One thing I really like about Reaper is that the mixer view isn't cluttered up with knobs and widgets trying to make it look absolutely like a desk top mixer.  You can scroll the sends view and see more sends that any human would expect to see.  Though, with all the skins being created by users, trying out new looks can be a bit like "Crack."

Mod Bod
One thing I really like about Reaper is that the mixer view isn't cluttered up with knobs and widgets trying to make it look absolutely like a desk top mixer.  You can scroll the sends view and see more sends that any human would expect to see.  Though, with all the skins being created by users, trying out new looks can be a bit like "Crack."

Here here....but it is awesome to have the ability to "choose" what you want it to look like..

Someone was doing a REDD theme..but It never got released (that I know of)..there was a huge thread on
it in the Reaper forum...it looked really kewl...I kept hoping it would show up...

The skin feature scares me.
 
I'm afraid I would end up taking a two month detour while crafting my own custom skin.
 
:-)

mike_mccue
The skin feature scares me.
 
I'm afraid I would end up taking a two month detour while crafting my own custom skin.
 
:-)

as a professional user, I could see THEM using multiple DAW, to accomodate their clients and other projects that might be brought in...or even what seems best for the particular session.
 
What strikes me is that I DO appreciate many of the extras that come with Sonar, such as the plugs and synths, and in the long run saves me a lot of money.  I've got a great computer now and have decided not to fill it up with lots of outside stuff, and it has been running FAST and very reliable.  That said, I don't see the need for much of the free stuff out there, as the PC channel plugs TO ME seem to be better anyway.

Plus...like my old ARP synth, and even some of my *legacy* Roland hardware synths, I'm not even scratching the surface of what Sonar can do, I'm guessing.  There's always something to learn and I can't see trying to add another couple of DAW on top of that learning list.

I looked HARD at PT, only because it seems so widespread with the professional crowd and appears to more emulate the days of just a tape machine and a mixer, but stuff was usually twice the expense, I don't use a MAC and Sonar actually seems a better fit for me.
 
If my budget was VERY low, I'd probably use REAPER because of its' low cost.  But after a couple attempts (spending a day or two and a couple of songs), I just felt more comfortable with Sonar.

PT11 has a native Windows 64 bit version now.  I wouldn't even consider switching until PT11 appeared.

Someone started a Reaper skin with a Pro Tools flavor but it eventually got off track.  If it really looked like the Pro Tools GUI, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat.  For me, the PT GUI is a great fit.  I can read it easily and if I need to tweak something I can display it and if I only need it occasionally, I can tuck it out of sight but still within easy access.
 
But you've got to work with what you are comfortable with until you find yourself pushed out the door by changes you don't want to deal with.

Reply specific to you, mmaster,
 
Yeah, Reaper rocks depending on your application. I have a subjectice critical need regarding keyboards that presents a major and really dumb crash in Reaper, persisting from ver 3 forward. Ironic, I have to use the free pack in Sonar to get the function to work since Reaper will not support it's own plugins. If you were up against this brick wall, would probably be also chapped a bit around your groin as well.
 
In the middle of my 56 hour hell shift, but will give more specific details when I get a break. My bad, and deserve the wrath from throwing out vague references without objective data. Will get specifics so you can enlighten me how you have navigated around a major keyboard impass, since all is working blisfully for you.
 
Have requested a fix on multiple occasions but ignored. Don't get me wrong, love Reaper and deepest respect for the forum members and the ethic of the devs. Just frustrating absurd crash that will keep me from shelling out $60 for the next two versions of upgrades until cardinal bugs are fixed.
 
Love,
John.
 
 

joakes
I hope there is an official Reaper forum where people are tolerated when they speak about the wonders of X3 ....

Just saying ...... Smells like spam......

I don't believe the OP is spam, but to answer your questions - on the official Reaper forum there is not a lot of tolerance for Sonar. For the most part, as soon as Sonar is mentioned, the haters come out with their stories how Sonar always crashes and they could never get any work done until they got Reaper because Reaper works so much smoother/faster/cleaner/better.  
 
But most forums are like that - it's the same over at the Logic or Cubase forums, where Reaper gets bashed as a toy compared to "pro" applications.
 
From my experience, Reaper is not bad at all, well worth a look. But I tend to use more than one DAW app so I'm probably not a good example, and I think many DAW users would rather just stick to one DAW and learn it well.

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.
 
I don't happen to use Reaper but I find some of it's unique features fascinating.
 
 
 
 
 
edit spellng

mixmkr
as a professional user, I could see THEM using multiple DAW, to accomodate their clients and other projects that might be brought in...or even what seems best for the particular session.
 
What strikes me is that I DO appreciate many of the extras that come with Sonar, such as the plugs and synths, and in the long run saves me a lot of money.  I've got a great computer now and have decided not to fill it up with lots of outside stuff, and it has been running FAST and very reliable.  That said, I don't see the need for much of the free stuff out there, as the PC channel plugs TO ME seem to be better anyway.

Plus...like my old ARP synth, and even some of my *legacy* Roland hardware synths, I'm not even scratching the surface of what Sonar can do, I'm guessing.  There's always something to learn and I can't see trying to add another couple of DAW on top of that learning list.

I looked HARD at PT, only because it seems so widespread with the professional crowd and appears to more emulate the days of just a tape machine and a mixer, but stuff was usually twice the expense, I don't use a MAC and Sonar actually seems a better fit for me.
 
If my budget was VERY low, I'd probably use REAPER because of its' low cost.  But after a couple attempts (spending a day or two and a couple of songs), I just felt more comfortable with Sonar.

 
I started using Reaper recently, I like it a lot. Although with all the customization options I can see where it could be intimidating to anybody, it took a while for me to get it setup the way I wanted it to work, LOL, which I must say "More familiar like Cakewalk software". I don't use many Synths, mostly just record guitar stuff. After I got a basic template created, for me it was easy to use, I followed some video tutorials on how to setup a mix view and track view that helped a lot.
 
There are several Pro Tool look alike themes in the reaper resources stash, although I have never used pro tools. I tried those themes and honestly didn't care for them. Seems like every other week someone is coming out with a configuration you can download to make Reaper themes work more like pro tools.
 
I saw that Redd Theme, I was hoping they would finish it also. Although someone did make some skins for a couple synths I think it was they shared based on that theme's look. Can't remember what they were for though.
 
There was somebody that was working on a Yamaha theme, nobody has heard from them apparently for over a year on their forums, I was really hoping they would finish that theme, from the looks of it, it reminded me of an old Yamaha 4 track I had many years ago.
 
http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=108611
 
One thing I would recommend to anyone trying reaper out would be to setup and use the better menu set : http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=58672&highlight=menu
 
This makes things a lot easier to find and use while still retaining the option at the bottom of the menu to see the original menus for anything not listed.
 
I like the fact that Cakewalk software comes with a lot of extra stuff, I hope to purchase the X3 sometime in the near future, probably the studio version, although right now I have to get a new electric guitar because the one I had for a long time bit the dust so to speak beyond repair, so that's my main priority and next step.