Pro Tools vs Reaper

steadystate

Fractal Fanatic
I've been using Reaper for a while now, but have been exploring other DAWs, most recently Pro Tools.

In all honesty, I can't find a single thing about Pro Tools that I like as much as Reaper. Do people use PT mainly because it is a "standard"? Can any PT users out there (who are also familiar with the latest Reaper, very important point) list some major advantages PT might have over Reaper beyond ubiquity?

After hearing about PT all my life, I must say, I'm not that impressed. What am I missing?
 
I've been using Reaper for a while now, but have been exploring other DAWs, most recently Pro Tools.

In all honesty, I can't find a single thing about Pro Tools that I like as much as Reaper. Do people use PT mainly because it is a "standard"? Can any PT users out there (who are also familiar with the latest Reaper, very important point) list some major advantages PT might have over Reaper beyond ubiquity?

After hearing about PT all my life, I must say, I'm not that impressed. What am I missing?
Well I have reaper (licensed also), but I am a 25 year Cakewalk guy. Anyway, Pro Tools $$$ in hardware and such is so embedded in many studios and that is the reason IMHO. Because it is no great DAW. I think Sonar Platinum and Reaper are better than Pro Tools. But the big studio invested millions long ago. Have you seen the prices to add on or update pro tools.
I certainly couldn't afford it and wouldn't want to. Just my opinion folks!
 
It could also be a case of you preferring what you're used too. And let us not forget that the reason something becomes the industry standard have sometimes little to do with it being the best program or format and everything with other factors. Just look at the role the porn industry played in deciding which video format became the standard.
 
Yeah, Pro Tools may have had the lead in the early days of computer DAW, but it's really not even close to the top these days. I was a Cakewalk user for many years, started exploring other options in the last 4 years or so. First Reaper, then I crossgraded to Studio One. All of those are great, but I use Studio One the most now. The only thing I like better in SONAR is the MIDI, but I can get by with that in Studio One.

For me, Reaper is something that seems like it was written for tweakers by tweakers. A lot of flexibility, but it kind of borders on too much. I like it, but prefer the simplicity of Studio One, so thats the main thing I use, with SONAR when I want to revisit old projects.
 
As far as liking what you are used to, I used Sonar for years and liked Reaper better almost immediately. And Sonar is slow, clunky, and unstable compared to Reaper.

I also have Studio One, and like it. The only feature so far I've found in Studio One that Reaper lacks is the ability to change the tempo envelope continuously and have all tracks change their playback rate accordingly while preserving pitch. You can do this in Reaper, but it requires extra steps.

But Pro Tools, geez. So many limitations. And no VST. F that. What is the universal appeal of this DAW? To me, PT vs Reaper is like the old Windows 3.11 vs BeOS. And we all know how that turned out. One was popular, one was good.
 
Main thing for me, besides the clean, simple interface with Studio One, is the feature that allows you to set your buffers to the lowest setting and then playback is run as if it is higher, while allowing you to record new synths without the additional latency. I never remember what it's called because it's one of those things that I turned on when they implemented it, and I experimented briefly to see how it works and set it the way I wanted it, and rarely touch it any more. Basically it allows you to get into mix mode without having to turn up your buffers as you start getting a heavy mix with lots of plugins, many of which add their own additional latency due to adding buffers to the chain, and if you to add a new synth track or want to monitor a vocal track with effects, the track you enable for that is still playing at minimum latency instead of lagging due to the buffers and plugin latency on other tracks that are synced with it. It's basically like two sync engines in one. Playback is synced to 512 or 1024 and the live monitoring is set at 32 or 64. Makes a big difference for my workflow. Plus it is stable.

And I agree with you that SONAR is slow, clunky, and sometimes a bit unstable. Rarely get crashes, but I think they have been using old code-base and adding bloat for way too long. The only reason I still occasionally use it because I learned on it and have some old projects that I occasionally like to revisit and redo a few tracks with new equipment to see how it sounds. And even then I'll usually more likely to export the stems or tracks and save the MIDI file so that I can work with it Studio One, as I just like it better.

Reaper doe a LOT with a very small setup program, and for that it is extremely efficient. In many ways I rank it right up there with Studio One, and if it weren't for that feature I mention above, I'd probably work harder to get it set up to my liking and learn it better. Really can't knock it for trying to be everything for everyone, but it has so many customization options it can slow me down sometimes trying to dig in and figure out how to do something. And I really don't know how they can make it that flexible and powerful without it being bloatware. Pretty amazing program, and I will most likely shell out the cash to get the next version just to see how it develops, although I think my license will get me up to any Version 6.

I haven't tried Pro Tools in a long, long time, but it's basically what @Stratman68 says. It was the early king and had a head start. It has long been surpassed by almost everything else out there, but those studios that invested in it early, and the seasoned "pros" that don't want to learn new tools are what keep it going at all.
 
It could also be a case of you preferring what you're used too. And let us not forget that the reason something becomes the industry standard have sometimes little to do with it being the best program or format and everything with other factors. Just look at the role the porn industry played in deciding which video format became the standard.
I agree for sure!
 
As far as liking what you are used to, I used Sonar for years and liked Reaper better almost immediately. And Sonar is slow, clunky, and unstable compared to Reaper.

I also have Studio One, and like it. The only feature so far I've found in Studio One that Reaper lacks is the ability to change the tempo envelope continuously and have all tracks change their playback rate accordingly while preserving pitch. You can do this in Reaper, but it requires extra steps.

But Pro Tools, geez. So many limitations. And no VST. F that. What is the universal appeal of this DAW? To me, PT vs Reaper is like the old Windows 3.11 vs BeOS. And we all know how that turned out. One was popular, one was good.

It took them forever to get to 64bit. Sonar got in X3, thats a while ago. Yes I am very use to Sonar. I have zillion plugs that work in reaper and Sonar.
 
I just cannot get past the looney tunes UI of Reaper. I mean the menus will make you blind. I know I can customize them and I have.

Anyway I do not have any of the issues people bitch about with Sonar. Probably because I do not do a zillion tracks and FX. All vocals are mine, audio. All guitars are mine electric and acoustic. Everything else is softsynths. I was in quite a few duo and trios and we sequenced Bass and drums for a gazillion songs. I got pretty good at. Started in the late 80's with an Alesis drum machine, A yamaha TZ81 or TX? And a Kawai 80 something-floppy disk sequencers.

Drums with a midi keybrd. Bass with a midi keybrd.

But as you guys say, Yes I am invested in it-time wise.............It's what I know.
 
I do like, and use, Reaper. But, I'm looking forward to getting back into the full-featured Samplitude. Everything down to Redbook CD authoring, direct from the DAW. Folks, if you have any tips for mastering in Reaper, I'm all ears.
 
I just cannot get past the looney tunes UI of Reaper. I mean the menus will make you blind. I know I can customize them and I have..
I felt the same way about Reaper. I purchased a copy and found it to be fun to play with, but super confusing. I'm sure once you're used to it, the customization capability is great.

I have been a Sonar user for years, but went hunting for something new when they 'closed'.
After auditioning Reaper and Studio One, I picked Studio One (although I own all three now).
Still getting used to some things in Studio One, but I love it.
I was going to try Pro Tools, but the limited hardware interfaces available (and cost) was a non-starter.
I also have no idea why it is the 'standard' in most Pro Studios. I'm sure it will change in time though.

Now that Sonar is back in business, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I kind of need to pick one and stick with it (because other band members also use it, and need to be self sufficient.
 
The guy that speaks for the new owners seems really determined to fix many of the issues that some users experience. I was never moving from it, but since I have a license for Reaper I was learning it a bit at a time. But now I'm not. Like I said, because I am mostly 25 tracks tops I don't experience the issues many others do. But I know the issues are there. The folks that post about them have been there as long as I have.

Thing many do NOT know is that SONAR PLATINUM is now FREE, no strings attached. Well you do have to open a FREE account with BAndlab. Big deal. Just an email address. But it does not include all the VST's and FX. But free is free. So I figure many will be trying it out. I would if I weren't already in. I have always said that reaper was a good, solid DAW. Just does not appeal to me. But notice, I did buy a license. You can now import Sonar files into it. Which is pretty cool.

****So all the Reaper only folks might want to have a look - since it's free.
 
Cakewalk > Sonar > Acid Pro > Pro Tools > Reaper. All legally owned/licensed. That's a shit-ton of $$ for a lot of unused software, but that's the nature of a studio I guess, home or otherwise. =)

That's the path I took in my Daw usage over the last 20 years. Today I use Reaper with an occasional dip back into Acid for certain things it excels at that Reaper doesn't quite live up to (yet).

FWIW, my worst DAW experience was PT, hands down. Learning curve and proprietary nature (NONE of my plugins were compatible) had me running for the hills after a couple of months. PT was the standard for a long time. I was trying to migrate to it so I was on a more common platform and could take session recordings to any of a dozen jam-buddies place and pick up where we left off. I'm sure that also translates into the bigger studios as well. These days I don't hear nearly as much about PT as I used to, and there are so many high quality DAW options on the market I don't see how they could retain their market share, even if that whole iLok fiasco had never happened a few years back. That *really* knocked them down a notch or two.
 
Pro Tools is the pro standard because it's an old pro standard. Every studio must have a pro tools because everyone else has it. Not flexible, it would be the last choise for home use for me. But if you want a job in studio.... learn the Pro Tools!
 
I have a correction to my post about the FREE Sonar Platinum . It does include the following plugs free:
VSTi's - all the Studio Instrument Bundle , plus TTS-1 multi timbral GM synth
Audio plugins - All the Sonitus suite, plus TH3 Overloud guitar app ala Guitar rig but better., Boost 11
Pro Channel Modules - Breverb 2 killer reverb, Console Emulator Bus & Channel, PC4K Bus Compresser, P76 Compressor, Rematrix Solo, Saturation Knob, Tape Emulator, Tube Saturation, FX Chain & the Style Dial Fx

So you do get quite a bit. Just wanted to be correct. No I don't get paid for this. Just trying to let my fellow fractalites aware of another quality FREE daw..........To try
 
I think we are missing a point here. ProTools was really developed for the professional studio. The ProTools high end systems were the original target market. The "home" version was an afterthought. I have worked in many "professional" studios. The high end ProTools hardware and software are pretty amazing.

The "home" market segment has really exploded and so we now have many other options, some of which are superior to what ProTools offers. With that said, ProTools is still the king for professional studios and it is not just because it has been around for a while. The high end stuff is really hard to beat. Fully integrated ProTools systems (hardware and software) are way too expensive for the home studio, unless you have a bigly yuuuuge budget.
 
I have a correction to my post about the FREE Sonar Platinum . It does include the following plugs free:
VSTi's - all the Studio Instrument Bundle , plus TTS-1 multi timbral GM synth
Audio plugins - All the Sonitus suite, plus TH3 Overloud guitar app ala Guitar rig but better., Boost 11
Pro Channel Modules - Breverb 2 killer reverb, Console Emulator Bus & Channel, PC4K Bus Compresser, P76 Compressor, Rematrix Solo, Saturation Knob, Tape Emulator, Tube Saturation, FX Chain & the Style Dial Fx

So you do get quite a bit. Just wanted to be correct. No I don't get paid for this. Just trying to let my fellow fractalites aware of another quality FREE daw..........To try
Thanks for the heads up! I actually singed up for a BandLap account (got the email because I am a Sonar user), but did not notice the Free Platinum! I'm all over this (my latest version is 8.5...but it's rock solid!)

Anyone here get Sonar running (well) on a Mac?
 
I think I'll bail on PT. I'll continue poking around in Studio One, as it has some advantages all its own. Sonar is just too slow and bloated. It takes Sonar ten times as long to perform certain functions as compared to Reaper or Studio One. Sonar never worked for me with ASIO4ALL either. So many bugs. So many crashes. And I'll never forget or forgive how they used their paying customer base as beta testers for so many years. Their patch release notes would typically have three dozen entries along the lines of "Fixed bug where editing a midi note caused the clip to disappear". Not an exaggeration. Over the last 20 years, Sonar (and Cakewalk Pro Audio) has wasted more hours of my time than all other software combined.
 
I think I'll bail on PT. I'll continue poking around in Studio One, as it has some advantages all its own. Sonar is just too slow and bloated. It takes Sonar ten times as long to perform certain functions as compared to Reaper or Studio One. Sonar never worked for me with ASIO4ALL either. So many bugs. So many crashes. And I'll never forget or forgive how they used their paying customer base as beta testers for so many years. Their patch release notes would typically have three dozen entries along the lines of "Fixed bug where editing a midi note caused the clip to disappear". Not an exaggeration. Over the last 20 years, Sonar (and Cakewalk Pro Audio) has wasted more hours of my time than all other software combined.

Well , OK but that's YOUR experience, not a typical experience. All one needs to do is scroll thru the 10's of thousands of posts and see. And it is NOT bloated. Your bloat, is another mans tool.

Like I said I know there are issues but your remarks are somewhat exaggerations at best. 10X longer than Studio one? I had the S1 UNLIMITED, UNHINDERED demo for 2 months when Sonar did not have anyone reviving it. S1 is ok, but lacked many, many things that I love about Sonar. So it does work both ways. There were things I could do in Sonar that you couldn't even do in S1`. It's a good daw, but it's new.
Despite some stability issues for some, Sonar has 20 years+ years of innovations.

Many of the issues were reported by POWER users. 100+ tracks with every wave plug on every track, etc, etc. Yes it choked. Well for me, I don't do that and most of the guitar players I know don't do that.

finally, the new company guy, Meng, said these issues will be addressed and fixed. Not trying to start a war here. But Sonar would be perfect for the guitar players and musicians that I know. Been playing forever and I know quite a few.
 
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