Decision time - Reaper or Studio One

MartinBush

Hi all

I have now taken delivery of a laptop and audio interface. The interface came with a version of Studio One.

Due to feedback on here so far and from elsewhere I am leaning towards going with Reaper and ignoring the Studio One freebie - what do you think?

I plan to keep the laptop free of software that I'm not using so want to make a decision now and get cracking. 

Martin

spark240

What feedback has made you say that ?

spark240

Studio One is fast becoming a Pro DAW alongside Protools.

  If you plan on moving forward with recording I would suggest S1 will serve you well as you progress.

 I’ve not used Reaper and whilst it’s very popular I’m not sure ultimately it will be in the same, league .

I’m sure I will get put right if that’s incorrect !

  

MartinBush

Feedback on here regarding good DAWs plus, subsequent to that, a friend who runs it too. There seem to be good tutorials online too.

I hope to be able to install one DAW, get using it and forget about it and not worry from that point if I made the right decision. I expect either is a good choice, but it's good to hear a view or two on Studio One.

Bill_S

Not used Reaper, but have used Studio One Pro version almost daily for three years. I think it’s very intuitive and best of all it is extremely stable. I don’t know about the cheaper/free version that came with your interface however.

stratman3142

Reaper does everything I need.

I haven't used Studio One so I can't compare. Is the version that came with your interface limited in what it can do?

andy_k

The biggest investment, apart from the things you will need to add to both DAWs, will be the time you put in.
I cannot comment on S1, but have had nothing but pleasure from Reaper.
I did use PT12, and still use Logic pro x, but cross platform is important to me, Reaper does that too easily for me, so it is a no brainer.
There is nothing wrong with mixing up DAWS, I have all 3 , plus Ableton, Harrison mixbus and Audacity on my main machine,
space isn't that tight that I need to remove any of them, but I probably use Reaper 99% of the time because it grows with you.
Any plugins that are not limited by licenses, or other restrictions are visible by all of them anyway.

WiresDreamDisasters

spark240 said:

Studio One is fast becoming a Pro DAW alongside Protools.

  If you plan on moving forward with recording I would suggest S1 will serve you well as you progress.

 I’ve not used Reaper and whilst it’s very popular I’m not sure ultimately it will be in the same, league .

I’m sure I will get put right if that’s incorrect !

  

Yes, that's incorrect. Reaper is a completely professional DAW, as is Studio One.

It really comes down to feature set and workflow these days.

Freebird

Reaper is Cheaper

lincolnblue

I have used both and had the same quandry. I've only spent a little time with Studio One but I got it on sale so for the Artist version it was £60 - the same as Reaper.

Initial thoughts are that Reaper is amazingly powerful and there's so much in there. There is also loads of support and tutorials online. I used Reaper a few years ago for producing phone on-hold music and found it worked really well.

However after a short time with Studio One Artist (got a free upgrade to version 5) I think it really is very intuitive and easy to navigate. I want to spend more time on it but at the moment am happy sticking with it rather than going back to Reaper

Danny1969

Installing both won't cause any problems, I use Protools, Reaper, Audacity all on the same machine ... all are good at different things.
Your probably find the setup with Studio One easier though ... Reaper is fine but you need to go into prefs and choose the interface \ driver \ In \ Out etc. Your probably find that happens automatically with Studio One and a Presonus interface. 

MartinBush

Cheers chaps. Maybe I will install both... I have watched some Reaper tutorials and I am sure it will become second nature, but there does seem to be quite a bit of setting the settings to be done if you want to do something like programme drums. 

I suspect that my version of Studio One is limited - to what extent I don't know. And even if I did, would I need the full version any time soon?

I have one other question which I will ask here rather than start a new thread.

I am also considering getting a midi controller keyboard - I am certainly no keyboard player, but I believe they make programming drums easier and I also expect that I will want to add some basic synth type sounds at some point. Thomann, who I have been very impressed with having bought my interface (it arrived almost as soon as I his 'buy now'), do one priced at £39 - https://www.thomann.de/gb/akai_lpk_25.htm - is that likely to be good enough to get me going?

stratman3142

MartinBush said:

...I am also considering getting a midi controller keyboard - I am certainly no keyboard player, but I believe they make programming drums easier and I also expect that I will want to add some basic synth type sounds at some point. Thomann, who I have been very impressed with having bought my interface (it arrived almost as soon as I his 'buy now'), do one priced at £39 - https://www.thomann.de/gb/akai_lpk_25.htm - is that likely to be good enough to get me going?

I've got one of those that I take on holidays with me as a part of my portable laptop set up. It's perfectly adequate, but you might want to consider a keyboard with full size keys.

PolarityMan

The thing that would push me to start in something other than reaper would be access to built in plugins / virtual instruments. thats basically the one area that lets reaper down (althgouh some of the rea plugins are great they look pretty dated).

I have a plugin collection though so its reaper all the way for me

jmf1928

Arturia controllers have been great and often come with analog lab which is amazing. The mini lab 25 mk2 is always on my desk 

newi123

I have both on my laptop currently. 

I`d used Reaper for many years, but recently bought a studio one interface that came with Artist (the version I think they all have). I really like Studio one in terms of work flow and particularly drag and drop. It`s really well thought out.

Only limitation on Artist for me was lack of 3rd party plugin support, which I paid the extra for. The Studio one upgrade for 3rd party plugins is around £80, and the reaper licence is a little cheaper.

thomasw88

newi123 said:

I have both on my laptop currently. 

I`d used Reaper for many years, but recently bought a studio one interface that came with Artist (the version I think they all have). I really like Studio one in terms of work flow and particularly drag and drop. It`s really well thought out.

Only limitation on Artist for me was lack of 3rd party plugin support, which I paid the extra for. The Studio one upgrade for 3rd party plugins is around £80, and the reaper licence is a little cheaper.

Artist v5 upgrade is about £40 from an older version, and enables the user to use VST's.  So technically if he has the artist version it would be cheaper than paying for Reaper.. Albeit that there are some differences betwen S1 Artist & Pro.

MartinBush

It appears that I have Studio One Artist- or I would do if I download it.

It might help if I explain my immediate hopes for recording...

Initially I want to get down some tunes I have had kicking around for a while that I've been getting down on cassette. I've a quite rough and ready approach when it comes to using the four track - I usually get down a take good enough to be a reminder and don't worry about mistakes as a proper recording set up has been on the horizon.

Effects wise I've simply been using my pedals and expect I will continue doing that for a while until I work out how to use plug ins and am satisfied they are better.

The things that appeal to me about using a DAW is the ability to edit takes and mix properly. Until now I've been happy with whatever I get following bounce downs and other outdated techniques I'm unable to undo later.

Also, I really want to be able to programme drums (my current 'drum machine' is my guitar case with a mic inside!)

I think what I understand from all your responses is that there's fans of both DAWs and I could actually install both with no issues. Studio One may be easier for me to set up initially given the interface that I have so that could be the best first step for me.

andy_k

It costs nothing to try Reaper, and I repeat what I said before, the biggest investment is time.
If you want to find out how to do a particular thing, Kenny has probably done a video clearly explaining it in much more detail than you expect, if you want to change the theme, to make it look pretty, there are hundreds of free ones on the forum.
In fact, anything you need is on the forum.
Plenty of free plugins to try, SSD5 drums free is a good place to start, Ample bass, Lepou amps, Bluecat etc etc.
You can do all that before you pay a penny for Reaper, but you will probably have to pay to play with S1.
A microphone is a good place to start as well, get a £60 SM57 and stick in front of your amp, at a low volume, with your sound, and get used to recording it.
Learn your interface settings for mic vs DI, and the world is yours my friend.
The only thing you will want, is more time.

Fez

The Plugins Reaper comes with are ok though the interfaces are very dated. A few quid for a Computer music magazine get's you a whole load you can download from filesilo.

duotone

thomasw88 said:

newi123 said:

I have both on my laptop currently. 

I`d used Reaper for many years, but recently bought a studio one interface that came with Artist (the version I think they all have). I really like Studio one in terms of work flow and particularly drag and drop. It`s really well thought out.

Only limitation on Artist for me was lack of 3rd party plugin support, which I paid the extra for. The Studio one upgrade for 3rd party plugins is around £80, and the reaper licence is a little cheaper.

Artist v5 upgrade is about £40 from an older version, and enables the user to use VST's.  So technically if he has the artist version it would be cheaper than paying for Reaper.. Albeit that there are some differences betwen S1 Artist & Pro.

Didn’t know that,cheers! £42.

Edit: Just noticed it’s for Windows 10.