Anderton
Since you need to specify how much pre-roll you want, that would be a separate operation - much like setting the punch points in SONAR. Either way, you have to specify where/how you want something to happen prior to recording.
Nothing happens before recording. Song starts playing the exact length of the pre-roll before recording begins at the playhead's position. That's the beauty of it: no messing with setting up loop points, entering values or anything else. You can record as much or as little as you want.
Anderton
The amount of time I need prior to recording changes...for vocals, it has to be long enough to get to the vocal booth, put on the headphones, and start listening. For guitar, I set it so there's enough time to hit the G FORCE button for touching up guitar tuning prior to the punch. In other cases I want a long section beforehand to get into the "groove."
I think you're mis-understanding what "Pre-roll" does or what it's used for. You only use it when actually recording, not during the time used for preparing to record (like putting headphones, getting to the vocal booth, eating a sandwich or hitting G FORCE buttons on a guitar - none of that has anything to do with the actual process of recording...lol...).
Anderton
So it's important for me to be able to specify the "pre-roll" time as needed, so I'd still have to set timing prior to recording using Pro Tools or set timing as punch point with SONAR prior to recording...six of one, half a dozen of the other. If you need to go into a preferences menu, that might actually be more time-consuming. (FWIW I always have rewind to now marker checked so I don't need to enable that.)
It's a one-time thing that literally takes 2 or 3 seconds in Reaper. You
don't have to change it every time you record, unless you have very specific reasons for it. It
does not change the way you record a take or do punch-ins and punch-outs.
Anderton
On a separate topic, as to punching and being able to record to the end, just select all as the punch point, then move the punch-in to where you want the recording to start. I prefer that to hitting "R" because usually want to be playing when the punch starts.
That's the beauty of "pre-roll": you
do not need to "
select all as the punch point, then move the punch-in to where you want the recording to start". It's much faster than that. Pre-roll also accommodates your preference (it's everybody's preference, actually) of being playing before the punch starts. That has been the way to record since the days of tape.
Anderton
I can see where the PT option would add convenience under certain conditions if the pre-roll was fixed and you never wanted to change it, but personally, I would classify it as "another option" rather than something that would improve my workflow significantly. Like Mettelus, I've sort of moved beyond standard punching anyway, other than to combine punching with looping for speed comping...best of both worlds.
It's a global preference setting (1 bar, 2 bars, whatever). You can set it and leave it alone. I normally use 2 bars to give time to most musicians to play/sing along for a short while (the pre-roll length) before the punch-in takes place. It's a really, really neat and lightning-fast way to do punch-ins and outs on the fly. No need to set loop points or anything else.
If you're curious enough, just try the feature in Reaper - it works like a charm. There is a very good and valid reason for all major DAWs to have it (with slight differences in their implementation): it's very effective and widely used.