Unfortunately Bitwig did not measure up to Studio One for me.
There seemed to be some major issues in finding things like Edit follows playback or return to start on stop type options that I just need to be things I can find. Other things such as saving presets for the plugins and the interface to the plugins being controlled by the daw, which were absent in Bitwig.
I don’t really know much about CLAP plugins anyways, it just seemed like a good idea.
If I was to use Linux which I don’t I would use Reaper right now. But more options would be good.
Only mentioned it after noticing how many different things were there in the Arturia products. Interfaces, analog synthesizers, of course keyboards and sequencers and midi controllers and a lot of plugins. I just thought DAW would be another thing to consider adding there.
I mean, I just want more DAW options with the recent closing of the Studio One forum and whatnot and their switching to subscription for new business model. It’s time for DAWs to step into the 2020s as far as CLAP plugins which sound like a good idea, though I am not a software designer. It’s time for the move forward for music don’t you think?
I noticed a lot of things are getting stale these days and just falling into a state of disuse that used to be pretty big deals. Not just music things either. Looking around at once popular softwares (non music as well as music). Or VST plugin pages which for some reason don’t get updated any more and haven’t for a few years. VST plugins are becoming pretty passe for the people such as myself who adopted them last decade. I am sure new people are arriving every day who are new to the plugins, but VST? Come on there has to be a move forward.
Looking at some of the other websites I notice things falling off the face of the earth. I could name names, but I better not.
Tbf the market is absolutely saturated with different DAWs, across all platforms, and at every conceivable price-point, from free (e.g. Reaper, Garageband) to megabucks (e.g. ProTools).
If Arturia did launch a DAW, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them following the perpetual-payment model (subscription), which is the ‘thing’ these days. Its sole USP would be its tight integration with Arturia software and hardware. It would be a huge risk for a small company to assume that’s enough of a USP to attract new users and to have existing users like me migrate from a different DAW.
I personally wouldn’t migrate from Logic to an Arturia DAW no matter how good it is: I don’t have the time and resources to both re-platform 10+ years of work into a different incompatible DAW, then learn how to use it as efficiently as I can currently use Logic. It’s the same reason why ProTools has a stranglehold in recording studios, except that’s an expontentially-larger scale.
You could probably make a daw with AI in 2025. I will probably end up just making my own one day soon using AI to code it and just telling it what I want it to do…
I already use OBS just about as effectively as I would use the DAW to make my mix and monitor it thru the video. Just sayin.
Of all the companies out there, Arturia seem to offer the highest quality and value in terms of software and sound design. While there are many DAWs on the market, I can’t help feeling that Arturia would do better than all of them if they turned their minds to it.
I a sure others have mentioned that the version of Ableton you are using is the Lite version. Although it’s limited to 8 tracks , drum racks are treated as ine rack.
I do think a DAW is doable, but it would be a mistake to make something along the lines of what is out there. Arturia’s bread an butter is emulating vintage synths and effects. A DAW that emulates multiple vintage sequencers or trackers may make it attractive to owners of other DAWs.
I use often Standalone instruments (Pianoteq, Amplebass, Addictive Drums, Arturia instruments).
Pianoteq has an extensive midi recorder.
Addictive Drums can play a long (internal and external) midi file.
Amplebass has the riffer that can play a long midi file or generate a short one.
It would be nice if Analog Lab could record and play internally a midi file as a standalone.
Arturia can just stick to what they are good at. There is a plethora of options in the DAW space as it is and if one is not happy with the bundled limitations then, cough up and purchase either the full version or an alternative.
I doubt if Arturia did make a DAW it would be a free bundled option - they have to pay for development and debugging.
Anyway - Reaper is my poison of choice in the DAW land and it is quite a good option with Arturia. Would like more Linux integration with Arturia controllers and plugins but maybe down the track that will be.
If you don’t want to pay - use the restricted bundled DAW and be creative with 8 tracks - of which one should be able to do quite a lot with unless needing orchestral scoring.
The market is flooded with DAW options from popular DAWs we all know to ‘in-the-margins’ options to attract customers with niche requirements. Most of them are still being actively developed/refined, to meet advances such as MIDI 2 and to embrace AI. If none of them them ticks your boxes then I highly doubt an Arturia DAW would either. EDIT: plus they’d be starting from nothing, some 20-25 years after most of the biggest players started. Ideally they’d need to ‘do an Apple’ and buy someone out, then integrate V Collection (etc) into the DAW they’ve purchased.
But really it sounds to me as though you just like having new toys to play with. Which is fine (don’t we all?), but that’s not how you convince a company such as Arturia to commit financial risk into a new DAW in a market that’s already over-saturated with options.
Maybe you need to put your computer away for a bit and see what you can achieve with a 4-track cassette recorder, so that you gain an appreciation of the technology that’s currently at your fingertips, instead of just constantly wanting more choice. The Beatles recorded their first 8 UK albums on 1" tape-machines with 2 or 4 tracks.
Personally, I’ve used Sonar (Cakewalk), Apple Logic Pro, Ableton, and Bitwig. I love Bitwig and it’s my primary DAW right now for electronic music production.
I noticed a lot of things are getting stale these days and just falling into a state of disuse that used to be pretty big deals.
Maybe be more specific? In my experience it’s the opposite. Bitwig is killing it! 5.3 have handfulls of goodies: 808 and 909 drum kits, dome filter. new step sequencer, Freq Shift+, Master Recording section and more. Bitwig is killing it.
It would be infinitely easier for Bitwig to add the features you want then for Arturia to make an entire DAW that’s halfway as good as Bitwig.
Have submitted your feature requests? If follow playback is enabled, it will jump back to start when you press the home button.
[Studio One] … switching to subscription for new business model
If I was a DAW maker, I wouldn’t give your requests much attention given your concerns about pricing. It makes you sound like a low-value customers in terms of LTV.
Sustainable revenue is crucial for continued DAW innovation and development. The subscription model helps ensure consistent funding for hiring skilled developers and investing in new features. While concerns about recurring billing are understandable, it’s important to consider that maintaining and advancing professional audio software requires significant ongoing investment. The traditional one-time purchase model may not provide the sustained resources needed for modern software development and support.
Before expressing criticism of their business model, consider how continuous funding enables DAW makers to deliver the high-quality features and reliability that users expect.
Personally, I’m happy to invest in funding the products I use regularly and get tremendous value from. People have committed years of their lives into developing these products and they deserve to get reap the rewards.
I’m in the ‘the last thing the world needs is another DAW’ camp.
Try a few until you find the one you need. I also stopped using StudioOne due to directions that Presonus, then Fender went in. But also because Apple started adding really useful features into Logic Pro so I’m predominantly back with that.
Arturia can keep their focus on their great plug-ins and synths, don’t need to be distracted by another product line that’s even more complicated.
I would just be happy to see just one or two clear, unambiguous Analog Lab version with clear understanding of their mission, as well as better transparency of and expansion on the really useful features it already has.
On the subject of DAWs and a future with MIDI 2.0
What most people don’t get is that with broader acceptance of MIDI 2.0 we won’t need most of the proprietary features we typically depend on in a DAW.
With a significantly more powerful network-aware infrastructure, the developers of hardware and software synthesizers and effects will be able to focus on the core functionality of their diverse visions, and the DAW market deprived of their closed platform, walled garden economics will be forced to honestly compete for our meager, hard-earned funds.
The major DAW manufacturers will finally have to prove they offer real advantages in how they assist with composition (not Ai slop), aiding in arrangement and orchestration across multiple related compositions, post-production mixing, and of course a special niche for engineers and artists collaboration during life performance.
For example, my current project using UMP MIDI 2.0 CI over POE++ with a USB4/Thunderbolt Hub extension, synchronizes not only the music, but haptics, lighting, mechatronics, and 2.5D vector animation all triggered by MIDI 2.0 mediated motion capture.
Just to add my two 'penneth: I DON’T think Arturia should develop as DAW.
There are plenty of decent DAWs available and they would face a lot of competition for a likely small share of the market. After all, if they did develop one, how many of us are going to switch to it after years of learning our DAW of choice?
I also feel that should build on their strength of creating plugins, be they synth or FX and develop more hardware like the Minifreak.
It’s not just you.
There are a plethora of DAWs currently, some of them are even free for non-commercial use, and all are capable of results people could have only dreamed of a few decades ago.
The ‘old model’ of the music business might be dead now, but there’s NEVER been a better time for musicians in terms of tech to make music with, both in terms of availability and cost.
I’d rather Arturia stick to what they know and are EXTREMELY good at, rather than try and diversify into other areas that are already highly competitive.
Just MHO!
(I do not work for Arturia, so any opinions are my own).
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