When the first version was released in 2001 it threw out the traditional design rulebook and established itself not just as a recording program for composers, but also as a performance instrument in itself. It's hard to overstate the impact that Live has had on the music software marketplace. Plugin delay compensation is still an issue for a few of the effects In truth, any one of these products will enable you to make music - and we're not saying that any one is definitively better than all the others - but they’re all slightly different in the way that they operate, so it’s worth taking the time to consider your options carefully and try our demo versions wherever possible. To help you find that DAW, we’ve put together a guide to what we consider to be the best Digital Audio Workstations on the market today. Put simply, the best DAW for you is the one that makes it easiest for you to make music, and inspires you to keep creating. Yes, you’ll likely have a MIDI keyboard, audio interface, set of studio monitor speakers and possibly a microphone or two in your home recording setup as well, but your music production software sits at the centre of everything, and if it's not working for you, your level of creativity is likely to be compromised.Īs such, it’s important to get a DAW that you’re happy with - and, perhaps even more importantly, a digital audio workstation that will enable you to turn your ideas into music as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Workstation pro price