mike_mccue
I went for years only using my favorite DAW which is Cakewalk Pro Audio/SONAR. That is all I wanted to know about.
 
Finally, I took the advice of several employees of Cakewalk and Gibson and started using several DAWs.

Yeah, I find it interesting to work in different environments, but I'm technically-minded, and I'm sure others just want/would be happy to master one DAW. Right now I'm mainly using Sonar X2, Samplitude and Logic, but I've done previous work in both Studio One and Reaper. Reaper works very well, but I felt that Studio One was more intuitive, and Sonar, Samplitude and Logic all have nicer features than Reaper. But I occasionally do a project in Reaper just to keep in touch with what they are doing, and they do seem to be focusing on a good basic stable system rather than trying to add lots of features.

Hi Guys,
 
A couple notes on Reaper that I hope will be taken as constructive. Information about a couple functions of the program that are not generally well understood and may be useful especially if you are a keyboard player..
 
Went through about every DAW out there and settled with Sonar and Reaper. Would really like to use just one of them but can’t, because each has strengths and features not found in the other. For now, they exist in peace and get all the core work I need done. The locals out here have heavy battle lines drawn over the Reaper vs Sonar issue, worse than politics and religion. Bring up any less than stellar concern about a Reaper or Sonar based studio and some constipated jerk will explode on you. Never understood this. Only exception seems to be ProTools guys who don’t recognize that there is any other DAW, so no argument there.
 
Sonar staff conversion to print from midi and the general maturity of midi functions are what keep me with Sonar.
As far as audio tracks, I don’t see any advantage in either, except the automation lanes and depth in Reaper are formidable.
 
Where Reaper has an advantage IMHO is in the handling of midi devices, and also a pitch shift approach that is as radical as the track layout.
 
Thread was here some time ago about the confusing and unnatural track format in Reaper. Unisex approach without clear definition of a midi or an audio track. This is a departure from the universal standard our forefathers passed down, but is a progressive breakthrough in the way things are done. Opened up many possibilities unavailable before in any other DAW, but also created new problems.
 
The Reaper track is neither midi nor audio. It is one track that functions as midi or audio depending on what you chose as your input. The volume and pan per channel control audio output only. This simplifies some of the inconsistencies seen in Sonar and other DAW’s, these problems not being the fault of Sonar, but in the lack of conventions in vst/vsti protocol. Vst protocol doesn’t mandate whether the vsti responds to the host’s volume/ pan midi cc’s or not. Result is as you have experienced, some vsti’s midi track volume works and some don’t. You have to go to the separate audio output to regulate. Reaper has one volume slider per channel that always works regardless of how the vsti was designed.
 
This unisex approach made virtual synth life a whole lot easier, but introduced a big problem. If you ran external hardware, the audio volume/pan setup had no effect on your DX-7 since it did not send midi data. This wasn’t solved til ver 4 where there is now an option to change the audio/pan sliders to transmit cc data, so a channel can be either digital internal or an external hardware driver with the same consistency.
 
The channel format allows drag and drop of unlimited audio or midi devices onto a single channel, mix and match without differentiation. The wet/dry knob for a vst effect becomes the volume control for a vsti synth. These chains are in series, which then brought up another serious problem caused by lax vsti code. Vsti synths are not required to have a functional midi thru, so some do and some don’t. This is not a problem in Sonar because you can’t chain synthesizers and the problem does not arise. No synths before had this capacity, so there was no problem recognized until Reaper broke the mold and exposed the flaw. This was fortunately fixed within the last years by allowing an optional parallel routing, so one synth without midi thru could tap into the input data directly. Problem with series downstream block was solved.
 
Multi synths can of course be done in Sonar by opening multiple tracks, one track for each synth and cloning the midi files. Reaper just makes the process cleaner, faster and more consolidated.
 
Another really neat feature in Reaper deals with pitch shift. You can globally control the computer clock to speed up, slow down (affects both speed and pitch). Or use traditional resampling plugs like the included Elastique Pro. Reaper however took the concept over the top with a simple approach. That of fixed pitch wheel modulation.
 
This approach allows for synth pitch control with absolutely no latency or resampling artifacts even in octave range dives. Especially useful in sampled instruments that don’t match 440. Useful also in synths like Stringer where sections of the samples are out of tune. These sections can be automated to correct any pitch defects.
Some of the purest detunes can be had by running two instances of the same synth, detuning one with the pitch mod and mixing.
 
I use this a lot in techno drums or melodic samples made from natural objects, automating and shifting the range through a song. Makes for signature sounds that a group can call unique, which always gives me a good feeling to hear one of my kitchen plates on a recording.
 
There is a bug in this however. If you use the metronome count in on the channel with the pitch mod engaged, the pitch setting crashes permanently and takes out the automation lane with it. Can’t reset the fried track once damaged by the metronome. Verified, reported, fix requested but not a priority. There have been several alterations and modifications to the pitch control function, but the crash bug still stands. You can still use the elegant pitch control function, but have to stay away from the metronome.
 
Anyway, just some thoughts for general info.



John

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@Johnkenn:

Thanks for all the info.

So it seems Reaper has the same bug fix response as Cakewalk. The bugs that affect the most users get higher priority.

I have Reaper. And will upgrade when it's time. I also have Studio One. With my limited time, I only really know CW because I used it exclusively for so long. If I devote time to learn the other DAW's, I wouldn't have time to do what my goal was in the first place. Get my musical ideas recorded.

I also have conceded that I am not a good mixing/mastering engineer as I would like to be. And again, with limited time, if I devote time to becoming either/or, my goal of recording my music suffers.

I love to tinker. So I decided that I would tinker with the X series and learn it as best I can to serve my goal of making my music.

I can get lost for hours on plugins! Last night trying to just get some new vocals mixed with an older song, I was playing around with Melda plugins just to see what I could get out of them, and compare them to other plugs!!

I did get the first verse done. About thirty seconds of vocals. The song is four minutes. It may take a while!!

That's the main reason I have not devoted more time to Reaper. I'd spend all my time tweaking!!

Reaper is a great daw and could suffice for making anyone happy. I like it as my second favorite. Read the books, manual and watched groove3 videos.