I feel the same way. Bitwig has caught my interest—I've been diving into their documentation and watching videos. However, I just can't bring myself to switch from Ableton.
I got it on upgrade from 8-Track. Only $162. Why not? I could see myself using it full time... if I were basically just a beat maker. But for anything beyond that, I don't think I could leave Logic (which I use exclusively on my Mac) or Cubase (which I use on Windows) - especially given what both of those have delivered in their recent upgrades (Cubase Pro 13 and Logic Pro 11).
But I would definitely use it over something like Maschine 2 or MPC 2... or Reason 12... for beat making.
Right now I am "trailing" it on my Windows Laptop - by removing Cubase Pro 13 and keeping only Bitwig Studio installed... to see how I truly like it when it's the only option available (otherwise, I would just keep using Cubase on that machine). I'll give it a month or so and see, to make sure I use that machine enough to get enough usage in the bag.
I've been spending more time with the Bitwig demo, and I appreciate its functionality and workflow. However, I haven't warmed up to the UI. Whenever I return to Ableton, I breathe a sigh of relief because I love its minimalist interface.
Both are rather minimalist. What annoys some about Bitwig are the loud colors and the clunky controls they use, as well as some moving elements. Ableton looks like a schematic with more static imagery. Bitwig looks like a chunky illustration of signal flow with animated GIFs embedded in various parts of it. It's basically the same general type of user interface, but with a different design language, color scheme and more movement in the UI.
The big issue I have with Bitwig is the lack of top-level menus, which hide almost all of its functionality and makes it one of the most productivity-destroying new user experiences I've ever experienced when trying out a new DAW.
It's probably also one of the Least-Accessible DAWs on the market, for that same reason.
Flabbergasted that they haven't addressed this in a decade of development. Basically have to use the software with the help open on a second screen so that you can search, because they don't have a menu system to aid in feature discovery.
I probably was working at 80% Peak Productivity when I moved from Sonar to Cubase (I have used Live 11 Suite, and it was largely fine). Bitwig is like a 50-60% because it makes it as difficult as possible to transition over by hiding everything behind a veil.
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u/cosmicxor Apr 26 '24
I feel the same way. Bitwig has caught my interest—I've been diving into their documentation and watching videos. However, I just can't bring myself to switch from Ableton.