Virtual Gear Acquisition Syndrome (VGAS) has struck: I bought bitwig studio 4

[WarpCanada]

Bitwig is an ableton-live-like DAW with a ground-up rethink of DAW workflows and UI.

ANyone else on here have it or try it?

[64Guitars]

ANyone else on here have it or try it?

Not yet, but I just ordered a Nektar SE25 USB keyboard controller yesterday which I'm expecting to arrive on Monday. It includes a licence for Bitwig Studio 8-Track which I'm really looking forward to playing with and learning about. I've been very interested in Bitwig ever since I first heard about it in 2013 but I couldn't justify the price. Even though the 8-Track version is a crippled version of the full Bitwig (see the comparison here), I expect it to be good enough for my needs. And there's a tight integration between the Nektar keyboards and Bitwig, so I think the combination will be a pleasure to use. I'm really looking forward to it.

[WarpCanada]

So Bitwig 8 track was my gateway drug.

Anyone who wants to get a copy of Bitwig 8 track can do so for $0.99 us by following an offer on a specific magazine (Computer Music) back issue, or as you are doing, via hardware bundles.  I did the $0.99 back issue thing (it might be $2.99 now).

Bitwig 8 tracks major limitations are:

1.  No access to The Grid (a modular environment for instrument and effect building).
2.  Less content (but still a lot)
3.  Maximum two vst plugins (this seems awful until you realize how many built in devices bitwig comes with)
4. Maximum 8 tracks.

You can upgrade to the 16 track version for not much money from 8 track.  But 8 track is an immense amount of fun.  You can also use the Demo mode to get access to the Grid for trial purposes, but in demo mode you lose file save and file export.   But you can make awesome sounds.

The big reasons for Bitwig in my view are:

1. Superior audio engine - the vst plugins run in a separate memory space and process. Bitwig is much more stable and solid and unlike Cubase, should NEVER crash completely.
2. Superior performance - I can run twice as many plugins and some very heavy plugins on my 2014 era xeon cpu that won't run at all in cubase without overloading the cpu.
3. Better modulation system, better plugin preset browser, better way of chaining plugins and creating composite presets (multi plugin chains).
4. Really fun clip based system for improvisation, performance, or in my case, song writing and exploratory "pre songwriting" scratchpad. (Similar to ableton live)
5.  The Grid - a totally modular environment for dragging and dropping modular patches for effects and instruments.

[WarpCanada]

Anyone who wants a free copy of bitwig 8 track can follow the computer music issue "claim free license" technique outlined in comments here

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwig/comments/p944f0/8track_license/