Best no frills, straightforward, unencumbered DAW for tracking/composing in 2020/21

[antic604]

...which is 1000% more important than hi-res gui...

No, it's not

Once they update it so you can run VSTs inside the Rack inside the DAW, it'll really open up the options.

They've never even hinted they'll do that. I don't know why would they. You can't put 3rd party VSTs in Kontakt, or Falcon, or Halion, etc. Same thing.

I'm not against it, just don't see it as a necessity or even something I'd want personally.

[ReleaseCandidate]

...which is 1000% more important than hi-res gui...

No, it's not

Once they update it so you can run VSTs inside the Rack inside the DAW, it'll really open up the options.

You can't put 3rd party VSTs in Kontakt, or Falcon, or Halion, etc. Same thing

Well, last time I checked none of them was a DAW that allowed using VSTs in standalone móde . And there are VST hosts that let you load other VST plugins, like Unify, Patchwork,.. .

[antic604]

Well, last time I checked none of them was a DAW that allowed using VSTs in standalone móde

Yes, but Reason Studios are not advertising Reason Rack Plugin as a DAW in a VST form. It's Reason's Rack in a VST form. It's a doorway to RE shop, like Kontakt etc. are. And by requiring installation of standalone Reason, it's a potential a doorway to get new Reason users (yes, there's been cases like that!).

And there are VST hosts that let you load other VST plugins, like Unify, Patchwork...

I'm aware it's technically possible, as e.g. Voltage Modular - which is a VST itself - can host other VSTs inside and that would probably be the closest functional analogy. But to be perfectly honest, since 11.2 added MIDI & CV Out you can easily put a VST between 2 Reason Rack Plugins and have things working that way. Not perfect for sure, but there's a workaround so it's not a "priority", unlike high-DPI compatibility for which there's no workaround.

[Psuper]

...which is 1000% more important than hi-res gui...

No, it's not

Going back to our conversation over 2 years ago -- for you guys with small 4k laptop monitors or other wonky setups, maybe its not. As I've mentioned before, plan accordingly. Simple as that, especially if you are even remotely serious about what you do.

[antic604]

Going back to our conversation over 2 years ago -- for you guys with small 4k laptop monitors or other wonky setups, maybe its not. As I've mentioned before, plan accordingly. Simple as that, especially if you are even remotely serious about what you do.

For you who's being serious about what you do, perhaps "plan accordingly" and just get and use the tools that already have features you want, instead of complaining?

[Psuper]

Going back to our conversation over 2 years ago -- for you guys with small 4k laptop monitors or other wonky setups, maybe its not. As I've mentioned before, plan accordingly. Simple as that, especially if you are even remotely serious about what you do.

For you who's being serious about what you do, perhaps "plan accordingly" and just get and use the tools that already have features you want, instead of complaining?

Couldn't agree more, even if its with myself! I'd hate to be that small handful squeaky wheels constantly whinging about a scalable 4k Reason DAW while sporting a < 30" monitor and demand to be taken seriously...

At least I'm still running a 43" 4k which I planned and bought specifically for Reason when I used it as a DAW, which was a reasonable solution to propellerheads lack of GUI updates. What's not reasonable is purchasing a 60"+4k monitor so their rack looks good inside other DAWS.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see useful updates, even if they're not very useful to me anymore. I just happen to believe Reason Rack is already far more popular than the handful who use Reason as a primary DAW.

All in context...