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Opinions on FL Studio

I've been using FL Studio since I started making music over two years ago and haven't really made a serious effort to try switching to anything else. From what I've seen it gets a lot of negative attention from users of pretty much any other DAW, though I have yet to see why

I haven't seen a discussion about FL Studio since I joined here, what do you guys think about it? I'm thinking about switching to another DAW just to broaden my perspective, I have both Reason and Ableton but I haven't been able to make anything resembling a complete track with either of them, the interface seems very different from FL Studio's, especially their piano rolls (which is where I create virtually every single element in my tracks, and from what I hear FLS has one of the best piano rolls in the DAW market today, another reason why I haven't switched).

I'm a Windows user and make primarily uplifting trance, if it makes a difference. I know ultimately it boils down to personal preference but has anyone here switched from FL to something else without ever looking back? I'm just trying to broaden my horizons somewhat, and figured you guys would be the best at giving advice in that regard.

yes....

Well I used FL Studio for a lil over 5 years since version 3.56 before i switched to Ableton and for me Ableton is alot nicer. I'll w rite more in a bit as to why because it will be quite a long post.

I switched to Ableton from FL and though I do sometimes find myself wanting to go back to FL, there's so much that I like about Ableton that FL doesn't have. The main thing I don't like about FL is the whole pattern based production thing. It really gets frustrating (to me at least) having to create patterns for everything. The automation system is pretty bad too, imo. I never really understood automation clips and if you just did "edit events" on a specific pattern then you had to create a new pattern when you wanted to change the events. It just seemed silly to keep doing that when Ableton has a much simpler automation system. I also really like Ableton's session view. You can basically put down all the elements of a track and listen to them together, tweaking whatever needs to be tweaked before you've arranged anything. It's definitely another one of the main reason I switched.

So to answer your question, yes, I have switched from FL without looking back. The piano roll really sucks when you first switch (FL is just so much better) but with time it gets just as easy to use as FL.

I bought FLS a few years ago as a spur of the moment kinda thing thinking that I might use it rewired into Sonar, primarily for drums, but I never really used it. I actually didn't even reinstall it until recently. But, I will say that, for as much bashing as people give it, there's no denying its price-performance ratio, and it's been used to make countless releases, so....

I would suggest starting out by figuring out where you think FLS is limiting your production, then look for something that bridges those gaps. In other words, I wouldn't recommend switching just for the sake of getting away from FLS' reputation - if it works for you, stick with it and, if not, look elsewhere, but realize that you've got a pretty steep learning curve ahead of you with a new DAW. Also, don't forget that you can always use Rewire or insert FLS as a VST into another host if you decide to look elsewhere.

im in the same boat as the op really and after 2 years or so and using albeton live,i've just started to get what i want out of fl.

the biggist trap i think people fall into is thinking the grass will be grener on the other side.


untill you reach a more pro leavel witch takes up to 7-8 years its best to learn all areas of music producthion i think.

and do things with other software over time.

FL is programmed in Delphi. Nuff said.

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm FL is programmed in Delphi. Nuff said.

FL is pretty simple to use , it doesn't give you that 'wheres the damn sequencer' feeling , which is really good.

and IMO , its really important to know your tools well , and in this case , its not really hard to understand how FL works since its so simple..

FL is excellent, although I did drop it in favour of Cubase.
The reason is workflow. I just prefer the workflow in Cubase. Ultimately it's workflow that's THE most crucial factor in DAW choice as they pretty much all do exactly the same thing now.

If Live had a better mixer section i'd swap in a heartbeat as the workflow on it is superb.

But it hasn't


So I won't

I do all my arranging in FL and mixing in Cubase, if FL had automatic PDC and better hardware support in it's mixer i'd be using that solely

For me FL Studio has always been the thing really, ever since v3. I tried several times to switch to Cubase or Reason but got myself turning back to it.

In the end, you can ask yourself as many questions as you like about other DAW's and why others try to put it down. The are MANY FL Studio users out there.

Keep to what you like most... It'll get the most of you as well

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm FL is programmed in Delphi. Nuff said.

Hah, I've actually been hearing that Delphi has improved a lot since Borland divested it. Wouldn't know for sure though, I refuse to go near it anymore.

On topic: I used FL Studio for about a year, switched to Cubase, and never looked back. I found FLS to be lacking some features I considered critical - such as plugin delay compensation and multi-threading capability (this was 5 years ago BTW) - and also didn't particularly like the pattern sequencer, even for drums. Coming for a more traditional music theory/composition background I found it much more natural to write continuous "scores". I'd also had experience both with old-school tracker programs and more modern hardware MIDI sequencers and consequently felt like FL was a throwback to the tracker days, although obviously there were differences (Reaper in its early days, there was a serious throwback).

But the point is, I had reasons of my own to switch, Unless you're really curious about what's on the other side of the fence, I don't see the point in switching just because other people tell you to or because FL gets bad press. If you don't find it holding you back or frustrating you then it really does boil down to personal preference.

Also, just a note to future readers/repliers because I have an inkling of what's coming: keep to the topic, don't turn this into another sequencer-bashing thread.

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