Image Line FL Studio 20 Producer Edition

I only bought this software because it was compatible with a suite of Plug ins I purchased for use with another DAW. I have been aware of FL Studio for a number of years however I never took it seriously because of the way it was marketed, "Fruity Edition"...Really ! I honestly expected it to be very Micky Mouse..aimed at young kids trying to find an easy way to make beats, however to my surprise it turned out to be a competently designed product with very liberal licencing policies. The producer version comes complete with a number of interesting synths and features, It also has semi functioning versions of several more products that are available for an additional premium, I don't believe you can use them for recording purposes, however you are free to experiment with them in a player mode. It is simple, yet a bit confusing in its simplicity if you are accustomed to other high end DAWs. It is a patterned base system, You create various beats. rhythms and melody elements as patterns and then paste them together to create your product. It's flexible and quite powerful even without the more advanced addons which are more suited to studio professionals and sound engineers than to the average musician/player. Even a relative amature should be able to produce a reasonably good sounding product or demo. ...With its Life Time Updates policy ...at least so far it appears to be a good value. There are more powerful and sophisticated DAWs available ,however they are more complex and difficult to use.

I would highly recommend purchasing this software. Not only is it $50 cheaper here than anywhere else but its also in my opinion, one of the best production software's on the market. Many famous musicians are known to use this software. I also want to make it clear that although it says the software is easy to use, you can't just jump into this and create music. Like many other software's, you have to learn how to use it. Learn the shortcuts. There are many YouTube videos for beginners who have no idea what they are doing. Watch some videos before you jump in so you can avoid frustrations. As a beginner myself, I was able to learn a lot about this DAW and have now ordered a midi keyboard to further my learning progression. Overall, very happy with FL studio. The customer support was also very friendly when I called about questions and I received the package in no time at all.

So, after many years of using FL's pirated version (straight back to Fruity Loops days) to finally owning a full license, I can say the feeling is exhilarating. FL Studio, in my opinion, is the best DAW out there, because it caters to those who prefer the simpler pattern-based way of doing things, and with its new versions also welcomes those who come from a more conventional DAW background (Cubase, ProTools).FL Studio really isn't the easiest DAW to learn (which DAW is?), but there are a ton of resources and training that anyone can access completely free of charge. Other than Ableton, I really don't think any of other DAW is as popular. Although it takes some learning, when you've learnt it, there's nothing you can't do in it; it really is that powerful.The stock sounds are synths that come out of the box are more than decent, and range from stellar, to great, to decent...to blah. But it's more than enough to get your feet wet. To truly see the full potential of any DAW out there, I'd advise anyone to get some VST synths, instruments and mixing plugins. But right out of the box, Image-Line gives you all the tools for the job, and then some. Speaking of tools, I have to touch briefly on FL's most powerful tool; the Piano Roll, which is arguably the best piano roll of any DAW - it's extremely powerful and versatile.What's best about Image Line and FL Studio is that it's the ONLY DAW on the market that gives you Lifetime Free Updates for the version you purchased! Yes, you heard correctly...you never have to pay for an update to the version you purchased. So I really don't know why I took so long to purchase this.My only con with this purchase is that I didn't receive the USB flash drive other users got. Instead, I only received the Getting Started manual and a serial license to register the product on Image-Line's site, which is good. But I was really hoping to have a physical product, for sentimental reasons. A black box just doesn't do it for me. But I suppose they stopped shipping this with the flash drive. If this was an error, I'd be happy if Image Line could send me the flash drive.All in all though, this was an excellent purchase. If you're still on the fence about getting this, don't be - just buy it and start making the music you've always wanted to make!