I get asked this question all the time, and I answered it on another platform so I will paste that here for reference.
It's been said before there is no right answer on which DAW is "best", but I will make a differentiation between Ableton, and Bitwig. You may notice similarities, and that is because it is made by former members of Ableton's development team.
Years ago one of my students actually introduced me to Bitwig. He had bought it on a whim, and was using it exclusively, so I really had no choice, but to hop in, and learn it. The major difference is that Bitwig is aimed at (modular) synth programmers, and sound designers. It's not so much a DAW. It is in essence a synthesizer, in which you can modulate anyting!
Ableton provides the same ability through Max for live, but Bitwig was built from the ground up with this in mind. On the surface they look almost identical in terms of workflow, but as you dig deeper you begin to realize that Bitwig is ideal for sound designers. If your approach to music-making is noodling around with lfos, and envelopes modulating filters Etc, Bitwig is ideal. Hours will pass while you create unique soundscapes. I remember creating a patch in Bitwig, and then trying to reproduce it in Serum. I was able to come close, but it clearly lacked some of the dimensionality that was present in Bitwig with no real way to fix it, because Bitwig allowed me to unlock each note played with it's own unique (drifting) modulation whereas in Serum I was able to make them drift with the chaos function they still remained more uniform(?) if that makes sense.
If you prefer something more direct (which it sounds like you do) Ableton. I love the way that Ableton gets out of your way and actually encourages you to create. If you want to delve into the synthesis Max for live is there to explore, but if you just want to make a song it's quick and easy. You can go as deep as you need to go professionally, and sonically. My favorite combination is Serum, and Ableton. They mate extremely well.
I'm also a long-time user of logic pro, but it's convoluted workflow, processed sounding presets, and dark sound engine have moved me away from it in recent years. Years ago the environment was new and innovative, but when Apple purchased emagic they began a downward descent imo. I felt like they were on to something with Version 9, but they abandoned that with 10.... in any case logic does have some great internal plugins, and comping vocals, and other recorded tracks is superb. Bussing; however, is a nightmare along with 10, 000 mouse clicks for everything not to mention the time required normalize a preset, and turn off all of their smeary sounding effects when it comes time to mix. I found it easy to lay out rough ideas, but difficult to make them sound good.... I don't want to fight my DAW all the time and found myself importing all of my ideas into Ableton anyway so I just stopped using logic at some point for the most part. Occasionally I'll still play in it though...
FL Studio... This is a rough one. Great for quickly cooking up some beats if you like drawing notes, lengths, and velocities etc, but it is lacking when it comes time to mix... Their mixer routing is horrible. From that comes the hyper dynamics limited "FL Sound". It has become somewhat of an underground Trap/rap staple, but when we step into the major players realm most are mixing in Pro Tools, Ableton, Cubase, etc. FL is basically a toy that was marketed brilliantly, and while it has matured significantly its still a step away from greatness...
Pro Tools... Best for recording Audio, Audio Editing, and Mixing... HORRIBLE for Music Production. Only a handful of producers have mastered it's workflow for handling midi, and you better understand routing, because they don't make it simple. I've been using since version 3.0, and still I question how it survived, then I remember being a commercial studio owner, and remember when it was hardware based (and worked when all others struggled), and that itself became a proprietary compatibility thing... Also Pro Tools has a "familiar" sound.. You will recognize it almost immediately as so much music is mixed through pro tools sound engine that it has become a thing...
Studio One, and Reason get honorable mention. I like both, but they both have their caveats. Studio One is fairly robust, and I would encourage you to dig in if you're in it already, but if you're still undecided give Ableton a spin. Reason however seemed to be getting it together at one point, because their sound library was growing well, but they somehow got lost. Also the quirky way that they force you to start with a blank slate in terms of sound design was provocative at one point, but quickly got annoying to me, and my colleagues as it became a time waster in the end.
I must say again Ableton has my heart. It's super easy to learn, brilliantly thought out, SUPER FUN to use, and rock solid meaning while it may crash you will NOT lose anything, and it mates EXTREMELY well with most midi controllers making them super responsive, and simple to operate the software out of the box. I personally have an affinity for the Novation controllers as they have sped up my workflow significantly as well as facilitated "mouse free" recording, and awesome live arrangement / performance on the fly... No other DAW does this better.
Hope this helps.
All of my best, LoveExcelsAll
