Looks great. Thanks.
 
The issue I find with Reaper Themes is some won't resize the screen between the tracks and mixer dock properly like the default ones do. At least you can open the mixer in its own window to alleviate that issue.
 
I tried to resize the master fader window on one theme and it totally disappeared leaving only the "pin" graphic floating. I still can't get it back. May have to reinstall Reaper for that one.

To help with Reaper:
 
From the EXCELLENT  admiralbumblebee.com   (LOTS of *great* information/tips about many DAWs)
Reaper Script Showcase  admiralbumblebee.com/ReaperScripts.html 
Things that I really dislike about Reaper
admiralbumblebee.com/music/2017/04/04/Things-that-I-really-dislike-about-Reaper.html 
Things that I really like about Reaper
admiralbumblebee.com/studio/2017/03/30/Things-that-I-really-like-about-Reaper.html 


reaperblog.net/
kennymania.com/reaper-videos/
extremraym.com/en/reaper-5-review/

The Reaper looks like a good alternative. I was able to quickly set up the "speed dial" buttons, repeating most of the important functions for me Sonar. It's the same with hotkeys, and it's awesome! Also, the Reaper showed excellent performance and stability.

But while there are two serious problems for me that are not solved:

1. Level faders move instantly on mouse click, if you do not click strictly on the controller. A conditional solution is to use rotary faders, or a theme with an alternative solution for faders, such as AlterEgo_5.60

2. In the piano roll, you can not display the velocity for the selected notes only. This is killing me. As a conditional solution - to move the selected notes to another midi track and edit there.

dubdisciple

No matrix view

 
For $20, you can have essentially all of Live's session view functionality in Reaper.  Playtime has been around for years and is consistently adding features and fixes.
 
http://www.helgoboss.org/projects/playtime/

To help with Reaper, check:

From the EXCELLENT admiralbumblebee.com (LOTS of *great* information/tips about many DAWs)
Reaper Script Showcase  admiralbumblebee.com/ReaperScripts.html
Things that I really dislike about Reaper
admiralbumblebee.com/music/2017/04/04/Things-that-I-really-dislike-about-Reaper.html
Things that I really like about Reaper
admiralbumblebee.com/studio/2017/03/30/Things-that-I-really-like-about-Reaper.html


reaperblog.net
kennymania.com/reaper-videos
extremraym.com/en/reaper-5-review

dubdisciple
More of a matter of what is different than "missing". Some different things off topnof my head:

Comes with minimal effects plugins. The instruments included can barely be called that. For people with tons of third party vsts this is no big deal.

I don't believe it has integrated Melodyne support.

No step sequencer

No pro channel

No matrix view

No bus channels per say, bit very flexible routing

I don't think there is an arpeggiator.

I'm still up in the air of which way to go - Cubase / Mixcraft / Reaper, however, I'm very impressed with the notation editor they added:
 
https://youtu.be/dSJW9zcHMLk   - plus save to pdf and xml export
 
Also, there is this for a matrix view in Reaper:
 
https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=149712
 
I see a lot of folks running Reaper on their Macs.  That's saying something, considering they could be running Logic Pro X for $199.  Just sayin'

I'm thinking, so far at least, of sticking with SPlat and adding Reaper. (I will probably also add Studio One Pro to be safe.) I really like Reaper's look, the customization possibilities and, particularly, some of its features. It's certainly intriguing.
 
I'm just wondering how easy or difficult it would be to quickly transfer tracks from one to the other to take advantage of features that are unique to one of them. 
 
Let's say I plan to:
 
1) use varispeed on two tracks and
2) start at measure #0 so that measure #1 falls at the same place it would be in a written score.
 
Both of those features exist in Reaper but not in SPlat. So far, so good.
 
But what if, in the same song, I also want to:
 
3) use Melodyne Editor extensively on some of the tracks?
 
That's much better integrated in SPlat, much less frustrating and time-consuming.
 
Can I pretty well throw the tracks from one DAW to the other and even throw them back to the first DAW again in a couple of easy (really easy!) steps? If so, would someone out there know how might be best? It might be something I'd want to do often, so it would need to be a pretty painless procedure.
 
Just wondering if this might be workable. Or am I wishing for something that's likely to be messy and discouraging in practice?
 
Thanks :), 
LJ
 
 
 
 

Can I pretty well throw the tracks from one DAW to the other and even throw them back to the first DAW again in a couple of easy (really easy!) steps? If so, would someone out there know how might be best? It might be something I'd want to do often, so it would need to be a pretty painless procedure.

 
I would guess you'd have to
- export a track (or tracks)
- import it in to SONAR (for example)
- run melodyne
- export the track
- import it back in to Reaper
 
So it would probably be easier to just use Melodyne in "non ARA" mode. I've never done this, but if I switch to Reaper, I'll have to learn how ;-)
 
Why not check on the Reaper forums - to see if anyone is using Melodyne, and how they're implementing it?
I'd do it myself - but I'm not ready to make the move yet, don't even have Reaper installed etc etc...
 
 

Thanks for that quick reply, John. Yes, I figured I'd have to go the import/export route; I was just hoping someone might have a tip or two on the easiest way to go about it - some little magic file transfer wizard or something. :)
 
I remember using Melodyne in Sonar before they implemented ARA and it really was not enjoyable, though it was usable. I'm hoping to avoid going back to all that that involved.
 
I'll check the Reaper forums, as you suggest.
Thanks again,
LJ
 

Not directly on track of the thread here, but wanted to bump a statement made by a forum member who commented on the time shift power of Reaper, saying it was the best in the industry.
 
Take this to the bank or to the church as gospel. These renegades wrote a function into the code that is available nowhere else, period. So much looking to be educated and corrected if I am wrong.
 
Reaper uses Elastique to stretch out the session without changing pitch. Also has the ability in another control mode to alter the computer's clock rate. Changes both rate and pitch without resampling, and the artifacts that would normally be there. Whether changing pitch or tuning of an entire project, nothing nowhere comes even close. There, I done revealed my secret weapon for doing methodical guitar riffs and speeding them back up without sounding fake.
 
Objective however, if the parameters of both modes are warped to the extreme at the same time, there is co dependency and wave files may not tune exactly without an extra cleanup step. Bug or just the limitation of where we are currently. Under less extreme pressure, the Reaper time and pitch alteration functions are a godsend for the digital musician. Check it out and experience if you can come remotely close with anything else on the market.
 
John