DAWs are the central workspace for (pretty much) all computer musicians, however the sad truth is that once we find the software we like, we tend to settle in with it like a nice pair of comfy slippers. It’s rare for some of us to even think of dabbling with an alternative. They all effectively do the same thing, right?
Perhaps more than any other year, 2023 saw the major DAW manufacturers carve out increasingly individualised niches. We saw Bitwig’s sound-design-focused v5 which added vast modulation parameters via its MSEG system, Logic’s leap to iPad as a subscriptionbased mobile DAW, and recently, FL Studio 21.2’s much vaunted addition of slick stem separation as a standard function. Many of the biggest players made major strides in underlining their points of difference to the competition.