Link to Purchase: Presonus Studio One ($100 -$450, PC/Mac) Originally released on Atari, Steinberg has been able to refine the DAW over the years while still keeping in mind the requirements of the modern day producer.

Many well-known composers including Hans Zimmer use Cubase, and there is no question it is an excellent piece of software. Often referred to as “the granddaddy of DAWs,” it has been in development since 1989, created by Steinberg, the company who introduced the Virtual Instrument Plugin technology we all know today as VSTs. Link to Purchase: Steinberg Cubase ($600, PC/Mac) Cubase has been an industry standard for years now. Ableton Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for composing, recording, arranging, mixing and mastering. One of the simplest DAW’s to produce any genre of music with, Ableton is not only great for producing songs in the studio with, But its great for performing live with thanks to its ‘Clip View’.

Nonetheless, in the past 8 years, it has been more popular and has been ranked as one of the best choices available. Link to Purchase: Ableton LIve ($99 – $749, PC/Mac) When this product first appeared in 2001, it did not immediately become a big name in the market. Also has an arpeggiator that’s better than a lot of software out there, it’s programmable too. It has a “virtual drummer” feature which features an interactive drum set for visual implementation of drums for some fun playing and natural sounding kits. What stands out with Logic Pro is the interface - very advanced to help with the music making process by including track consolidation (track stack), instrument layering, an intuitive mixer for plug-in control, and a “score editor” to allow you to create your own MIDI (comes with nine MIDI plug-ins that help you transform the sounds, such as chaining multiple plug-ins together, scale velocity, etc) tracks with only a mouse (most programs have this). Originally created by a German software developer called C-Lab, and later Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic out in 2002. This is an amazing digital audio workstation, but for MAC users only. One of the more simpler DAWs, Logic has come a long way over the years. And of course on our site you will find the templates for each of these DAWs. We have made a special list of TOP DAWs in the world to make your choice easier. The DAW you choose often depends on the type of music you make, your budget, your workflow and the level of experience with music software.

Best daw for mac 2016