10 Reasons why I switched from Ableton to Bitwig 🤔 | Quick Bitwig overview

[@olliepsy]

**Timetable** 00:00 Intro 00:50 Reason 01 02:18 Reason 02 03:16 Reason 03 04:28 Reason 04 05:19 Reason 05 05:56 Reason 06 09:33 Reason 07 10:34 Reason 08 11:33 Reason 09 11:59 Reason 10

[@frankhahn4804]

switched from cubase to bitwig and all of a sudden enjoyed making music again :-)

[@barrakingbeatz7794]

Most linear daws get very boring, that’s why I love reason

[@kelseydaniels7283]

When I switched from Ableton to Bitwig, I felt similarly. Adding an LFO to a vst synth that had become stale, or a chain of MIDI effect devices to a chord progression, was a creativity boost.

[@baarth8305]

​​@@kelseydaniels7283I already do that on Ableton with max4live LFO, I can modulate almost any vst parameter, Isn't that the same thing ? Also, isn't the serum presets with effects the same as if you save a group (vst + effect + anything) as a preset ? I just sincerely want to get the special things here

[@CyanideLovesong]

Yesss, same here coming from Reaper. Nothing against Reaper, it's *incredibly powerful* and a fantastic DAW -- but the 'creative' feel of Bitwig is more for my needs right now.

[@mr_don_key]

but the gui.. the gui of bitwig is just aweful (and if you have to look at that for hours on end... ugh)

[@torchbearer3784]

I used FL before buying Bitwig. Learned alot from FL but with Bitwig everything is so much faster and the modulation and workflow is amazing.

[@dimeldesilva894]

I agreed...👍

[@Sycokay]

Same here, but I still go back to FL again and again, because I hate the piano roll from Bitwig.

[@theunconciousmind7314]

But u cant compare fl studio to other music softwares like ableton or bitwig. Fl studio is just more like a hobby software for beginners

[@Sycokay]

@@theunconciousmind7314 Thanks for clarifying that you don't know much about FL Studio - or DAW technology in general ;-)

[@elias8961]

@@Sycokay Used to be the same for me, but the paint tool behaves in a similar way like the FL piano editing works. Like left click to generate a note, and right click to erase. It even remembers your last note length. For me it helped a lot.

[@OdoSendaidokai]

Bitwig is really nice. One tip that I didn't see in the comments on 06:24 where you load the access Virus as an Audio effect. Wenn you open the Browser, you can switch on the left side bottom in the browser on "Every Device". Then you don't have to create an Audio track and move the device from one to the other track. So you can load any device (instrument, Audio, Midi) in any track. Just set the filter in the bottom left to your needs.

[@billB101]

I agree on the timing, I grew up on analogue sequencers and drum machines, you pressed play with a simple kick and snare pattern and they just grooved, solid, locked in. I've ever felt that with Ableton, it just feels sloppy to me. Started using Bitwig a while back and I'm kinda getting that same solid locked in feeling again. I mean, timing is everything with electronic music.

[@olliepsy]

Totally agree, Ableton does have a lot of issues keeping things in time

[@jfilbert]

Good to know. I've used DAWs that you have to #$%^ with for hours even with groove templates or whatever that still never feel right, and others that just have a natural, or at least a solid pocket from the start. Those micro-timings can make all the difference between a flat or lively groove. And I'm an analog clock sync PPQN guy from way back.

[@johncitizen8828]

So it’s not just me that imagining that somethings are ‘off’? i just assumed all that talk about Ableton’s ‘clock’ was just bs.

[@theARDISAN]

Only thing left I REALLY want is MIDI Comping and Midi Capture on Bitwig. Those features are just too useful for my workflow. Find it so bizarre that audio comping was included but no MIDI comping.

[@onimisilovesonmusic4548]

Why is it that producers always find ways to make u change daws? All daws do thesame thing.. all Daws have flaws no daw is perfect...

[@RoryRonde]

haha, as an ableton fanboy, every reason you mentioned gave me some extra sweat droplets while thinking "uh, that would be so cool to have in Ableton". 😂

[@olliepsy]

Man I still use Ableton A LOT and everytime I turn it on I get a reminder of why I use Bitwig (not saying it's bad or anything heuh :p )

[@althewicked]

Two things Im really missing in Bitwig and the reason why I dont switch from Ableton are the Retrospective Midi Recording and the Macro Snapshots (with Max4Live even with Macro Snapshot Morphing). I really hoping this two features gets in to Bitwig soon!

[@st33Npuist]

Retrospective Midi Recording - this.

[@st33Npuist]

the 1st thing why I switched is.. latency. Everything is spot on

[@FurkanTopal]

As for the workflow, is there a feature on Bitwig which is a compensation of CTRL + SHIFT + D or DEL on Ableton for adding/removing track time in the middle of the arrangement view?

[@XingoMusic]

yes there is ^^ ,,, the advantage of bitwig is that you can apply it in separate blocks, ableton works on the entire arrangement, but both work very well

[@brianwredfern]

Being a linux music psycho my move was a switch from renoise to bitwig, where bitwig is more modern, unfortunately renoise has falled behind in terms of keeping up with the latest changes to linux like pipewire. Bitwig is even more powerful for me on opensuse tumbleweed than on windows 11 or the mac although I use windows 11 for hardware updates and hardware editing.

[@Audio_Lord]

Having an Inspector, device slots and being able to have the mixer on the arrange page are some of the other reasons I switched! Also having a dedicated audio editor window is great, always hated moving audio from Session to Arrangement view to edit it!

[@Tuathband]

Max is buggy as fuck it's unusable due to how unreliable it is. Ableton crashes a lot with max. The Color limiter bug hasn't been fixed in two full versions. Ableton is a fucking resource hog too. I'm the index big has been screwing up my PC for ages. Same on Mac. I want to switch to Linux and bitwig. Very disappointed with post 10 Abletons bullshit. 10 on windows 7 was excellent. The perfect daw. What the fuck happened to it like

[@johncitizen8828]

Ableton has gotten SO slow since 11.3. I’m considering switching just to experience a performance improvement.

[@beatzonemz]

i am working on managing how to bitwig... i found out some advantages over ableton, though ableton is a beast, i am just look what will make my workflow seemless you have made a gr8 video here, that can guide to a better choice thumbs up

[@mjKlaim]

About the universal tracks, I suspect when you say you believe Reason have a similar thing, did you mean Reaper? Because Reaper does, if my understanding is correct.

[@daviHuggMonster]

I ditched my ableton lite because it crashed already just by scanning the plugins, that never happened with Bitwig :)

[@olliepsy]

Crashelton** 😂 Jokes aside, for some reason some plugins did crash my Ableton like Viper.

[@SalazarPortugal]

@@olliepsy in bitwig I can run many more plugins and in dsp emu I can set latency to 0 in ableton I have to use the maximum latency I think it's 8 and it still crashes and it seems that bitwig has much better sound quality, I also left ableton and I don't regret it

[@BappinProductions]

@@SalazarPortugal DAW's don't have better sound quality,, you might prefer the built in plugins more and that's fair, but if you process the same piece of audio with the same third-party plugin with the same settings, they will not "sound better in Bitwig, that's just cognitive bias in play (because you prefer working in Bitwig). Ableshit has 99 problems but sound quality ain't one of them ;)

[@theunconciousmind7314]

Wow this is so good With ableton i always had problems with this stupid max for live devices. I cant even count how many times that screwed up my sounds i was working hours for. And on bitwig lfo is just included and also modulation. Ableton again seems very stupid actually

[@abhicrax]

Video and ARA support would be amazing 😍

[@theunconciousmind7314]

Reason nr. 4 is huge... this really makes one think. Such a shame ableton dont have this And reason nr 7 omg

[@oozly9114]

thinking of switching from fl studio

[@blendermind]

10:34 in Ableton you can also open 2 instances (configured in preferences) and move audio clips (no midi) between them, even from the explorer

[@olliepsy]

I've actually never knew that but still, Bitwig has it natively and does it smoothly (I know about moving audio clip & also midi from the explorer but sometimes it freezes while doing so...)

[@JamieR]

I bought Bitwig 1.4 when Ableton was at 9. Honestly, Bitwig just performed better, albeit buggy back then. Plugin crashes was a big issue in ableton. Not so much in Bitwig. Way better internal plugins. Interface just had faster workflow. I too had the experience that Bitwig was super easy to learn, and after 3 days I'd made a full track ('Wild Growth - Drifting Upwards', if you want a listen. Shameless, I know :p) which I felt sounded sounded fuller than any track I'd done in Live. I'm guessing it just boils down to how the engine actually processes everything on export.

[@jfilbert]

Agree that the audio engine in A9 was poor. Not the kind of thing you'd necessarily notice unless you directly compare but once you hear it you can never unhear it. Reason was the same at that time. I think many DAWS have improved since they moved to 64 bit audio engines but I feel like I can still hear differences. "does it null"-guys notwithstanding.

[@JamieR]

@@jfilbert So I'm not the only one then. It's highly noticeable even comparing internal DAW playback to exported sound. The rendering does something to the quality. Not sure what it is. Mixes never came out the same way for me. Never experienced that in pro tools or other DAWs 🤷🏻‍♂️ Are you still enjoying Bitwig? And how was your transition over from Live? 😁

[@jfilbert]

@@JamieR I've never used Bitwig, topped out on Ableton 8 (64 bit), and have, or have used almost every other DAW. I have a big project coming up that would benefit from dedicated clip and resampling functions so came here trying to decide whether to upgrade my Ableton or try moving to Bitwig.

[@JonasNxth]

@JamieR your shit is good mate

[@williamshaneblyth]

F1 key is killer for learning. Highlight and vst or effect hit F1 full screen overlay if the, let's say, notefx or a delay or polysynth or any other device is highlighted and it has all the knobs with explaination and you can move controls while overlay is up and it effects the plugin it's brilliant easy to learn no going back n forth

[@olliepsy]

Rightttt I forgot about this one xD Another one of these little details that makes me love Bitwig

[@Makebelieve123]

Didn’t Logic used to do that too ? I’ve been playing analogue jams for a few years without recording or DAW production / mix downs…. But want to start now before I’m a grandpa 😅 which DAW do you guys recommend? Thanks great vid !

[@romanx3267]

Now I want to change to bitwig

[@xcreenplay7264]

I been an ableton user since 2008 and been using bitwig since its initial release bitwig definitely has its pros but unfortunately I get daw sick if not using ableton 😅

[@olliepsy]

Ableton has this thing with it's cold grey interface that makes it fun when you open it again, then it crashes for some silly reason and you get back to Bitwig 😂

[@DaddaPsy]

Stop tempting me to make the switch bro.

[@olliepsy]

JUST DO IT 😁

[@DashGlitch]

Stop not making the Switch Dadda! hahaha

[@garyhendrie4001]

You wont regret it, bitwig is superb

[@BappinProductions]

Get to the chopper

[@ЕтанДрешковка]

Just Switch. You know it's better

[@hiranga]

Is Bitwig more stable than Cakewalk or Reaper? Any experiences here?

[@duartecancela]

REAPER is more stable then notepad.exe 😂

[@gtubgle]

It's now my go-to. After Ableton announced Live 12, the update pricing and features, I kinda dipped. Rested Bitwig. Instantly fell in love. Runs smooth.

[@xkidmidnightx]

lol how’s that feel after the 12.1 update

[@gtubgle]

@@xkidmidnightx I love it. Though I also wished maybe Bitwig came in VST form. So powerful for sound design.

[@MarcoPolux]

Reason number 9 is dead now 😢

[@HumanBeingWithFeelings]

great video man, thanks for the useful info. Quick question, If I don't care about sample packs and stock plugins (fx and instruments) is it worth the studio version or I should be fine with the producer version? The difference in price is twice as much $200 vs $400 and I think the only relevant difference for me would be the grid, but is it worth $200?...

[@Feelstoramusic]

Being an Ableton user in addition to Bitwig, do you know how to set macro/control knobs in Bitwig to a specific min/max range? You know in Ableton how you can alter the range of a knob's parameter to specific values or ranges; Is this achievable in Bitwig? I am trying to create a multi-sampler instrument where I filter through 30 samples with a macro knob on a container/group. But, I want the range to be from 1 to 30 (the number of samples I have loaded into the multi-sampler browser groups). For example, if the control knob is turned all the way to the left, I want the sample "select" point to start on "sample 01" and the max range only only going up to sample 30. Essentially, I want each whole value knob turn of my macro to change the sample with each increase in value, all the way up to 30 samples I have in the multi sampler. In the multi-sampler edit window, I have the "select" layout so each sample is evenly distributed up the scale, but I'm stuck at making the knob value be limited from 1 thru 30. Any insight would be great! Thanks!

[@petrusberggren3886]

THANK YOU... for keeping the videos short, precise and , for me personaly, about what you are stating in the video statement. Not 10000 hmmm yaaaahhh well welll and so on and so on. Keep upp the god work with information SHOULD tkae 30sek and not 20000 min.

[@lX-NDR]

But the ableton live devices like the diffrent granular max for live plugins. What does bitwig had beside the standard granular option in the sampler?

[@noisemodule]

(polyglot here) dunno if anyone replied to your query, but yes 'point(s) of reference' or 'reference point(s)' is indeed correct. not that it truly matters, you have no difficulty making yourself understood in English, if that is not your first language.

[@2112jonr]

"Point of reference" is perfect. Spot on 🙂

[@nomad1517]

Max4live isn't at all the same, similar but not the same. The grid is more like reaktor from native instruments, but easier. The thing about max, is that you can buy tools, make and sell tools, or get free tools, and there are literally thousands. You don't need to make any. But if you do, the amount of control you have is God tier. You can control video, you can control lighting, even robots. So, the grid, is more of a modular tool, and instrument, max is just a lab for tools.

[@vroteg]

Bitwig is not superior in my opinion because even though it has many unique features it lacks basics that all other DAWs have and had for years. Also developers of Bitwig known to be very denial and not listening to their users at all (fe about the EQ+ phase issue developers response was “it is by design”). But because it is indeed very stable and it never crashed on me even with sandboxing off I’ll continue to use it. I hope developers will start to work on basic functionality and iron out countless internal bugs at some point but I doubt it will ever happen.

[@fabricegriesser8762]

Reason 10 is one of the things that really f@cks me up in ableton, and may also a good reason why i should switch. Workin on phasing of Kick and Bass in Ableton can be so frustrating.. and modular section in bitwig sounds also very interesting 😮

[@blendermind]

6:05 It also makes sense to put devices in serial with their own effects because you can activate or deactivate them with automation o without automation and the audio passes through the chain, they do not necessarily have to be in parallel, nor on different tracks.

[@andytuke8986]

You don't need to have a separate track to load a different plugiin, you can simply change the filter

[@olliepsy]

Oh thanks for the tip, I didn't knew that :)

[@KordTaylor]

Great to hear you break this down. It seems like a really great DAW. Thanks again! 👏👏👏

[@blendermind]

6:42 this problem is not only in bitwig, fl studio or studio one, I dont remember, also has the problem of confusing some instrument with an effect, but it can be configured to correct it, I don't know if it is possible in bitwig

[@olliepsy]

Actually since update 5.0 Bitwig doesn't have any issues with the Virus editor anymore, sees it as an instrument.. at the same time, The Virus editor is sooo outdated...

[@DashGlitch]

Here before "BUT you can do xyz in abc DAW" :D I agree on all reasons!

[@olliepsy]

I also forgot to mention (Reason11 basically) that I can open my old Ableton projects and finish them in Bitwig, it's not ideal and does some mistakes but it can save some projects ;)

[@frallorfrallor3410]

i switched 3 times now i own cubase bitwig and ableton mby i switch more idk

[@meathead919]

My understanding is that the sandboxing uses more memory, not CPU (especially on the most safe level)

[@hectorfernandez743]

Hey great review Question how about a buss like those it has sends?

[@4i20]

Thanks ❤

[@anonimoust]

tech is good when its complex but easy to use ( i agree with all your points )

[@justinbraveheart26]

Studio one for the win. Worked with may daws but studio one is lonely st the top imo. The workflow of bigwit is not even near studio one. Better plugins and faster.

[@jeffreyhanc1711]

Studio one user for 6 years who’s been on Bitwig the last couple of months - and in most respects you are completely wrong. There are SO many production features Bitwig has that studio one does not that have been mind-blowing for me (the global modulators and grid are 2 of but many). S1 is definitely a more mix-friendly traditional DAW than Bitwig imo and for purely backend mix/master gigs just gets the job done quicker (or I’m just more familiar with it). But for creative and compositional front-end value, features and architecture Bitwig is in another league entirely.

[@Israel777888]

FL Studio has almost all this options, never crashes, and lifetime updates : )

[@nowondr]

FLStudio is great in its own ways, but in my time with FL it crashed more than any other DAW I've ever used lol

[@danielfeatherstone674]

The only thing I miss switching to Bitwig from Ableton is Drum Buss and the note repeaters and randomizers. Any equivalents to those?

[@olliepsy]

Yes for not repeaters & randomizers, they can be replicated in Note Grid, Drum Buss however is a bit tricky to get (tone wise) but not impossible tho ;)

[@entity9588]

Time to switch back lol.

[@olliepsy]

Why is that ?

[@entity9588]

@@olliepsy I'm joking but their new paid add on plugins they just released is super shady. You have to pay them 170$ a year for their upgrade plan, then they turn around and do this. I won't be supporting them unless they fix this problem.

[@olliepsy]

@@entity9588 Yeah I had the same thought (you pay the yearly upgrad plan then they do this... wtf? ) I believe that it could have been done better like for example provide a clap verison of the new devices (to justify the price, also make Bitwig available for a broader range of users). I prefere to wait and see how things will develope before "taking sides"

[@totopolo2379]

excellent and german direkt video, love it

[@vroteg]

And two days ago bitwig announced why I’m switching from it.

[@nofood1]

???

[@lockee77]

??

[@stevesoucy5932]

Long time FL Studio user here, and I recently jumped over to BitWig. Absolutely love it! Thank you for this video.

[@olliepsy]

Great choice ;) I was an FL user myself btw!

[@Israel777888]

Hi! Why do you think BitWig it is better than FL Studio?

[@stevesoucy5932]

@Israel777888 I actually still use FL! BitWig is absolutely amazing when it comes to modulation though.

[@traveler263]

i don't get that "hello internet" intro coming from someone who is into sound and music :) as a musician/sound designer have you listened how it sounds?

[@olliepsy]

How does it sounds ? x)

[@Draxacon]

good video! very informative.

[@draskoperac2065]

feedback fx is very nice :)

[@KwadisMedia]

it's too ugly!

[@BappinProductions]

and Ableton Live is like the Cistine Chapel...

[@ЕтанДрешковка]

You get used to it; Besides, I stuck to it because i prioritised Workflow over visuals, and guess what, after working with BW for 1 and a half years I kind of dig the look!

[@willba2817]

1 thing i don't like with bitwig everything is orange .

[@olliepsy]

I think there was a script outthere that changes the colors x)

[@Artek604]

Good choice :)

[@Jungli.Zenorah]

Wait.. so do u use a mac and run the virus ti software? Or is it a windows?

[@olliepsy]

I'm running on Windows

[@corelli58]

Excellent video!

[@BappinProductions]

and following on from yesterday's announcement, 1 reason why you'll going back xD

[@olliepsy]

lmaooo naan let's chill and see how things will develope before going back to freezelton xD I trust that Bitwig will make it right somehow (at least make it clear) :)

[@BappinProductions]

@@olliepsy Netflix and rage bro xD

[@olliepsy]

@@BappinProductions Reminded me I need to cancel my Netflix subscription lamoo

[@axray011]

Thanks Ollie !

[@iamerhach]

Best choice

[@markderv]

Any idea when they will offer native support for silicon? I'll switch then.

[@olliepsy]

I think they do that since V4 :) www.bitwig.com/support/technical_support/is-bitwig-studio-compatible-with-the-new-arm-based-apple-macs-using-m1-processors-33/

[@markderv]

@@olliepsy Awesome!

[@frequency_sequencer]

Bitwig is the best

[@louisbrau1502]

The push integration is better in ableton than bitwig, a specific controler for bitwig would be great

[@olliepsy]

Totally, tho I didn't really want to put it in the list as the script used isn't an "official" Bitwig script.

[@realexey]

I actually prefer DrivenByMoss Push integration in Bitwig rather than Ableton's native one :)

[@louisbrau1502]

@@realexey what do you think is better?

[@Lordxfx]

I'm scared. Cubase for 10 years, Ableton for 5 years, and Bitwig all of a sudden is screaming out my name like a lost angel. Learning a new DAW is horrifying but it appealing one way or the other.

[@olliepsy]

after 10 years with cubase & 5 with Ableton Bitwig will be a piece of cake, trust me ;)

[@truthbetold2012]

I bet live 12 will be all of bitwig + more.

[@olliepsy]

I really hope so dude :)

[@truthbetold2012]

@@olliepsy I feel a DAW off coming!

[@Audio_Lord]

I thought the same with 10 and 11 but it didn’t happen so I really doubt it. I’ve moved away from Ableton as they seem to completely ignore the most requested features. Plug-in sandboxing is really important for a DAW specifically aimed at live performance and I won’t hold my breath for it being added in Live!

[@BappinProductions]

@@Audio_Lord same. Waiting on Ableton is a fool's game imo. It's clear why the BW devs left Ableton to start their own company and take Bitwig where they have; management at Ableton obviously don't share their vision, otherwise Live would have become more like BWS and Bitwig as a company wouldn't exist in the first place. Ableton's market share is huge, they have no good commercial reason to compete with Bitwig, in fact doing so may risk losing customers who just want more of the same, so my prediction is that they will stay the course with Live 12.

[@ЕтанДрешковка]

I don't think so! Ableton is good in some ways, and Bitwig is good in some other ways, but speculating that Live 12 > Bitwig would be considered very, very far-fetched in my books. They have different ideologies, and have features that both just cannot implement in the other, or will run into a large amount of trouble when trying to do so. So it's okay to keep dreaming, but i highly, highly doubt that will ever be ghe case. Peace

[@marcusdelictus]

funfact: bitwig is made by an ex ableton software engineer

[@olliepsy]

Yeah I'm aware of that, actually this is what makes it also soo good is that it solved problems we had with Ableton ^^

[@synthoelectro]

ableton started losing its stability back in version 8, that's what moved me to Bitwig.

[@WarrenPostma]

Top 5 bitwig features that I love. 1. Sandbox plugins (no crashing) 2. Custom controller scripting is easy and fun. 3. Modulate everything with everything, as deeply and weirdly as you want. 4. Modular (grid) features for sound generation, audio effects, and midi/cv effects/processors. 5. The clip launcher is like live, but just better. One thing missing: Ableton live’s looper device is not here in bitwig. (SAD)

[@julessieben7215]

Point of reference makes perfect sense bro :)

[@Martinhodso007]

Hi Ollie. Please let us know your opinion on the great robbery. I am currently going through my youtube subscriptions to see if I'm still going to support them. I have supported bitwig for 6 years and this is bs. I like what you do but will not support KZbinrs who support Bitwig anymore.

[@leo.nordmann]

Ohh common, that's a bit much isn't it? You don't have to pay if you don't want it and robbery it definitely a different thing.

[@Martinhodso007]

@@leo.nordmann Yes you are right. For a second I thought poking at influences might cause a reaction which may influence the Bitwig team into giving people their money back if asked.haha. I will unsubscribe from channels covering bitwig, exclusively, because I am not interested anymore. I do feel a robbery has taken place and my 'contract' with them has been broken. Yes I shouldn't have posted in that way. I'm going mad.

[@leo.nordmann]

@@Martinhodso007 Well you do you. I'll keep using it as I have been as the DAW itself hasn't really changed other than that annoying update prompt for 4.3.9 Not a big fan of the change either, and they for sure should have communicated this way in advance to actually going through with it.