The best DAW. Period.

I know I wrote a great review about Bitwig the other day, but FL Studio is the DAW is started with. Yes, I use other DAWs sometimes (Bitwig, Live), and yes, I've downloaded and then uninstalled like 5-6 more DAWs (like Studio One & Reason). I think I've tried everything (except Logic because I don't have a Mac), but I always come back to FL Studio.

Where should I start? Automation, piano roll, stock plugins, 32-bit VST support, more demo projects than every other DAW, easy UI for beginners, great and huge community, lifetime free updates and so on. Sure, it also has some cons, but the pros outweigh them, plus many major artists like Martin Garrix, Brooks, Jonas Aden, Mesto, Jay Hardway and Madeon use it. I would include more, but I have to keep my review concise, so check this link for more artists using FL Studio: https://www.image-line.com/artists/.

Now, everyone has their prefferred DAW, for various reasons, but for me it's FL Studio. Nothing else feels like home.

(For those still wondering about Bitwig: yes I use it, but not as much as FL as I'm less used to it.)

My Main Studio Setup

As far as I remember, I had been using FL Studio DAW since 2014. During that time, I was so serious about music yet. But after playing it around, I eventually gotten serious and it became my main setup for mastering and mixing before moving on to actually music production until now which is currently at V20.7

One of the features that I like about FL Studio is the free update, eventually I wont need to pay additional fee in order to upgrade my FL Studio. Furthermore, the user friendly interface makes it more easy for me to work around with my production compare to other DAWs. I do recommend those who are interested with music production get started with FL Studio.

Great but man also bad

Look I love FL Studio, this isn't a negative review, I've used FL for years now and can do everything I need to do and I can do it quick. But on the same hand, the learning curve is brutal, and I feel like the way the FL studio works just isn't intuitive, and doesn't translate to other DAWs. I feel like I am almost stockholmed into useing FL studio at this point, but I don't know if I would want it any other way. I love FL and can do every thing I want to do. The piano roll is probably the best you can get and I love it, time line works great, once you know how to do everything to feels like butter to use. The inbuilt effects and synths are great but maybe not on the level of Ableton. I even ended up putting together radio shows and what not in here in addition to music, and it works great, even if its a bit of an overkill for that application.

The demo version is great and you can get pretty damn far with just that. At first glance not being able to save a project can be a down side, but as a kid before I could afford the full version I would just leave my laptop on with FL running. It probably wasn't great for the laptop and if it crashed or turned off it was devastating, but it really made me make decisions and stick to things to get stuff done, there wasn't much room to waffle around on an idea. I'm glad I stuck with it, and I don't think I would want it any other way, but I'm not sure if I would ever recommend it.

Knows no bounds.

I used FL Studio for as long as I been producing. The workflow, while for seasoned veterans may not be as streamlined works for me very well. I feel as there are no bounds or limits to this DAW as I always find something new, if you use the patcher it will open many possibilities. I say try Ableton and FL studio and see which one you prefer, as for I tried Ableton and used it for mainly live recording sessions and I couldn't get into it's workflow. Try FL and see if you like it!

Great software but still needs improvements BADLY!

This was my 2nd DAW I used (first being Acid pro). For the time, it was great for making beats when I was younger. Now it's pretty stale in comparison to all of it's competition. Image-line made some great improvements (The biggest is accurate PDC for paralleling effects etc and track freezing like it's competitors). However, it's 2018 and they don't have a dedicated MIDI controller. Not every producer like to make tracks with a mouse and keyboard. True, the vast majority of hit recording (at least in hiphop) are by producers who use this method but not having anything for the next level is sad. I've been an avid FL user for 20 years (ironically that's why they went to FL 20 to celebrate 20 years). It's disappointing for someone who plays the keys or uses drum machines has to downgrade themselves to clicking a mouse to create compositions. It's not all bad as Image-line makes some of the best stock plugin on the market (Native Instruments being in first place). There are plenty of great tutorials about this software (and crap ton of TERRIBLE ONES!). Either way, it's very easy to learn this software which is why it's so popular. Some of the changes in FL Studio 12 made the software bare-able like the playlist clips being available on the left side. The Automation options are where it really shines. As an one year Ableton user I must say Image-line kills them in this department... Tooo bad sampling is still a pain in the ass. Almost every DAW has REAL TIME AUDIO WARPING BUT FL STUDIO DOESN'T. Yes, you can apply RTS afterward but that's still not guaranteed. THey still don't have those great RTS algorithms in their flagship sampler slicerX (Though you can use Serato Sample to solve it). Overall still good for making beats of all types.

FL Studio made me

EDIT: I have recently purchased FL 20 and it is glorious.

My first DAW ever was FL 8 and have used most versions up until 20. Honestly, it has evolved into a beast. It's beautiful and addictingly intuitive. As a DAW, it is flexible, deep and powerful. So far, there's no sound or idea i cannot pull off in FL Studio. The native plugins sound and look great and it's VST compatible (of course), so you can hoard as many instruments and effects as your computer can handle. Most of the DAW workflow comes fast and quite naturally, making the music production process accessible and fun. The only things I can complain about are [REDACTED]. I recommend this DAW to anyone, from beginner to professional.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Simply amazing!!! (2020 update)

FL Studio Is just amazing I love how versatile it is. If your a beginner, you can download the demo and have tons of fun, learning and exploring how EDM is made. I would definitely recommend FL to beginners and advanced users since it does everything you would basically need. All the Plugins that come with FL are high quality and easy to use. The interface is also very smooth and I would put it Way up in my Beautiful Category. FL, "the fastest way from your mind to your speakers" ;D

2020 EDIT: FL Studio is still a super remarkable DAW with lots of amazing stock plugins. Some things I would like to see refined are: Patcher: • I would like to see patcher get a shortcut key so we can drag and drop our plugins in and out of our signal paths. Holding said shortcut and L clicking would bypass the plugin. • Lighter on resources. FL is still limited by 12 slots for the FX in the mixer. Patcher (afaik) is unlimited, but you take a performance hit from using many of them.

Audio editing: • Per item/clip pitch knobs. At the moment one knob controls all related audio. And "make unique" for every audio clip can get a bit irritating (and tedious). • Better ZPlane Elastique Pitch implementation. Both Ableton and Reaper don't take a full minute to stretch or pitch an audio clip (both are almost instant), and the Stretch algorithm takes up much more resources than needed. • Better performance at higher PPQ. By default Ableton runs at around 480ppq, Reaper at 960PPQ! FL by default runs at 96ppq. Setting FL's to 960 bogs down on Resources a lot making some projects almost unplayable.

PDC (Plugin Delay Compensation): • Midi still lacks PDC, and as a result using something like Shaperbox 2 for ducking results in it not triggering at the correct time.

Overall 4/5 from me. A stunning DAW with really good stock plugins. The workflow is getting there, and the PDC has been fixed somewhat in newer updates. Looking forward to what they do in the future.

Great, affordable, free lifetime updates.

I'm a firm believer that you should try out any and every DAW and stick to what you find easiest to use. All of them are different, and so are we. That said, this is many people's first choice because it's just so affordable. You get free lifetime updates too, something which I don't know if any other DAW does at all.

This is the first one I've tried and I've just stuck with it, everything kinda clicked in place for me and ended up working brilliantly, but that doesn't mean you'll have the same experience! Just give other DAWs a try before you end up committing to any one (or more than one if your workflow benefits from it)

Excellent Production Application

FL Studio has several aspects which, for me, put it over the top of the competition. First and foremost, its interface is beautiful. Everything in FL is extremely visual and nice to look at. But, that's just the surface. Everybody has their own work flow, and I personally feel like FL Studio is the most versatile DAW there is, allowing the producer the most flexibility to create music how they want to. Everything about it is made to be customized; as the producer, you have complete freedom over how you do what you are trying to do. I also must compliment the mixer, because it is simply fantastic. I have never used a more versatile and capable mixer in my life. The last thing I love about FL Studio (well, not really, but just for the sake of this review) is how insane its audio-editing capabilities are. Every audio clip in FL Studio has some basic parameters which can be changed without the need for any kind of plugin. These include pitch, speed, reverse, and fade in/out. However, if that doesn't do it for you, FL Studio comes shipped with an unbelievable plugin called Edison, that is simply amazing. It is by far the best audio-editing suite I have ever worked in. Edison can be used inside other DAWs, but its integration into FL Studio is seamless, which it aught to be, since they're both made by Image-Line. All that to be said, FL Studio is, in my opinion, one of the best DAWs there is. However, that does not mean it is the best for everyone, but I think it is the best for more people than any other DAW.

Best DAW I’ve ever used!

I really really love FL! And the only reason it’s 4 stars is simply because of the tad bit confusing GUI(?).