I Tried Every Free DAW to Find the Best One

[@jhevon]

0:15 Bandlab 5:22 Soundtrap 8:44 LMMS 12:58 Reaper

[@GodIsGoodArmadeus]

Thanks

[@ItsLyxne]

In the chapter list it says FL Studio btw

[@Faath2]

@@ItsLyxne it's wrong

[@ItsLyxne]

@@Faath2 I know, I meant that in the list it says FL Studio instead of Lmms

[@BadBoy-wk5uu]

Why to try Bandlab instead of free full Daw Cakewalk by BandLab?

[@joeletarte4910]

I love seeing big producers using LMMS. I used it for about 13 years before finally getting FL studio, which is much easier, but LMMS still feels like home to me. It takes some creativity, but you can make some good stuff with it.

[@kxdsh]

I haven't found any good tutorials for it have you thought about making your own series? I would be incredibly thankful and so would so many people

[@DashenBoi]

LMMS is garbage and I wouldn't recommend using it, but you do you.

[@beekayndzet5754]

​@@DashenBoiAtleast it's free

[@DashenBoi]

@@beekayndzet5754 use reaper if you want free

[@thomassmith4119]

Same thing I said

[@1ups_15]

Here are my 2 favorite free DAWs: - fl studio (cracked) - ableton live (cracked)

[@chanwerk]

lmfao

[@liadios1234]

how do I get them?

[@tayomofos]

🤣🤣

[@Prod.rose7_]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@TheMoonSailor]

Logic pro (Cracked)

[@rano12321]

Oh boy. As a Reaper user for the last couple of years, I totally understand your experience because it was similar to my experience when I tried Reaper for the first time. But after trying pretty much every major daw under the sun like pro tools, ableton, fl, bitwig, s1, cubase etc. etc. I decided to stick with Reaper because it's the most customizable and most flexible and one of the most powerful daw out there. But one of the biggest downside of Reaper is that the UI doesn't look as good and pretty as most other daws and the hotkeys out of the box is not the best, especially if you've used any other daw before. But man, when I tell you this is the most powerful and most flexible daw I've ever used in my life, I mean it. There's nothing that you can't do in Reaper. Every single thing is customizable in Reaper, it's so customizable and not just that you can download themes to make it look like a completely another daw, but you can basically replicate workflows and hotkeys from other daws or combine workflows from other daws and make really powerful and fast workflows and literally customize the right click context menus. It's extremely powerful and CPU efficient, like it runs better on apple hardware than apple's own daw. Reaper is definitely not one of those daws that you can just download and start making beats seamlessly out of the box like FL or LPX, although I'm sure there are people who've done the exact same. But Reaper is a daw that will take some more initial investment and some setting up, but it will give you a lot more in return and saves hours and hours of your life in the future. I've been using Reaper for a few years now and after customizing it, it takes me 1/5 of the time to make beats compared to when I was using FL. Reaper is in a league of it's own, so I hope you'd give it another try in the future.

[@rano12321]

15:14 I think when you are selecting multiple clips but only parts of them getting copied is because of the time selection.

[@W1ntumn]

I never thought about trying a bunch of different DAWs to see which one I like most, I personally use cubase because my dad passed it down to me. But I have been using it long enough that using other ones hasn't even crossed my mind

[@kimlodrodawa123]

Totally agree. Reaper is awesome!!! Maybe the very best DAW there is atm.

[@rano12321]

@@W1ntumn If Cubase works for you then keep using it. At the end it doesn't really matter what daw you use because no one's gonna be able to listen to your music and accurately guess what daw was used to make the song lol.

[@PrabirPaul-zl1le]

Yep. I didn't had a PC, so I started with FL studio Mobile, last year got a PC but I'm learning and practicing on mobile for 5 years now so even though it has less features and no plugin support, I still manage to make pretty good sounding beats using it. Ig it depends more upon your skills, cuz it still has majority of the necessary plugins. ​

[@PIKTVRE]

I used to produce in Soundtrap for 1,5 years so when you played these sounds, instant nostalgia hit me cause every time I thought,,Hey, I know that sound, I used it in that song of mine" lol But yeah definitely a very limiting DAW, even in the supreme version. I wouldn't say it was a wasted 1,5 years, but I'm definitely glad I made a switch to FL half a year ago, I finally feel free haha

[@vTwinkillzBeats8751]

for me its ehhh as i just constantly am trying to find the best ones n i usually cant as most of them are so corny

[@PIKTVRE]

@@vTwinkillzBeats8751 I had this feeling too haha, 90% of them were just pure dogwater

[@WilliamWilliamWilliamWill]

Piktvre spotted XDD

[@PIKTVRE]

@@WilliamWilliamWilliamWill Hell yeah

[@Beckett.]

yeah soundtrap does have some limitations but personally i really like the sounds it has. also im so used to it that i dont think i can switch to something else (ive tried)

[@tonybonestheproducer]

Reaper for mixing. Actually far superior to any other daw for so many reasons! So cpu efficient as well 🔥

[@nilespeshay1734]

reaper is also incredibly powerful if you record audio into your DAW. It's probably in the top 2 DAWs among guitar players who record themselves.

[@rano12321]

if you customize it, you can produce much faster than typical producer based daws.

[@bell_tracks2006]

For everything this is the best better than fl and logic❤

[@MrCloud_Shorts]

@@tonybonestheproducer debatable but alright

[@BixiDoxxes]

second this ​@@rano12321

[@blancobandzzz]

yo bro as a pretty avid producer on bandlab i wanted to lyk that you can actually make drums way better by pulling one shots into the sampler and using that instead of the drum machine. a combo of soundtrap and bandlab is a good way to make a beat as well. i tend to make the 808s and some melodies in soundtrap and then use the sampler to make the drums in bandlab. preciate your videos tho.

[@c_z_u_r_e]

Yooo bro I’d just like to say that sampler idea is genius I’ve made some music on BandLab and that’ll help a lot

[@blancobandzzz]

@@c_z_u_r_e ofc bro, i might start dropping tutorials on how i make beats too.

[@babalm22]

And do you have any solutions for the midi latency problem please? I've been struggling to find one

[@blancobandzzz]

@@babalm22 unfortunately not. sorry.

[@theafilmssm]

Yeah I hate using preset drumkits in ANY daw, I always use one shots, they are so much more customizable

[@Soundtrap]

Thanks for the love 💜

[@kwazz_1208]

soundtrap is doo doo +ratio

[@19_shot]

fix your app, its trash

[@Kabosu_Doge]

says the platform that broke so many songs i wanted to make, i tried bandlab and instantly switched, how about you stop breaking my songs and add more features.

[@Lily-Katee]

@@19_shot fr i just switched to bandlab today, and its 100000x better loolllll

[@Beckett.]

ive been using soundtrap for a while now, its amazing! my school gives everyone a soundtrap account and they pay for everything so i have access to all the sounds! i love all the different instruments and sounds it has, and it is very easy to use. it can get buggy at times, but its not that big of a deal. thank you for making a great DAW and getting me into making music!

[@myauramusic]

Reaper for creating Metal/rock as a musician is incredible. Not sure how it is for making trap beats n pop but for a Metal musician i love it

[@rano12321]

You can do anything you want in Reaper, Checkout Learning Reaper, he makes beats in Reaper.

[@ReaperRealmYT]

You can do anything in Reaper. Mixing, mastering, recording, producing beats, sound designing, etc.

[@bell_tracks2006]

Is great for trap, hip-hop, drill etc.. that's what I do with it❤

[@abasement666]

I've used it for for trap, electronic, jazz, black metal, old-school hip-hop beats, etc. never had an issue in my work flow. reaper forever bro

[@storah-raw]

ace for hardstyle too

[@Prodbydr3w]

bro bandlab sounds is lowkey underated. they got hella shit for free.

[@Juneofive77]

i swear, 8/10 is hella crazy ngl

[@latestweekly]

bro IS NOT onto something

[@invisiblecurious856]

but the daw itself sucks. It crashes a lot, not reccomended for a laptop. but for phone is good but yeah still so so. Sometimes I make some beats\demos on phone then I usually finished my bandlab beats\demos on ableton. Verdict, bandlab is lowkey semi daw, i'd say, but the packs are decent and IT'S FREE FREE.

[@Nepsssss]

Bro the thing is if you know how to use it is as good as fl whitout plugins

[@Nepsssss]

U have automations timestrech make your samples and the thing is better to rappers then producers

[@Soundwaiv]

Used to live in London when I was younger. It's cool seeing a producer from there! Keep it up man :)

[@Light_feels]

As a master of reaper I can accept the fact that you really do need like atleast 40 vids to know all the very cool and interesting nicks of reaper

[@FiveEyeMedia]

Been an artist for years, just started getting into making my own instrumentals. Ive had my hands on some of the most industry standard, rocket science style DAW's. Bandlab has been the most user-friendly, fun to experiement, and easy to understand program ive seen yet. I started watching your videos today looking for other DAW's to explore because im getting into VST's now. Definitely an 8/10

[@YoungFang101]

Big shout out to reaper man, so much value for free

[@kxdsh]

LMMS's EQ looked sick it looks much more professional than the rest of the DAW

[@locutz]

The nice thing bout reaper is that you can customize it any which way you like ,it's super lightweight and powerful

[@AvidBeats]

I started on Soundtrap in 2017 and watched loads of videos in 2018 and switched to logic in 2019! Big ups ocean.

[@newmanh]

when i first used REAPER, I couldn't put the kick and snare in time, it took me some time to figure it out. and the its like Reaper has a configuration for each thing you wanna do. However, with time, I loved editing vocals from Reaper and making beats from Fl or Logic (and some from Serato Studio) I only use Reaper now for vocals...Its the best daw in making all those twiks but for sure its hard to make a trap beat from it.

[@UnknownA.P]

6:41 Ocean is playing with fire😂😂😂

[@AntonOtt._.]

I used Lmms before getting fl, i think i used it for a year or so. Definetly do not regret upgrading to fl

[@justjoshp8581]

I will say with reaper out of the box it is not that great but once you get it set up to your workflow it tunrs into one of the best daws out there. i been using it for 2 years now and now that i got everything dialed into what i want it to be it is amazing! Reaper has so many user plugins and scripts that can make it such a powerhouse of a daw

[@cameronbonsall3083]

For reaper to use samples in midi the inbuilt plugin is called sampleomatic (or something along those lines)

[@apiian]

No love for GarageBand? It's surprisingly powerful with a wide variety of downloadable sound packs, effect pedals, and instruments, hella underrated

[@loganleutwyler]

It's not available on anything that's not a Mac or iPhone, so most people aren't going to use it.

[@bobinnyyy]

bro forgot iPads exist ​@@loganleutwyler

[@Cchogan]

My favourite free DAW is Luna from UA. I love how it is reproducing an analogue environment. There is a non free version too, but that is actually a plugin pack. So, you can use lots of other free plugins instead

[@justicetunez]

Is it free

[@GageIGuess176]

That scroll cursor that was showing when you were trying to get the audio to stretch correctly to the BPM allows you to make specific adjustments down to the .1's. Band-Lab allows for velocity changes as well, which is found in the MIDI editor in the top left of the MIDI UI. The Sampler is how you obtain better sounds in Band-Lab.

[@jaytee5018]

Reaper Gang!!!

[@inreachent.4981]

Bro how did you not test universal audios Luna daw u trippin

[@rano12321]

@@inreachent.4981 it's crippled.

[@luut2393]

you need to give band lab another try, you can drag in the one shots into the sampler and use them from there

[@augi_v]

Damn I thought my boy Reaper would CRUSH this comparison 😔 I swear by it but I’ll admit the beginning was BRUTAL

[@phneticbeats7068]

100% Reapers dope once you set it up the way you want it The way it lets you move anything anywhere, create toolbars and have VSTs and scripts docked anywhere

[@XELOhh1]

I have used all these DAWs except for Soundtrrap.. I will have to check that one out.. Reaper has a steep learning curve due to its made for people who like to tinker .. other daws are TractionWaveform... MPC Beats... Luna and if on PC Cakewalk by Bandlab. Thanks for the video Ocean

[@marvin2678]

are paid ones b etter?

[@XELOhh1]

@@marvin2678 I would say yes due to the unlocked features and plugins... Reaper is the only exception where it comes the same way if you pay for it or not .. there is a channel called Learning Reaper that I do to show people how to use Reaper it's a very powerful DAW but does have a learning curve .. but once you get it you won't want to use another DAW... Let me know if you have questions...😀🙏🏾

[@dxzzydxm5518]

@@marvin2678 they usually have more features or an easier workflow but but it depends on the person. i say use something free until you get decent or until you want features and stuff youd need to pay for, then just look up what ones are good and work the most with what you want and need.

[@slim1446]

The goat of free stuff himself

[@XELOhh1]

@@slim1446 i like free..😂🙏🏾

[@Drastivik]

LMMS is best. An acceptable learning curve that doesn't make you want to throw away all of your music equipment and never touch the subject again, but enough of a modular experience to get anyone started on music. I make metal, and it does everything I need it to, bar actually recording my guitars for me (I record the DI in Bandlab, then use a sampler to play the parts in LMMS so I can add all the FX there). It's so much easier. Yes, Cakewalk and Reaper might have more features, but there's so much time you have to invest to learn it, that it really kills the passion for me.

[@tmbgabe]

bro i haven’t seen u in YEARS…. THE HAIR i was watching u 24/7

[@prodfawad]

my first DAW was LMMS, made probably 10 beats on that one. 😂

[@unfinishedmonkeyrecords]

Reaper is BY FAR the best daw of these those, everything is customizable. Yes, it may have some learning curve but it's the most expandable daw ever. You can actually create your drumkits being part of a bus, you can add markers for more sliced beats (You only had your 4 beats set) so you can more easily time your high hats... Reaper has everything any professional daw has and more... You can do everything from arrangement and mixing to mastering in one project in reaper and you can do it all simultaneously as well... it's not too hard on cpu and as said before its 100% customizable, you can even make your own shortcuts if you don't like the existing ones...

[@unfinishedmonkeyrecords]

@Frikoppie-q2v it has tonnes of stock plugins and you don't need any more 'set up' as in another real daw; you need to connect and set-up your midi device and you need to install your favorite instruments and that's it... Sample based you can start without any of that too. I used to make tracks in reaper with nothing but one sample pack on my hands... People prefer other daws because they provide idiot proof 'shortcuts', agreed... but if you're a person that likes to be in controle of details and doesn't want his creativity to be limmited or directed, Reaper is the way to go ;-)

[@officialskullfader]

you can time stretch it, only if you put that track in first then change the bpm before you add more tracks

[@saberleaf3659]

With Bandlab audio stretching it is usually best to put the bpm to the audio before importing(if it is labled) then put it back. The DAW should detect the change and ask if you want to adjust the audio to match bpm(its rough sometimes)

[@calmus-prod]

I used to use Soundtrap for years before switching to FL Studio, but it's really good. All of my old music is from Soundtrap, but I ended up switching over due to the lack of effects and some bugs

[@chromavibes_official]

Soundtrap is in fact really good :)

[@Skrogh]

Title said every free daw, but he didnt even try my beloved cakewalk

[@LearnTrainPlay]

I enjoy bandlab, its easier and more intuitive to use but with Reaper you can use way more vst's and get way higher quality sounds. It just has a steeper learning curve.

[@iamtubbs]

Earliest I have been to a video but I see free and I'm in.

[@N4Y_k]

bandlab to me is the most underrated free daw. it’s actually amazing, i have studio one n fl and i genuinely prefer bandlab over fl. to me nothing compares to studio one but bandlab isn’t that bad compared to it. i’ve tried other daws but i don’t own them

[@STACKBEATZ]

Bro's studio is so simple but so dope

[@wyattstockton7238]

you can use samples from bandlab sounds by using a sampler and dragging the sound you want o to a square

[@thebugguy6397]

i think you should do vocals on these daws as well just to see their capabilities....one with like a pro vocalist and another with a regular person for comparison

[@benstoic]

in bandlab you use the sampler to drag the one shots into it

[@prodeph]

To use the drums in Bandlab you can use em in the sampler

[@trevor.james06]

i started in reaper. Because of how long it took me to figure it out and now that I actually got it down, I moved to a different DAW and barely had any DAW handicap. Never going back to Reaper tho lol. But like Dead Mau5 said, if you learn reaper you learn them all haha

[@7rollface]

Reaper definitely has a learning curve but I guarantee you it's *way* more powerful than the other DAWs. And even WRT hotkeys you were definitely doing some stuff the hard way. Want to copy something? Ctrl/Cmd + D. Want to delete something you've selected? Press delete.

[@Gngydrl942_]

As a bandlab rapper you have been approved

[@thecringe1762]

Tbh is cakewalk the best you just need some free plugins and instruments and youre good

[@jetflexson]

In order for you to use the snare for a song you have to use the sampler that come with the app.

[@ItzInvidious]

sampler for bandlab is godsend bc you can add ur own files as well.

[@eesmal]

What about Universal Audio's LUNA? I've seen some good things from that too, with it's free version

[@DayDiditBeats]

I made some heat on Reaper fs, but I got hooked on FL and no turning back lol

[@jompaswede5384]

Reaper is fire. It can do stuff Logic can´t. But it does take some time to learn and getting used to. Its for when you want to switch DAW permanently and go cross-platform.

[@BebelBeatmaker]

To make drums in Reaper, you can use the MegaBaby, a native drum sampler. But I reccommend purchasing the FL license instead of purchasing the Reaper license, cuz the workflow and the features of FL are better, and the prices are almost the same.

[@2NUCLEAR]

NEVER IN MY 2 YEARS ON MY USE OF SOUNDTRAP, I NEVER THOUGHT YOU COULD SHRING SAMPLES😭

[@darrygswa]

Mpc Beats is free to use from Akai , you just need a controller .

[@JamzzProducer]

After I got my MPC live and I learnt the software on there it helped me figure out MPC beats and it’s actually a pretty good DAW

[@Lil47DaggerD]

Been making music for 7 1/2 months im 14 and soundtrap has been my fav to use very easy and helpful to use bandlab is also very good 👍

[@JubzBeats]

Best Daw is the brain. Anyone else made a beat in there mind? No? Just me then

[@TheAgencyEntertainmentMusicGrp]

Good video! I’m considering LMMS. I still think Bandlab is pretty good though.

[@ChidiebereOkorie-vw4sb]

Can you make a video on how to record and mix and mastering on reaper

[@MatthiasDiro]

Reaper is the world of totally freedom. A track is a track, equal if MIDI or instrument or pure audio. You can make the craziest things with it while routing and mixing all together.

[@lilbro-d]

how do you even have that version of fl that an older version

[@Krim0new]

is lmms

[@nicholsonjay4724]

Reaper has a setting for everything…which makes it a bit overwhelming. I went to move my mouse one time….and even the pointer had a setting. The pixels that make up reaper have individual settings as well.😂 REAPER has the “little guy” stigma to it and people defend it with their lives…..”Stop picking on MY Reaper!…It’s the best in the world!”

[@boomboombaby9140]

The best daw I used was MPC software , you get a super high quality sound out of the box . If you don’t know how to mix and master and want that dr . Dre , Timbeland , jermaine du pre , Neptune sounds mpc software will give it to you . All you really have to do is adjust your sound because the sound engine is so powerful. You can also record vocals if you don’t have a interface just a rode mic it will sound like you have a top quality interface it’s so simple when you record it comes out top quality. Everything thing is so easy like when you hook up your mic go to preferences click on audio and you will see your mic click ok . If you plug in your mic before you load the program it will automatically detect it and you can use it right away .

[@nagesharas5136]

Did you try out Luna, Tracktion Waveform, and Zrythm? How were they in the ranking?

[@comedish4985]

CAKE WALK! you forgot cakewalk!!!!

[@Spladoinkal]

I moved from Ableton Live TO Reaper. Thing is, it's a great second DAW when you already know what you want from a DAW cuz it's extremely customizeable but I dont recommend it to a beginner that doesnt yet know what they want.

[@N8_]

Why tf did you do that??? You spent all that money on ableton and then switched to the inferior DAW??

[@Spladoinkal]

@N8_ temporary switch due to hardware limitations. Found that Reaper is in no way inferior, does some things BETTER than Ableton Live. Back on Ableton now though mostly because it's the industry standard for live stuff. I still like to do mixing and mastering in Reaper more though. Glad I don't have to be exclusive to one.

[@prodbychilled]

BandLab - 8/10 Soundtrap - 9/10 LMMS - 7/10 Reaper - 5/10

[@B14ckyW01f]

if u use LMMS with some encourage, it will be the best ever free DAW all the time.

[@louislindeberg2111]

It doesn't accept vst3 so that's a shame

[@Kane_O_307]

Just wondering, why not Luna? Also Serato Studio has a free version. Both of these daws are amazing.

[@arpa.atelier]

currently using FL for drums, reaper for everything else

[@Ae-Jay10]

Use sower in reaper for channel rack

[@arpa.atelier]

@@Ae-Jay10 good looking out

[@Ae-Jay10]

@@arpa.atelier also u can use mc sequencer

[@timoslejhar1311]

In my opinion you should get reaper. It's not that easy to get into it but there's way more headroom compared to the other ones.

[@kingflow16k]

Love from Jamaica 🇯🇲

[@FrankieXvXGaming]

I'm a band lab producer/artist and I personally find as the most uncomplicated music daw

[@maxkonclips]

Ima god on bandlab 🔥🔥🔥

[@officialskullfader]

i'm on bandlab too!

[@maxkonclips]

@@officialskullfader let's collab

[@gotanypain3083]

I'm on bandlab too but mostly do group projects

[@maxkonclips]

@@gotanypain3083 let's collab

[@beameractionpacked7499]

Can you show which free daws is good for recording vocals? Thank you 🙏

[@CookieDough8297]

Bandlab also has a daw called 'CakeWalk by Bandlab'. I use it for realtime fx for my guitar and it works great.

[@jayneubauer3401]

as a Cakewalk user for decades I am not sure if you can still get the free version. It is one of the most powerful DAW's in the game. It will be interesting to see how well the "re-released" Sonar will fare.

[@CookieDough8297]

@@jayneubauer3401 I think you still can get the free version. It needs activation after a couple of weeks tho and that doesn't always work.

[@vedumusicofficial]

Reaper and LMMS

[@youjeezta]

I made 3 albums whit BandLab, love it

[@Nepsssss]

2:34 bro theres an icon in the rigth of automations that time stretches

[@af_duke]

Pls guys, is it a good choice to start learning music production with LMMS. And do professionals also use it??

[@georgevinubenny5610]

Bro I am just starting to use LMMS and I think it is kinda confusing but pretty sure it will be smooth after sometime

[@alibensacrifice]

Excellent video, thanks man. Really helped me

[@storah-raw]

using reaper for like 10 years, best DAW ever out there

[@Richard-ee9yp]

The only problem I have with bandlab is not being able to use presets or play one shots as midi

[@tati_5469]

Have you tried cakewalk? Best free daw for windows out there

[@namakkv]

Bandlab is fire asf, I use it for all my music, soundtrap is ass but has higher quality instruments, lmms is more lile fl but idk how to vsts and I'm scared

[@BartIzPRIM3]

Can you use third party vst with any of these DAWS

[@KeebCR]

Reaper is a bore but once you get it down its quick. I have been on Reaper since 2011 and I'm still learning haha

[@demiladeobiz7760]

imo soundtrap is the best out of all ngl...

[@Beckett.]

yeah

[@4apla1n]

Reaper it’s for instruments, guitarists really like it, FL and Ableton works better with synth music, when Reaper is mostly about Rock/Metal, whatever, any instrumental songs

[@thomassmith4119]

Lmms is the best one on here

[@Ceej16]

give mixcraft a go, i want to see how you get on with that one

[@m7_eng]

hi ocean love the content, I have a really annoying problem where I have a lot of wav files for drums and melodies and basses but don't know how to import them as an instrument in logic? Couldn't help but notice that you do that in some of your videos so would hugely appreciate some help.

[@Tlab_Nexus]

Is the rating for it being free or just in general

[@TheOneAndOnlyZaKoolDude]

Soundtrap is the GOAT

[@manzteira09]

I always make my drums on GarageBand with samples and export them as audio files then I import them to band lab

[@mexidraw]

I mostly use Soundtrap for my music and remixes, but you also missed Studio One Prime or Zenbeats

[@jadenhazelman319]

Hey Ocean...a free DAW that you missed is Traction Waveform Free, it's a free unlimited daw like reaper but without the annoying popup to pay for it whenever you enter the daw

[@7rixusMusic]

True, a little hard to get into and a slight pain when it comes to tempo switches but very versatile, do recommend