Originally Posted By: Rob Helms
It’s about workflow. I have used both DAWs, and several others as well. To name a few NTracks studio Multitrackstudio, powertracks, Realband, Acid Pro versions 2,4, 5, Cakewalk from home studio 2 to Sonar to Bandlab, studio one from version 2 to 6, reaper versions 3,4,6. Now Harrison Mixbus. Sometimes I think I am nuts.

The reason I preferred Studio one is workflow and for that point polished workflow. Take just one area. While Reaper does comping very effectively it is waaaaay behind Studio one in the slick workflow. Same with bus routing Reaper is far more flexible, but also far more confusing.

Bottom line is studio one is polished and smooth, professional looking and acting. Still the old Reaps does a very nice job. It also has some things none of the others have. The video while not fancy is far more useful. The fact it is light weight and easy on the system is attractive. I am going to give both Mixbus and Reaper a fair shake down. Cause as you mentioned they are less expensive. Reaper in particular at $60 and that covers two release cycles is a bargain.so really it is $30 per release. Studio one pro is $149 for an upgrade.

Your point is well taken. Still for someone who love what they are doing as a hobby a $350 software package is still less than $.50 a day entertainment.

I am re-evaluating my needs. I use Band in a Box to create a lot of my music. And I just need a simple program to mix and render it. I could use Realband, as I did in the past. But I don’t particularly like the workflow. I mixed a song yesterday in Mixbus and I have to say the results were nothing less than amazing. I used nothing but the channel strips and master strip built 32c fx. With the exception of one reverb bus, and one Waves SSL 4000 G master plugin on the master bus.

I mixed the same song in Reaper and also got a very good result. I used the set of Waves CLA plugins and the SSL master on that. I loved the end result on both. Reaper is a capable package as is. I have watched many Kenny G. videos and well as the most of the videos Nathan and Ben put out over at Harrison.

If one likes Studio one (I still do) the price is not ridiculous in the long run. I have friend who play golf, and feel for recreation or hobby that $40 green fees every week is affordable. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay did I say way more than the cost of amp DAW.


Studio One Artist is, I think, $99. It also comes free with many of their audio interfaces, which are very good. Since v5, the Artist version supports 3rd party VSTs, so it's no longer necessary to pay extra for that support. Artist doesn't include many of PreSonus virtual instruments, but if you're not using them now, that is no big deal.

A Reaper license for home or small business use is $60, and is good for two major versions. I had a license that covered v4 and v5, and chose to buy a new one to cover v6 and v7. That was FOUR years ago, and Reaper is still on v6. That's a bargain.

Studio One issues a major version update every 2-3 years, which I purchase. Much more reasonable that what Steinberg does with Cubase.

If it is purely a money issue, you can't beat Reaper. But for an extra $40, Studio One Artist is great bang for the buck. And, as mentioned previously, the workflow in Studio One is a lot more straightforward than it is in Reaper. Just check out Kenny Gioia's excellent Reaper videos on YouTube. No other DAW has that level of resource available. I watch his new videos on release, but, holy smokes, they leave me overwhelmed sometimes. Just the number and size of the text menus in Reaper is eyewatering. In Studio One? Drag and drop almost anything anywhere.

And don't get me going on the black hole for time that is themes for Reaper. A DAW should be used for making music, not playing with the GUI.

ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2026 Ultra
Bitwig Studio 6; Studio Pro 8; Melodyne Studio 5; Tonalic Studio 1; Acoustica Premium 7
Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770