I’ve been using REAPER continuously since January 2020. Since then, I’ve heavily customised it to my liking and pretty much built my professional career with it.
I’m very fast with it and it can do pretty much anything I want it to, but here are the problems:

1. I’ve started getting a little paranoid about a lot of its functionality being rooted in 3rd party scripts, ReaPack etc. Basically stuff that can simply stop working one day and get abandoned. In my case there really is a lot of stuff I rely on that is 3rd party, or a niche, user written script, so it all kinda feels glued together (although the glued on stuff is top notch, unlike any other DAW).

I think I’d fancy a work environment in which I can install a program and just “go”, with all of its functionality already in place, stock plugins ready etc. Basically something that’s tailored to work right out of the box and serve a specific purpose (e.g. Cubase and music production).

2. It’s not really “musical”. What I mean, is it doesn’t encourage a certain workflow that supports music creation. You can add a bunch of scripts for that (like a chord track, etc.) but it all goes back to point 1. Cubase has the chord pad, chord track, you can easily stamp chords, there’s a circle of fifths, the audio quantize works way better than REAPERs dynamic split in my opinion and just feels much smoother in general, it does what it was made for well.

3. Piggy backing off of 2. when I look at REAPER, when I interact with it, I don’t really feel inspired. It’s also my “dayjob” DAW, so after looking at it for 8 hours straight, it’s sometimes hard to squeeze out creativity when the environment is the same as work surroundings.
I get it that for some a DAW isn’t meant to be “inspiring” as it’s merely a sheet of paper to write down your notation etc. But I really believe the environment you work in has impact on your creativity.

Now, I only have a trial version of Cubase 13 and I’d need to spend some money to buy the full version, when I could just stick to REAPER and buy some additional plugins, like Omnisphere or something. And this is where I’m kinda torn.

What’s your experience when it comes to songwriting/composition and DAW selection? I know that you can do it all in both Cubase and REAPER, but maybe some particular stories you guys have regarding that? I’m mainly into songwriting/composing (not really classically)/electroacoustic type stuff and I’ve been procrastinating a lot lately because of constant DAW hopping.

 

Last edited: Jan 16, 2024

simple, just change the skin on reaper to distinguish between day job and fun.

seriously sounds less like you have an issue with reaper or cubase (besides some minor stuff, or what i would count as minor. maybe someday 3rd party stuff might not work, sure,i wouldn't let it keep you up at night though. and if you can use stuff like scaler and other things to fill in the gaps of whats in reaper or not then i'm not sure what the difference is? i mean you know reaper, once you set something up it's as easy as pushing a button.) and more like a certain kinda G.A.S. of the DAW variety. maybe you should get away from a daw all together and invest in some hardware or something so you're not staring at a screen even longer.

 

haha, I’ve tried changing the skin, but to me it just plays into point 1. of my original message. The skins break easily with some updates that introduce new functionality (they get ugly pretty quick when you get a random stock reaper window somewhere, because the theme is missing a texture or something) and it just doesn’t really feel like changing the environment but more like putting a band aid on a deep knife cut, lol.

Regarding the GAS, it sure feels like that’s the case, but switching one case of GAS for another feels like switching from heroin to cocaine (not that I’ve done any of those, but I assume that’s it’s a representative example in this case haha) and I’ve battled the hardware GAS for a loooong time, believe me haha.

 

I work with Reaper since 2016, finished a lot of tracks and a full album with it. It is fast, transparent in the process and when it comes to backwards compatibility it is a king. RPP files are basically text files, there is almost none risk that you will not be able to launch them in the future. And ALL Repaer versions are avaialble online to download any time, so even if any third party script will stop working, you can revert to older version and bounce your projects. Since reaper weights about 100 MB, installing older version takes... 20 seconds?

And what if Cubase will ditch VST2 support? I guarantee that Steinberg will be faster with that move than Cockos. Nah, compatibility is not the big issue.

As for inspiration: my source of inspiration is in the sound of instruments I use, not in the looks of DAW. If I hear something interesting I want to work as fast as possible to record some meaningful progression. And Reaper does just that, it's blazingly fast and never stand in my way. New skins can help for eye candy, dozens of editing tricks help to play with sound in any way possible. In my opinion Reaper wins. I used Cubase, I liked it. Untl I tried Reaper ;)

 

My next audio production computer is going to be "frozen in time" when I get it setup how I want it. I'm tired of the never-ending stream of new plugins and forever updates, I just want something that works the same way every time I turn it on.

 

Last edited: Jan 16, 2024

This isnt a one for one comparison but just my personal experience with both daws:

I started on Cubase SX back in the early 2k's and at that time I used it strictly for midi sequencing hardware. I have upgraded to every single version of Cubase since that time so I am intimately familiar with it and has been one of my main production and editing daws for over 20 years. I feel Cubase has somewhat of an edge from other daws when it comes to midi management. There are certain midi-centric things about Cubase that have made life in the studio so much better for myself managing a hardware based studio. One of these specifically was midi device panels which allowed to use or create custom guis for your hardware in order to make it easier to manage and interface with it. I know they updated recently to the midi remote manager feature which I think does essentially the same thing but I personally have not tried it.

My experience with Reaper is slightly different as it comes more from and in-the-box standpoint. My introduction to Reaper started with its first release but I didn't stick with it because it reminded me too much of Sonic Foundry Acid, which I also used back in the late 90's but never got along with it because it lacked midi support. At that time Reaper looked and acted too similar to Acid so I never really gave it much thought. It wasn't until much later that I started using Reaper as a way of introducing and teaching friends how to produce because it was "technically" free and simple to navigate. Although it hasn't been a mainstay in my studio, I've seen Reaper outpace Cubase and become a real powerhouse over the course of the last 15 years. I also feel it's a more elegantly designed and bang for the buck application than Cubase. In some ways it can do everything Cubase does and in a more streamlined / less clunky fashion.

Both Cubase and Reaper are excellent daws. Outside of a few features, Repear in my opinion edges Cubase out slightly due to its affordability and ease of use. I don't feel you'd be missing much with Repear unless you're considering working and managing a more hardware based set up.

Outside of this comparison, I do want to say that even though I have a very long history with both of these daws, I made the decision to use Bitwig over the holidays and to say it changed the way I think about daws would be an understatement. I had wanted to try it out for quite some time but unfortunately my work schedule kept me from doing so. The small break I had over the holidays was enough to get me acquainted and suffice it to say, I am beyond floored at what Bitwig is capable of. It is literally anything and everything you could ever want in a daw and then some. I'm still relatively new with it but I've already managed to create custom hardware and Maschine templates that allow me to integrate them into a seamless workflow. If you havent checked it out, I would urge anyone to do so. It's pretty damn revolutionary imo.

 

Last edited: Jan 16, 2024

I can understand your dilemma.

The thing is REAPER is a different beast into itself.

IMHO REAPER is designed to be a low cost affordable DAW for anyone who are fluent in music production skills & needs a DAW for production purpose and also for those who mainly compose/wrote songs mainly by playing/recording instruments/multiple tracks/vocals into the DAW itself and then edit, mix and master these.

In doing so it enables the user the complete freedom to design/customise their whole workflow as per their liking & convenience.In short a complete production package at the lowest possible price.

Even though it has all the tools suited for composition & songwriting still It favours a more traditional workflow.

On the other hand Cubase is more of a mainstream structured DAW designed keeping in mind the needs of a MIDI based composition directly into the DAW/extensive use of VSTi (like composing entirely in the DAW with VSTi) besides a traditional route and evolved over the course of time to include the needs of various genres with all the tools of course. It is extremely powerful as of today but Structured to a certain workflow besides being expensive.

So there is a trade off whatever you use.

If you can mould your workflow to a structured design and feel like some of the tools inspire/help you to compose then definitely go for Cubase.
On the other hand with all due respect if you are proficient in playing instruments and have all necessary production skills stick with REAPER. You can get all the tools available in Cubase as third party VSTi.

(You can use cubase from sister site to inspire you or overcome your writer's block and COMPOSE if you feel the need) rest REAPER can take care of everything legitimately.
Hope that helps. Happy Music Making

 

Going back to point 1: Did something like that ever really happen in reality so far? Did such 3rd party functionality stop working in reaper with an update? In general I think the more one deviates from any software as far as (third party) customization,the higher the chance is that when they update their product update, these ways to customize it may no longer work. That is just the price you have to pay I guess for more customized workflow options.

Basically a sa comparison I sense the undertone is that you married this girl you find very attractive, but you are afraid that one day she might leave you and maybe in advance you should settle for a less attractive one?
Be sure that what you experience is ratioanl enough and not some grass is greener on the other side. However, then you do not want to be that person that holds on to their DAW because they like it so much. I once did that with cubase vst 32 back in the day. Right when it got transformed into cubase SX ('cubase 1') everything was changed and I did not like that it felt like I had to learn a new DAW basically and I did not like the (chaotic) look with all the bells and whicles . Then for years I used this old option which gave me more issues as it was 32 bit and thus you had memory limitations etc...So eventually I did switch to the newer cubase . I wish I had done it sooner, as it functions very well and once you get used to it.
If you feel like your daw no longer inspire you, you can also pick one daw for work and one daw for home, so at home it at least feels different. Are you in general a person that values variety?

 

For traditional song writing and composition: Cubase or Studio One.
For producing beats and stuff: Ableton Live or FL Studio (or turn off the computer and buy an MPC....)
For sound design: Bitwig or Reason.

The customisability and "skinability" of Reaper can be a blessing or a curse. For me it was the latter. I spent more time fiddling with it and watching videos about it than I did making music with it. And I mostly didn't like the Reaper "community" - it seemed to be dominated by the sort of people I wouldn't want to be in a room with.

If you do go for Cubase or Studio One take a look at the "crossgrade" pricing. You may already own a licence for something that qualifies.

 

1) it's a relevant concern, but in similar manner any new major version of any DAW make break or drop some functionality,
Reaper itself isn't developed by big team, so in case of some major unfortunate event its development could stop completely - but it's more likely to find someone continue work on open code/extensions rather than proprietary "big business" DAW,
one small example - while many DAWs and plugin devs were still adopting Apple Silicon platform, Reaper could run "abandoned" plugins by Sonic Anomaly in JS format natively out of the box

2 & 3) comparing slightly different "hammers" (tools) doesn't make much sense in context of creativity,
Reaper being designed as more complex and user customizable toolkit is something that may feel overwhelming and may feel discouraging from working effectively, I guess every Reaper user has been in that situation
- my advice is to consciously postpone technical matters (write them down aside) and take care of them in other specific time, not during "creative" moments

my general advice (as I've used Cubase years back, then Sonar, then decided between StudioOne and Reaper, finally settled on Reaper) is:
if you want a complete set of tools and loose the chance to choose or remove specific functionality, and be at mercy of developer to sustain this complete set of content, and keep paying for such scale updates, then maybe you can leave Reaper, (and I'm not saying you should not, those are relevant points worth deciding)
but if you are comfortable using Reaper, picked third-party plugins, instruments and extensions - which together meet your needs without any major hiccups or lack of particular feature (unlikely to become available/fixed anytime soon), then I don't see a reason to go backwards (before January 2020 when you jumped into Reaper)

and bonus tip - don't consider purpose of a DAW (and your operating system, your computer, or your technical audio gear...) to be inspiring - environment and surroundings, yes, but not mere tools, they were never meant to be and if you think they were, then you got trapped in marketing advertising bullshit, really simple as that

they will, with next major version 14 (?) most likely

 

Do you have to choose one or the other? Lifelong Cubase user here, and quite proficient with it, but I also use Reaper for other tasks that Reaper is better at, like sound design. I think they're great and have their strengths and weaknesses. I do a lot of different things musically, so I maintain use of different apps for each. It's not essential that I have just one, perhaps I'm just greedy, perhaps I just want everything. I think ultimately the reason is, I don't let these frivolous details get in the way of the Muse. Whatever it wants it gets, that's the only thing important to me.

 

actually, the best thing you can IMO do is to get it on Splice in a rent-to-own arrangement. I remember Steinberg used to have 50% off sales once or twice a year, and you just started the trial, so you can probably wait until the next sale(using the splice 17%per month construction) if you really don't want to use the cracked version until then

https://splice.com/daws/39137111-cubase-pro-13-by-steinberg

worth to check the marketplace of

STEINBERG

• Cubase 13 Elements - $45
• Cubase 13 Pro - $299

Cubase 13 LE - $10

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8829878&hilit=cubase+13#p8829878
too ... if you still have faith in humanity

But if the problem is that you have to pay a lot of money in one go, Splice will solve that on its own.

 

Last edited: Jan 16, 2024

Reaper.

 

I HATE trying to use or configure Reaper for MIDI or music composition. One of the worst, most annoying & irritating DAWS out there for this job. Logic and Cubase were always my "go to's" (until (cr)Apple came along and stole one of them away). Reaper is awful at inputting MIDI data and you can't even draw a simple MIDI object on the page easily.

But since it sounds like you've already spent hours configuring Reaper, why not just use skins to change its appearance?
As for Cubase, ask yourself if you actually need the Pro version, or if the Artist version sufficient. Also, if you choose to take this route, wait for one of their 40% off sales.

I don't mind creating templates for composition or mixing, but personally, I don't like to have to delve deep down & dirty into the nitty gritty filthy underbelly of a DAW just to tweak things how I like for MIDI composition, or to reveal features that should already be easily accessible. I quite like Reaper for mixing, but for composing, it has to be: Cubase. Cubase. Cubase.

 

Last edited: Jan 16, 2024

I love Reaper for producing/composition. Had to change some things but I am faster and more creative than in any other DAW that I used in the last 15 years (Live/FL/Cubase)

 

It's just cmd+left drag for me (I think that's even the default config?) - but you could configure it easily to insert a new MIDI item with double clicking on empty space

 

There was a recent vote among professional users, where the first place is, let's say, limited, the second place is evident because it's on Mac, but let's say that the third place is no longer Cubase but S1.

https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/2023-daw-user-survey-the-results

personally I would also vote for it (if the prio is the multi-track recording or the MIDI orchestration for ex.) or AL12

the Post Production Results are also interesting, I think the main factor here is the speed<>money constellation

 

Last edited: Jan 16, 2024

if i cannot get my shitty songs done in Reaper , i couldnt do it in the fanciest of daws.

 

There are people who prefer either and people who love both.

If a decision is needed as a Reaper user because you appear to be, go to Dom Sigalas' site. He's like the Rick Beato of DAW's, mainly Cubase. Some people say both have hubris that is regularly annoying. Get past that and look at the information he is providing. If Reaper provides everything he demonstrates that Cubase has then you have answered the question for yourself. Besides that, he provides useful tips on bulk editing multiple MIDI files in a single window, different automations, different MIDI editing techniques, manipulating audio and harmonies and too much to list. Cubase's grunt (and also Logic/Notator) almost a decade before Reaper existed, was always MIDI and MIDI editing, still is one of its primary features.
If Reaper does all of what you want I see no point in changing.
https://www.youtube.com/@DomSigalas

 

Cubase is a fantastic DAW, especially when it comes to MIDI. However, I work primarily with audio and have never been comfortable with the color coding of the mute and solo buttons in Cubase, which is a deal breaker for me. Also, the macros and logical editor are too limited for me compared to what REAPER can do. I've tried pretty much everything on the DAW market except Live and Bitwig. And somehow REAPER is my home. The other DAWs were either too clunky or too unstable. REAPER is small, portable, and stable. That's all I really want in a DAW. With the exception of my live and video configuration, I haven't really customized REAPER. I occasionally use a custom theme if I like it, but otherwise REAPER is in its original state. I use a few actions and scripts from the ReaPack download manager. That's about it. I think the biggest problem REAPER has is that many users think they have to customize REAPER just because they can. Just because it's possible to configure REAPER as if it were DAW XY doesn't mean it's a good idea and you should do it.
What I don't like so much about REAPER is part of its interface. For example, the layout of text and buttons in menus. It is a bit disorganized compared to other DAWs.

 

Last edited: Jan 17, 2024