I use Reaper and very ok with it but maybe I want another DAW so I have inspiration for something different.

So I try Cakewalk by Bandlab but very confusing. Makes me work slow and no inspiration. Hard to use plugins.

Also try Studio 1 but it looks hard to see things and also confusing but better than Cakewalk. Plugins very easy but other things not easy.

I record guitar, bass and sing. Also use VST synth & sampler. Sometimes loops too. My BF has loop pedal for guitar and we use it sometimes.

My computer is Windows 7 64 bit only 4gig ram but it working very good with Reaper.

So what DAW can I try next?

It must be ok for Win 7.

Sammi

 

I know it's hard, but Windows 7 is DEAD. Everything new is now targeted at Windows 10.

Windows 10 is FULL of telemetry and spyware, but you can get rid of most of it with something like W10Privacy. Microshite FORCE people to buy new hardware and software authors, see small advantages with the new hardware and thus write for Windows 10. It's all part of the hamster wheel - built-in obsolesence.

You have really three choices.

(a) Stay with Win7 and what you have, but future upgrades will only be for Win10, so just learn to live with it
(b) Update your hardware and convert your system to a Hackintosh. BUT . . . Apple do the same as M$ they FORCE hardware updates on you if you want to use their 'latest' OS, despite the fact that their isn't a whole lot of difference.
(c) Get new hardware. Upgrade(?) to Win10, install W10Privacy, block all the telemetry and spyware thsat you can and wait for another year or two until Windows 11,12,13 or whatever which will involve yet another hardware upgrade.

C'est la vie. Get used to it, it's how the world works. YOU allowed manufactureres and Governments to get away with these excesses, by being willing sheep and it's getting worse. Adjust your face diaper. It's here to stay.

 

S1 workflow is probably the easiest,take a little time to learn it.The learning curve is not steep at all.
Cubase workflow is close to S1 but the hardware configuration,the Mediabay are weak in comparison to S1 IMHO.By the way it's not one of the industry standard for no reason,it's very professional especially for midi editing.

Live and Bitwig are amazing for 'electronic' music in particular.Live is very easy,user friendly,but has much less advanced features than Reaper or Cubase.

If you come from Reaper,all the other DAWs should be fast to learn.All DAWs have their pro and cons.It's a matter of taste.

 

hello,
"I record guitar, bass and sing. Also use VST synth & sampler. Sometimes loops too".
Keep it simple, stay on Reaper.

 

Some people work with 20 years old DAWs,so that's not impossible to make music with W7.

 

Im testing Mixcraft for a month now (win 7 64) , I must admit that I begin to like it.

 

@Sarawak_Sam, I'm NOT making criticisms, just providing some observations to think about...

You seem to be expecting to 'find something more interesting' at the same time as 'trying to avoid a learning curve'
That might be seen as a contradiction.

I think you made two good choices when you started exploring Cakewalk and Studio One
but some might say "what do they offer that Reaper doesn't?"
and some might also say that all three of those are roughly the same kind of DAW
so why not stick with one of them and master it
or make a point of enjoying learning for its own sake (personally I like that idea)

Would you react the same way if you started exploring DAWs that are quite different in their approaches?
(i.e., different to Reaper, Cakewalk, Studio One, etc) e.g.. Ableton Live or BitWig.
Moving to either of those would also be a learning curve and would confuse anyone at the start of the exploration,
but may end up being great (for someone) if they get past the initial learning hurdles.

So, do your comments mean that you're looking for 'something simpler than Reaper but still interesting?'
If so, then here's a suggestion (suggestion rather than recommendation)
Read about Tracktion Waveform at this review https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/tracktion-waveform-10
It claims to be 'laser focused on music production.' (their quote not mine)
You may have to pick up a version 10 to get Windows 7 compatibility.

---

p.s. I think most of what I said above seems to agree with what @Blue wrote above

 

Last edited: Oct 25, 2020

I thank you all for replys. Maybe zib and Blue give best answers cos I think Reaper is fine. I loss my job bcos covid and so much time at home now but no money. No way can upgrade computer now. Is good to share our thought and you all say wise things. I shud be happy with my music and not worry about new toys now.

Thank you all

 

You could try Samplitude...

 

maybe tell us what you hate about reaper and we can help you

 

I am in a music producer group and the most common DAWs I see are Ableton Live & FL Studio. A few guys also use Logic, and Reaper. If you know how to use Reaper well, I would stick with it. Personally I use FL Studio as I like the workflow for composing, but Ableton Live is better if you are planning on using your DAW to assist with live performance. If you are staying on Windows 7 for now, I recommend you try FL Studio 11. I have been using it consistently since 2011 & tried other DAWs since, but I still finish more songs in FL Studio 11 than any other.

Another thing to keep in mind is, your 32bit VST plugins will not work in Ableton without a 64bit bridge like jbridge.

Related question for you guys here: were you ever able to use both 32bit & 64bit plugins in any version of Ableton Live (without jbridge)? So for example Ableton Live 9 32bit would only natively work with 32bit VST plugins, and same for 64bit? I know they've completely discontinued 32bit with Live 10

 

I don't hate Reaper.

 

Yes. I will.

Thank you every one

 

Many things are expressed qualitatively because they can't be not represented numerically or there's no reliable standard to compare them.

Loving is one of them. Usually love happens individually and the person himself/herself has to like something. No matter how much we say that something is very good, it will not have much effect on your choice.

 

Reaper is the most powerful of all DAWs and the most optimized,very light on the cpu.If you work with loads virtual instruments and record some audio,Reaper is with no doubt one of the best.
Though I find it too confusing and too complicated personally,bloated with an incredible amount of features that probably 5% of the users make use of all of them.Live or S1 are toys in comparison.

 

Try Ableton Live, amazing for production and sampling, very fast workflow. I use Ableton for production and Reaper for mixing.

 

You are using a great daw for your needs.

And in my opinion, you tested already the 2 competitors for your needs.

cakewalk will give you a nicer GUI and an easily accessible workflow. e.g. prochannel.

S1 - easy workflow. Great songwriting features. e.g. Chord track and midi-audio-midi converting.

If you do not need these features, stick with reaper and try to get maybe new vsts to get inspired.

 

Stay with Reaper and try to change skins. It works for me when thinking of other DAWs. Also stay with W7 and don´t worry about any negative comment on this. I can PM you with my favorite Reaper skins.

 

Excellent words from adelay. I also use Cubase 5 for my old x32 vst´s and I really like it, it´s the first DAW I learned ten years ago and works flawlessly in my W7 x64. You can try it, just install it in C/Program files x86. Good luck.

 

Last edited: Oct 26, 2020