I Produced the Same Song in 10 DAWs to Find the Best One
I recreated the same song in 10 different DAWs using only stock sounds and plugins. Some were amazing, some were painful — here are the results and my...
Key Takeaways
- Your DAW choice matters less than developing your actual music production skills.
- Logic Pro offers the best balance of sounds, ease of use, and value at $199.
- Ableton excels for electronic music and live performance but can feel clunky for mixing.
- Free options like GarageBand and Reaper can produce professional results despite their limitations.
- Focus on learning one DAW deeply rather than constantly switching between different options.
I created the same song in 10 different DAWs to find the best one.
Some were amazing… and others felt like medieval torture. But along the way I learned which DAWs are actually worth learning.
Here are the 10 DAWs/music-making softwares I reviewed:
- GarageBand
- Studio One
- Cakewalk Next
- Pro Tools
- Cubase
- Logic
- FL Studio
- Ableton
- Reaper
- Reason
I scored each DAW across categories like recording, organization, editing, sounds/instruments, plugins, and price — plus my favorite and least favorite parts about each.
To keep it fair, I recreated the same song workflow in each DAW:
- MIDI + audio recording
- editing
- automation
- mixing
- stock sounds + stock plugins only
Fair warning: a few DAWs were so painful I gave up partway through — so some mixes might sound… not great. The experiment was to take the DAW to dinner, not marry it.
I also made a full video on this…
All the ideas in this article come from the video below. If you don't feel like reading, well, I gotchu.
Part of the DAWs & Production Software series — For the full picture, read my full DAW comparison guide.
The results
| DAW | Recording | Organization | Editing | Sounds / Instruments | Plugins | Price | Favorite parts | Least favorite part | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FL Studio | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | $99–$450 | I liked the MIDI synchronization of patterns. | Least intuitive; manual track assignment; automation tracks. | 7 |
| Ableton | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | $99–$750 | Electronic-focused tools + live looping workflow. | Sounds, adjusting faders, and volume felt annoying. | 8.5 |
| Logic | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | $199 | Sounds, ease of use, UI, classic interface. | Lack of MIDI editing options; plugin compatibility. | 9 |
| GarageBand | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | Free | Great intro to Logic; intuitive; easy to use; looks good. | Exporting is awful; plugins limited; advanced features are too. | 7 |
| Reaper | 7 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 6 | Free (then ~$50) | Customizable; technical info; separate MIDI editor; price. | Lack of sounds/instruments; plugin scanning; more setup; “build-a-DAW”. | 8 |
| Cubase | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | $99–$500 | Worked as expected; easy automation; tons of MIDI options; great for compositions. | Lackluster sounds/synths; less common so less info/tutorials. | 8.5 |
| Studio One | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | $20/mo or ~$200 | Modern interface; Splice + Melodyne integration; easy navigation. | Inputs/MIDI setup; glitchy plugins; laggy; lots of features but not deep. | 7.5 |
| Pro Tools | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | $20/mo | Great editing; advanced audio tools; Melodyne built-in; industry standard. | Intimidating; subscription model; needs more plugins to flesh out. | 8.5 |
| Cakewalk Next | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | Free | Simple; loop-focused; just works; free. | No visual aids for mixing; limited plugins; can’t adjust presets. | 6 |
| Reason | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | ~$20/mo | Console focus; rack plugins; great sounds; intuitive. | Feels dated; overwhelming if you’re new; still limited in options. | 6.5 |
And that’s about what I thought of each one. I’ll admit I’d need more time to fully judge every DAW — but after dipping my toes in the pool, here’s how the water felt.
The music
I recorded and performed the same song in every one of these DAWs.
SoundCloud playlist embed goes here — paste the SoundCloud iframe/snippet for the “10 DAWs” playlist and I’ll drop it in (like we did for the microphone shootout).
A note to producers
Before I announce the winner (which I know you probably skipped ahead to find), I want to say:
Any of these DAWs are perfectly fine. They all can make amazing music — they just get there in slightly different ways.
The biggest determinant of a good song is you and your skills. If you gave Jimi Hendrix a $20 kid’s guitar from Walmart, he’d still shred. So don’t let “needing a better DAW” stop you from doing the most important thing:
actually producing music.
My favorite DAW
If you followed me for any amount of time you may have seen this coming: it’s Logic.
I’m 1000% biased. I’ve basically read the entire Logic user manual, so it’s safe to say I know the software.
It’s not perfect — there are things other DAWs do better — but for me it was my favorite to work with in this experiment.
Thanks for reading. If you liked this article, check out:
- The best microphones for vocals
- The fastest way to learn music production
Want a professional starting point? My Vocal Magic presets give you ready-made vocal chains for any genre — EQ, compression, reverb, and more, all dialed in and ready to go.
Or grab my free vocal presets to try before you buy.
About Mattie
Mattie is a music producer, songwriter, and educator specializing in Logic Pro and vocal production. With over 10 years of experience in the music industry, he's helped thousands of artists transform their home studio recordings into professional-quality tracks.
As the founder of Music By Mattie, he creates tutorials, presets, and courses that simplify complex production techniques. His mission is to make professional music production accessible to everyone, regardless of budget or experience level.