Studio knowledge · DAW survey
Which DAW is best? What 630 users told me about their software
Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools or REAPER? It’s a familiar debate in music forums. In 2015 I surveyed German-speaking DAW users to learn what they used and how satisfied they were.
The starting question
Why I ran a survey
Looking for a new DAW tends to turn up strong opinions, rankings with unclear methods and figures that say little about how well a tool suits a particular project.
Few people know every DAW
Most users have only tried some of the available software.
Your needs may change
When starting out, it can be hard to know which features you’ll actually use.
Rankings have limits
A ranking rarely tells you how the software will work for your own tasks.
I work in online research and user experience and have years of experience running quantitative surveys. I applied that approach to music production out of curiosity and split the question into two parts: Which DAWs are used most often? And: How satisfied are people with the DAW they use?
I aimed for 500 participants by the end of February 2015. In the end, 630 people took part. Thank you to everyone who responded.
Survey methods
Who took part
Between 1 January and 28 February 2015, I surveyed 630 German-speaking DAW users. Most came through recording.de, just over a quarter through Sound & Recording’s social channels and the rest through other music forums.
I avoided posting the invitation in forums dedicated to particular DAWs. The sample was still voluntary and reflects the communities I could reach.
Where participants came from
Share of all 630 respondents
Usage in the sample: Cubase led
About a third of respondents mainly used Cubase. Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Studio One and REAPER each accounted for between 7% and 13%.
I compared the survey with the distribution of DAW threads in 2014 on recording.de and musiker-board.de. The patterns were broadly similar. This cross-check does not make the sample representative of the whole market.
Main DAW used
Share of respondents, n = 630
Windows or Mac? Different patterns of DAW use
Around two thirds of respondents used Windows and a third used Mac OS. The most commonly used DAWs differed by operating system.
Windows users
Most-used DAWs on Windows
Mac users
Most-used DAWs on Mac
Hobbyists, semi-professionals and professionals
Almost two thirds described themselves as hobbyists and earned little or nothing from music production. About one in five earned up to half their livelihood from DAW work. Roughly one in seven earned more than half.
Cubase led in all three groups. Logic and Pro Tools had a higher share among semi-professionals and professionals than among hobbyists.
Hobbyists
almost two thirds of respondents
Semi-professionals
about one in five
Professionals
about one in seven
Satisfaction was high across the DAWs
I used a seven-point scale, from “extremely satisfied” to “very dissatisfied”. The analysis included DAWs with at least 20 ratings.
Over 90% of REAPER and Studio One users selected “extremely” or “very satisfied”. For the other DAWs in the comparison, the figure was around 80%. The original analysis reported no statistically significant difference between mean ratings.
The survey did not identify a clear winner on satisfaction.
Ease of use, stability, features and cost can all contribute to satisfaction. The survey does not tell us how much each factor mattered.
Extremely or very satisfied
Top two ratings on a seven-point scale
Takeaways
What to consider when choosing a DAW
The survey found no clear winner
Think about how the software fits the way you like to work.
Your computer matters
Logic and Pro Tools had a strong showing among Mac users in the sample. Cubase led on Windows.
Try your own project
Use a trial to record, edit and mix a real song. You’ll quickly learn which tools fit your work.
These are historical results from 2015. They describe this group of respondents and are not current market shares.
Rather be making music than comparing software?
I can help produce your song. You’ll hear a free preview and get a quote before you decide.