∞

dj squarewave
I have had 7.5 installed and have owned licenses for 8, 8.5, and 9 for a long while. I activated the 9 license 18 months ago. Yesterday I finally decided to upgrade my DAW install from 7.5 straight to 9.
 
I was quickly reminded that the GUI is "not-in-a-good-way" black, and there are no volume controls in the track header so you have to mess around elsewhere to do really simple stuff like change a level. Not my cup of tea.
 
Now I remember why I never installed 8 and 8.5.
 
I wanted to see the v9 Chord Track features, so I installed the 14GB of the "how can it really be 14GB of *stuff*" that seems to install.
 
The experience has strengthened my enthusiasm for REAPER. 
 

I bought 9 because I do a lot with MIDI but never got around to activating it because I got swamped with other things.  At this point CbB is out and I'm not in any rush so I'm waiting for 10 to be released.

I went in and go 9.5 in the Sonar cross-grade deal, I have just updated to the recent 9.5.30 release. However I have not started using it in anger yet, the revival of Cakewalk by Bandlab has diminished what little enthusiasm I had to learn Cubase properly. I quite like what I have seen so far, an I for one quite like the interface. It does not feel as "foreign" to me as Reaper which I have never been able to get along with.
 
I must start to learn to use Cubase properly though, following the Gibson fiasco I feel the need to be proficient in at least two DAWs.
 
 

I switched over to Cubase 9.5 a while back and haven't look back. Some of the features that I like and use all the time are multiple midi pattern editing (which SPlat finally added), the logical editor (can adjust, randomize or quantize only certain notes for example among a lot of other stuff), the range selection tool (edits handles, bezier curves, lfos, etc.), the ability to edit midi directly in the track view (allows easily editing in context with other midi, audio), chord/tempo/marker tracks, expression maps, drum editor, control room sets (you can have different chain setups for multiple monitors, headphones, etc. after the master), and big meter options including lufts, etc.
 
Tons of other stuff also and great support on youtube with weekly deep dive videos from Greg Ondo. I don't think any other daw is as comprehensive in overall features, but a lot of them are somewhat hidden. I also have FL Studio and keep CbB updated, but Cubase is my daw of choice. 

bsantini99
 I don't think any other daw is as comprehensive in overall features

I would say that Reaper is.  And it's far more configurable, far more customizable...
But it does take more commitment to get used to than any other daw in the market.

∞

I guess the point I was trying to make is that Cubase has way more tools like the logical editor as one example, but yes, Reaper is more configurable in some ways that may matter to you. Btw, volume controls and routing is all in the left pane in the inspector in Cubase. I generally though use the mixer to determine peak levels and set the offsets in the channel strip pre-gain to match all my tracks at -12db as a starting point.
 
If you only spend a few minutes with Cubase, you may come away thinking it's lacking. You really have to dive in and watch Greg's tutorials. Almost everything I mentioned above you will not find in Reaper plus a lot more. They are really apples and oranges.
 
Reaper is geared toward the entry level hobbyist with a limited budget with it's $60 entry point. Cubase (and Nuendo) is geared toward the higher end professional composing market, think Hans Zimmer, and used by probably most composers for tv and film work. Pro Tools is also very popular with this group, especially if focused on audio, and Logic to an extent. You can google on these if you want the statistics. Cubase's strength is working with large arrangements of midi and has the strongest tool set for this. If you only do small projects or don't care about the extra features (or don't know what expression maps are), then Cubase is probably overkill for you.
 
If you are starting out with music mainly as a hobby and you have a limited budget, I would not recommend Cubase and instead have you check out CbB since it's now free or Reaper. Both are great products and if they have all the features you need, then you don't have to waste time looking elsewhere. If you want to compose for film or tv, and want to make a career of this, then Cubase or the other options I mentioned are almost mandatory.
 
Bottom line here is if you like Reaper, I can practically guarantee you will not like Cubase, and vice versa. Like I said, apples and oranges. Both are great products, but geared toward different markets. Pick whichever one (or the closest alternatives) fits your needs and enjoy!

bsantini99
 
Reaper is geared toward the entry level hobbyist with a limited budget with it's $60 entry point.