question to (former) Ableton users, what features are you missing from Bitwig? I’m about to switch…
I miss some of the plugins like Redux for its sheer simplicity, and some of the more analog modelled effects, and some of the instruments like Poly. Otherwise not much at all.
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Max for Live, and Tuner mostly. I use Tuner to check/tune modular oscillators. I got BX Tuner for free with the recent $20 PA sale voucher, but I prefer the responsiveness of Live’s tuner.
Also prefer Live’s Tagging for VSTs (the color tag scheme that you can rename) - while Bitwig’s auto plugin categorization is great, it doesn’t always put them in categories I want them in.
I’ve continued to use both Live and Bitwig for the past few years, so I can get the best of both worlds. I initially switched to Bitwig because of Live’s lack of MPE and poly AT support which 11 now supports, but now that I got into Bitwig, there’s things I like either more than Live, or that Live doesn’t cover.
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Beta 4.0 6 now ready for download
https://downloads-eu.bitwig.com/beta/4.0/Release-Notes-4.0-Beta-6.html
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Bitwig 4 Beta 7 is out now, with few improvements. Must be close to release now but I think i might miss out this time.
https://downloads-as.bitwig.com/beta/4.0/Release-Notes-4.0-Beta-7.html
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word, digging the comping but nothing is screaming out for my to purchase it now. will probably jump on it when the holidays hit.
I have 4 days left on my plan so will likely miss out probably by 1 - 2 days. If that happens will not update for a while, I can probably sit on 3 for a year or two.
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Can you continue with the latest Beta possibly?
No dont think so, your licence gets disabled for it.
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Makes sense. V3 is pretty solid and there wasn’t anything truly mind blowing in v4 imo. The Operators/probabilities are cool, but there are workarounds to achieve similar things.
Yes thats my view too, I would never use comping, operators are cool but I am still really just starting to get into the grid in any detail yet. I am close to actually just maintaining Studio One and letting bitwig go but i am just a bit annoyed by the licence arrangement. It will pass.
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Heck I’m on 3.2.8 and see no reason to upgrade…
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Bitwig are still following their own path and I’m grateful for that (the world doesn’t need another generic linear DAW, there are plenty of options) but I may wait a bit to see what comes next. My plan runs out in a couple of weeks so I may just squeak through for V4 but I’m basically happy with current V3 so it doesn’t matter. They’ve dropped some great features in “minor” updates in the past so I’m sure we’ll get other goodies in the not-too-distant future. For a relatively small team I think they’re doing pretty well.
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I’ve been loving Studio One these days above all else, as well. Something about it just sits right with me (after the initial WTF moments with it).
It’s a linear DAW yes, but I never feel oppressed by it in that way, it’s just immediate enough for that to never be a problem for my creative explorations.
And once that part’s done, Studio One leaves most other DAWs I’ve tried in the dust for arrangement, mixing, mastering.
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Bitwig beats it for pure tinkering around and sound design but studio one is just a more end to end capable platform it is more vanilla but workload much simpler to do basic arrangement. The new live mode and pattern sequencing is top notch.
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I’m tempted to try S1 again just for the fun of it, it’s been years since I last used it and they seem to have added a lot of features. I’ve seen the “Artist” version second-hand licenses for as little as €20 so it’s not a lot of risk. It still seems quite full-featured and I very rarely need the full version of any DAW for my basic hobbyist needs.
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Im kind of in the same boat, love both daws but really do not have the time for both and S1 gives that broader vanilla daw functionality that is simpler to use when time poor. But I will still have Bitwig 3.3.11 to continue to learn and play with it as a side pastime when time permits. The grid offers a lot of playground stuff to dive into.
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Yeah, I own many of the major daws lol (classic case of “it’s not my fault, it’s the DAWs fault!” :))
Live, Logic, Bitwig, Studio One, Reason …the list goes on.
I loved Live for nearly 15 years but Ableton just seems tired. It’s fine, they’ve become the de facto standard in the industry aside from Logic & Pro Tools — and I do love Max4Live — but I just needed a change of scenery.
Bitwig is really great, as you say @Cosmic, for tinkering, sound design and sound experimentation and exploration it can’t be beat. The modulators alone are worth the price of admission, and then there’s the Grid, its awesome sampler, operators in v4 etc etc. I think of Bitwig as an instrument first. But as a DAW it’s also increasingly shining and I love how it combines the clip & arranger workflows much more harmoniously than Live does.
The beauty of S1 is just how flexible and feature rich it is yet it remains super fast and lean. I did not like the UX at first and really had to get my head around it, but once I did it just gets out of the way more than any other DAW for me.
And it brings the best features from the different industry players together: chord tracks, pattern & drum clips/editors, great midi capabilities, excellent comping, native Melodyne integration via ARA support, Macro support, phenomenal midi mapping features that are unparalleled in my book, nice automatic plugin sorting (especially works well with VST3 plugins), a very capable mixer, super low latency features for VST instruments etc etc etc. and the interface is actually plug n play.
@tallrobphilp def worth looking for deals with Studio One. I bought the Pro version for 180€ I believe, which is insane value for money. Though the packaged instruments in Studio One I don’t use at all, I think they are mediocre at best. Not sure what the version differences are, just saying, don’t pay extra for the instruments if you decide to give S1 a try 
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I’ve very much in the Studio One + Bitwig camp these days. S1 for day to day stuff (I primarily use it for my mastering gigs) and then Bitwig for the creative, fun and ‘let’s play’ kind of stuff. I previously had Ableton in that role (with Push 2) and upgraded to v11, but I don’t find it nearly as ‘fun’ as Bitwig. Nothing technically wrong with Ableton… it’s far (far) more capable than I am. Bitwig just seems to blend the best of what I like about Ableton and a more traditional DAW into one.
S1 is fast and streamlined. It very much reminds me of the Cubase SX days before Cubase got (IMO) very bloated feeling. Again, I’m the weak link… it’s not necessarily Cubase. S1 was developed (IIRC) by two of main Cubase team, so it should feel familiar in that regard. It’s just starting to get a little big for my tastes with the ‘Show Page’ and whatnot, but hey, I realize they have to cater to a lot of different needs, such is life. I just hope they continue to keep that focused sensibility overall and not over do it.
I’m pretty new to the Bitwig game just as of late last year, but I’m really enjoying it. I haven’t tried any of the v4 Beta’s, but my maintenance will cover me until late this year, so I’ll check it out once released. There’s already a literal ton in v3 that I’ve only just scratched the surface on with it if that, so I’m good for quite some time.
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Oh… pro tip on S1. Join the Facebook group – I think it’s called ‘Studio One Sessions’ now. That’s where I bought my 2nd hand Pro license originally. Everyone who gets a Presonus StudioLive mixer gets a license of S1 Pro included and many of those people already have an S1 license, so they’ll sell the extra one usually very inexpensively.
It’s absolutely worth an ask (assuming it’s still allowed) if someone wants to sell an up to date license. The transfer process is pretty easy… you just need a Presonus account and then the seller transfers to your registered email address. At least that’s how it was a few years back.