Getting started

Choosing a DAW without losing a month

6 min read

A digital audio workstation is the program you will open every single time you record or mix anything. It is also the tool people agonise over most and research least usefully, because comparing feature lists is not the same as comparing how the thing feels in your hands.

What a DAW actually does

Strip away the marketing and a DAW does five things:

1. Records audio and MIDI into tracks.
2. Edits them — cutting, moving, fading, reversing, time-stretching.
3. Processes them through plugins: EQ, compression, reverb, delay.
4. Arranges them into a timeline and plays them back in sync.
5. Mixes them by routing every track through a summing bus with faders, pans, solo and mute.

Every DAW does all five. The differences are in how well, how fast, and how stable.

How to compare two DAWs

Ignore the feature comparison tables. Feature lists are marketing; everything on them exists in every serious DAW somewhere. Compare these instead:

• Stability. Does it crash? A DAW that loses work is worse than a plain one. This matters more than any feature, and it is the thing that separates a program that suits your machine from one that does not.
• Latency handling. Can you record a vocalist while hearing a live instrument without the timing drifting? Look for a low-latency monitoring mode.
• Routing. Can you set up a template with the instruments you always use, so the session is ready before you record?
• Editing. Cut a clip, move it, and hear the result. If that feels awkward, you will fight the program instead of the music.
• Plugin formats. VST, AU, AAX — the format matters because it decides which plugins you can use. If you plan to use a specific commercial plugin later, check what it comes in.
• MIDI handling. If you write music with a keyboard, the piano-roll editor and MIDI editing speed are what you will feel every day.
• Upgrade path. Does the price jump to a much larger number at the next upgrade, and are your projects still openable in the new version?

The short list worth knowing

Free or nearly free

• Reaper — a discounted licence (a little over $60 at the time of writing, though the price moves) gives you a complete professional DAW. It is small, fast, endlessly configurable and has a trial that is fully functional. The interface is old-fashioned and takes an afternoon to understand, which is why beginners often bounce off it.
• Ardour — open source, no licence fee, no cloud, and a stable of version you own. It is the least commercial option and the most honest one.
• Cakewalk Sonar — became free to download and use, with the full professional feature set. The name is new; the lineage is decades old.
• BandLab — a browser-based option with a free tier. Useful for quick ideas and collaboration; not where you will live.

Paid

• Logic Pro — a one-time purchase on macOS, and for many people the best value in professional audio software. Excellent mixing, excellent MIDI, an enormous library of instruments and effects.
• Studio One — a one-time purchase, with a companion "Artist" bundle. Priced fairly, mixes well, and integrates tightly with PreSonus hardware.
• Ableton Live — a subscription, and a different way of thinking about music: clip-based, with a strong live performance focus. Excellent for electronic music and improvisation, less conventional for song production.
• FL Studio — a subscription or perpetual licence, with a long-standing pattern-based workflow that many producers find fast.

Prices and licensing terms change, so check the vendor's site before buying. The names above are stable; the terms are not.

Our actual advice

Start free and stay there for a month. Reaper, Ardour or Cakewalk will not cost you anything, and a month is enough to learn whether you like the workflow. Every DAW can do the first ten things you need.

Do not switch DAW because of a plugin. A specific compressor you want is a reason to buy the plugin, and the plugin is available in several DAWs. It is not a reason to relearn an interface.

Do not switch DAW because someone on a forum prefers it. Forums are full of people who love their tool, which is exactly why they are telling you about it. Your work will sound the same in a DAW you know.

Expect to change your mind once. Most people settle on their DAW somewhere between month three and month twelve. That is fine, and it is much cheaper than changing in week two. When you do change, export stems — bounce every track to audio — so you can carry the project across.

The DAW you are comfortable with beats the DAW that is objectively better, every time. There is no prize for using the correct program.

Learning it

Whatever you choose, learn it in a specific order rather than by watching random tutorials:

1. Record two audio tracks and understand the difference between them.
2. Learn the recording buffer size and monitoring modes. This is the single most useful technical setting in the program.
3. Learn to navigate with the keyboard. Editing is a keyboard job.
4. Build a template. Your instruments, your favorite effects, your routing. Every session starts from it.
5. Learn the plugin inserts on one track only — EQ, then compression, then reverb — and build from there.
6. Learn to bounce. Export stems, and export a finished mix. Knowing how to get out of the program safely is what lets you stop fiddling.

The features you can safely ignore for now

• MPE and advanced MIDI expression — irrelevant until you are playing expressive controllers.
• Surround and immersive formats — irrelevant for a home studio.
• Collaboration and cloud review — nice, and not what you need in year one.
• Video and film scoring tools — most of them are fine, none of them are why you started.
• Track freeze and "commit" workflows — a large-project feature.

When to spend money

Buy the paid version when one of these is true:

• You have used the free one for a month and you are still using it weekly.
• You need a specific feature the free version does not have.
• The software has become the bottleneck in your workflow.

Do not buy it because a discount expires, because a bundle looks good, or because you saw someone else's screen. If you are still using it weekly, the price stops mattering very quickly.