Is REAPER the current best long term choice?

[gauderbock]

No.

[frankpain]

yes

[lotus2035]

Maybe

[redmaggott]

Are you supposed to know how to do this kind of scripting in order for Reaper to be useful?

No. I don't think anyone needs to do this nonsense.

I just fancied a go.
I'm a complete novice. This is something I'd never attempted before.
There's something about it that really appeals.
For me, this learning experience has been an eye opener.


Basically, this is me just dicking about.

I am quite pleased with it, though.
It works, and it's fun.

[audiojunkie]

..

[jethrobull]

A fantastic choice!
It's cheap,
Flexible,
Light on resources,
Everything I have (hardware & software) just works.
Constantly updating and improving,
Solid as a rock.
I could probably count on one hand, how many times it's crashed in 15 years. And that was always because of a third party issue.
Love it!

[liquidsound]

Are you supposed to know how to do this kind of scripting in order for Reaper to be useful?

No. But for the script to be useful it needs Reaper.

[Ananmusatili]

Are you supposed to know how to do this kind of scripting in order for Reaper to be useful?

No. I don't think anyone needs to do this nonsense.

I just fancied a go.
I'm a complete novice. This is something I'd never attempted before.
There's something about it that really appeals.
For me, this learning experience has been an eye opener.


Basically, this is me just dicking about.

I am quite pleased with it, though.
It works, and it's fun.

I'm also a newbie. First, I got Reaper in December, because I listened to the fanboys. Then, in February I started testing Studio One, and I didn't look back. Now I can feel that I can breath.

If you haven't tried other, modern DAWs, you don't really know what you're missing. I guess that can be a good thing.

Reaper has its strong points. If you're a musician recording actual instruments, it's not a bad choice. That being said, any other DAW does recording, and when using VSTs, and especially MIDI editing, anything else is better than Reaper.

[Ananmusatili]

I could probably count on one hand, how many times it's crashed in 15 years. And that was always because of a third party issue.

My experience in the past months --> I can count with both hands the amount of times it crashed on me during the past 3 months. It's not more stable when it comes to VST handling than for example Studio One. Both have crashed on me the same amount of times, and that's because of the VSTs.

So, I'm going to say that myth of stability comes from people who mainly record their own audio and instruments, and only occasionally using VSTs to complement them. Only a DAW with a sandboxing ability will be actually stable when it comes to that.

For someone using only VSTs, it's the same shitshow as others. And I have two modern beefy computers both having it installed. It's the same story on both.

[RPH]

Then, in February I started testing Studio One, and I didn't look back.

What immediately annoys me about Studio One is they don't show the price on the site..

Studio One:
- Goto: https://www.presonus.com/en-US/studio-one.html
- Press buy
- Get transferred to: https://www.presonus.com/en-US/studio-o ... l#versions
- Press buy now
- Get transferred to: https://shop.presonus.com/Studio-One-6-Artist
- Press buy now
- Get transferred to: https://connect.presonus.com/?returnto= ... one.artist
- login or signup?

..really?

Reaper:
- Goto: https://www.reaper.fm/
- Press purchase
- Get transferred to: https://www.reaper.fm/purchase.php
- See price.

[BuddySpencer]

and when using VSTs, and especially MIDI editing, anything else is better than Reaper.

That's not true, admittedly it took some time to set everything up, but especially in MIDI I am able to now work at least the same but rather even better and faster in REAPER than in other DAWs (used FL Studio, Logic and Live for some years).

But I don't want to deny that it can be an advantage if you've already used other DAWs - but as soon as something bothers you or is not working as you want (workflow- or function-wise), there is usually a way in REAPER to set it up the way you want.

[Ananmusatili]

and when using VSTs, and especially MIDI editing, anything else is better than Reaper.

That's not true, admittedly it took some time to set everything up, but especially in MIDI I am able to now work at least the same but rather even better and faster in REAPER than in other DAWs (used FL Studio, Logic and Live for some years).

But I don't want to deny that it can be an advantage if you've already used other DAWs - but as soon as something bothers you or is not working as you want (workflow- or function-wise), there is usually a way in REAPER to set it up the way you want.

That's the thing. To bring a lot of the 21st century features, especially for MIDI, to Reaper, you need to search and install a hodge-podge of community scripts.

Community scripts.... on paper is a absolutely fantastic thing. In practice, it's a crutch to fill the holes left by an undersized development team. And really, a lot of the community scripts are abandoned projects, which is a problem even if the script itself keeps functioning. Ääähh, I won't get into that topic now more.

It's less of a problem if you're a seasoned veteran with DAWs in general and know your workflow and what you need, but for a beginner, it's a really daunting task. That's why I would be very wary of recommending it to beginners with fanfare (like many do), creating completely false expectations for them.

[Ananmusatili]

Then, in February I started testing Studio One, and I didn't look back.

What immediately annoys me about Studio One is they don't show the price on the site..

Studio One:
- Goto: https://www.presonus.com/en-US/studio-one.html
- Press buy
- Get transferred to: https://www.presonus.com/en-US/studio-o ... l#versions
- Press buy now
- Get transferred to: https://shop.presonus.com/Studio-One-6-Artist
- Press buy now
- Get transferred to: https://connect.presonus.com/?returnto= ... one.artist
- login or signup?

..really?

Reaper:
- Goto: https://www.reaper.fm/
- Press purchase
- Get transferred to: https://www.reaper.fm/purchase.php
- See price.

I don't disagree that it's weird you don't get the prices immediately on the shop page, which is what most software companies that try to push the subscription model do, but that must be the weirdest flex about software function I've ever seen. How's that relevant?

If that's your criteria, then FL studio, Live and Bitwig are right there with Reaper. But Cubase for example is not, because it forces you to click more buttons as well.

Shit webshop design isn't linked to the software user experience. I promise you that.

[BuddySpencer]

and when using VSTs, and especially MIDI editing, anything else is better than Reaper.

That's not true, admittedly it took some time to set everything up, but especially in MIDI I am able to now work at least the same but rather even better and faster in REAPER than in other DAWs (used FL Studio, Logic and Live for some years).

But I don't want to deny that it can be an advantage if you've already used other DAWs - but as soon as something bothers you or is not working as you want (workflow- or function-wise), there is usually a way in REAPER to set it up the way you want.

That's the thing. To bring a lot of the 21st century features, especially for MIDI, to Reaper, you need to search and install a hodge-podge of community scripts.

Community scripts.... on paper is a absolutely fantastic thing. In practice, it's a crutch to fill the holes left by an undersized development team. And really, a lot of the community scripts are abandoned projects, which is a problem even if the script itself keeps functioning. Ääähh, I won't get into that topic now more.

Scripts will still work - even though they are no longer updated - in future Reaper versions, at least I have not yet experienced a script that no longer works.
But when setting up the program, I'm not even talking about scripts, but rather internal options, such as theming, mouse modifiers, shortcuts, all the options via the right-click menus.

It's less of a problem if you're a seasoned veteran with DAWs in general and know your workflow and what you need, but for a beginner, it's a really daunting task.
That's why I would be very wary of recommending it to beginners with fanfare (like many do), creating completely false expectations for them.

Yeah, I would definitely agree (at least when it comes to producing via MIDI) - you definitely have to know what you want or what workflow you prefer and then have the motivation and time to set up the DAW accordingly

[GaryG]

So, I'm going to say that myth of stability comes from people who mainly record their own audio and instruments, and only occasionally using VSTs to complement them.

Nope. Been using Reaper since ~2010 and only occasionally record directly into it. 99% of my workflow is either heavily manipulating field recordings with a shitload of effects or midi VSTs, again with a lot of processing. Crashes are very rare and can always be pinpointed to a specific plug or script.

For someone using only VSTs, it's the same shitshow as others.

Just no.

I'd maybe look into how you're configuring stuff if you're getting all these crashes in both Reaper and S1. That's not normal. From my experience, I found S1 crashed significantly more for me than Reaper but still fairly stable generally.