I cannot believe there is even an on-going conversation about whether 64 bit is necessary in a 2018 Windows program! I guarantee this conversation is not going on in any other modern software forum because 64 bit is the standard and 32 bit is now way out of date! Can you fix up a work-around? Yep and PGM has done a good job of using JBridge to do just that. It it a long-term solution? Nope!

And to answer the original poster's question, RealBand is not a suitable replacement to any modern DAW. Every modern DAW out there will have a better GUI and significant advantages in functionality and workflow over RB. I am certain no one would ever choose RB over other DAWs were it not for the fact that it can access the RealTracks and comes included at no extra charge when you purchase BIAB. And for some people those two reasons are good enough.

I have tried multiple times to use RB and have finally given up in frustration. It is clunky and slow and does not even come close to the usability of the other modern DAWs out there. I occasionally will still use RB if I cannot get what I want in RealTracks using BIAB but even then I use it for that single purpose, export the generated tracks and do my mixing in a serious DAW. I have used several different DAWs and a plethora of software programs all the way back to DOS 1.0 so I have seen lots of great interfaces and tons of poor ones!

Regarding the cost point that folks love to bring up, "RB is free!". Yeah, so is Windows Notepad but I prefer Word for serious text editing! And, while I am not familiar with pricing on all of the modern DAWs, I will point out Reaper is $60 and you only pay that after you have determined you like it because the full-featured trial runs indefinitely!

My advice to anyone using BIAB is simple. If you have a favorite DAW then keep it and use RB as needed to access those amazing RealTracks but use your DAW for mixing. If you don't have a favorite DAW then get one such as Reaper and use RB to access RealTracks as needed.

With all that said I acknowledge there are people here who say RB satisfies their needs in a DAW. I cannot personally imagine such a thing but... smile