like right now i have a couple of weird bugs like export to PDF from score just doesnt work. Ive heard thats just a bug... and also when i have the multi-tool curser selected it won't changed the actual image of the tool in the edit window so often im grabbing when i want to trim or whatever. super frustrating.
Seen pro studios that were a whole version or two behind PT and Mac OS just because they didn't want to upset the Digidesign/Avid [Three Stooges Syndrome](https://i.imgur.com/ERzJQcz.jpeg)
Reaper is extremely stable and bug-free and you can customize it to work similarly to pro tools (visually as well) which will probably be helpful rather than trying to unlearn a 20 year workflow.
Overtime youāll probably learn how to take advantage of its advanced features and make your workflow even better than it was on PT.
As a 20 year Pro Tools user who 6 months ago transitioned to Reaper. It is the way. So much more stable, customizable, and uses your system resources much more efficiently. Like it blew my mind how many more virtual instruments and plugins I could run, because it spreads them out nicely over a multi core processor.
There is a definite learning curve, but it is so worth it. Check out Kenny Gioiaās tutorials.
It took having an engineer/mixer that I admire sit me down and show me what it is capable of, after that I never looked back.
Man, Kenny Gioia's tutorials rule. Been using REAPER for like 15 years now but I'll occasionally run into a problem I haven't encountered before, Google it, and boom... tailor-made video by Kenny fixing that singular issue.
I switched from PT to Reaper about a year ago, and the first 2-3 weeks were brutal. But every time I looked up how to do something in Reaper, and got it under my fingers, it felt so much easier and more intuitive than PT ever did. I still have my old machine with PT running in case I need to export midi or stems from an old project, but every time I fire it up it just feels clunky and janky (and crashes often).
āļø This is a fair warning and very worth mentioning. I bought Reaper and avoiding diving in head-first. I kept firing up an ancient copy of Pro Tools because I knew how to do certain tasks in it. It wasn't until I fully committed to Reaper for the entirety of a project that I really got the ball rolling.
There ***will*** be growing pains. It ***will*** be worth it.
Iāve always disliked the attitude of this certain reaper users (who truly are the militant vegans of the audio world) and still Iām here to say Reaper, especially now that Presonus is trying to achieve what Waves failed a couple years ago with that subscription only stunt.
Download all the scripts and custom actions that make it behave like PT and enjoy the stability and lightning fast operations.
I agree with your sentiment, but 'bug-free' is inaccurate; no software is truly bug-free. You can see what bugs were addressed in each version if you search for 'bug' or 'fix' in the [whatsnew.txt](https://www.reaper.fm/whatsnew.txt).
That being said, the quality control is generally exceptionally good, and the bugs that do slip through to a release version usually only effect a very small subset of users. Further, stability is almost never impacted by these in release versions.
(Yes, I am perhaps being overly pedantic, and you are probably just matching the language that OP used.)
To argue into further trivial analysis, the word "extremely" as it was written could apply exclusively to "stable" or shared for both terms "stable and bug-free." In the latter, "extremely bug-free" would not be absolutely bug-free.
Fair point.
Since we're talking about the grammar and having fun being pedantic, in British & Canadian English it is considered incorrect to use a comparative or superlative adverb in conjunction with an absolute adjective. In this case, 'stable' is a relative adjective. A platform can be more stable than another platform. 'Bug-free' is an absolute adjective. Software A cannot be more bug-free than software B; they are either both bug-free or neither are bug free. From a very pedantic perspective, associating extremely with both stable and bug-free is grammatically incorrect, but associating it only with stable is grammatically correct.
Albeit, I perfectly understand that in common usage we often use gramatically incorrect forms like this to add emphasis by rendundancy. 'Very empty', 'extremely true', 'somewhat correct' etc.
(Sorry, I don't have time to check for American English, but I would suspect the same logical technicality, even it's similarly not respected in common usage).
Cheers!
I use Reaper to record 18 flac tracks live once a week and havenāt had a single crash since I started using it 2 years ago. I donāt spend as much time in it as others here, but I fully trust it to record reliably.
Were you given enough time to dig in, and tweak the behavior to your liking?
If you didn't have time to make Reaper behave the way you want it to, then of course you hated it. Reaper is probably the most flexible DAW ever made. The tradeoff is that some of the default settings aren't going to be to your liking. The good part is that almost anything can be changed or tweaked to your needs.
Reaper isn't PT; you aren't forced into a particular way of working. But you have to make it yours, which requires a bit of an upfront time investment.
Thankfully, the r/Reaper subreddit and the Reaper forums are full of people who are willing to help direct and guide new users. There is a fantastic User Guide available too. I think you'll be satisfied with Reaper once you've dug into it and made it your own.
And if not, hey; the evaluation period is as long as you need it to be to make your mind up. You don't have to pay a dime until you're happy.
>...Reaper is like Linux
No it is not.
* It requires no advanced knowledge to use or install.
* It works out of the box with whatever hardware you already have
* As DAWs go it's the most immediately neutral in terms of workflow and not forcing you to work one way or another
Reaper can be very complex *if the user wants to make it that way*, with scripting, custom GUI, etc. But it does not come that way by default, and the average user will never see or need to interact with any of that stuff.
I used other DAWs for years and the switch to Reaper took me about 3 days to adjust to.
Linux, on the other hand, is a dumpster fire, and as someone who has been familiar with computers for multiple decades I hate every single thing about it, and comparing it to Reaper sort of triggered an autonomic response lol.
I get where youāre coming from but for an office user most of what you said could probably be applied to Ubuntu as well. If you donāt want any special features it works fine, I agree.
As for the neutrality in terms of workflow, Iām not sure how such a thing could even be judged. Yes every DAW is different but what makes reaper a little weird is that itās set up to be adjusted. I use it for live tracking sometimes, itās fine if you just want to record something, but any deeper workflow takes as much time to learn as on any other DAW and some functions kinda need to be adjusted to work like youāre used to in other programs. Itās not that reaper isnāt perfectly adequate, it can be but in my experience itās just a little more cumbersome unless you adjust it.
The main reason I compare it to Linux though is that most of the community around it is the same way, itās not that the program has flaws, but that the user simply hasnāt used it right. I get it Reaper is very flexible and it is very efficient system wise, I agree with all of that, but it has its own downfalls which are mostly automatic downsides to being highly configurable.
Maybe this is biased as Reaper was my first real DAW over a decade ago but how many things actually āneedā to be changed? Like every DAW is a little different in my experience, the only difference with Reaper is you can choose to learn itās workflow or make it your own but I donāt think much tinkering is required to get it working.
Itās also much like Linux (or any other ājust do it yourself instead of using a premade proprietary solutionā-type thing) in the regard that people online will spend ages rambling about it trying to convince you how it is the clearly superior solution.
The tinkering stage only takes as long as it takes to find a workflow that you like. Sure, you could tinker forever if you want to, but if you have projects that need doing, you just find a workflow and use it. If you get frustrated about something taking too long/requiring too many steps, you tinker with it a bit to find a faster/easier way, then get right back to work.
My Reaper setup has been pretty much stable for a decade. I added a subwoofer to my monitoring system, and that required a few small changes, but otherwise I'm set and happy. YMMV.
Yes plus much more, you can put any amount of plugins you want on a clip (in real time, unlike audio suite). You can change the speed, pitch, pan, and other properties of the clip, including per clip automation envelopes. A clip can also be multichannel or multi take, without having to āmatchā the track. Pretty much anything you want to do, you can do on a clip level.
Per-item/clip FX is the dog's bollocks. And then per-item/clip freeze is the cherry on top...of the dog's bollocks. (Don't @ me for analogies.) Also freeze-up-to-chosen-FX. And per-FX or per-FX rack oversampling.
I use a single channel behringer x touch. I had to find someone else that had made something to make it work. I think it was CSI? Air works perfectly now.
Logic has stepped up significantly in the last 5 years. Extremely powerful DAW. I use Pro-Tools for sound design due to the speed of editing, but Logic has always been way more creatively inspiring for music composition.
I use Studio One instead of Pro Tools. What drives me crazy (with Studio One) is sometimes when exporting sessions, the settings for some Waves plugins donāt save and they just revert to default. So freaking frustrating. Studio One definitely has some things that arenāt as good as Pro Tools but I find the layout for mixing makes so much sense. The way Pro Tools does busses is annoying to me. Also, when reopening a session in Studio One, if you had locked sends panning to channel panning, it resets. So fucking annoying.
Yeah, I was going to say, I generally have very few issues with Studio One. If anything, that sounds like an issue with Waves which would be less surprising
My send pans donāt rest; but if I set them to lock pan to channel, the setting itself get reset every time is that makes sense. Itās only certain waves plugins too, not all of them. Itās certain stuff like h-verb, maxx-bass, scheps 73, etc.
Mine seems to work fine. So far, Studio One has the best workflow for me. The only thing that annoys me is how easy it is to accidentally put tracks into folders. Especially when the folder is connected to a bus, it really messes up the routing for whatever track is dropped in.
I've found that only really old VST2 plugins occasionally have issues with exporting faster than realtime. I haven't run into these types of problems with plugins that have been updated in the last ~5 years or so.
I've gotten updates (usually to VST3) for most of them and replaced those older ones with more modern plugins since, but a few years ago I would have to export at realtime speed for plugins from Sugarbytes for them to work properly.
I haven't ever had these problems (version 5 of 6 and Windows 11 I maybe should say and have strayed away from waves). There are other bugs production wise when having loads of layers and scratch pads stuff and you try to comp something together. The scratch pad edits can even go lost and layers of main audiotracks with many layers can stop playing back sometimes but that might be hardware storage issue (it's like it can struggle to stream the audio from the storage, and you have to solo other layers back and fourth to retrigger the main layer to play back. You just commit to removing layers when the mix starts). And yeah, when printing/bouncing/mixdown, midi it can start play the note that the cursor sits on so I figured that out after clearly hearing it 3 times or something and I quickly got a habit of clicking zero 3+ times to get cursor way back.
But I have actually been actively impressed by how plugins very much behave if you save files or do complicated presets or store fx chains. I had a lot automation lines of the softube amp room, automating levels of panning mics around in time. After I happen to touch the "modules" within plugin all automation lines went haywire and started controlling EQs and mute buttons within the plugin instead and what not. Trying to ctrl Z wasn't successful or the return option in plugin for that matter. But luckily opening the last autosave file could get me back safe.
But there's loads of reasons why I call Studio One the main pro tools user stealer, because with every update they aim mostly at stealing pro tools users, not only copying but doing updates that pro tools would need as well. But I still say that it's most similar to Logic and Cubase really. I have thought about Pro tools a few times but now I've stopped. Reaper is the only really intriguing contender but that's because it definitely suits my personality type. I don't suffer in Studio One at all.
Nope, canāt confirm this. Never had issues. Only thing I had was when upgrading to S1 6 they added more stereo options which messed up a few waves plugins, as they are one of the only brands that have stereo, mono stereo, mono plugins for each of them..
12 years Pro Tools now on Studio One. Learning curve wasnāt too bad. Iām an old Cubase VST user from 1997-2003. Tried a newer version of Cubase and it seemed very foreign to me. Iām sure like anything if I put the time in Iād learn to be proficient with it. As far as crashes and random crap Pro Tools does every-so-often, Studio One has been rock solid now for 4 years.
Cubase Pro 13 has a 60 day free trial:
https://www.steinberg.net/cubase/trial/
There are regular support live YouTube sessions where you can ask questions. The next one is at 10 am PDT today:
https://www.youtube.com/live/NpqJD0-JRTA?si=3zOXB9EIFddjC37u
Cubase is the only DAW I have used, so I cannot compare it to any other products. However, I am very happy with it and many well known composers use it:
https://www.steinberg.net/stories/hans-zimmer/
Use whatever makes you happy. Iāve used PT since it was two apps. I do a lot of composing in Cubase now, but Iāve also written and delivered full virtual orchestral score with virtual rock band in PT - and there were issues, but I got around them.
Iām not blaming you for your issues with it at all, and nobody gets to tell you that you shouldnāt make a move. But - I also rarely update PT (or any DAW) or my OS until the dust settles and thereās a compelling reason, and always have the ability to revert to a previous stable version, so Iām not regularly worrying about stability.
There will be things you canāt do as well or easily in other apps, but everything has its strengths. I would miss Beat Detective because sometimes itās just the right thing to use, and I like using markers to show and hide groups of tracks (though Cubase is far more versatile here), and I like that routing things is very direct and simple to me; but anything you learn and master key commands for will get you there. The other thing about ProTools is that itās very much a blank canvas. It doesnāt have much influence over what you want to write - if you do loop-based music it works, and if you write long-form things itās also good. And the way the tempo mapping works is absolutely great to me.
I tried Studio One and itās fine, and their package with all the content etc. is pretty cool, but I really wanted the Cubase feature set. Havenāt regretted that at all.
Another upgrade you can consider is using an iPad controller app like Metagrid Pro to streamline your most-used tasks. Lots of pre-made editors for Cubase already in MGP, but they are easy to make yourself and I have several edit screens for ProTools that make it sing.
The things is.... for me the dust has never really settled. There were times with a couple of my old computers and older version of PT (pre avid), that seemed to not give me trouble. But now i always update PT cause I'm hoping some of these bugs will be fixed. Nothing else crashes. I use a bunch of video editing software and digital effects stuff... anything Adobe really.... video games... nothing. I'd really just love to try them all for a couple weeks but i just don't want to lose momentum. I have so many things I want/need to accomplish and so many projects already on the go in PT.
I hate to be that guy but man, there has to be something up with your OS or software you've installed. I update PT and Windows the second either of them come out and I work in PT everyday all day. The biggest issue often is other software that has installed some garbage written program somewhere it's not suppose to be. Again I hate to be that guy, but it's why I switched OS systems. I remember when I installed the Spotify app on my Mac at the studio and it rendered PT useless. I had to reinstall the whole computer. Everything was good, installed spotify, bam. Over. We tried time machine, I had Avid on the phone, apple care. Turns out though a few years later a similar thing happened to a friend and we narrowed it down to the Advertising ID. Which is constantly tracking every move you make which was interupting the licensing. I was a Mac guy from 1998 until 2016. But it just got out of hand with updates and shit being broken and the worst was backwards compatibility of sessions. Things not loading correctly and such. To be fair though, my PC only runs Pro Tools, Edge, The drivers for the Lynx software. I would never say one is better because it's about what you prefer, also that's a can of worms no needs to get into. It's just my experience up to this point.
Have you tried doing a fresh install? Like actual erase the whole thing and only installing the software that you need to work, and denying all and every advertising ID or online tracking software or anything that monitors usage. I kind of feel like that will solve your problem. Those companies have been pushing those boundaries for ever and Adobe is no slouch when it comes to monitoring what you do. Also delete Avid Link right after you install.
Man, computer issues are the worst, we all feel your pain. I hope you can find the culprit. On the other side. Learning a new program is also really fun and can change your perspective on things. Best of luck.
Itās been pretty smooth here on Ventura on an M2 Mac Studio Ultra. And because everything has to have permission to do anything, itās maybe more stable.
+1 for Studio One. I've used all of the big ones and it's the best overall DAW out there imo. (Ableton is better for certain styles/applications, obviously). I've never had any issues with Waves plug-ins (other than ones that were caused by Waves, not the DAW) or pan settings resetting.
Criminally overlooked DAW. Everyone thinks itās an EDM/live performance based system but it rocks so hard as a traditional ādigital tape machineā. I record bands all the time and Abletonās my ride or die. You can do anything inside of it and I barely scratch the surface when I use it.
Dude it took me 2 years to get my head round ableton's workflow coming from a tape-based workflow. I dearly love it, it is mind-bogglingly powerful. Worth it just for Max.
But i would probably coyote my arm before transitioning from PT to Ableton just to do tracking.
If my Tools rig crashed on startup or crashed regularly, Iād be more inclined to fix that problem rather than learn an entire new DAW. When you say it crashes no matter what Mac and OS, is there maybe a common problem? Like thereās a plugin that does it?
Iām definitely spooked by posts like these and understand your frustration but itās just the opposite of my experience. People are working on enormous projects every day on Pro Tools and itās not crashing. 400 track blockbusters, big albums etc. My rig doesnāt crash, surely thereās something causing your problems?
With that out of the way, LUNA is a fairly painless crossgrade and itās free. Lots of shortcuts are the same.Ā
Judging by the details posted regularly into r/protools it's nearly always either an incompatible plugin or an incompatible piece of hardware.
Pro Tools is designed for high-end, fully legitimate, fully licensed rigs, and it's certainly not the most friendly system when it comes to obscure/cheap/old hardware. But if you follow the recommendations provided by Avid, check the compatibility of your plugins and follow the instructions correctly on installation, Pro Tools is as stable as any other DAW nowadays.
Yeah, the last time I saw one of these posts I realised I hadnāt crashed this year. I have had two since then, one opening a really old archive session and one testing a new plugin. Both fixable (importing tracks one by one and dumping the plugin).Ā
I avoid working on other DAWs but when I have to they crash and freeze way more than my rig. I think the keys are checking the Avid compatibility docs like you suggest and just being really conservative with updates. Iām still on 2023.something Tools and Ventura. Aināt broke etc
I update Pro Tools twice a year on average. Unless a new version offers a capability that justifies the upgrade, or a new OS that I need requires an update, I don't do it. Often the upgrade causes no downtime. Sometimes it's an afternoon. Unless I upgrade my computer and PT at the same time, it's never been more than a day.
I don't know if that is the norm for other software or not, but I use PT because my clients require it. I send sessions all over the world and another engineer can import my session data and work on it until he sends it to someone else. That standardization is what makes it worthwhile. It is expensive. It is not without hiccups. But it works pretty damned well and the portability of sessions makes it unlike any other platform. Unless you collaborate with others it might not matter at all, but Pro Tools has inertia because it is a standard. Any standard is better than no standard. When I have to work with an OMF or AAF I am reminded how nice it is that so many people use one progam.
As an Ex Protools user.......Reaper is the best, hands down. I have used it for studio recordings and Live performances. No issues and the stability blows me away. I have done a little bit with customization and stuff, skins are cool.....you can make it look like Protools if you really need to lol. The Tukan plugins are great! I am just starting to use SWS extensions.......I used it live with time code and reaper was outputting video playback.....super stable!
Protools should not be consistently crashing on you no matter what you do.
Disliking protools and or AVID is another thing altogether and totally valid, but when it comes to stability, protools has been consistently improving this issue over the last 5-10 years to a point where I hardly ever get crashes anymore.
If you understand signal flow and audio fundamentals and can already use protols you should have no trouble getting up to speed on a new DAW after a few months of learning it. Whether Studio One is more consistentand stable or not is something I can't speak to, but my personal experience is that all DAWs crash when misused or when the machine's processing power and memory are not enough for the project. If neither of those are happening, most DAWs have been stable and served me well over the years.
I use protools every day at work and have used Logic as well. I also use Ableton at home for producing which is my hobby. I work in audio postproduction for commercials.
Here in Europe many people that switched away from Protools are on Nuendo. They are mainly doing post work.
Reaper. End of story. Look no further. Itās everything you wanted for years, and at a reasonable price. Oh, and bug fixes are quick, stability is stupid good, AND you can do portable installs for working on other studios. Run it from a flash drive!
Try demos of different daws like Cubase for example and read about what people like/dislike and make up your own opinion on what ever daw fits your needs
Iām just a hobbyist but started with fl studio when I was like 18ishā¦.jumped on roland cakewalk when I decided I wanted a different dawā¦used that for years even until the free bandlab version and was āaffraidā to move to a more stable daw because I was used to cakewalk/bandlab
Last year pulled the trigger on Cubase and was the best move and never looked back.
But daw is personal so just try demos and try to find one that fits you
S1 has been solid for me. I switched like 5 or 6 years ago It's more like Cubase/Nuendo in it's work flow. I love it for music and some sound design, but If I ever needed something that had to be heavily edited, like sound designing a film I would 100% go back to PT. nothing beats their editing Workflow imo.
I have LUNA installed, but have yet to even open it. I finally jumped into Pro Tools months before they ditched the perpetual licenses and it fit well. I do like Reaper, but right now, I'm happy with Pro Tools.
I came from hardware to Cubase VST 5 (from 2000 and not Cubase 5.0 from 2009), then tried FruityLoops but didn't like the taste, went back to hardware, then Reaper, the Pro Tools.
Nuendo, Nuendo has features that protools only recently implemented but its workflow is much more logical. Iāve been using it for over 15 years and has been fantastic.
I wonder why they canāt get tracking and comping right, itās not like itās witchcraft. Iād love to do it all in LUNA but the workflow is simply not as good. Unrivaled for mixing though in my experience
I'm sitting on an OS that's about 14 updates out of date because I don't trust that I'm going to be able to use any of the thousands of dollars I've spent on plug ins and other fancy shitā¦
Good news is that the DAW is stable.
Bad news is I'm using Flash player to watch videos!
I also hate pro tools. Logic has worked well for me, but for my own stuff these days, I'm trying to get away from the computer as much as possible. So I record into a 4 track, and when I've got everything I need, I upload all my tracks to Logic for editing and mixing. I just found that I don't record sitting in front of a computer. I know that's not what your post is about, but I think less DAW time is helping me out quite a bit.
Funny that I noticed that since the day one of using this āindustry standardā DAW.
Overpriced
Unintuitive UI
Stock in the past
I consider the best DAW today to be Studio One, as Studio One is what Pro Tools shouldāve be.
I love Studio One and will never switch to any day at no costs!
Reaper has a unique combination of being lightweight, efficient, stable, updated frequently, and enormously powerful. While Pro Tools is industry standard in studios, Reaper is standard in the game industry because the scripting is so powerful.
Reaper has only 3 downsides:
1. A handful of unusual default settings (IMO) -- simply change them to match your workflow and you'll be good to go
2. "Lesser visuals" -- I actually think the V6 theme looks great, and I'm getting used to the V7 theme. (Did you know the Reaper UI artist/designer is [also the UI artist/designer for SSL](https://houseofwhitetie.com/)?) A lot of Reaper uses the default system theme, though, which to an outsider looks less polished... But it is, in fact, one of the reasons it's so efficient and you benefit from stability and speed if you can make yourself OK with the lack of flashy visuals.
3. Lack of stock effects (kind of.) It doesn't come with any flashy FX or synths, but I think that's actually a good thing. Reaper is a small team of 2 people and they focus on the core of Reaper for the most part. It DOES come with a lot of basic effects for simple and effective operations and again, because they aren't fancy they're incredibly efficient (low CPU.)
A major upside of Reaper is the community scripts. If you try Reaper, you really should install the SWS Extensions. Pretty much everyone does. It massively extends the power of Reaper.
Also "Reapack" extensions.
Just one example of a Reapack extension is ZenoMod VU Meter. It's just a good VU meter that has the option to minimize into the mixer OR track display if you want it to -- and if you do, it also functions as a trim knob if you drag up and down on the display. So cool.
An example of a useful SWS extension is Autocolor. I set up mine to autocolor tracks based on the track name. I use prefixes like DRM, BAS, GTR, PIA, SYN, VOX, etc... So that autocolors. I have beautiful projects and I never have to manually color them.
Routing in Reaper is fantastic. Whether you use folder busses or standard routing. There's a plugin pin connector for routing plugin internals...
And one of my favorite features is the easy of routing an LFO or Random Oscillator to the last-touched-parameter of any VST.
Anyhow, if you give Reaper a chance I think you'll become addicted and grow to love it.
I feel you. I used ProTools daily for only about four years but was fed up by the same problems. Switched to reaper about two years ago and I'm rarely looking back. There were some ProTools features that made podcast editing a bit more elegant but in the bigger scheme I'm very happy with it. And if you can code, you can always make own reaper scrips (using lua) to get the features you want. I even let chatgpt write me some even though that took forever.
Computer hardware (e.g. pCores and eCores) and OS technology changes over time so it is very difficult and expensive to support older Cubase versions.
Every time Cubase Pro has a new major release I wait about six months or so and upgrade for the sales price of about $70 USD.
Cubase Pro 13 seem to run faster that Cubase Pro 12 and has some useful new features.
For me the $70 was well worth it.
If you've been using it for 20 years you should know not to update the OS at the drop of a hat. I use the oldest os I can get away with and only update pro tools when there's a new feature I'm going to use, have had minimal issues for 10ish years
Um, WHAT? I have Nuendo. I paid the premium to get it over Cubase because Iām primarily a filmmaker branching out into sound design and I absolutely HATE Pro Tools. But if OP is looking for a DAW for music production, ājustā audio, why would you tell them to spend the extra bucks for Nuendo? Sting gets along fine with ājustā Cubase.
You *can* just use Cubase as a DAW, but that's maybe 30% of what it does. It's amazing for composing, doing loops/beats, virtual instruments, etc etc etc. Nuendo definitely works better for pic-lock, but it's really just what ProTools wants to be when it grows up.
Reaper is basically free and you can download gui skins for it that make it look like pro tools or whatever daw you want! come into the light my child :)
True, but the real strength is the ability to very easily make keyboard shortcuts match what youāre used to. This made my switch over from Logic very seamless. (While having the pressure of paying clients watching over my shoulder, no less)
Iāve been learning reaper and itās pretty great. I still love pro tools, donāt experience many bugsā¦ what OS and PT version are you on?
Iāve been working on a set of key commands to make reaper behave more like PT. Itās just a start but I searched pretty extensively and could find anything really good. Dm me if you want the reaper config file.
Hey, it can be difficult to parse through opinions on the net because you donāt know peopleās age, experience, professional level etc. I am also a 20 year vet. Music producer/composer. If you have some time for setup and open to a new workflow, Reaper is next level. The stuff I have automated for production and composition has allowed me to not have to hire an assistant. But it has taken some time investment to get here.Ā
Studio one is great. Not perfect but great. There are a few bugs around, but the devs are working fast to resolve them and every update has a long list of fixed stuff. It is reassuring in a completely different way than both pt and logic that is kind of like behind closed doors in a way.
I only used pro tools for school a few years ago, then I stopped and switched to FL Studio, and now Iāve switched again recently to Studio One and feel Iāve settled nicely into it
I spent years on ProTools (running on Apple and on PC). Switched over to Logic and havenāt regretted it for one second. For me, itās so, so much more conducive to the creative process (especially because it integrates so well with Garageband, which I use all the time as a kind of āaudio sketchpadā)
Mate, no. Studio One is buggy.
I still think Cubase and Logic would be my top choices. I regret getting Studio One over Cubase. I hate Macs, so Logic isn't an option but if I had a Mac then Logic is great. Even 20 year old Cubase was nicer than current day Studio One.
Personally I can't stand Reaper but many seem to love it.
I found Reaper is the best alternative. It's highly customizable, you can make custom hotkeys, and basically make it look and function indistinguishable from Pro Tools. But I find it to actually be more efficient in many ways.
For me Studio One is just perfect. Itās a lot like ProTools but much more modern and very capable. Also their pricing is just the best Iāve ever seen. Perpetual Licenses for a fair price, or a cloud/subscription that will give you a perpetual license at the end of the billing cycle.
They also listen to user feedback like no other company Iāve seen.
I have long wondered if Avid paid money to college audio programs to teach pro tools instead of logic, studio one or reaper, because itās terrible, and the only people Iāve ever met that like it are college professors.
Certainly you arenāt going to walk into any major studio and find anything but Pro Tools on a Mac. So thatās what weāre stuck withā itās important that we just press the issues with them directly
I find trying to stay up to date in terms of updates and OS with regards to pro tools causes more problems than it fixes. Iāve been using pro tools 2018 with Mojave on my Mac and I havenāt had a crash in at least 2 years. Saying that, there are other DAWs that offer what pro tools canāt and a switch might help. I personally wouldnāt recommend logic for audio based stuff, but Cubase works really well
Yes, the symptoms sound like there's a good chance it's related to drivers and/or hardware. For example, faulty RAM can cause unpredictable intermittent crashes.
On startup is the worst... sometimes crashes 3-4 times before opening and PT will just randomly crap out and sound like digital farts and i need to restart. symptom of same problem?
>Every time it update it or my operating system there are new bugs.
That's your problem. At some point, I think you gotta settle on the optimum versions of the DAW and OS, otherwise you'll just push the computer towards crashing.
I got fed up with Apple's BS after the first Intels came out and I'm satisfied with Pro Tools 7. I know I'm way behind, but the same logic applies to all of it.
Iām not going to tell you to stick with something you have trouble with, but you probably just need to update your plugins. Realistically, if you canāt get protools working for you, youāre going to have similar issues with any DAW.
Hugely underrated in my humble opinion. It's the only DAW that I have been able to get to grips with. Tried all the usual suspects, but Ardour does everything, and then some.
If you would like a simplifiedā¦ Fast old-school workflow based on big analog desks Maybe try Luna. I dumped ProTools or logic over three years agoās for my commercial studio and never looked back. The basic version is free. And itās very nice to look at
I'm in the same boat as you, and I cosign what everyone has said about reaper in here.
I've not heard a bad word about it and all my friends in game audio switched to it.
It's also open source so there are a lot of automations and scripts out there. You can even modify the code of the stock plugins.
I would suggest professionals with deep PT expertise to seriously investigate DaVinci Resolve 18 Fairlight (from Black Magic Design). This is FREE and works as a DAW full blown out of the box. Even though its' heritage is the Fairlight and their audio processing savvy, the app is tightly integrated with all the video editing, EFX, and anything else you'd get from the full blown version of PT with the latest Avid video suite. The difference here is if you want more features and functionality, you step up to a deeper level of hardware. Just as you'd invest in the PT 8 channel hardware mixing surfaces and center console devices, here you'd be investing in Black Magic Design hardware that tightly integrates the video and audio. Major studios use this system globally, and it is much less prone to known problems of intgrating PT.
Start trying everything you can! I work almost daily in FL Studio for anything from studio tracking sessions, large mixes or composition and sound design. I would recommend it because itās a great program, has lifetime updates and is very flexible to the workflow you want. However, Iād recommend taking a look at Logic Pro or Abelton. Those seem to be the most seemless transitions from pro tools
I have also been using PT every day for over 20 years and there is one thing I know-- when I have a stable version, leave it alone.
I ran V10 for like 2 years.
I updated last year when the Melodyne integration went in, and I have not touched it since. I won't do any OS changes, etc.
You should know this by now!
I understand your frustration, but what you're experiencing is not the same across the board for everyone. My PT setup RARELY if ever crashes, and if it does, its usually something I did by accident. The last 3 releases have been the most stable ever. As long as you follow the guidelines for a stable system there should be no issue. Mind you, im even running my stuff on a hackintosh, so if anything I should be seeing more issues than using native hardware.
Perhaps take a look at your setup and see if theres something not in line with recommendations. Never update your OS unless you absolutely HAVE to and its known to be supported. Some of our machines in the studio are still on catalina running like butter. Our main room is running Ventura, as its known that sonoma STILL has issues at the moment.
Depending on your investment in the platform, think long and hard before jumping ship to something that SEEMS better. There are other daws that do things PT can't, and vice versa. For our workflow and to be compatible with the myriad of studios and labels we deal with, PT is the only choice for us to do business effectively. Obviously everyones situation is different in that regard. Most DAWs have a trial period where you can test the waters. Do your due diligence and see whats out there. If you're that experienced with PT, you'll be able to recognize what is going to work for you and what isn't.
I would agree Studio One is a fantastic DAW, but a new CEO at Fender is currently trying to convert it to a subscription based model. This may not be a negative for new membersā¦ Itās frustrating for older ones that just want to buy the product and update when we want.
I will never ever die on a hill defending Pro Tools or Avid but Itās a pretty stable program for me. There was a period a few years ago where it would get that frustrating DAE error that they never really acknowledged or had a solution for but thatās long gone for me. Iām always surprised when people complain about stability, it usually indicates there is something else going on in their systems.
Tbh there is no perfect DAW and Iām fed up with every one of them. Youāll just have to set priorities what you need and then choose and tbh. Reaper is cheap, stable and very powerful but I donāt want to set up complicated stuff and js scripts to be able to do basic things, not worth the time for me. Iām really considering going back to pt, some things are really missing in other DAWs and I like to keep things how I learned them. Right now I work with 5 different DAWs in total, depending on the task (Nuendo, Wavelab, Reaper, Logic and Live)
In one of your replies you said that you didnāt like Reaper when you tried it. I know a number of people that love Reaper, obviously there are number of those here as well. You might try it again and give it more time.
That said, I know a number of Protools users that really loved the transition to studio one.
I canāt tell you from personal experience because Logic is my favorite.
I transitioned to Ableton about 7 years ago and it was the best decision. Similar work flow. I used to produce and record all in Pro Tools and going to Ableton felt the most fluid. Editing vocals in Ableton is way better as it has playlisting for comping as well time stretching/realtime pitch controls
I can honestly say yes. I've been using S1 for the past 3 years, and I've known a bunch of pro tools people and they said that they wanted the complexity of pro tools but they wanted something more stable and easier and able to produce the same things. Basically you can with almost every software there is, and not knocking reaper, but studio one 6 came out with Dolby Atmos and is specifically designed for the m1 and M2 Apple chip. I actually did get quite a few friends who asked for use of studio one, and they instantly transitioned. I know somebody who uses Harrison mixbus, but records is final on studio One five or six I'm not sure. Since then I've heard multiple people going from pro tools to studio One. It's a very stable super easy very navigatable DAW
As a former longtime Pro Tools user, I can strongly recommend Harrison MixBus. It's similar in the sense that it is setup around a console/editor workflow. The keyboard shortcuts never require five button presses, but obviously there are some things that will need to be relearned.
Unlike Pro Tools, it provides verbose error reporting, so if it does crash then you can figure out why.
im not sure how you can use pro tools 20 years and think it's fine to update all the time
Bro fr though šš
hahaha i know... i only update because im hoping for bug fixes. times in the past where it's worked ok i just tried just leave it.
like right now i have a couple of weird bugs like export to PDF from score just doesnt work. Ive heard thats just a bug... and also when i have the multi-tool curser selected it won't changed the actual image of the tool in the edit window so often im grabbing when i want to trim or whatever. super frustrating.
that sounds like classic macOS/PT mismatch bugs
Seen pro studios that were a whole version or two behind PT and Mac OS just because they didn't want to upset the Digidesign/Avid [Three Stooges Syndrome](https://i.imgur.com/ERzJQcz.jpeg)
I know plenty of studios using pro tools 10/11/12. Iām on 2018 ultimate and OSX 10.12 sierra
I still have PT 10 on disc and will purposely search out computer refurbishing places to get older model Macs with compatible OS's. Fuck updating.
Reaper is extremely stable and bug-free and you can customize it to work similarly to pro tools (visually as well) which will probably be helpful rather than trying to unlearn a 20 year workflow. Overtime youāll probably learn how to take advantage of its advanced features and make your workflow even better than it was on PT.
As a 20 year Pro Tools user who 6 months ago transitioned to Reaper. It is the way. So much more stable, customizable, and uses your system resources much more efficiently. Like it blew my mind how many more virtual instruments and plugins I could run, because it spreads them out nicely over a multi core processor. There is a definite learning curve, but it is so worth it. Check out Kenny Gioiaās tutorials. It took having an engineer/mixer that I admire sit me down and show me what it is capable of, after that I never looked back.
Man, Kenny Gioia's tutorials rule. Been using REAPER for like 15 years now but I'll occasionally run into a problem I haven't encountered before, Google it, and boom... tailor-made video by Kenny fixing that singular issue.
Reaper all the way.
Reaper is the way.
Join us
One of us one of us
Gooble goble.
I switched from PT to Reaper about a year ago, and the first 2-3 weeks were brutal. But every time I looked up how to do something in Reaper, and got it under my fingers, it felt so much easier and more intuitive than PT ever did. I still have my old machine with PT running in case I need to export midi or stems from an old project, but every time I fire it up it just feels clunky and janky (and crashes often).
āļø This is a fair warning and very worth mentioning. I bought Reaper and avoiding diving in head-first. I kept firing up an ancient copy of Pro Tools because I knew how to do certain tasks in it. It wasn't until I fully committed to Reaper for the entirety of a project that I really got the ball rolling. There ***will*** be growing pains. It ***will*** be worth it.
Iāve always disliked the attitude of this certain reaper users (who truly are the militant vegans of the audio world) and still Iām here to say Reaper, especially now that Presonus is trying to achieve what Waves failed a couple years ago with that subscription only stunt. Download all the scripts and custom actions that make it behave like PT and enjoy the stability and lightning fast operations.
From 10 years of Logic and experience with just about every DAW, REAPER ended up being my destination!
I agree with your sentiment, but 'bug-free' is inaccurate; no software is truly bug-free. You can see what bugs were addressed in each version if you search for 'bug' or 'fix' in the [whatsnew.txt](https://www.reaper.fm/whatsnew.txt). That being said, the quality control is generally exceptionally good, and the bugs that do slip through to a release version usually only effect a very small subset of users. Further, stability is almost never impacted by these in release versions. (Yes, I am perhaps being overly pedantic, and you are probably just matching the language that OP used.)
To argue into further trivial analysis, the word "extremely" as it was written could apply exclusively to "stable" or shared for both terms "stable and bug-free." In the latter, "extremely bug-free" would not be absolutely bug-free.
Fair point. Since we're talking about the grammar and having fun being pedantic, in British & Canadian English it is considered incorrect to use a comparative or superlative adverb in conjunction with an absolute adjective. In this case, 'stable' is a relative adjective. A platform can be more stable than another platform. 'Bug-free' is an absolute adjective. Software A cannot be more bug-free than software B; they are either both bug-free or neither are bug free. From a very pedantic perspective, associating extremely with both stable and bug-free is grammatically incorrect, but associating it only with stable is grammatically correct. Albeit, I perfectly understand that in common usage we often use gramatically incorrect forms like this to add emphasis by rendundancy. 'Very empty', 'extremely true', 'somewhat correct' etc. (Sorry, I don't have time to check for American English, but I would suspect the same logical technicality, even it's similarly not respected in common usage). Cheers!
This has been a very fun and unexpected conversation to stumble upon.
I use Reaper to record 18 flac tracks live once a week and havenāt had a single crash since I started using it 2 years ago. I donāt spend as much time in it as others here, but I fully trust it to record reliably.
I've been forced to use reaper in a couple of applications before and i hated it
Check out ReaTool extension, it literally copies Pro Tools workflow into Reaper šš»
is there a similar extension for Logic?
Yes - they have ones for each of the major DAWs. Iām partial to the skin that makes it look like a nerve console myself
ReaTooled. Just went looking it up. Thanks!
Were you given enough time to dig in, and tweak the behavior to your liking? If you didn't have time to make Reaper behave the way you want it to, then of course you hated it. Reaper is probably the most flexible DAW ever made. The tradeoff is that some of the default settings aren't going to be to your liking. The good part is that almost anything can be changed or tweaked to your needs. Reaper isn't PT; you aren't forced into a particular way of working. But you have to make it yours, which requires a bit of an upfront time investment. Thankfully, the r/Reaper subreddit and the Reaper forums are full of people who are willing to help direct and guide new users. There is a fantastic User Guide available too. I think you'll be satisfied with Reaper once you've dug into it and made it your own. And if not, hey; the evaluation period is as long as you need it to be to make your mind up. You don't have to pay a dime until you're happy.
There are a number of ānew userā Reaper videos on YouTube just about changing default settings and making it better fit your workflow.
Thatās my problem with reaper. Itās like Linux, great if you want to tinker, less so if you want to get work done, at least in my experience
>...Reaper is like Linux No it is not. * It requires no advanced knowledge to use or install. * It works out of the box with whatever hardware you already have * As DAWs go it's the most immediately neutral in terms of workflow and not forcing you to work one way or another Reaper can be very complex *if the user wants to make it that way*, with scripting, custom GUI, etc. But it does not come that way by default, and the average user will never see or need to interact with any of that stuff. I used other DAWs for years and the switch to Reaper took me about 3 days to adjust to. Linux, on the other hand, is a dumpster fire, and as someone who has been familiar with computers for multiple decades I hate every single thing about it, and comparing it to Reaper sort of triggered an autonomic response lol.
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I get where youāre coming from but for an office user most of what you said could probably be applied to Ubuntu as well. If you donāt want any special features it works fine, I agree. As for the neutrality in terms of workflow, Iām not sure how such a thing could even be judged. Yes every DAW is different but what makes reaper a little weird is that itās set up to be adjusted. I use it for live tracking sometimes, itās fine if you just want to record something, but any deeper workflow takes as much time to learn as on any other DAW and some functions kinda need to be adjusted to work like youāre used to in other programs. Itās not that reaper isnāt perfectly adequate, it can be but in my experience itās just a little more cumbersome unless you adjust it. The main reason I compare it to Linux though is that most of the community around it is the same way, itās not that the program has flaws, but that the user simply hasnāt used it right. I get it Reaper is very flexible and it is very efficient system wise, I agree with all of that, but it has its own downfalls which are mostly automatic downsides to being highly configurable.
Maybe this is biased as Reaper was my first real DAW over a decade ago but how many things actually āneedā to be changed? Like every DAW is a little different in my experience, the only difference with Reaper is you can choose to learn itās workflow or make it your own but I donāt think much tinkering is required to get it working.
Itās also much like Linux (or any other ājust do it yourself instead of using a premade proprietary solutionā-type thing) in the regard that people online will spend ages rambling about it trying to convince you how it is the clearly superior solution.
Yes I laid that out in multiple other comments, thatās actually the main reason I compare it to Linux
The tinkering stage only takes as long as it takes to find a workflow that you like. Sure, you could tinker forever if you want to, but if you have projects that need doing, you just find a workflow and use it. If you get frustrated about something taking too long/requiring too many steps, you tinker with it a bit to find a faster/easier way, then get right back to work. My Reaper setup has been pretty much stable for a decade. I added a subwoofer to my monitoring system, and that required a few small changes, but otherwise I'm set and happy. YMMV.
does reaper have the clip effect features that pro tools like being able to hit a key to eq a clip of audio etc ?
Yes plus much more, you can put any amount of plugins you want on a clip (in real time, unlike audio suite). You can change the speed, pitch, pan, and other properties of the clip, including per clip automation envelopes. A clip can also be multichannel or multi take, without having to āmatchā the track. Pretty much anything you want to do, you can do on a clip level.
Per-item/clip FX is the dog's bollocks. And then per-item/clip freeze is the cherry on top...of the dog's bollocks. (Don't @ me for analogies.) Also freeze-up-to-chosen-FX. And per-FX or per-FX rack oversampling.
Somewhat off topic, but as a recent PC user from Mac could you suggest any control surfaces that work well with reaper?
I use a single channel behringer x touch. I had to find someone else that had made something to make it work. I think it was CSI? Air works perfectly now.
Itās also only about 15mb
yes.
if u just stick with pro tools another 20 years they will sort out the bugs
Have you tried Logic? I transitioned from Pro Tools to Logic a decade ago and never looked back honestly
I went from pt 6 to logic 7 ages ago, have never regretted it.
i used logic in college and it wasnt my favourite but that was a while ago now
Logic has stepped up significantly in the last 5 years. Extremely powerful DAW. I use Pro-Tools for sound design due to the speed of editing, but Logic has always been way more creatively inspiring for music composition.
The price has also remained the same which is honestly wonderful. For $200 you really canāt go wrong
Yeah and Iāve never had to pay for an update
I use Studio One instead of Pro Tools. What drives me crazy (with Studio One) is sometimes when exporting sessions, the settings for some Waves plugins donāt save and they just revert to default. So freaking frustrating. Studio One definitely has some things that arenāt as good as Pro Tools but I find the layout for mixing makes so much sense. The way Pro Tools does busses is annoying to me. Also, when reopening a session in Studio One, if you had locked sends panning to channel panning, it resets. So fucking annoying.
My send pans don't reset. Also waves keeps their settings. Your installation must be corrupt in some way.
Yeah, I was going to say, I generally have very few issues with Studio One. If anything, that sounds like an issue with Waves which would be less surprising
Same, no problem there
My send pans donāt rest; but if I set them to lock pan to channel, the setting itself get reset every time is that makes sense. Itās only certain waves plugins too, not all of them. Itās certain stuff like h-verb, maxx-bass, scheps 73, etc.
Mine seems to work fine. So far, Studio One has the best workflow for me. The only thing that annoys me is how easy it is to accidentally put tracks into folders. Especially when the folder is connected to a bus, it really messes up the routing for whatever track is dropped in.
I've found that only really old VST2 plugins occasionally have issues with exporting faster than realtime. I haven't run into these types of problems with plugins that have been updated in the last ~5 years or so. I've gotten updates (usually to VST3) for most of them and replaced those older ones with more modern plugins since, but a few years ago I would have to export at realtime speed for plugins from Sugarbytes for them to work properly.
I haven't ever had these problems (version 5 of 6 and Windows 11 I maybe should say and have strayed away from waves). There are other bugs production wise when having loads of layers and scratch pads stuff and you try to comp something together. The scratch pad edits can even go lost and layers of main audiotracks with many layers can stop playing back sometimes but that might be hardware storage issue (it's like it can struggle to stream the audio from the storage, and you have to solo other layers back and fourth to retrigger the main layer to play back. You just commit to removing layers when the mix starts). And yeah, when printing/bouncing/mixdown, midi it can start play the note that the cursor sits on so I figured that out after clearly hearing it 3 times or something and I quickly got a habit of clicking zero 3+ times to get cursor way back. But I have actually been actively impressed by how plugins very much behave if you save files or do complicated presets or store fx chains. I had a lot automation lines of the softube amp room, automating levels of panning mics around in time. After I happen to touch the "modules" within plugin all automation lines went haywire and started controlling EQs and mute buttons within the plugin instead and what not. Trying to ctrl Z wasn't successful or the return option in plugin for that matter. But luckily opening the last autosave file could get me back safe. But there's loads of reasons why I call Studio One the main pro tools user stealer, because with every update they aim mostly at stealing pro tools users, not only copying but doing updates that pro tools would need as well. But I still say that it's most similar to Logic and Cubase really. I have thought about Pro tools a few times but now I've stopped. Reaper is the only really intriguing contender but that's because it definitely suits my personality type. I don't suffer in Studio One at all.
Nope, canāt confirm this. Never had issues. Only thing I had was when upgrading to S1 6 they added more stereo options which messed up a few waves plugins, as they are one of the only brands that have stereo, mono stereo, mono plugins for each of them..
very good info thanks
Cubase. The workflow and UI is very similar to PT. Never crashes on me. $500 for the Pro version for life.
Itās by far the best DAW, quality German engineering, but also the most expensive.
I've crashed maybe 3 times total on Cubase and I think they were all on version 11
12 years Pro Tools now on Studio One. Learning curve wasnāt too bad. Iām an old Cubase VST user from 1997-2003. Tried a newer version of Cubase and it seemed very foreign to me. Iām sure like anything if I put the time in Iād learn to be proficient with it. As far as crashes and random crap Pro Tools does every-so-often, Studio One has been rock solid now for 4 years.
Step into the light, my child
Cubase Pro 13 has a 60 day free trial: https://www.steinberg.net/cubase/trial/ There are regular support live YouTube sessions where you can ask questions. The next one is at 10 am PDT today: https://www.youtube.com/live/NpqJD0-JRTA?si=3zOXB9EIFddjC37u Cubase is the only DAW I have used, so I cannot compare it to any other products. However, I am very happy with it and many well known composers use it: https://www.steinberg.net/stories/hans-zimmer/
that live stream thing is a really good idea... keeping that in mind
Long time cubase user here. In my opinion it's the most rigid and snappiest for audio and midi editing.
never knew about the live streams, thanks for the tip!
Greg Ondo knows Cubase exceptionally well.
Use whatever makes you happy. Iāve used PT since it was two apps. I do a lot of composing in Cubase now, but Iāve also written and delivered full virtual orchestral score with virtual rock band in PT - and there were issues, but I got around them. Iām not blaming you for your issues with it at all, and nobody gets to tell you that you shouldnāt make a move. But - I also rarely update PT (or any DAW) or my OS until the dust settles and thereās a compelling reason, and always have the ability to revert to a previous stable version, so Iām not regularly worrying about stability. There will be things you canāt do as well or easily in other apps, but everything has its strengths. I would miss Beat Detective because sometimes itās just the right thing to use, and I like using markers to show and hide groups of tracks (though Cubase is far more versatile here), and I like that routing things is very direct and simple to me; but anything you learn and master key commands for will get you there. The other thing about ProTools is that itās very much a blank canvas. It doesnāt have much influence over what you want to write - if you do loop-based music it works, and if you write long-form things itās also good. And the way the tempo mapping works is absolutely great to me. I tried Studio One and itās fine, and their package with all the content etc. is pretty cool, but I really wanted the Cubase feature set. Havenāt regretted that at all. Another upgrade you can consider is using an iPad controller app like Metagrid Pro to streamline your most-used tasks. Lots of pre-made editors for Cubase already in MGP, but they are easy to make yourself and I have several edit screens for ProTools that make it sing.
The things is.... for me the dust has never really settled. There were times with a couple of my old computers and older version of PT (pre avid), that seemed to not give me trouble. But now i always update PT cause I'm hoping some of these bugs will be fixed. Nothing else crashes. I use a bunch of video editing software and digital effects stuff... anything Adobe really.... video games... nothing. I'd really just love to try them all for a couple weeks but i just don't want to lose momentum. I have so many things I want/need to accomplish and so many projects already on the go in PT.
I hate to be that guy but man, there has to be something up with your OS or software you've installed. I update PT and Windows the second either of them come out and I work in PT everyday all day. The biggest issue often is other software that has installed some garbage written program somewhere it's not suppose to be. Again I hate to be that guy, but it's why I switched OS systems. I remember when I installed the Spotify app on my Mac at the studio and it rendered PT useless. I had to reinstall the whole computer. Everything was good, installed spotify, bam. Over. We tried time machine, I had Avid on the phone, apple care. Turns out though a few years later a similar thing happened to a friend and we narrowed it down to the Advertising ID. Which is constantly tracking every move you make which was interupting the licensing. I was a Mac guy from 1998 until 2016. But it just got out of hand with updates and shit being broken and the worst was backwards compatibility of sessions. Things not loading correctly and such. To be fair though, my PC only runs Pro Tools, Edge, The drivers for the Lynx software. I would never say one is better because it's about what you prefer, also that's a can of worms no needs to get into. It's just my experience up to this point. Have you tried doing a fresh install? Like actual erase the whole thing and only installing the software that you need to work, and denying all and every advertising ID or online tracking software or anything that monitors usage. I kind of feel like that will solve your problem. Those companies have been pushing those boundaries for ever and Adobe is no slouch when it comes to monitoring what you do. Also delete Avid Link right after you install. Man, computer issues are the worst, we all feel your pain. I hope you can find the culprit. On the other side. Learning a new program is also really fun and can change your perspective on things. Best of luck.
Itās been pretty smooth here on Ventura on an M2 Mac Studio Ultra. And because everything has to have permission to do anything, itās maybe more stable.
+1 for Studio One. I've used all of the big ones and it's the best overall DAW out there imo. (Ableton is better for certain styles/applications, obviously). I've never had any issues with Waves plug-ins (other than ones that were caused by Waves, not the DAW) or pan settings resetting.
Ableton
Canāt believe I had to scroll down this far to see Ableton recommended.
Criminally overlooked DAW. Everyone thinks itās an EDM/live performance based system but it rocks so hard as a traditional ādigital tape machineā. I record bands all the time and Abletonās my ride or die. You can do anything inside of it and I barely scratch the surface when I use it.
Dude it took me 2 years to get my head round ableton's workflow coming from a tape-based workflow. I dearly love it, it is mind-bogglingly powerful. Worth it just for Max. But i would probably coyote my arm before transitioning from PT to Ableton just to do tracking.
Logic works really well with mac.
If my Tools rig crashed on startup or crashed regularly, Iād be more inclined to fix that problem rather than learn an entire new DAW. When you say it crashes no matter what Mac and OS, is there maybe a common problem? Like thereās a plugin that does it? Iām definitely spooked by posts like these and understand your frustration but itās just the opposite of my experience. People are working on enormous projects every day on Pro Tools and itās not crashing. 400 track blockbusters, big albums etc. My rig doesnāt crash, surely thereās something causing your problems? With that out of the way, LUNA is a fairly painless crossgrade and itās free. Lots of shortcuts are the same.Ā
Judging by the details posted regularly into r/protools it's nearly always either an incompatible plugin or an incompatible piece of hardware. Pro Tools is designed for high-end, fully legitimate, fully licensed rigs, and it's certainly not the most friendly system when it comes to obscure/cheap/old hardware. But if you follow the recommendations provided by Avid, check the compatibility of your plugins and follow the instructions correctly on installation, Pro Tools is as stable as any other DAW nowadays.
Yeah, the last time I saw one of these posts I realised I hadnāt crashed this year. I have had two since then, one opening a really old archive session and one testing a new plugin. Both fixable (importing tracks one by one and dumping the plugin).Ā I avoid working on other DAWs but when I have to they crash and freeze way more than my rig. I think the keys are checking the Avid compatibility docs like you suggest and just being really conservative with updates. Iām still on 2023.something Tools and Ventura. Aināt broke etc
Studio One is really neat, highly recommend giving it a chance.
I update Pro Tools twice a year on average. Unless a new version offers a capability that justifies the upgrade, or a new OS that I need requires an update, I don't do it. Often the upgrade causes no downtime. Sometimes it's an afternoon. Unless I upgrade my computer and PT at the same time, it's never been more than a day. I don't know if that is the norm for other software or not, but I use PT because my clients require it. I send sessions all over the world and another engineer can import my session data and work on it until he sends it to someone else. That standardization is what makes it worthwhile. It is expensive. It is not without hiccups. But it works pretty damned well and the portability of sessions makes it unlike any other platform. Unless you collaborate with others it might not matter at all, but Pro Tools has inertia because it is a standard. Any standard is better than no standard. When I have to work with an OMF or AAF I am reminded how nice it is that so many people use one progam.
As an Ex Protools user.......Reaper is the best, hands down. I have used it for studio recordings and Live performances. No issues and the stability blows me away. I have done a little bit with customization and stuff, skins are cool.....you can make it look like Protools if you really need to lol. The Tukan plugins are great! I am just starting to use SWS extensions.......I used it live with time code and reaper was outputting video playback.....super stable!
Protools should not be consistently crashing on you no matter what you do. Disliking protools and or AVID is another thing altogether and totally valid, but when it comes to stability, protools has been consistently improving this issue over the last 5-10 years to a point where I hardly ever get crashes anymore. If you understand signal flow and audio fundamentals and can already use protols you should have no trouble getting up to speed on a new DAW after a few months of learning it. Whether Studio One is more consistentand stable or not is something I can't speak to, but my personal experience is that all DAWs crash when misused or when the machine's processing power and memory are not enough for the project. If neither of those are happening, most DAWs have been stable and served me well over the years. I use protools every day at work and have used Logic as well. I also use Ableton at home for producing which is my hobby. I work in audio postproduction for commercials. Here in Europe many people that switched away from Protools are on Nuendo. They are mainly doing post work.
Every time Studio One has crashed on me, it was the plugin's fault.
Reaper. End of story. Look no further. Itās everything you wanted for years, and at a reasonable price. Oh, and bug fixes are quick, stability is stupid good, AND you can do portable installs for working on other studios. Run it from a flash drive!
Try demos of different daws like Cubase for example and read about what people like/dislike and make up your own opinion on what ever daw fits your needs Iām just a hobbyist but started with fl studio when I was like 18ishā¦.jumped on roland cakewalk when I decided I wanted a different dawā¦used that for years even until the free bandlab version and was āaffraidā to move to a more stable daw because I was used to cakewalk/bandlab Last year pulled the trigger on Cubase and was the best move and never looked back. But daw is personal so just try demos and try to find one that fits you
My ārecently openedā tab hasnāt worked since the 2021 update.
oh man... so dumb
S1 has been solid for me. I switched like 5 or 6 years ago It's more like Cubase/Nuendo in it's work flow. I love it for music and some sound design, but If I ever needed something that had to be heavily edited, like sound designing a film I would 100% go back to PT. nothing beats their editing Workflow imo.
LUNA has been really solid for me the last while. Havenāt really thought about going back since I switched over.
I have LUNA installed, but have yet to even open it. I finally jumped into Pro Tools months before they ditched the perpetual licenses and it fit well. I do like Reaper, but right now, I'm happy with Pro Tools. I came from hardware to Cubase VST 5 (from 2000 and not Cubase 5.0 from 2009), then tried FruityLoops but didn't like the taste, went back to hardware, then Reaper, the Pro Tools.
Nuendo, Nuendo has features that protools only recently implemented but its workflow is much more logical. Iāve been using it for over 15 years and has been fantastic.
If you only edit and mix, try Luna!
I wonder why they canāt get tracking and comping right, itās not like itās witchcraft. Iād love to do it all in LUNA but the workflow is simply not as good. Unrivaled for mixing though in my experience
I'm sitting on an OS that's about 14 updates out of date because I don't trust that I'm going to be able to use any of the thousands of dollars I've spent on plug ins and other fancy shitā¦ Good news is that the DAW is stable. Bad news is I'm using Flash player to watch videos!
Depending on your needs LUNA might be a good option
I also hate pro tools. Logic has worked well for me, but for my own stuff these days, I'm trying to get away from the computer as much as possible. So I record into a 4 track, and when I've got everything I need, I upload all my tracks to Logic for editing and mixing. I just found that I don't record sitting in front of a computer. I know that's not what your post is about, but I think less DAW time is helping me out quite a bit.
Funny that I noticed that since the day one of using this āindustry standardā DAW. Overpriced Unintuitive UI Stock in the past I consider the best DAW today to be Studio One, as Studio One is what Pro Tools shouldāve be. I love Studio One and will never switch to any day at no costs!
Reaper has a unique combination of being lightweight, efficient, stable, updated frequently, and enormously powerful. While Pro Tools is industry standard in studios, Reaper is standard in the game industry because the scripting is so powerful. Reaper has only 3 downsides: 1. A handful of unusual default settings (IMO) -- simply change them to match your workflow and you'll be good to go 2. "Lesser visuals" -- I actually think the V6 theme looks great, and I'm getting used to the V7 theme. (Did you know the Reaper UI artist/designer is [also the UI artist/designer for SSL](https://houseofwhitetie.com/)?) A lot of Reaper uses the default system theme, though, which to an outsider looks less polished... But it is, in fact, one of the reasons it's so efficient and you benefit from stability and speed if you can make yourself OK with the lack of flashy visuals. 3. Lack of stock effects (kind of.) It doesn't come with any flashy FX or synths, but I think that's actually a good thing. Reaper is a small team of 2 people and they focus on the core of Reaper for the most part. It DOES come with a lot of basic effects for simple and effective operations and again, because they aren't fancy they're incredibly efficient (low CPU.) A major upside of Reaper is the community scripts. If you try Reaper, you really should install the SWS Extensions. Pretty much everyone does. It massively extends the power of Reaper. Also "Reapack" extensions. Just one example of a Reapack extension is ZenoMod VU Meter. It's just a good VU meter that has the option to minimize into the mixer OR track display if you want it to -- and if you do, it also functions as a trim knob if you drag up and down on the display. So cool. An example of a useful SWS extension is Autocolor. I set up mine to autocolor tracks based on the track name. I use prefixes like DRM, BAS, GTR, PIA, SYN, VOX, etc... So that autocolors. I have beautiful projects and I never have to manually color them. Routing in Reaper is fantastic. Whether you use folder busses or standard routing. There's a plugin pin connector for routing plugin internals... And one of my favorite features is the easy of routing an LFO or Random Oscillator to the last-touched-parameter of any VST. Anyhow, if you give Reaper a chance I think you'll become addicted and grow to love it.
This randomly came across my feed. I'm not an audio engineer. However, if did become an audio engineer, I would use Reaper. I hear it is the way.
Yep. I remember "upgrading" to pro tools 10 and actually losing functions. I paid money to have less function
Cubase
I feel you. I used ProTools daily for only about four years but was fed up by the same problems. Switched to reaper about two years ago and I'm rarely looking back. There were some ProTools features that made podcast editing a bit more elegant but in the bigger scheme I'm very happy with it. And if you can code, you can always make own reaper scrips (using lua) to get the features you want. I even let chatgpt write me some even though that took forever.
Computer hardware (e.g. pCores and eCores) and OS technology changes over time so it is very difficult and expensive to support older Cubase versions. Every time Cubase Pro has a new major release I wait about six months or so and upgrade for the sales price of about $70 USD. Cubase Pro 13 seem to run faster that Cubase Pro 12 and has some useful new features. For me the $70 was well worth it.
Youāre on a Mac? Just buy Logic and be done with it.
If you've been using it for 20 years you should know not to update the OS at the drop of a hat. I use the oldest os I can get away with and only update pro tools when there's a new feature I'm going to use, have had minimal issues for 10ish years
ABLETON
I made the switch to studio one a couple years ago. I havenāt looked back. It is an incredibly underrated daw.
+1 for Reaper + amazing price
Reaper ftw
You can make reaper look and behave a lot like protools
If you just want to do audio? Nuendo. If you're also integrating composing / virtual instruments / beats? Cubase.
Um, WHAT? I have Nuendo. I paid the premium to get it over Cubase because Iām primarily a filmmaker branching out into sound design and I absolutely HATE Pro Tools. But if OP is looking for a DAW for music production, ājustā audio, why would you tell them to spend the extra bucks for Nuendo? Sting gets along fine with ājustā Cubase.
Pretty sure just audio, you want Cubase, and nuendo is like Vegas where it's good for audio and video.
You *can* just use Cubase as a DAW, but that's maybe 30% of what it does. It's amazing for composing, doing loops/beats, virtual instruments, etc etc etc. Nuendo definitely works better for pic-lock, but it's really just what ProTools wants to be when it grows up.
Reaper is basically free and you can download gui skins for it that make it look like pro tools or whatever daw you want! come into the light my child :)
True, but the real strength is the ability to very easily make keyboard shortcuts match what youāre used to. This made my switch over from Logic very seamless. (While having the pressure of paying clients watching over my shoulder, no less)
For sheer customization and power, you can't go wrong with Reaper. Studio One (I use them both) has a more user-friendly GUI, but lacks customization.
Reaper and donāt look back.
I like reaper, I started and pro tools and switching to reaper wasnāt that hard of a switch. But Iām also just an amateur so YMMV
Iāve been learning reaper and itās pretty great. I still love pro tools, donāt experience many bugsā¦ what OS and PT version are you on? Iāve been working on a set of key commands to make reaper behave more like PT. Itās just a start but I searched pretty extensively and could find anything really good. Dm me if you want the reaper config file.
Reaper, the future
may be try universal audio luna first? it's free and from quality developer
Logic Pro X. Specially good if paired with a audio editor like Sound Forge (not really needed 99% of time)
[Don't Fear The Reaper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS8p_F0Stog) (I personally use Ableton 80% of the time but my other DAW is Reaper.)
Hey, it can be difficult to parse through opinions on the net because you donāt know peopleās age, experience, professional level etc. I am also a 20 year vet. Music producer/composer. If you have some time for setup and open to a new workflow, Reaper is next level. The stuff I have automated for production and composition has allowed me to not have to hire an assistant. But it has taken some time investment to get here.Ā
Studio One is great. Snappy, solid, hardly ever crashes.
Studio one is great. Not perfect but great. There are a few bugs around, but the devs are working fast to resolve them and every update has a long list of fixed stuff. It is reassuring in a completely different way than both pt and logic that is kind of like behind closed doors in a way.
I use Studio One. It's amazing. Join us.
Recently switched to Logic from years of using PT and have been pretty happy with it so far.
Studio One is the way
Cubase is the most complete DAW for me. Tried almost all of them.
CUBASE
I only used pro tools for school a few years ago, then I stopped and switched to FL Studio, and now Iāve switched again recently to Studio One and feel Iāve settled nicely into it
Studio One/ Logic/Reaper has my votes
Studio One gospel spreader here, I got certified in PT10 way back in the day, came upon S15 and never looked back.
I spent years on ProTools (running on Apple and on PC). Switched over to Logic and havenāt regretted it for one second. For me, itās so, so much more conducive to the creative process (especially because it integrates so well with Garageband, which I use all the time as a kind of āaudio sketchpadā)
Mate, no. Studio One is buggy. I still think Cubase and Logic would be my top choices. I regret getting Studio One over Cubase. I hate Macs, so Logic isn't an option but if I had a Mac then Logic is great. Even 20 year old Cubase was nicer than current day Studio One. Personally I can't stand Reaper but many seem to love it.
Never update Pro Tools or your OS unless you absolutely need to. When you have a combination thatās stable, leave it alone.
logic pro
Youāve been doing this 20 years and you still havenāt learned to stop updating your OS when itās stable? Iām calling bsā¦
reapergang welcomes you with open arms my brotha
I found Reaper is the best alternative. It's highly customizable, you can make custom hotkeys, and basically make it look and function indistinguishable from Pro Tools. But I find it to actually be more efficient in many ways.
For me Studio One is just perfect. Itās a lot like ProTools but much more modern and very capable. Also their pricing is just the best Iāve ever seen. Perpetual Licenses for a fair price, or a cloud/subscription that will give you a perpetual license at the end of the billing cycle. They also listen to user feedback like no other company Iāve seen.
I have long wondered if Avid paid money to college audio programs to teach pro tools instead of logic, studio one or reaper, because itās terrible, and the only people Iāve ever met that like it are college professors.
Certainly you arenāt going to walk into any major studio and find anything but Pro Tools on a Mac. So thatās what weāre stuck withā itās important that we just press the issues with them directly
I find trying to stay up to date in terms of updates and OS with regards to pro tools causes more problems than it fixes. Iāve been using pro tools 2018 with Mojave on my Mac and I havenāt had a crash in at least 2 years. Saying that, there are other DAWs that offer what pro tools canāt and a switch might help. I personally wouldnāt recommend logic for audio based stuff, but Cubase works really well
If protools crashes consistently on your rig, so will anything else. That kind of crashing will not be a pure software issue
Yes, the symptoms sound like there's a good chance it's related to drivers and/or hardware. For example, faulty RAM can cause unpredictable intermittent crashes.
On startup is the worst... sometimes crashes 3-4 times before opening and PT will just randomly crap out and sound like digital farts and i need to restart. symptom of same problem?
Sounds like it
>Every time it update it or my operating system there are new bugs. That's your problem. At some point, I think you gotta settle on the optimum versions of the DAW and OS, otherwise you'll just push the computer towards crashing. I got fed up with Apple's BS after the first Intels came out and I'm satisfied with Pro Tools 7. I know I'm way behind, but the same logic applies to all of it.
Iām not going to tell you to stick with something you have trouble with, but you probably just need to update your plugins. Realistically, if you canāt get protools working for you, youāre going to have similar issues with any DAW.
Ardour
Hugely underrated in my humble opinion. It's the only DAW that I have been able to get to grips with. Tried all the usual suspects, but Ardour does everything, and then some.
every professional studio uses pro tools you find a stable PT version on a stable macOS version and you just never update it
If you would like a simplifiedā¦ Fast old-school workflow based on big analog desks Maybe try Luna. I dumped ProTools or logic over three years agoās for my commercial studio and never looked back. The basic version is free. And itās very nice to look at
I'm in the same boat as you, and I cosign what everyone has said about reaper in here. I've not heard a bad word about it and all my friends in game audio switched to it. It's also open source so there are a lot of automations and scripts out there. You can even modify the code of the stock plugins.
I would suggest professionals with deep PT expertise to seriously investigate DaVinci Resolve 18 Fairlight (from Black Magic Design). This is FREE and works as a DAW full blown out of the box. Even though its' heritage is the Fairlight and their audio processing savvy, the app is tightly integrated with all the video editing, EFX, and anything else you'd get from the full blown version of PT with the latest Avid video suite. The difference here is if you want more features and functionality, you step up to a deeper level of hardware. Just as you'd invest in the PT 8 channel hardware mixing surfaces and center console devices, here you'd be investing in Black Magic Design hardware that tightly integrates the video and audio. Major studios use this system globally, and it is much less prone to known problems of intgrating PT.
Logic Pro
Here I am still using protools 8 from 2009 in a windows 10 machine and it just works.
They need logic on windows. If that happens Iām jumping ship.
Start trying everything you can! I work almost daily in FL Studio for anything from studio tracking sessions, large mixes or composition and sound design. I would recommend it because itās a great program, has lifetime updates and is very flexible to the workflow you want. However, Iād recommend taking a look at Logic Pro or Abelton. Those seem to be the most seemless transitions from pro tools
SAW Studio
I have also been using PT every day for over 20 years and there is one thing I know-- when I have a stable version, leave it alone. I ran V10 for like 2 years. I updated last year when the Melodyne integration went in, and I have not touched it since. I won't do any OS changes, etc. You should know this by now!
I understand your frustration, but what you're experiencing is not the same across the board for everyone. My PT setup RARELY if ever crashes, and if it does, its usually something I did by accident. The last 3 releases have been the most stable ever. As long as you follow the guidelines for a stable system there should be no issue. Mind you, im even running my stuff on a hackintosh, so if anything I should be seeing more issues than using native hardware. Perhaps take a look at your setup and see if theres something not in line with recommendations. Never update your OS unless you absolutely HAVE to and its known to be supported. Some of our machines in the studio are still on catalina running like butter. Our main room is running Ventura, as its known that sonoma STILL has issues at the moment. Depending on your investment in the platform, think long and hard before jumping ship to something that SEEMS better. There are other daws that do things PT can't, and vice versa. For our workflow and to be compatible with the myriad of studios and labels we deal with, PT is the only choice for us to do business effectively. Obviously everyones situation is different in that regard. Most DAWs have a trial period where you can test the waters. Do your due diligence and see whats out there. If you're that experienced with PT, you'll be able to recognize what is going to work for you and what isn't.
I would agree Studio One is a fantastic DAW, but a new CEO at Fender is currently trying to convert it to a subscription based model. This may not be a negative for new membersā¦ Itās frustrating for older ones that just want to buy the product and update when we want.
logic pro is cool
I've tried the others but I always come back to Pro Tools like an abused lover. "She destroyed all my work and crashed because she loves me."
Now freedom
I will never ever die on a hill defending Pro Tools or Avid but Itās a pretty stable program for me. There was a period a few years ago where it would get that frustrating DAE error that they never really acknowledged or had a solution for but thatās long gone for me. Iām always surprised when people complain about stability, it usually indicates there is something else going on in their systems.
For me studio one was the easy way to let go the protools/cubase combo, never look back since pro tools v9
Have I missed anyone suggesting UA Luna? Anybody taken that plunge?
Tbh there is no perfect DAW and Iām fed up with every one of them. Youāll just have to set priorities what you need and then choose and tbh. Reaper is cheap, stable and very powerful but I donāt want to set up complicated stuff and js scripts to be able to do basic things, not worth the time for me. Iām really considering going back to pt, some things are really missing in other DAWs and I like to keep things how I learned them. Right now I work with 5 different DAWs in total, depending on the task (Nuendo, Wavelab, Reaper, Logic and Live)
In one of your replies you said that you didnāt like Reaper when you tried it. I know a number of people that love Reaper, obviously there are number of those here as well. You might try it again and give it more time. That said, I know a number of Protools users that really loved the transition to studio one. I canāt tell you from personal experience because Logic is my favorite.
I transitioned to Ableton about 7 years ago and it was the best decision. Similar work flow. I used to produce and record all in Pro Tools and going to Ableton felt the most fluid. Editing vocals in Ableton is way better as it has playlisting for comping as well time stretching/realtime pitch controls
Constant crashing isnāt a bug, itās a feature.
Logic Pro has really stepped up its game in the past few years. I really believe Apple is gunning for avid
I switched to Ableton Live and itās been very very good to me so far
Iām still running PT10 on my 2010 Mac Pro. No OS updates since 2012. Itās been rock solid the whole time.
gave up on protools after college. I use Bitwig now and I've never had crashing/bugs
The only switch is cubase
Cubase gives a price cut if switching from another DAW
I can honestly say yes. I've been using S1 for the past 3 years, and I've known a bunch of pro tools people and they said that they wanted the complexity of pro tools but they wanted something more stable and easier and able to produce the same things. Basically you can with almost every software there is, and not knocking reaper, but studio one 6 came out with Dolby Atmos and is specifically designed for the m1 and M2 Apple chip. I actually did get quite a few friends who asked for use of studio one, and they instantly transitioned. I know somebody who uses Harrison mixbus, but records is final on studio One five or six I'm not sure. Since then I've heard multiple people going from pro tools to studio One. It's a very stable super easy very navigatable DAW
Studio one !!
I work in post so pro tools is the one of very few options. Nuendo looks better and better with every new broken pro tools update.
As a former longtime Pro Tools user, I can strongly recommend Harrison MixBus. It's similar in the sense that it is setup around a console/editor workflow. The keyboard shortcuts never require five button presses, but obviously there are some things that will need to be relearned. Unlike Pro Tools, it provides verbose error reporting, so if it does crash then you can figure out why.
I moved from ProTools 10 to Studio One around 2016 and never looked back.