Which DAW Has the Best GUI?

[Forgotten]

Maybe if Reaper had a paper bag skin...?

[lessera]

The main problem for me is with the scrolling/zooming and some shortcuts. Those IMO are a deal breaker for me to use Reaper. While the midi is really good, but editing using the mouse/keys is a pain for me. If there is a way to change such behaviour, I would buy it and use it.

Get ready to pull out your credit card then...

Do this:
1. In the main window click on Actions --> Show Action List
2. At the top of the action list is a filter for searching. Enter 'scroll'
3. Locate 'View: Scroll Horizontally' (or Scroll Horizontally Reversed, whichever you prefer) and click on it
4. Click on 'Add' in the box at the bottom left
5. Move the mouse scroll wheel.
6. Done.

I became so used to how the scroll wheel behaved in Reason, so I set it up in Reaper to behave the exact same way:
Mousewheel - Scroll Veritically
Shift+Mousewheel - Scroll Horizontally Reversed
Ctrl+Mousewheel - Zoom Vertically
Ctrl+Shift+Mousewheel - Zoom Horizontally

The 'Show Action List' will become your best friend when customizing Reaper to your liking.

[lessera]

Double post... sorry.

[EnGee]

The main problem for me is with the scrolling/zooming and some shortcuts. Those IMO are a deal breaker for me to use Reaper. While the midi is really good, but editing using the mouse/keys is a pain for me. If there is a way to change such behaviour, I would buy it and use it.

Get ready to pull out your credit card then...

Do this:
1. In the main window click on Actions --> Show Action List
2. At the top of the action list is a filter for searching. Enter 'scroll'
3. Locate 'View: Scroll Horizontally' (or Scroll Horizontally Reversed, whichever you prefer) and click on it
4. Click on 'Add' in the box at the bottom left
5. Move the mouse scroll wheel.
6. Done.

I became so used to how the scroll wheel behaved in Reason, so I set it up in Reaper to behave the exact same way:
Mousewheel - Scroll Veritically
Shift+Mousewheel - Scroll Horizontally Reversed
Ctrl+Mousewheel - Zoom Vertically
Ctrl+Shift+Mousewheel - Zoom Horizontally

The 'Show Action List' will become your best friend when customizing Reaper to your liking.

Thank you

I have ver 5.99, but I will try your scrolling then buy ver 6

[lessera]

With due respect to the popular belief here at KVR regarding Reaper zealotry, I would suggest that the Reaper user base is also one of the most enthusiastically helpful bunch out there. If you have questions, you'll have a dozen answers by the end of the day over at the Reaper forums. I know it isn't a popular opinion here, but I appreciate their enthusiasm.

[Michael L]

How did this become a Reaper thread?


coronavirus?

[lessera]

How did this become a Reaper thread?

Mentioning Reaper does not make it a 'Reaper thread'.

But since you asked, have a look at page 4 (and the myriad of follow-up comments). The context of my post might then become more clear to you.

[EnGee]

I was about to buy version 6 but it costs me $118 NZD which is not what I had in mind! Well, it works also with ver 5.99, so I loaded it and I also did change inserting the notes by left clicking once only instead of double click
I wish there is no smart tool because I find choosing the exact tool (eraser, select, pen ...etc) by pressing for example 1,2,3 is much better. I might discover a way. But come on! I mean why they don't sit with someone who uses Cubase/S1 and see how the midi editing is there?!
Ok, enough Reaper! Enough off topic!

[apoclypse]

Bitwig is the nicest looking DAW by my lights. But it's not even close to the most efficient interface for anything other than sound design. It's the DAW I wanted to love, but got tired of hearing no from.

Completely agree with this. I like Bitwig I really do but, while it's nowhere near as close to Reaper in-terms of designed by engineers UI decisions, it still has a little bit of that going on and it seems like the developer rather add some (imo) unnecessary colors to devices than actually fix the real issues. It's a bit frustrating.

[pdxindy]

Bitwig is the nicest looking DAW by my lights. But it's not even close to the most efficient interface for anything other than sound design. It's the DAW I wanted to love, but got tired of hearing no from.

Completely agree with this. I like Bitwig I really do but, while it's nowhere near as close to Reaper in-terms of designed by engineers UI decisions, it still has a little bit of that going on and it seems like the developer rather add some (imo) unnecessary colors to devices than actually fix the real issues. It's a bit frustrating.

The colors in the spectrum are a very minor part of 3.2... which also includes lots of useful workflow improvements as well as a bunch of new and/or improved tools.

[machinesworking]

But there are no compelling reasons. And Bitwig, or any other DAW for that matter, isn't even remotely close when it comes to skinning and customization.
"Reaper is ugly" is about as intelligent as "cars are ugly".

There have been plenty, but you don't care about them. Which is fine, but it's willfully ignorant to ignore them because you personally don't see it.

I've themed Reaper, I have it looking as good to me as it can get, but I'm in no way going to say it's dialog boxes are anything more than dull, XP style. Doesn't bother me personally, but I get where people are coming from.

Being able to theme something doesn't make it better, there are always parts that are not theme-able. I'm a big fan of DPs GUI, but the common complaint is the fonts are too small in parts of it, you can resize and theme the whole thing, but people point out somewhat rightly so that you cannot change the ratio between the fonts and the windows, they have to all be bigger etc.

[machinesworking]

Opinions vary, but a lot of people consistently complain about Reaper's look so obviously it's not striking the right chord with many people. Far more than with any other DAW I'm aware of. Personally, it's so uninspiring that I'm not willing to spend the 10 hours it would require to tweak it to taste. And when you theme it, you're still stuck with those XP-style dialogs. Why they don't just get a UI designer with some taste, I have no idea. There's got to be ego involved. It's a bloody shame as the features are fantastic.

It takes a lot more than ten hours to get deep into any DAW really. I understand the frustration, but some aspects of that are kind of great. I really liked in Logic the ability to upload images for tracks, and there are a lot of themes, you can eventually find a combo you like. The XP style dialogs are sort of annoying, but I'm kind of a fan of Win95 OS 9 flat no nonsense approaches sometimes. Love the way Max/MSP looks etc.

Bitwig is the nicest looking DAW by my lights. But it's not even close to the most efficient interface for anything other than sound design. It's the DAW I wanted to love, but got tired of hearing no from.

That said, I still don't know if this thread is about looks or getting the job done as quickly as possible.

Curious about where it told you no? So far my only complaints are with a few what I would call bugs. Coming from Live I really appreciate the hardware instrument plug in with delay compensation built in, and MPE. Plus I like the control surface support a bit better, with Möss's scripts for Push 2 etc.
I've used DP and Logic for years, Reaper as well, so if I need hardcore MIDI editing or film scoring, etc. etc. it's there, but for basic 16-24 part songwriting with VSTs I'm pretty sold.

I don't really like the way it looks though, too toy like. I'm alone in this it seems.

[revvy]

With due respect to the popular belief here at KVR regarding Reaper zealotry, I would suggest that the Reaper user base is also one of the most enthusiastically helpful bunch out there. If you have questions, you'll have a dozen answers by the end of the day over at the Reaper forums. I know it isn't a popular opinion here, but I appreciate their enthusiasm.

I started hating Reaper fanbois many years ago at the Ableton Live forum, just before Bitwig came out, when they got replaced by BW fanbois.

I'm sure most normal users are fine of those 2 DAWS but it was trollfest carnage on the Abes' site for a while there.

[Forgotten]

How did this become a Reaper thread?


coronavirus?

All threads about DAWs eventually become either a Reaper or a Bitwig thread at KVR. It's a law or something.

BTW, have you tried Reaper?

[vurt]

With due respect to the popular belief here at KVR regarding Reaper zealotry, I would suggest that the Reaper user base is also one of the most enthusiastically helpful bunch out there. If you have questions, you'll have a dozen answers by the end of the day over at the Reaper forums. I know it isn't a popular opinion here, but I appreciate their enthusiasm.

I started hating Reaper fanbois many years ago at the Ableton Live forum, just before Bitwig came out, when they got replaced by BW fanbois.

I'm sure most normal users are fine of those 2 DAWS but it was trollfest carnage on the Abes' site for a while there.

have you tried reaper?