In 2018, music production software has become more mobile than ever. This updated list of the best music production software includes packages that automatically scale to fit any screen size. New technologies in modern DAWs eliminate latency when using wireless devices as interfaces or virtual instruments. This year, we’ve also seen great improvements to the built-in virtual synthesizers included with music production software.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125486203/623605126.jpg)
Best Laptop For Music Production With Large Screen Acer Aspire V17 Those who like larger screens for their laptops will find the 17.3-inch Acer Aspire laptop to be a great device.
You can expect your DAW to come with more built-in samples than ever — and more interesting ways to manipulate those samples to fit the needs of your project. Quick Look Software Price Why? Where to Buy Pro Tools $299.00 Pro Tools is simply the industry standard. If you want to have a career as a professional audio engineer, you should have at least a little experience with Pro Tools. Logic Pro $199.99 Pro Tools may be the standard for DAW software, but Apple’s Logic Pro isn’t far behind. The only thing possibly holding Logic Pro back is the fact that it doesn’t support Windows — but then, Logic Pro is responsible for selling a great many Macs.
FL Studio $285.00 FL Studio (formely Fruity Loops) is well known for making great sounds and beats for rap/hip/and R&B. With those genres mending with pop these days, it makes for a great software choice. Ableton Live $79 and up Ableton Live doesn’t lack features, but it strips the interface down to the bare essentials to simplify your workflow. It’s the ideal DAW for creativity and spontaneity. Any seasoned producer will tell you that choosing the best audio engineering software is more than comparing data points like pricing or percentage of usage – it’s a personal choice.
Better yet, it’s a personal journey. About 10 years ago, the industry standard was Pro Tools, and one could argue that you weren’t a “professional” if you didn’t use it. Today that has changed, and there are many powerful DAW’s out there that can get the job done. Often times the top audio engineering software programs are used in conjuncture with each other.
What’s new for 2018? For 2018, Avid has added features to that make it easier to use than ever.
If you use fades frequently in your projects, you’ll love the ability to adjust fades and crossfades quickly using the Smart Tool. You can even commit the same fade shape to many clips in a batch instead of working on fades individually. Now lets you work on tracks with musicians and producers in any location using the new Avid Cloud collaboration feature. Upload your work and give access to your collaborators. When they modify the project, you’ll see the changes on your computer automatically. Overview Pro Tools is massive, and because of it, there is a bit of a learning curve.
I remember when I first tried to use it, it took me an hour just to learn how to record myself saying “Hello World!” in the microphone (after a few hours of setup). It is the framework for creating great projects, however a lot of the work is actually left up to you. This is why some people spend thousands of dollars on pro tools classes. You don’t have to learn Pro Tools to become a professional, but if you want the best sound quality, you definitely want to learn Pro Tools. On top of this, if you need any sort of top-flight recording in real-time, then Pro Tools is your only choice. Even if you end up buying another DAW – you really should consider purchasing Pro Tools as well.
This is because many studios use it and it is a good idea have it around for compatibility reasons. The new subscription model of Pro Tools 12 makes it pretty reasonably affordable. Computer Compatibility Pro Tools is the king of compatibility when it comes to computers. Pro Tools is both compatible with Mac and with PC. This means that when you are sending files, or working with other producers, you are able to share a lot easier. However even though the program itself is compatible with both computer types, that means there is a lot of variation when it comes plugins (64 vs 32 bit matters).
MIDI Integration There was a time when Pro Tools was slacking in this category, and other DAW’s were able to catch up. However that time is over and Pro Tools has great MIDI integration.
Community & Support Pro Tools has one of the largest communities out there, and you can learn Pro Tools online in many different places. Right now there is about 16,500,000 results when you google something like “pro tools tutorial.” Virtual Instruments Pro tools has been in the running for the worst virtual instruments for quite some time though, so if the best virtual instruments is what you are looking for, I would look elsewhere on this list. What’s new for 2018? The biggest addition in Logic Pro 10.2 is the Alchemy Synthesizer.
Apple purchased Camel Audio — the maker of Alchemy — in 2015, making Alchemy now a Final Cut Pro-exclusive plugin. Alchemy is a digital synthesizer that comes with a library of more than 3,000 samples that you can locate easily using the built-in search engine.
Alchemy also comes with an analog synthesizer component — and it works with third-party samples. Overview This DAW is definitely for the music producer/engineer that is looking for a lot of help with actually creating the music. Out of the box it comes with some of the best virtual instruments and it can save you a lot of money when it comes to plugins that are included in the suite.
Computer Compatibility Logic Pro requires a Mac computer, and you can find it right in the iTunes store. If you’re a Window’s user this pretty much cancels out your option of getting this DAW that once started out as an electric piano plugin. But also, if you are a Windows user, you may still just want to get a MAC and install Logic Pro Anyway.
Despite it’s limitation to using a MAC computer, you will find that it highly compatible with a lot of other audio engineering software programs that can be found on this “Best of” list. Here’s an example: Are you on the road and using Garage Band to record some tunes? A lot of popular musicians actually do this, and you can open your GarageBand files directly in Logic Pro. You can also export music notation to MusicXML and there is ReWire support for Propellerhead Reason, Ableton Live, and other popular DAW’s. Logic will work with any FireWire or USB interface.
MIDI Integration Logic Pro works with many of the most and surfaces out there (like M-audio which many people think is just for Pro Tools). Additional plugins are available from third party manufacturers. Community & Support Logic is probably second to Pro Tools in popularity, but there still a very enormous population of producers out there using the software and you can usually find anything you are looking for in terms of tutorials or support within a few Google searches. What’s new for 2018?
Cubase 8.5 is the second music production package on our list that has added online collaboration. Steinberg calls this feature VST Transit. Uploading tracks to Steinberg’s cloud services as you work on them enables you to collaborate on projects in real time. Cubase 8.5 includes 750 MB of cloud storage space and allows you to transfer up to 1.5 GB of data each month. For more storage space and traffic, you’ll need to upgrade your account. Cubase 8.5 also includes an upgraded version of the Retrologue virtual synthesizer.
Retrologue 2 comes with 400 presets that you can tweak to your heart’s content with the new arpeggiator, oscillator and other new effects. Overview To a lot of music producers Cubase just “feels” better. When it comes to workflow, and not feeling “Menu-y” cubase really is a top notch choice. It also is good in terms of your budget (however with Pro Tools new subscription model it really is hard to NOT sign up). If freedom with plugins is extremely important to you, then Cubase might be the choice for you.
You are not dependent upon the plugin developers. The consensus seems to be that if you have a focus on MIDI, and are a one man shop, then Cubase seems the way to go – especially for the musician/artist/songwriter. Three things that make Cubase a great option is their Parts and Lanes, a “real” sample editor (including offline processing), and very powerful monitoring and metering options. Computer Compatibility You can use it on both a Windows computer and a Mac. MIDI Integration & Composiiton Just like the rest of the DAW’s on this list, Cubase is fully compatible with a vast variety of MIDI controllers. For a good list of MIDI controllers that are compatible/ work well with Cubase, check out. Like most instruments/hardware, this typically depends on your taste.
The EDM community can be very MAC heavy, and for that reason there are a lot of Logic users out there, but if you are looking for something that can do it all for you, and are looking for an alternative to Logic, then you need to check out Cubase. What’s new for 2018? If you like using Ableton Live to enhance your live performances or at-home experimentation, you’re going to love the new Link feature. Link removes the latency that inevitably results when you attempt to use multiple devices simultaneously over a wireless network. Connect multiple smartphones, tablets and synth pads using Link, and you’ll never have to worry about network latency causing your performances to fall out of sync. Overview The software is called Ableton Live for a reason – it is regarded by many as the best DAW on the market to use for live recording. The software can be really fun because you are making a song with parts – just like you are when you are performing.
The software was created in 1999, it is extremely simple to set up, and it comes equipped with a lot of built in sound packages. One more reason to consider this DAW is that Ableton Live won’t cause as many problems when you are mapping sounds through the DAW. Computer Compatibility Ableton Live 9 is compatible with Windows 10, however Ableton Live 8 may have issues as it is a legacy version. Ableton Live will also work on a Mac.
MIDI Integration & Composiiton Ableton Live has partnered up with some great brands to create gear just for them specifically. This has allowed for some awesome MIDI’s to hit the market and makes for seamless integrations. What’s new for 2018? Reaper 5.28 greatly enhances the MIDI functionality of this already formidable budget DAW. Reaper can now quantize your live performances to MIDI more accurately according to note subdivisions that you select. Reaper 5.28 also improves the process of editing MIDI by making it easier to copy and paste specific passages. The MIDI interface has also been updated to make selecting specific MIDI events easier.
Overview Are you looking for a DAW that is reliable enough to use without crashing for months? One that you also don’t need to buy a new computer with (a huge hidden cost in actually buying DAW software).
If so, then the “grind it out” REAPER software by Cockos is a great option for you. The best part about REAPER is the price. You could literally buy it, install it on your computer, and if you don’t like, well you only lost around $60 if you qualify for getting it at the discount price.
Another great thing about the program being so cheap is that you can use that money to spend on third party plugins (they do have free plugins as well). Computer Compatibility You can use Reaper on a Windows 32-bit, a Windows 64-bit, an OS X 32-bit, and an OS X 64 bit. MIDI integration As far as we can tell, REAPER integrates just fine with MIDI if you use the plugin ReaControlMidi. There may have been updates since this article has been written and you may want to do a little bit more research to truly figure out what type of team a MIDI and REPEAR makes. What’s new for 2018?
FL Studio 12 has a greatly enhanced interface to make complex production tasks easier than ever. If you’re using a touch screen display, you’ll love the fact that FL Studio now accepts multiple simultaneous inputs. Control the mixer directly with your touch screen notebook or tablet. The FL Studio interface now scales itself automatically to fit on any screen size — from a single notebook to a high-end desktop with several displays. You can detach any element of the interface and move it anywhere you like for a smoother workflow. Overview FL Studio is great for beginners as it is quite easy to learn compared to other DAW’s that have been mentioned on this list.
And something that is also great for beginners is the pricing and the fact that you get free upgrades to new editions. There are many VSTS and effects that can be used with FL studio, but that can also be said for the other DAW’s on this list.
It is a great idea to start of with FL studio, but after a few years you will probably find yourself wanting more out of your DAW. Computer Compatibility The Mac version is beta, so it’s probably a better idea to go with a different DAW if you are not using Windows – unless you feel like you would like to give the beta a shot that is of course. MIDI Integration FL studio supports many MIDI devices, and you can get a lot more information from their that specifically tackles these types of topics. ACID Pro 7 Overview ACID Pro has expanded its feature set over the years, growing from a loop-based synthesizer into a full DAW. At the core, though, ACID Pro maintains the simplicity that has made it so popular for so many years. ACID Pro makes working with samples incredibly easy by allowing you to import samples from any source and work with multiple file types within the same project. Pros ACID Pro allows for virtually endless possibilities in manipulating samples.
You can adjust the pitch or tempo without losing the sample’s original sound quality. When you add a new sample, ACID Pro automatically analyzes it and matches it to the groove of your existing track. Cons The primary drawback of ACID Pro is the fact that it’s becoming a bit long in the tooth.
ACID Pro 7 was originally released in 2009, and little has changed since then except the price. While the price of ACID Pro 7 at the time of its original release was $315, the price is now just $149.95. Features In spite of its age, ACID Pro remains a feature-rich DAW.
The built-in mixer supports surround channels and submixes. It even allows you to mix sounds from outside sources and apply effects to them in real time. ACID Pro has full support for MIDI and hardware control panels — and the sample editing features are still tops in the industry. Cakewalk SONAR Overview Cakewalk SONAR is the latest iteration in a DAW that began life as an MS-DOS MIDI sequencer nearly 30 years ago. Cakewalk SONAR is famous for its beautiful interface that resembles a bank of analog devices while retaining the clean look that you expect from high-end recording software. With a 64-bit mixing engine — and support for unlimited digital and MIDI tracks — Cakewalk SONAR scales effortlessly to meet the needs of any project.
Pros Cakewalk SONAR has some of the highest sound quality available in any DAW today. In addition to the 64-bit mixing engine, Cakewalk SONAR features improved sound quality for plugins and imported audio. SONAR automatically increases the sample rate when you use a plugin or import a new sound to prevent sound quality loss when you mix down the finished track. Cons Some have criticized Cakewalk SONAR’s lack of advanced music notation features. In addition, you may not find SONAR’s interface as easy to use on computers with smaller displays. Features Cakewalk SONAR features support for touch screen devices.
It also comes with an impressive array of effects and virtual instruments. Using the included plugins, you can do anything from emulating a tube amplifier to correcting a vocalist’s pitch in real time.
So you’ve got the gearbut do you have the software to lay it all down with? You can’t paint without a canvas. Perhaps you’re looking to switch to a more popular, supported digital audio workstation? Some say it’s all about the musician and that the recording software doesn’t matterwe agree, but to a certain extent. Give somebody like DJ Premier or Danger Mouse a vintage Boss drum machine and they can probably still make a hit. However, in our opinion you need the proper software to give you the full capabilities of the song you’ve worked so hard on building inside of your head — something to really transfer those ideas into a reality. You also need to optimize your workflow to simplify the process of making music so you don’t even have to think anymore — you can just create.
With that being said, picking the best DAW can be dependent on a few factors. Let’s review the top 10 best digital audio workstations out today and help you pick which DAW is best for you. What is a digital audio workstation (DAW)? A is basically a blank piece of paper and the necessary paint brushes for an artist to create their works of art on.
All you need to bring is some sounds, your talent, and most of all, your creativity. A DAW is a computer program designed for editing, recording, mixing and mastering audio files. You can record your various instruments, MIDI controllers and vocals, lay down the tracks, rearrange, splice, cut, paste, add effects, and ultimately finalize the song you’ve got cooking for the world to hear.
Professional, semi-pro and home studios use DAWs as their backbone for making music if their main focus is to have a digital setup. Aside from those who use real instruments, we do know of some well-known musicians who still use analog setups, such as and with real mixing boards and the like, but a majority of people nowadays are strictly computer-based or at least have a hybrid studio to incorporate both (why not?).
This trend only continues to grow as technology advances. Aside from a computer or of course, a DAW is the most important piece of you’ll need to get the ball rolling for those masterpieces waiting to be created. How to choose your production software To us, choosing your DAW is like picking which soda to drink. Either way you go, it won’t necessarily be wrong especially in this day and age. As you can see in the comments, this decision brings much debate (rightfully so, and we’re glad it does since it allows us to continue to evolve and learn about music production as a whole — keep them coming). However, taking into consideration your personal needs is very crucial. Here are some important aspects to keep in mind during your search that we recommend.
Your budget – We always list this first in our music equipment guides because it’s a pretty big given, but it’s always something to think about. Our opinion and mind state is to think of this as an investment. Typically a 4-5 year and beyond one (like buying a car), so you’re going to want to get it right. We’ve been using our DAW now for more than 10 years!
Why fix what isn’t broken? With that being said, there is always out there you can check, but we do recommend that if it takes saving up a few more hundred dollars, it’s worth it to wait. You want to think long-term, but before you do drop that money most of these companies offer free trials (which we’ll provide). What is your experience level?
If you’re starting out, you don’t want to get too crazy in terms of a DAW, such as going with Pro Tools right away (they have entire created for this software after all). You want to start with something that you can easily understand and use in order to get your music-making skills going. In that case, we’d recommend our newly published guide. Getting an expert-level software from the start can not only take months to learn but also be daunting, ultimately discouraging producers from continuing to sharpen their craft. Don’t get us wrong, if you’re the type to want to go big right away, be our guest.
However, as stated in our article, we do recommend starters begin with something a bit smaller. On the other hand, if you’re a bit more experienced and you’re looking to take a step up, going the extra yard and getting an expert-level software such as Pro Tools may be hard at first, but an ultimate investment when thinking of the future. Which brings our next point. The ever-popular debate of will always be a relevant one.
If you already have your music computer, great. Otherwise, you’ll of course need to invest in a powerful enough rig to support the DAW that you end up choosing after reading this article, which will always entail you choose your operating system afterwards. If you want our opinion — it doesn’t matter. We’re more if Windows types of people, whereas our friend we just worked with a few weeks ago says Mac only. This is entirely subjective.
What will really come down to the choice is if you don’t have your OS yet and have already picked software to use. Some software come Mac-only, whereas others (and most, for that matter) work with both. We’ll let you decide this one!. Think about the future, too – If you are a beginner, take the previous bullet-point into consideration, but keep the long-term in mind as well. Starting with a beginner software is great for right at the beginning, but it may get boring after your first year or two and you need to keep in mind that you’ll eventually be good enough to use more functions of the software. For children or youngsters, starting at a beginner-level is most recommended, but if the DAW you chose at first has a low ceiling, you’ll eventually have to make a switch and learn an entirely new software (it’s what I did with Acid ProI had to eventually move on to Ableton which took me some time to learn — although I did understand the universal basics of music software, so it wasn’t too bad).
We’d go with something in the middle – a software that will take some time to learn, but will ultimately offer some valuable advanced features down the road when you’re ready. Although in the end, even the “beginner” programs could last you quite a long time (well-known musicians still use software considered to be ‘entry-level’ such as FL Studio). Do you perform live?
A few of the software we list are more optimal for performing live, such as giving us some easy integration with, control surfaces and other live performance-specific gear and features. Gets a bit more tricky and you’ll want to make sure all of your tools flow well together. Regarding software, there are some more live-tailored features in some DAWs, such as saving presets, matching the interface with what you’ve got in front of you, etc. Some are just more geared to live performances, while others being for when you’re deep inside of the studio well-past midnight. Ultimately however, any software is fine for performing live. Stick with what you’ve chosen – The more familiar you become with software you’ve picked, the quicker and easier you workflow is, the more confident you become, and ultimately, the better your music sounds. Think you’ve learned a DAW to its fullest?
Learn it again. Look into hot keys, extensions, etc. You want to be able to immediately put an idea into play to keep that work flow going. Join message boards or subreddits about the software to brainstorm with others. The more you know about your software, the easier it is to get those thousands of ideas circulating in your brain during your production onto the piece of paper. It’s an investment, but once it’s as smooth as butter, pumping out that music becomes even more beautiful as times goes on (it almost becomes second nature, such as driving a car).
Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Relax! It’s 2018 — the digital age is here, and most of the production software out there is up-to-date and very popular. Either way you go with the 10 we’ve listed, you’re getting lifetime support, huge communities with message boards, and YouTube tutorials on any of the software you choose. You can’t really go wrong with one or the other, even if you’re a beginner. So don’t panic. There are also many similarities with software so if you do end up switching to a different DAW later down the road, it won’t be completely foreign.
Our picks for the top 10 best music creation software Below is our list for top 10 best DAWs out there. Take into consideration the level you’re currently at, where you plan on being for the future as well as the overall capabilities you’re looking for. Visit their website or the purchase link we provide for more information.
We also tried to throw in the free trials and a few video overviews. We hope this guide has helped continue your music creation journey — keep the questions and comments coming at the end of the guide, we’ve really enjoyed the discussions throughout the years. If you’re looking for some smart device DAWs instead (some, but not many, home studio artists are starting to go with this route due to convenience, although we still don’t recommend it right now), check out our article since we made a separate guide altogether for that subcategory.
Recommended level: All levels Operating system: Mac or Windows Full versions ( ) Since it’s introduction in 1999, has been steadily growing as a very popular DAW and for good reason. We know we’ve gotten scrutiny for listing it first, and everybody is entitled to their opinions. However, we feel this is the best digital audio workstation for most of our readers.
Here’s why (and just a few reasons, considering it would take days to explain the power of this) — you’ve got the standard multi-track recording (an unlimited number of audio/MIDI tracks for songs) and cut/paste/splice features, but what’s especially great about this software is the seamless MIDI sequencing software and hardware. We’ve had so many fusses with our MIDI controllers getting mapped to our sounds through the DAW (back when we used Acid Pro in 2005-2010), but ever since the switch to Ableton it’s been extremely headache-free. Another huge plus is the included sound packages included. Although this really depends on your preferences and whether or not you have your gear and sounds up to speed, it comes with 23 sound libraries (about 50 GB of sounds), so you can make music right out-of-the-box (great for starters). To finish off our description for the beloved Ableton, this thing is the absolute best music software for performing live with. We’ve experienced very few glitches (the biggest fear of performersit can make or break a set). What’s even better is that Ableton has paired up with some brands to create gear specifically for the program, often matching interfaces with the software for easier pairing and remembering of sounds.
Although this is an extremely simplified summary of the software, you can’t go wrong with Ableton Live, regardless of your “level” (how do you even categorize that?). We recommend trying it first to see what it’s all about — you then have two versions (intro for about a hundred bucks or standard for half a G — try intro first before you go all the way up). Recommended level: Beginner and up Operating system: Windows only This is one of the best DAWs for those looking to start out and get their feet wet in the music making world. Has been out and about for quite some time, being one of the most popular software to date. It’s got your standard protocol with pitch shifting, correction, time-stretch, cut, paste and the works, but it’s interface is especially well-suited for the beginner. It’ll take a little bit of reading to start going, but once you’ve got the hang of it you’re good to go.
There are plenty of YouTube videos out there dating back to 2005 giving tutorials for pretty much any feature you need explained. Their latest version includes over 30 synth software for out-the-box usage, so if you’ve just purchased a controller and want some sounds to start fiddling with you don’t have to spend much money. You can use MIDI keyboards, record into it with a, do your standard editing and mixing — it just gives you what you essentially need in music software with a simple interface. There are some advanced features as well, so once you become familiar with it you can delve further into these to attain a solid learning curve for the future, too. It’s very user-friendly, especially with adding some virtual instruments and playing them on MIDI. Another perk is it works great with PC or Mac. The retail price is also a lot lower than others out there, so it’s definitely budget-friendly.
We’d recommend getting this if it’s for somebody younger as well. What made this program famous in our opinion and still does is the fact that today (if anybody is a fan like us).