One app, four DAWs.
Setlist Organiser talks to each DAW through the same internal interface, so the app behaves the same way whichever one is underneath. Only the transport protocol differs, and with it how deep the integration goes.
What each one can do
| Capability | Pro Tools Smart Link |
Pro Tools Standard |
Reaper | Logic Pro | Bitwig |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How it connects | The official PTSL API | Keystrokes and MMC | OSC, with a bundled bridge | MMC over MIDI, optional OSC | OSC, to a bundled extension |
| Transport and locate | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Read and write markers | Yes | No | Yes | No | Import only |
| Timeline selection | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Session info | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Sample-accurate stop | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Seamless loop while rolling | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Playhead position from inside the DAW | Yes, bundled plugin | Yes, bundled plugin | No | No | No |
| Timecode follow (MTC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sample-accurate stop means the DAW stops itself on the boundary. Frame-accurate refers to timecode display and follow. They are different things and we do not use the words interchangeably.
The detail
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Pro Tools: Smart Link
A real API conversation over Pro Tools' own PTSL service. It reads and writes memory locations, sets the timeline selection, drives transport and reads session metadata. It stays connected through sleep, wake and a Pro Tools that is busy, and reconnects on its own; that handling was written and tested during live sessions. Marker positions stay exact through tempo changes and ramps, whether the marker was placed in Bar|Beat or timecode. A bundled, signed plugin, installed from inside the app, hosts the in-window panel and gives the app the playhead's exact position straight from Pro Tools. It works in Standard mode too.
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Reaper
OSC with a bundled bridge, installed from the app. Markers read and written, timeline selection, session info and sample-accurate stops. It is the second-deepest integration in the app. Import markers from a CSV export or straight from the native project file, with region support and section header marking.
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Logic Pro
MMC over MIDI, with optional OSC. Transport, locate and timecode follow. Import markers from a Standard MIDI File exported from Logic. Marker and tempo meta events are read, so timecode converts accurately. Logic sessions usually start at 01:00:00:00, so there is a configurable session start offset that keeps stop-marker detection and MMC locates lined up.
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Bitwig Studio
OSC to a bundled extension. Marker import, transport and timecode follow, plus the one thing no other DAW here can do: seamless section looping while the transport is rolling, because Bitwig's API is the only one that can relocate a moving playhead.
Worth knowing before you buy
We use this software to run our own shows, so we know what matters when it comes to the critical running of your show and production.
Sample-accurate stops are Smart Link and Reaper only. Not Standard mode. Not Logic Pro.
Seamless looping is Bitwig only. No other DAW's API allows it.
“Frame-accurate” describes timecode follow and display. It is not a synonym for sample-accurate.
Marker writing is not universal. Logic Pro and Pro Tools Standard read markers in; they do not write them back.
Try it against your own rig.
The trial is the full app with every integration unlocked. Point it at your DAW and see how deep it actually goes.