common fx processor…sounddesigner heaven…in two different and independently running sequencer grids in realtime, right NEXT to each other…
AT ONCE…simple as that…period.
evrything comunicates/triggers/translates/modulates here with everything…in whatever fashion or level of complexity u like or, ok, ur cpu can cope with…
never touched a piece of software before, that is coded that slimlined and uberobviously clever…
always open to create all ur own synthesizers, fx units, u name it…starting from scratch or combining the heaps of tools already provided in there…and there’s more to come…
it detects all kind of controlers, all kind of vst’s, all kind of interfaces with a click or even on it’s own…
comes with all it’s huuge and highly exclusive content within minutes downloaded and installed asks once for ur license and ur good to go…on three systems of ur choice at once, at any given time…
whatever u can think of, u can do it…on any common computer, even many outdated ones, on any platform of ur choice…under 400 bux…no questions…no brainer…holy sonic fuk…
ableton was a truu revolution…two decades ago…bitwig is NOW…
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If I would start from scratch and didn’t had already Ableton than Bitwig. The most important part for me : It has a much better performance. The CPU meter is nearly half and the Latency too ! With my Presonus Quantum and a i9 Mbp I get insane low lantecies (1,5 ms roundtrip). It also feels more responsive. snappy. But I have Ableton and put so many hours and money in it. Its not enough too switch. But absolute great DAW ! Feels like a more improved Ableton but programmed from scratch, more optimized.
I’m in a similar position. With a new laptop coming I wanted to upgrade to Ableton 10 Intro from 8 Suite, looking to streamline things and have less “option paralysis” in the digital realm. But headaches with sync and sound quality with Ableton in the past now have me second-guessing whether to stay on the platform.
Is the feature set of the full-blown Studio really worth the 4x price over the 16 track version? I don’t forsee myself getting into The Grid or their virtual instruments/sample content, as I like the idea of everything being generated in hardware and only compiled and mixed down in the DAW at the final stage. I do find the whole modulators idea quite interesting however for mixdown and will definitely be exploring that…
Is the 16 track version good enough?
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I’m surprised no one has mentioned MPE support yet.
To me, this is a big advantage Bitwig has over Ableton.
-An Ableton Live user of 16 years.
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It depends on how little you actually need from your DAW. There are some important limitations besides track count - for instance, 16-Track only exports 16-bit files. It offers no plug-in side-chaining, and only two each dedicated effect tracks and group tracks. You can see how they compare here:
https://www.bitwig.com/feature-list/
Also, I think they’ve never added Audio Unit support, so that might be an issue for some users.
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I saw the comparison but seems a little vague. It only exports 16 bit files, but can record/process at 32 bit, correct? So you should be able to mix down to a file at that resolution right?
Also two dedicated fx tracks are obviously limiting, but can you still drag individual instances of VST fx onto audio tracks ala Ableton?
Forgive me if these are obvious questions. I would just D/L the trial version and give it a go right now if my Macbook would just get here
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They are not obvious questions - at least to me, as I’ve never actually used 16-track. I would think that yes, you could pile on individual instances of VST effects onto audio tracks.
As for the export limitation, yeah, I suppose the internal engine is going to mix down using 32-bits, but what to do with it then? Can you get it out of Bitwig without exporting? I don’t know.
There was no 16-Track version when I bought my license. I knew the 8-Track version wouldn’t be enough for my daily use, having already done an entire project in it when writing tutorials about it for CM. 16-Track falls a little more on the side of being a complete product to my mind. I’s a good way to start, and if you decide you need more, there is an upgrade path and Holiday sales on the horizon…
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