My conclusion: DAWs are like cars. All of them can get you from a to b, but it's nice if you can have one that is inspiring to you. Finally, don't drink and drive.

I just want something grey or beige that doesn't try and interfere with me.

Reminds me of something I heard a producer friend say one time.

"Don't cocaine and produce"

Reaper needs extensions out of the box but is more stable when pushed than Pro Tools and Cubase due to Pace software and Steinberg’s core utilization. Cubase and Reaper are more stable on Windows than Mac too. All the DAWs have bugs and workarounds. It’s just easier to figure out where the more stable ones (Pro Tools, Cubase, Reaper, Digital Performer on Mac) will commit harakiri during your session.

Windows 10 and ASIO can also be set up on the right system build and interface to be more stable than Catalina and CoreAudio ime.

If you want an unstable DAW, check out Studio One, Pro Tools First, or Digital Performer on Windows. If you want something that can behave awfully but be more stable, there’s Logic and pretty much all of the non-linear DJ DAWs. Studio One is the least stable full DAW I’ve ever used though. Constant crashes on both Windows and Mac in every version. Mixcraft and Digital Performer on Windows are easily the slowest.

Hey Drezz. I'm doing OK. Was very ill with C-19 right at the beginning but am (mostly) back to normal now. Work is thin but it is what it is. How are you doing?

I don't like the various Pro Tools business models over the years but it's decent software. it's very quick for audio editing in post-production and dialogue.

I quite like Cubase too but it I've never used it professionally. I used to teach it in schools when I did some Music Technology teaching but I always preferred Logic.

Reaper is easily my number 1 now and has been since I fully transitioned from Logic a few years ago.

Tony

Sorry to hear that, i hope a full and thorough recovery to you sir! Take care.........I'm doing OK, like many all the work has been online since the whole Corona business, no sessions in rooms with players, which is really quite a drag, but i remain hopeful, I just got a manager to take care of my production just as lockdown hit, so exactly the wrong time to take things to the next level, but there seems to be a small, tentative movement of interest in a few things coming my way, so fingers crossed, things will be different for a while, just how long the restrictions will apply, well, i guess none of us know, such a crazy time. Anyway, don't want to derail the thread.............

Yeah, Reaper here for me, for the ease of mixing, the stability, use of CPU resources and the actions list, which once set up to one's specs is great, the right shortcuts when you need them...............and of course, it plays so well with the AA plugs.

After a few weeks of use I'm settling on Team Cubase. If I had a Mac maybe Logic but I've had enough pissing my life away changing DAWs. I think the switch from Reaper to Cubase was more than justified for my needs as an electroacoustic/electronic classical musician type thing.

I'm not moving DAWs anymore unless there's some serious major draw with Bitwig in the future, or I get rich and Logic really seems better at some point. I'm not using Reaper anymore unless my productions become so sophisticated that it makes sense to switch back to doing all my mixing in Reaper. But I doubt it.

Cubase is my DAW from here on out. It has basically everything I could ask for, it feels good, it's well supported, it looks good, it's fun to work with, I have major amount of control in automation and MIDI to the finest details, it seems to have lots of tiny implementation details you can sort out, lots to dig into and learn as you go, all features I could want and seeming just more and more hiding in the details.

THAT SAID it's quite a bit long-term with regard to learning. I spent a lot of time learning Sibelius and Reaper the last year, but Cubase has so much in each layer and section that it does seem more of a "pick it up as you go" rather than read through the manual type thing. It's good stuff.

Cubase has way more audio and plugin horsepower. Also Cubase has better midi. I'm not crazy about either of their GUIs, although Reaper does look pretty amateur in comparison.

You get what you pay for in life

I liked your comment before I read the end of it. In my mind, REAPER is the patched together tractor, and Cubase is the sleek race car. hahaha

But seriously, and I know that this may be an uncommon opinion, but REAPER to me is bordering on unusable. Yes it can do a lot, almost everything one would need in a DAW. But the design, the implementation, the thought that's gone into the menus, where everything is ... well it leaves a LOT to be desired.

To me, REAPER is just features, Cubase is a music production system with a thought-out workflow.

Of course, YMMV

Of course some things are a matter of taste.

But the design of Steinberg products is stuck in the 90s.

Younger people prefer a simple design over a grandpa boomer design.
And in all performance comparisons Nuendo und Cubase are last and Reaper wins. So I don't know what you are talking about.

Yes Steinberg has a extensive range of functions. But many of them not practicable (video export) and many very basic things are just impossible to do with Cubase.
Ever tried to create a 16 channel wave file or audio bus?

Yeah, it's definitely a matter of taste and really also does depend on the use case.

Attempt to orchestrate something cinematic or produce EDM (which is heavily sample and MIDI based) in REAPER and you may feel differently.

I personally don't see REAPER as streamlined though, far from it. It reminds me of software from the old days with the insanely huge menus and the GUI design is just imho in need of desperate work (for my taste).

For streamlined, we would have to say something like Ableton Live or Presonus Studio One have done quite well.

But again, I have never had the need to work on a 16 channel wave file, so the use case is clearly a big part of this for sure.

Abletons a pain as soon as you want to stop using clip view, imo.

I agree, I'm not actually a fan of Ableton's workflow, but I do consider its design to be streamlined and modern. I genuinely think that's a big part of its success.

Personally, I hate arranging in Ableton Live and the lack of customisation is frustrating (e.g. keyboard shortcuts).

I find Cubase to be a happy medium between "very limited customisation for the sake of simplicity" (Ableton Live) and way too much customisation (REAPER).

The use case may be a huge part here:

I know literally one EDM producer that uses REAPER, and know dozens that use Logic, Cubase or Live.

Almost all composers (for film .etc) use Cubase or Logic. I think Studio One will start being more prominent there also soon. Again, I've never seen REAPER in this context.

I DO know of various bands that use REAPER, and in this space, it's ultimately a substitute for Pro Tools.

There's a reason people choose certain DAWs for certain genres, and this ultimately comes down to the features required. Cubase (and recently Logic) have expression maps for orchestral libraries. Live, Logic and to a slightly lesser extent Cubase have the creative tools (samplers, layering, sound design .etc) which EDM producers require.

At least that's my 2 cents worth

Owwww, look at that, Reaper is so cute!

A Cubase user

Why not practicable?
What "basic things"?
Why would you ever need a 16 channel audio bus?

Who needs Cubase or Reaper when there is Studio One?

.... just mocking

We all know, 'Pro Tools Sound The Best' so why don't you all use that?

AAX has a more creamy refined sound....

And By far the nicest subscription. It's a win win!

I've been using Reaper (after Cubase 7.0.x disaster) for few years, with all the requirements that usually, Reaper users evoke as being mandatory : customization, tweaking and even theming. Actually, I never retrieved the ease of use that Cubase has. So, I finally gave up. The main problems for me :

- the absolute mess with all the actions and scripts : SWS/Reapack/independent developers, etc. And it's getting worse as the time flows : presently, no less than 3000 actions done without true QC process.
- the navigator is a joke,
- no native track inspector,
- no control room,
- no Generic remote definitions : how to control Reaper with endless knobs, beside, yes, a convoluted script involving OSCII-bot, which should be launched before Reaper ?
- no preset control in the track headers,
- no input transformer (yes, scripts again, as more or less reliable workarounds...)
- some persisting issues with MIDI : stuck notes, impossibility to split a MIDI item without cutting the notes underneath (unless again, using a script that should be found first...),
- the audio and MIDI items don't behave the same when changing project tempo : why so, as all tracks in Reaper are supposed to be universal ?
- The automation display is erratic, depending on a cryptic setting : sometimes, we cannot see the full range available for a given parameter,
- I'm still unable too use effciently the MIDI editor, and the options are cryptic (even in the preferences),
- too much things lacking in the transport panel : among others, a way to quickly access to markers,
- No metter the theme involved, the use of the UI is still a PITA, especially the mixer, with all the FX parameters grouped without any sight of the actual FX involved. This, with the VSTi managed as FX : absolutly not the same things, in my opinion.
- I'll let the theming issues that are piling up beside : I could make a 20 items list concerning them.

Overall, I sincerely tried to use Reaper, or rather, try to use it efficiently, and during no less than six years. But there are too much workflow issues : I do anything in Cubase at least three times more quickly than with Reaper. And as the ASIO and CPU usage are more or less the same here, I'm glad that I came back to Cubase just one year ago : a true relief, since.

I was thinking the same thing and I've been doing this professionally for 35 years now



M

I agree that reaper is an undifferentiated pile of features and is to be avoided

But Cubase also freaks me out it’s too deep

Fl studio is just right (ergonomically) but has some issues for me that are pushing me to Cubase

Look around for an older version. 10.5 is the latest, but Cubase version 5 is equal to the newest reaper version as far as features (or lack thereof) however Cubase 5 has much faster Audio performance than the newest Reaper.

I finally dug in and gave Reaper a proper run through when the whole quarantine started and they gave out the free license (no nag screen means 5 seconds quicker to work right?). When the $6k Mac Pro dropped, I figured my Apple/Logic days were numbered and I might need to just move to a PC again. Used it to track 2 electronic EPs I was working on, didn't do any composition in it. Id say its on the same level as the rest, but my god the options.. Its just too much work. I like everything laid out in whatever way so I can just get to it. I can adjust or workaround their workflow as needed, or just dump it and move, as opposed to taking 2 days to setup my DAW. And then there's the themes, scripts, actions, etc.. I dont have time to learn a scripting language to make it do things other DAWs already do out of the box, or want to learn how to do graphics so I can make my mixer look like another one already does. The whole pin matrix routing for plugins. They just went waaaaay overboard with the amount of customization you can do and its off putting to me. Reapers default out of the box setup isn't one I really got along with, and some of the ways it does thing I just didn't like anyways. Functionally it was great, it'll do everything you need to do, but you gotta put in the time to set it up initially. Cubase though. Thats my kinda thing. I was a VSTer up until I switched to Logic Platinum 4.5, so its still on the table as an option. Im sure its changed a hell of a lot since VST32 though haha. Just waiting to see what kinda cheap cross grade deal I can get when they release the new one this fall..

What do you mean by faster audio performance?

Cubase 6.5 was the peak, it all went downhill from there imo.

Let's take a moment and appreciate the absurdity of comparing a 60$ program to a $650 program on feature sets, ease of use and graphics.

Yes Cubase looks much nicer and has a ton of great included programs and features for electronic music. It also costs more than 10x the price of Reaper so let's keep things in perspective here.

Reaper has its quirks but it does basically everything crucial. There is a learning curve but the same applies to any program. It's incredibly fast - the basic graphics for the UI are done that way to lower system load.

Fact is Reaper is super cheap, super light on cpu and runs great on just about any system, that's its selling point. It's like a 15 mb install.

No it got better and better

Well, thanks for sharing your opinion.

You welcome Sir