Beer of the Bass Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I've recently picked up a Zoom H4N to do some basic recording with, with the intention of capturing my tracks on the Zoom then exporting to my laptop to mix them. It came bundled with Cubase LE 7, which I gather is a "light" version of Cubase. I also have a couple of friends who seem to rate Reaper quite highly, and it's very cheap to buy. I'm unlikely to use it for anything much more complicated than mixing a few tracks of audio and applying a bit of compression and EQ, maybe the odd reverb plug-in. Probably no VSt instruments either, as I don't have a MIDI interface and I'm quite attached to my physical keyboards. Are there any situations where the limitations of Cubase LE might bite me in the bum, that would make Reaper the better option, or should I just stick with LE as I have it already? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Reaper is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenitram Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I find Reaper hard to get my head round, it seems rather counter-intuitive to me. With a poor help section (that others say is great, so it must just be me). I'm used to Logic Audio (a very old PC version), so that might be it. Or not. I had trouble with Cubase back in the day as well. However, Reaper is free, and for free it is absolutely amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Personally I can't get on with either Protools or Logic from me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 My good friend who's an accomplished protools and logic user is making the switch to reaper, which, to me, is endorsement enough, I'll be trialling reaper in the hope that I can get my head round it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenitram Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I have actually just gone fully old-school and bought a Roland MC-500 hardware sequencer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Reaper! Actually love this DAW more than any other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Another vote for Reaper here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1346762130' post='1792766']...I'm unlikely to use it for anything much more complicated than mixing a few tracks of audio and applying a bit of compression and EQ, maybe the odd reverb plug-in. Probably no VSt instruments either, as I don't have a MIDI interface and I'm quite attached to my physical keyboards.[/quote] ^ If this is all you need then I'd save your beans and stick with Cubase LE. If you find yourself wanting to dabble further then I'd highly recommend Reaper as others have here. It's by far the best DAW in terms of bang-for-buck$. I personally use Reason - only because I've invested time and money in it over the years, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to squeeze every penny out of it! That said I do use Reaper from time to time and can't fault it. 'Tis a fantastic software and don't be fooled by the cheap price - it's certainly not a 'beginners' option and competes quite well with the most expensive softwares. Happy twiddling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 You can get reaper as a free trial version for as long as it takes you to decide whether you want to stick with it or not (this time has no limit form their perspective) and if you do want to finally do it, I'm told it's only £35 anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Try them both - then it's all down to work flow and personal preference and what works best for you. It's all 0's & 1's at the end of the day. From your OP and what you require it for, save your dosh and go with what you got [for the moment] But be rest assured and safe in the knowledge that at some point you will get DAW/Audio and midi interface/VST/VSTi's gas. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 Thanks for the various advice, I think I'll have a play around with both to begin with, since there's no financial commitment if I just want to try Reaper. I've found Steinberg's page on what the limitations of LE actually are, and I suspect that being limited to 16 audio tracks is unlikely to be much of an issue for the things I have in mind. But I'll have a try of both and go with whichever seems more intuitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Can i throw a spanner in the works. Studio One V2 do a free version, and going by your OP will be right up your Strasse. And it really is the easiest DAW in the world to use.[ For someone starting from scratch] Everything is drag and drop and totally [Audio & Midi gapless] Plenty of tutorials on the Presonus site, and of course Youtube. [url="http://studioone.presonus.com/free/"]http://studioone.presonus.com/free/[/url] Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarket2 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Just as a thought... I found that when I was getting into recording what I wanted to do quickly got.more and more complicated. I think reaper will give you more scope to expand as well as doing the basics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterfire666 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Reaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiMarco Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Reaper kept crashing on my win7 64bit system. I ended up purchasing Cubase Artist 6.5 which is simply awesome software imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 Yesterday evening I had a try of mixing the same track in Reaper and in Studio One Free to see how I got on with them. Reaper doesn't seem too forbiddingly complicated, but I'm getting some kind of weird aliasing thing going on with bass notes, which isn't there when I play the same files in Studio One. I presume I need to adjust my audio settings. Studio One seems pleasingly straightforward - the only worry is that I would have to be sure I liked the reverb and compression that come with it, since it doesn't use VSTs. I haven't actually installed Cubase LE yet, but I'll give that a try too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Sorry to go off topic a tad, but does Reaper have midi sequencing? So does it have the ability to program in notes and parts digitally? As my past experience with Cubase, and the fact I know it does have midi sequencing is leading me towards splashing out for Cubase, as I know how to use and set it up which would make it a bit easier! Thanks for the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plux_the_Duck Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Hehe... just wait for my dad (51m0n) to see this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterfire666 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 (edited) [quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1346876096' post='1794454'] Sorry to go off topic a tad, but does Reaper have midi sequencing? So does it have the ability to program in notes and parts digitally? As my past experience with Cubase, and the fact I know it does have midi sequencing is leading me towards splashing out for Cubase, as I know how to use and set it up which would make it a bit easier! Thanks for the replies! [/quote] Yep it has full midi sequencing facilities Edited September 7, 2012 by winterfire666 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Been working with Cubase Se for years now and feel no urge to up-grade. It records stuff. What more do we want from our machines!!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Cubase LE7 is limited to 16 tracks? Wow. I got LE5 with my Lexicon Alpha and that's limited to 48. I don't even have it installed curently (It vanished?) but i've been using Reaper for about 2 years now and i love it. Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 [quote name='LiamPodmore' timestamp='1347460373' post='1801128'] Cubase LE7 is limited to 16 tracks? [/quote] Cubase 7 has been released ? Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 [quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1347467086' post='1801272'] Cubase 7 has been released ? Garry [/quote] Oops, that was a typo. It's Cubase LE6 I have a copy of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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