Well hate might be too strong a word but we certainly know many people use a DAW they actively resent. Why is that? We look into the love-hate relationship we have with the most important part of our studio.

Inertia

The first and most obvious reason. Has to be inertia, its a given, people resist change. - both good and bad. In the case of a DAW, I’ve always thought of a DAW as similar to a musical instrument in that the first one you get to know properly set’s your perspective from which you approach all the other DAW’s or instruments you subsequently use. I play the guitar but I learned piano first and when visualising intervals and chords I can work comfortably on a fretboard but if I’m undeniably more comfortable on a keyboard. It’s the same with software and while I started on Cubase, I never really got far with it, the first DAW I learned thoroughly was Pro Tools and I see Logic Pro, Studio One, Ableton or Reaper in terms of how they differ from Pro Tools.

Comfort zones are so called for a reason, We are comfortable in them and that’s a powerful draw. If we are under pressure and have a job to complete, we want to done. There might be a more efficient way to do the same think in another DAW but who has time for that?

The solution of course is to take the time to learn new tools and to keep your skills current. The problem is of course that the people who stand to gain the most from revising their workflow are also the people who have then least time to spend on what we used to call in the teaching profession “professional development”.

Investment

Following on from the point about inertia, we have to acknowledge the role prior investment plays in keeping people where they are. It’s not hard to see that a Pro Tools user with an HDX system and Avid IO is going to be hard to convince that they should move over to a UAD system running LUNA. Leaving aside the suitability of the software, the hardware components are mutually exclusive.

This DSP/hardware example is extreme but even if the choice was just one of changing software, the investment of time learning the software, developing workflows and committing keyboard shortcuts to muscle memory is probably more valuable than any investment in equipment. This is a huge element of why we don’t move between DAWs and manufacturers know it.

It’s an intentional marketing strategy of some hardware and software manufacturers to get you into their eco-system, you buy the hardware that has plugin dependencies, the more you invest and the more committed you feel. For example, if you are going to jump on the Logic Pro train then you’ll need a Mac, described by some as ‘the biggest dongle in the world.’

I used to teach and advised my students to think very carefully about which choice they made about their “DAW of choice”. It’s a decision which follows you through your life so think further than how much it costs or what your mate uses.

Compatibilty

That last point about what your mate uses leads neatly to another very significant area. Compatibility. Being a user of a DAW which is prevalent in your professional life is of course the path of least resistance and, while projects can be shared by exchanging multitrack WAVs, stems or OMFs/AFFs. None of these compare with being able to share a DAW project. Don’t use what your peers use. Use what the people you want to work with use. That might be the same DAW and the same people but it might not be.

Taking video software as an example, some years ago I decided to finally get into video. As a Pro Tools user I was drawn to Media Composer. I bought the software (with a generous academic discount which was available to me at the time) and a couple of excellent training books. In spite of it never feeling right I stayed with it for a long time before I finally threw in the towel and bought Final Cut. The thing which finally convinced me to switch was the realisation that I was working in isolation. I was the only Media Composer user I knew. I didn’t need to collaborate on projects with others but I was isolating myself from all the Final Cut users I knew (of whom there were many) from whom I could learn.

But compatibility isn’t just about using the same DAW as other people. If you change DAW you potentially lose compatibility with your past projects. Particularly in these days of software subscriptions, though of course things are more complicated than that. In the days of buying permanent licenses, if you don’t buy upgrades you eventually lose compatibility with operating systems and computer hardware, and with software subscriptions you often have the option of resubscribing for a single month. It is however an issue you don’t have to face if you stay where you are.

Pride

Lastly there is the emotional resistance to change. None of us like to admit to ourselves that we’re wrong, or even not completely right! The feeling that we too heavily invested to change now does imply further investment, whether financial or in terms of time, in something which we should change now. Like a gambler who needs to win back their losses. Of the principal contenders in the DAW landscape there aren’t any “bad” DAWs but it doesn’t mean that the one you use is the right one for you.

If you were starting out in audio production today, would you use your DAW? If not, why not and what would you use instead?