If you're truly interested, here is a 30-video tutorial that shows just how powerful Reaper has become in version 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzw5xwpcCJs&list=PLM0xHqxaiT6926riNPAQ3kdy7ROE2K-F4 
Just the Track Manager video (#5) shows how well-thought out the program has become.
 
Disclosure:  I don't use Reaper at this point but downloaded the program when it came out and kept updating through version 3 though I was using Sonar.  But with Sonar ending I've spent time with Studio One (which I own but have kept for the Project page and Mastering), Reaper and a couple of others.  I'm giving serious thought to going with Reaper, and using SO for Melodyne ARA and the Project page.
 
Steve

glazfolk
Oh, and I'll just add that there's no shortage of ex-Sonar users in the REAPER community who'll be only too happy to help anyone who wants help in migrating.

My ears are kinda ringing, I can simply confirm all Geoff said ;)
 
- Mario

But its GUI is fugly. Am I the only juan?

glazfolk
The REAPER stash contains scores of alternative themes, including several which look larger, for example, ST or Tonelux ... and there are others.
 
One thing that does take time to get used to is the extent to which this program and interface can be customised. I switched from Sonar to REAPER some time after Sonar 7 and have never looked back.
 

Anyone got a dual monitor "Sonar" theme for it?

Fleer
But its GUI is fugly. Am I the only juan?

 
Fugly or not (I would call it utilitarian), Reaper is fully capable and Kenny G rocks! (NO, not that Kenny G!)
 

Playing with Reaper for a week now and it's pretty impressive.  Very fast startup. 

the_user_formally_known_as_glennbo
Well I couldn't resist creating a NEW account here. My original one got nuked because of my singing the praises of REAPER!
 
I jumped ship and became an avid REAPER user after Sonar 5, which I beta tested for. In my most honest opinion, REAPER blows pretty much any other DAW software to pieces, and I ain't saying that so other folks will validate me buying it!
 
Some things I *LOVE* about it are:
 
Variable speed control that works just like a reel-to-reel. Slow the song down, and hit that highest note without cracking your voice or going falsetto.
 
A track is a track is a track.  There is no such thing as an instrument track or an audio track. Any track can record midi or audio, and if you want to be obtuse, you could even record both on one track. You can do crazy stuff like have multiple audio clips, all at different sample rates and bit depths, and it will let you get away with it.
 
More cool things it does outside the box are, a single track can have up to 64 audio pipelines. What that does for you is let you route the audio that you will hear, vs audio that will be used for side chain functions, or other totally bizarre stuff.
 
You can stack multiple softsynths into the FX bin and they ALL play so if you want to create a huge and complex instrument, it's a piece of CAKE.
 
The routing capabilities are farther out than you can probably think, and to lace up routing from one thing to another, you simply drag from the send of one thing to the receive of another, and again with more individual pipelines than you'll ever think of using.
 
The audio engine is probably the most efficient one on the planet, and Justin even compiles parts of it with older, non-bloated Borland C++ to achieve the least CPU hit imaginable. 
 
You can copy and paste envelopes, and the envelopes ACTUALLY WORK, unlike some other DAW software!!!
 
You can scale the entire UI up or down (every element) to sit on your screen well. I have an older net book and used to record my band playing live with it, and with it's limited screen res, I scaled REAPER down to 90%.
 
A track folder by default is also a bus, which I use extensively for grouping vocals, drums, and other things. You can put folders into other folders and create a complex hierarchies. You can also drag-drop around a folder, if you want to bypass the folder as a sub, but I can't imagine why you would want to do that.
 
In closing I will say that if you try REAPER, you are going to be intimidated, and that it has a STEEP learning curve, but that is to be expected with a piece of software that has almost infinite possibilities. Don't think that you can spend an hour or two with it, and make and educated decision about it. If you try it, I STRONGLY suggest you get on the forum and ASK questions, as well as watch some of the many videos there are for it.
 
Sorry to hear that you guys ship has abandoned you.  :-/
 
Peace
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Glennbo                      

Ha, ha, ha, it's Glennbo. Love the user name.    People on VI Control have dumped Cubase for Reaper.  It's great to have at $60.  Some of you paid more for plugins and libraries you never use. Groove has a great tutorial 1st Song In Reaper.   It not as complicated as you think.

Matron Landslide

Fabio Rubato
Will Melodyne Studio work in it? 
 
What about VST3's? 

Not like you are used to in DAWs with ARA integration. But you can use it.
 
VST3's are fine

This is what has kept me away from trying Reaper in the past.  I may still get a copy to play with at some point, but Melodyne ARA integration is important to me.  

I've had a license for a couple of years. I've created a couple of completed songs in it. So far, I've never had an issue with dropouts, lockups of some of the other issues I've had with SPLAT. Having said that, as a long time SONAR user, it's a little hard to wrap your head around at first. It's greatest and hardest to deal with attribute is its customization options. What I did is to go through the themes library and find one that I'm comfortable with. From there, I've started organizing the menus in a way that works for me (read more like SPLAT). You also have the ability to assign custom keystrokes to actions. You can even combine actions into a custom action and assign keystrokes to that. You can create custom menus of icons which have your custom actions to them. All the issues with ACT and using Keybindings don't exist in REAPER world. Setting up my controllers was relatively painless. I've resisted sitting down and really trying to learn the program in the past, but now that I have an excuse to dig into it, I'm really starting to understand how powerful it really is. 
One thing I forgot to mention, audio stretching is native functionality. No using Audio Snap or Melodyne to get it done. Looping MIDI? Trim your clip to length and loop away! 
I'm not sure I won't end up in another DAW at this point, but the interesting thing is I might not.

Brian Walton
Anyone got a dual monitor "Sonar" theme for it?

I've seen some that are supposed to look like Sonar, but never tried any of them, and my last Sonar was Sonar 5, so I wouldn't know how faithful they are.  The thing with REAPER is, the skinning language makes it so things can be laid out a lot of different ways, and the graphical objects can be completely switched out for totally different looks.
 
For example, here's a pretty fancy dual monitor skin that's made for dual 1080p monitors.
http://www.houseofwhiteti...erial/wt_imperial.html