Named the "DAW of the Year" in 2017 by Computer Music, Bitwig Studio 2 is slated to get a major update in February, promising new and improved features for the new year.
For those unfamiliar with the software, Bitwig Studio 2 is digital audio workstation along the lines of Apple Logic and Ableton Live. But the DAW puts its own emphases and unique spins on a huge range of features found in those and other music software programs like Native Instruments' Reaktor. Studio 2 already includes innovative features, like touch-screen response, deep integrations with advanced MIDI controllers, and a collection of modulators that can be used to affect any instrument or third-party plugin.
As FACT magazine Make Music Editor Scott Wilson wrote in March 2017, "it's a complex beast," but its advanced features have won Bitwig a dedicated following.
Version 2.3 will include a new Phase-4 synth inspired by the Yamaha's classic DX7 and the Casio CZ series. You'll be able to introduce distortion and phase modulation to each of its four oscillators in order to explore a range of timbres and textures. The new Expanded View will give you detailed control over seven of the DAW's built-in devices, like its EQ and sampler, as well as the Phase-4 synth.
The update also gives new and improved time-stretching, by licensing the Zplane Elastique time-stretching algorithms, as well as offering easy and quick time signature changes.
But these are just a few of the update's improvements and new additions. You can find more information on Bitwig's website. If you already own Studio 2, you can beta test the new update. Or, you can buy Studio 2—available at discounts for students, owners of Studio 1, and owners of Bitwig 8-Track—through Reverb now.