Reaper is stable-ish like all current daws, they don't typically crash by themselves but because of some miscommunication with a plugin. However, it's bloated with all the features you'll never need and a thousand more you've never even heard of, only two devs more interested in adding new features than in iteration and quality control, so there are more bugs than in software by proper companies with dedicated staff. The much-praised high update frequency helps patching them, but with their adversion to testing, each update also contains regressions and new bugs. Fanboys will stone my windows for this, but it is what it is and will never change.lingyai wrote:What I do need is basic reliability and stability, the ability to loop record (in "take" mode), a serviceable piano roll and event editor, straightforward workflow, works well with Kontakt, and can handle midi-transmittting VSTis (like Cthulu, or Kontakt in its "send midi to the outside world mode", etc. ) which drive other VSTis.
In these respects, how if at all is Reaper lacking?
It has a solid take system with lots of flexibility and various recording modes.
Piano roll is deeply configurable, feature-rich, snappy and extensible with user-submitted but mature, advanced scripts. It takes a bit of effort to get it to work in a sensible way (devs aren't really into MIDI and it shows in the default state), but once that is done, it can be really nice. The multi-track editing is well implemented, and there's an inline editor as well.
Event editor was unusably buggy at the time I gave up on Reaper (guess about a year ago). It was very basic and underdeveloped, so you might want to check it's current state if event list is important in your workflow.
I don't use Kontakt so can't comment on that. I did use various MIDI-outputting plugins and they all worked great, and using them is easy since can place them in the same track as the sound sources and do nice stuff like record the MIDI output and audio into separate tracks. I had no issues with any plugins, and it has a rock solid bridge so you can use 32-bit plugins if you like.
Wonder why I saved reliability as last? Because that just isn't Reaper's strong point, especially with MIDI. It used to have insane, ridiculous bugs, and as soon as they get they fixed, new ones appear. And you, the end user is the one to keep an eye on them before they bite you in the arse because no one else will. Checking basic functionality for regressions is not something I want to spend my music time on, so I first stopped using MIDI and the piano roll*, and eventually moved on completely. My hobby is music, not software, and Reaper pushed me more into fiddling with software than music.
* in the end this turned out to be a positive thing, I started recording live takes to audio, which has improved my playing and made me realize that there is some actual magic in performance that I never quite found in piano rolling about.
If you didn't notice, this is written by a person with negative, subjective experiences which might distort the view. Sort of an anti-fanboy input, so use your judgement.
pity they ruin it like this! Entering notes and editing with mouse is soooooo annoying. 
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In Cubase I just keep recording tracks after tracks, rarely having to invoke the editor. I must say that it impedes my creativity. Ghost notes appearing everywhere. It's as buggy as hell. I'm using 5.18 currently and I'm afraid of moving forward because of what this user said. Same thing here. They made 5.20 with notation editor that I absolutely not need at all and I'm just afraid to move forward. Will the new updates bring less buggy MIDI recording? I've been keeping asking myself the same question for years. I'm on the verge of just forking out for Cubase, but I like how Reaper handles audio tracks. So flexible. Cubase is shit for audio tracks, in comparison. Well 8/9 is not that bad, actually, but the routing is so much better in Reaper IMO.
Still, I can do tracks with Cubase completely wasted. 
I'm saying this because I think there is something to it. Reaper is too confusing when it comes to just laying your simple little MIDI tracks. I really get ghost notes and *weird events* every now and then. Have you really checked your MIDI tracks? I get them all the time. Just simply recording tracks one upon the other, cutting them here and there and then checking with the event editor. I get all kind of shit there and end up deleting it for half an hour... and then saying "it's over, I'm watching the film or some shit". I get much less buggy MIDI in EnergyXT 1.41 that I still somehow use from time to time...
Cubase just handles them so much more gracefully. I'm not a Fruity Loops guy who thinks every note should be quantised. Strings, for example just can't be quantised. Most of the sounds, except drums can't be quantised and Reaper just doesn't "understand' that. 
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