Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

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Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby prozeyic » 01 Feb 2014 09:57

Now that Bitwig finally has a release date and price tag (March 26th, $399 USD) who's planning to make the switch when it's released? Or at the very least give it a trial run?

Personally I'm really freaking excited for it. At the moment I'm using Ableton which is my favourite DAW out of the ones that I've used, but there are a few small issues that become really tedious after a while and have slowed down my workflow a heck of a lot.
The automation feels really inaccurate and hard to use (in my opinion), and the 64bit version doesn't support 32bit plugins which means I had to get separate bridge software to make Sylenth work.
These issues might have better solutions but at this point I'm also kind of tired of the super minimalistic interface. When I first got Ableton it looked sleek and fast, but now to me it looks pretty bland and ugly. Especially when you've been staring at it for 6+ hours.

If Bitwig turns out to be as good as it seems I'll have to find a way to obtain $400+ before it's released. I feel the same excitement that I used to feel whenever a new game in one of my favourite franchises was about to come out.
If you're planning to make the switch, I'd like to hear the different reasons why. If you're sticking with what you have, feel free to point out the things that you like/prefer about your current DAW.
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby XXDarkShadow79XX » 01 Feb 2014 10:20

Doesn't look of much interest to me. I'll stick with FL, as I'm quite used to its workflow. This looks much too like Ableton for me personally, which I'm not at all acquainted with. FL's fast, pattern-based, almost desktop-like interface is simply more appealing to me. Plus, live performance/DJing is a non-factor for me, so this DAW more or less has nothing going for me. Obviously, I'll give it a chance if there's a demo or trial available, but for now, I'll stick with what I have.
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby S.P.P » 01 Feb 2014 10:32

I'm definitely interested in giving in a go; maybe I'll be able to add it to my list of usable DAWs!

It does look quite good though; I'm expecting good things.
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby prozeyic » 01 Feb 2014 10:34

@XXDarkShadow79XX

I use the session view in Ableton to write the main bulk of the parts, after that I put the parts into an arrangement and add variations and other instruments. It comes in handy if you want to quickly rehearse different parts together, and in Bitwig it looks like you can use both the arrangement and clip-launcher views together to make it easier to rehearse parts without replacing the existing ones in an arrangement.

I haven't used FL cause I'm on OS X but most of the people I talk to that use it aren't planning on switching.
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby S.P.P » 01 Feb 2014 10:37

I think the fact that FL's and Ableton's workflows and layouts are miles apart means that many or most FL users aren't very interested in making the switch.
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby Injustrial » 01 Feb 2014 11:32

If I were to start making instrumentals and getting a launch pad for live performing, I could definitely see myself getting Ableton. But as it stands, I'm a single producer, working from home and the FL interface is what I've grown accustomed to. (Dat Playlist Editor) For live performance, I'd just get a DJ-controller and play the instrumental from that, while running around screaming.

Anyways, back on topic. I had a quick look at some of the features and it seems very nice. With what little experience I have with Ableton (I've seen people use it) it seems a good enough alternative. And it's a bit cheaper, which is always a selling point.

Sidenote: WOW, Ableton didn't support dual monitors until just recently? WTH?!
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby prozeyic » 01 Feb 2014 11:48

I have multiple monitors, but Ableton's lack of support didn't really bother me. If you get the shortcuts down it's easy to navigate the different menus. The one problem I did have though is that you'd have to switch to session view to see the mixer properly. So in Bitwig I'll probably have the mixer and device chain viewer on a separate screen.
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby Injustrial » 01 Feb 2014 12:20

That would annoy me like all hell. I'm not using dual monitors atm, since I'm on a big ass TV.
Switching session view to see the mixer seems like a pretty unintuitive design choice, but I guess the other view has other focus areas? FL has everything up if you want it, and supports any number of monitors. (I'll stop talking about FL now)
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby prozeyic » 01 Feb 2014 12:26

Ableton has two views, arrangement view and session view. The arrangement view is the regular one that you see in most DAWs but it doesn't display the mixer properly. To view the mixer you have to switch to the session view by pressing TAB. It doesn't really get in the way as much as you'd think but I mentioned it since we're talking about workflow.
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Re: Who's planning to make the switch to Bitwig?

Postby Injustrial » 01 Feb 2014 12:55

Reason does have a similar problem, since everything's a "rack." In most DAWS the mixer is a separate window, for easy access, but it in Reaper the Mixer is on top of the rack. Which means scrolling...

Bitwig does actually seem interesting to me. I'll see if I can get my hands on a Demo Version, just to check it out.
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