Cockos Reaper

[bmanic]

You can install it on an usb stick and take it with you where ever you go <3

This is such a massive advantage that it's hard to understand at first how powerful this feature is. It's one of the reasons why it's so awesome that some companies provide a simple .dll installation for their plugins that "just work" in a portable install. Reaper + a hand full of these effects and you have such an incredibly powerful portable system that you can literally always keep in your pocket.

[BMoore]

At one point I took the time to research and find out my niggles with Reaper, and now both the workflow and looks are 95% there.

It's so customizable, that if Reapers default way of doing things nags you like an Intrancer thread, it almost certainly can be adjusted to your liking or turned on/off.
Same with looks. There a several great themes, and everything in them can be adjusted, moved, and tweeked.

And it's stable and fast.

That's the thing though.. not everything can be adjusted. Where and when the mouse cursor changes to another tool is one of those things. How reliably things are "moved" when click+drag is used etc can't be changed.

These are the internal mechanics or "engine" of the GUI/usability that are deep rooted in the various DAWs and in my opinion the main thing that makes them different. I like to use a car analogy here.. you can have 4 different cars that can all take you places but they all have their own distinct base handling which is too deep rooted to be "modified". A car with a weight distribution of 40/60 will inherently handle differently to one with a 50/50 weight distribution, no matter how much you try to mod it (even adding weights to change the distribution!).

I have no idea what you're on here.

[digitalboytn]

Someone mentioned that Reaper is stable and fast....

Absolutely...

Fast to install,fast to load and with a fast workflow,once you get your head around it all...

To get all of that functionality with an install size of less than 12 MB is a joke...

Reaper is a very tightly coded application...

And how about the efficiency ?

I checked the performance meter on a typical project and here it is....

56 plugins - various VSTi's and VST's - most running at zero latency...

The CPU never exceeded 12% at anytime

This is on a dedicated DAW with Win 7 Pro x64,an SSD boot drive,a Xeon ES-1230 v2 CPU @ 3.3 GHz,16GB of RAM etc... Nothing new and nothing too fancy...but a very stable system...

It would be interesting to see how the other DAWs stack up to this

[baaz]

... even if it is ugly as hell ....

NO it's not.

[Trancit]

We have a different taste, I think...

And it´s not only the main view... it´s about i.e. the ugly FX chain window or better all windows in Reaper, it´s about the ugly view of clips when looped with this silly notch inside...

Even if it is looking way better than it´s first versions, Reaper still has a very alpha state look... something nerdy just made for testing it´s functionality...

And that´s my main problem with Reaper... it´s for sure one of the most powerful DAWs if the not the most powerful one...
But it´s GUI it´s like a child throwing all it´s best toys in a big box, took the box, jolt everything 10 minutes and dumped it onto the floor...
It´s put toghether without sense and reason...

I.e. Propellerheads release only a few parts in every new release... but they are so well integrated, well layout and well thoughtout that everything makes sense immediately...

New features in Reaper... well...

[BMoore]

We have a different taste, I think...

And it´s not only the main view... it´s about i.e. the ugly FX chain window or better all windows in Reaper, it´s about the ugly view of clips when looped with this silly notch inside...

Even if it is looking way better than it´s first versions, Reaper still has a very alpha state look... something nerdy just made for testing it´s functionality...

And that´s my main problem with Reaper... it´s for sure one of the most powerful DAWs if the not the most powerful one...
But it´s GUI it´s like a child throwing all it´s best toys in a big box, took the box, jolt everything 10 minutes and dumped it onto the floor...
It´s put toghether without sense and reason...

I.e. Propellerheads release only a few parts in every new release... but they are so well integrated, well layout and well thoughtout that everything makes sense immediately...

New features in Reaper... well...

Lol

[digitalboytn]

We have a different taste, I think...
And that´s my main problem with Reaper... it´s for sure one of the most powerful DAWs if the not the most powerful one...
But it´s GUI it´s like a child throwing all it´s best toys in a big box, took the box, jolt everything 10 minutes and dumped it onto the floor...
It´s put toghether without sense and reason...

I use the Default Commla 5 theme and it's great !

Everything is laid out logically and it has a very immediate workflow...

With Reaper,you really do have to learn a few key commands to be able to get around the program and it makes life much easier...

You can switch between different views in the docker - much like the tab views in Studio One 3 Pro....

The thing about Reaper,is that you really do have to dig in a little to get the most out of the program...

It's not designed for babies who want to be spoonfeed every mouthful...

Like many things in this life,there is much more below the surface,if you are prepared to look beyond the superficialities and seek out the heart of the matter

[Rockatansky]

I always feel like if you care about the looks of something more than about its insides, then you're quite frankly not getting it.
It's the same with OSX.
"But I can't make it display my own boot screen. But it's all just grey. But it can't play videos as desktop backgrounds."
If how it looks is more important to you than the tools and possibilities it can offer you, then just use something else and don't look back.
Nobody's going to miss one less "but the UI tho..." nagger, promise.

[chk071]

... even if it is ugly as hell ....

NO it's not.

Lipstick on a pig... and stuff.

[baaz]

We have a different taste, I think...

I agree.

And it´s not only the main view... it´s about i.e. the ugly FX chain window or better all windows in Reaper, it´s about the ugly view of clips when looped with this silly notch inside...

Even if it is looking way better than it´s first versions, Reaper still has a very alpha state look... something nerdy just made for testing it´s functionality...

the "alpha state look" actually makes it way more snappy and responsive than other DAWs. it's not a bug it's a feature

But it´s GUI it´s like a child throwing all it´s best toys in a big box, took the box, jolt everything 10 minutes and dumped it onto the floor...
It´s put toghether without sense and reason...

It's not "put together* without sense and reason" it works the way it works cuz it's meant to be flexible, developers at CockOS have a different mindset about interfaces, they actually let users to dictate the workflow of the DAW as opposed to rest of the industry's spoon feeding approach where DAWs dictate user's workflow.

I.e. Propellerheads release only a few parts in every new release... but they are so well integrated, well layout and well thoughtout that everything makes sense immediately...

New features in Reaper... well...

i actually like having usable features rather than some design team deciding for me if it's usable for me or not.

With that said, the UI part will only annoy you for a day or two or maybe a week but if a tool lacks functionality and flexibility one has to keep doing workarounds every time while using the tool i think it's unwise to choose looks over functionality for our tools no one is going to see your screen while listening to your mixes though.

[Zexila]

Get into Cakewalk, it's free and feature packed, amazing DAW that once was very expensive and it will just get better from now on, get on the boat with us.
https://cakewalk.bandlab.com/

Cakewalk is new Reaper.

in the sonar vs s1 thread I chided someone for bringing reaper into the thread in a similar way. A lot of people complain about such derailments, please keep with the topic, it is a two way street.

Sorry, but he asked about another DAW's too

For me, the workflow and the quality is on the first place. Anyone here who uses Reaper? Should I give Reaper a try, so, shall I investigate time to learn Reaper, or should I go with FL Studio? Or save my money for another DAW?

To get back to OP, in the end of the day it's you who needs to choose whatever works for you and where you feel most comfortable to get things done, that seeks time, patience and exploration, maybe on paper some stuff are "better", but your interaction with it is the most important.

[heavymetalmixer]

I actually think Reaper is very easy to learn, this comes from someone with a simple workflow so I don't use most of Reaper tools, So IMO Reaper is a DAW "easy to learn, hard to master".

[jonljacobi]

I always feel like if you care about the looks of something more than about its insides, then you're quite frankly not getting it.
It's the same with OSX.
"But I can't make it display my own boot screen. But it's all just grey. But it can't play videos as desktop backgrounds."
If how it looks is more important to you than the tools and possibilities it can offer you, then just use something else and don't look back.
Nobody's going to miss one less "but the UI tho..." nagger, promise.

Shape consciousness affects everyone.

[chk071]

I doubt that many people would use Reaper if it looked like MS DOS though. Also, i believe that many, when they say they don't like the looks, actually mean that they don't like the layout, or window design. Which is a different thing in my book.

Anyway, my biggest gripe with Reaper is not with its looks (even though i dislike those as well). It is that it doesn't work for me so well out of the box. And, because that is the case, i'd have to modify it to fit my needs. But, some things just can't be changed, like the dozens of menu entries, the plugin window, or the plugin browser. Or the absence of mouse tools, when working in the MIDI editor. So, even if i modify the program, i won't be able to make up for that.

Anyway, to get back to the topic: I'd thoroughly demo both DAW's. And, i'd also check out Cakewalk, now that it is free. Actually, i'd probably prefer that to both FL Studio and Reaper. FL Studio is not very attractive for me, because of its pattern based approach, and, because it does things quite differently to more "classic" hosts, which really has to fit your needs. I definitely prefer the more "tape machine" like hosts, like Cubase, Studio One, Cakewalk, or Reaper.

[Trancit]

nevermind...