Studio One 4 v Reaper Comparison

[LawrenceF]

It only ever always leads to many pages of Internet bickering and cherry picking.

There's a good 10 pages left to go here.

[Kalamata Kid]

I know I cherry pick.
Aren't life and DAW's about cherry picking?

I was slightly leaning towards Reaper but this thread has now put me on the fence for Reaper and Studio One.
It was the bit about ARA and midi.
So hope something is posted that helps me go one way or the other.

If FL Studio had ARA it will also be a contender.

[Kongru]

I know I cherry pick.
Aren't life and DAW's about cherry picking?

I was slightly leaning towards Reaper but this thread has now put me on the fence for Reaper and Studio One.
It was the bit about ARA and midi.
So hope something is posted that helps me go one way or the other.

If FL Studio had ARA it will also be a contender.

You're not going to get a definitive answer here. Each DAW caters to a different mindset meaning every response you get will be different. You will only know which one suits your mindset when you try them out yourself.

[chk071]

I know I cherry pick.
Aren't life and DAW's about cherry picking?

Choosing DAW's for me is rather like deciding for a SUV or a compact car.

Sure, they will both get you from A to B, but, one will be much better suited for loose terrain than the other. And, you'll get more stuff in it as well.

[Kongru]

I know I cherry pick.
Aren't life and DAW's about cherry picking?

Choosing DAW's for me is rather like deciding for a SUV or a compact car.

Sure, they will both get you from A to B, but, one will be much better suited for loose terrain than the other. And, you'll get more stuff in it as well.

You're right, SUVs are the best

[chk071]

Depends! If you're looking for a parking space, or, you're in a parking garage, or you're in the middle of traffic in a city, a compact car will be much more suited.

[LawrenceF]

Aren't life and DAW's about cherry picking?

Only if a user actually needs a particular cherry. If a person is hungry for a pear, the nice ripe grapes on a grape vine are largely irrelevant.

Anyway, if you can't make good music with Reaper or Studio One, there are larger issues to be addressed.

[bmanic]

By tweaking mouse modifiers you can get majority of MIDI editing behaviors from FL Studio in Reaper...

This is what people keep saying but it just isn't true. Mouse modifiers and identical functions are only half the story when it comes to a good workflow.

It is not just about mouse modifiers and functions/features it is also about when that mouse modifier is triggered/changed. At exactly what pixel and how the mouse cursor changes to another tool is, surprise surprise, actually important. What I mean is it matters at what "hotspots" the mouse cursor changes modes and how many pixels it takes to become a different tool. It also matters how many pixels it takes to drag an object before a certain command is assumed.. or how quickly the mouse is being moved. All of these tiny details can be used to "predict" what the user actually wants.

For instance, some piano rolls are just way easier to operate due to the illusion of an "intelligence" of the mouse cursor. It almost feels like it knows when it should switch to another tool based on where the cursor is positioned. FL Studio is a great example of a DAW that has a good piano roll that is extremely easy to parse and you almost always get exactly the tool you want.. for instance note drag vs note length. The graphics also help in parsing complex and cluttered note groups.

Reaper is a great example of a DAW with a piano-roll that is the exact opposite, in my opinion. I _constantly_ get the wrong tool and drag notes when I don't want to.. or lengthen notes when I don't want to.

The underlying logic and weighting of these elements (for instance making a tiny amount of "resistance" before notes are allowed to be dragged vs note length) matters. This is where the devil is in the details.. and these kinds of details are missing all over the place in Reaper.

[Trancit]

Most what you mention is just a matter of getting used to...

If you work for long time in FL Studio, Reaper feels a bit different...
If you than work a few weeks exclusively with Reaper, it´ll feel much more solid and familiar to you...
And mouse modifiers are very powerful not only in the PR editor...

But where the differences really matter are the included helpers in FLS... how cutting of multiple notes work, chopping the integrated arpeggiator etc... in this regard no single DAW can stand against FLS...

However this is a strength of FLS where others have their strength in different sections where FLS completely looses...i.e. working with audio clips in the timeline, crossfades, etc...

This is what making DAW comparissons useless... every DAW is great in some parts and every DAW fails in some parts...
Talking about this doesn´t help neither...
Try it seriously over a longer period and see if it fits... if it fits, there is always a way around the weaknesses...

[THE INTRANCER]

There is an interesting article / interview highlighting what the famous DJ/Composer 'ATB' uses DAW wise that was posted in the past week....Click here to discover what one this is, and to read his thoughts about it.

[chk071]

I found this demo CD of Studio One in a friend’s office at Musicstore Germany back in 2013 and asked him “What the hell is this?” He told me some things about Studio One and that he really likes some features. I went back in my studio, checked the demo version and the next day I switched over from Logic Pro to Studio One. The reason was the speed of creating music. The personalized folders with my favorite plugins and favorite plugin settings, the audio editing, the speed and look of the GUI, and the audio quality which sounded awesome. So many features… like dragging and dropping ideas to my “faves” folder including MIDI and all plugins made me so much faster while creating music. And this is absolutely essential to me. Tools are there for pushing your creativity, not to outbreak it.

Good man.

This is what i consider the strength of Studio One as well. That it doesn't get in your way, and allows for a quick workflow and results.

[andypryce]

There is an interesting article / interview highlighting what the famous DJ/Composer 'ATB' uses DAW wise that was posted in the past week....Click here to discover what one this is, and to read his thoughts about it.

I agree with him saying Studio One's reputation is mostly seen as live recording mixing but so untrue. It is great for EDM or any loop, groove based music with great features but none of it gets highlighted.
I mean people go crazy for new Ableton automation shapes(finally) but Studio One had a better version of it for a long time. Built in note repeat, Slice loops by grid/transient on track or export to impact drum plugin from arrangement page or right from the browser and Impact has a follow arrangement tempo mode so you can use it as a clip launcher etc
For example, Live gets huge coverage and reaction for functions they add years later than other DAWs. One can think it is just invented by Ableton. I mean I read somewhere that someone wished the capture feature of Live were in Cubase, which is already in Cubase for 30 years. This also shows that most users do not know what their DAW is capable of and/or the companies are weak at showing off what really creates a buzz. Ableton is very successful at creating that illusion.
Presonus need a better ad team to show what Studio One is capable of to EDM generation.
Currently it is mostly seen as a mimic of Cubase with focus on live band recording and mixing which is not even half of it.
As a result it did not get the supportive followers or clan if you will like Live or FLS etc. And also it is mostly seen below Logic, Cubase or Protools (which is not and in most areas even better). It is like the program is having an identity crisis. This is my perception though I might be wrong I don't know.

[xbitz]

MIDI editing was weird when compared to Cubase or FL Studio.

By tweaking mouse modifiers you can get majority of MIDI editing behaviors from FL Studio in Reaper... Or you can have a play with them and figure out your own even better layout of mouse modifiers for even better productivity/workflow.

Some things like i.e. warping MIDI CC events in various ways are available via scripts - they are pretty powerful and in some ways even more advanced than similar warping options in Cubase or S1 or whatever.



Last time I checked you can't do many of the things from the above GIF in S1 (the transform tool can compress, expand invert or warp, but nothing like reveal nodes and inserting ramps with adjustable curvature or the custom arching etc.).

nice example, can be recreated with MUX (this is why I've written that S1 needs MUX in the S1 vs Reason topic) and no needs automation so easier tweaking it but tricky one

[xbitz]

bite more about extending S1: MIDI, Scripting etc.> Studio One X is still working (although it's abandonware) >>
http://studioonex.narechk.net/index_en.html
google>
"Studio One X v.2.7.2 package"
"Studio One X no longer works as of 4.1.3?"

[Trancit]

... Slice loops by grid/transient on track or export to impact drum plugin from arrangement page or right from the browser and Impact has a follow arrangement tempo mode so you can use it as a clip launcher etc...

Interesting as for me, this is the part, where they stopped thinking at the most important part...:

Every other DAW offering this feature does the whole thing: slicing the audio, putting the slices into a sampler AND CREATING THE MIDI FOR THEM... not so Studio One... the only way to let it do this, is to use rex files from the browser... or the wonky workaround using groove quantization...

So especially for slicing S1 falls way back for me against their competition... this is a huge oversight...