DAW - Studio One or Reaper for noob ?

[Anthony Gring]

Been wanting to get into home recording for a long time.
So , couple months ago bought a PreSonus 24c two input interface.
It came with Studio One v5 Artist.
Just wanting to make jam tracks and simple song ideas for now.
I use a Kemper , small Behrenger mixer and old Boss DR-550.
Been watching Joe Gilder youtube vids and PreSonus tutorials.
I've learned enough to record tracks.
Still , Studio One seems a bit daunting.

For those that are familiar with Studio One as well as Reaper ,

is there any advantage for a noob of one over the other for learning home recording?

Thanks !

 

[Gurn]

Studio One Artist is ok for audio. It converts to MP3 nicely & has auto-upload to
Soundcloud as an option. Onboard effects are pretty good too.

If it's free - may as well try it.

I know nothing about Reaper. I use Studio One on my old Laptop & Cubase on my
new one.

 

[LaceSensor1]

Studio One 5 Professional comes with OpenAIR IR loader, which is awesome for guitar players

Presonus produces their own tutorial videos, and new videos released every week. Gregor and Joe Glider make great videos for Presonus.

 

[kiki_90291]

You can download Reaper and use it for free for 60 days - give it a try and see which one is more intuitive for you.

 

[andy474x]

If you have a Mac, just get Logic and be done with it! If not… disregard.

 

[Shredtrash]

I was a total noob and started on Reaper. There are TONS of tutorials that made it really easy to get going. Highly recommended!

 

[smallbutmighty]

I've used both extensively, and recommend Studio One Pro.

It's geared towards making music in a pleasant, nice-looking environment with a smooth and simple workflow.

You can certainly make good music in Reaper, but I think it looks like crap, and I find the endless tweakability and colossal menus for everything very distracting. It feels like recording in Microsoft Excel.....the 1995 version.

 

[aynirar27]

I started a thread similar to this like a year ago maybe.
Haven’t gotten around to doing anything with it yet lol, but the responses were overwhelming in favor of reaper

 

[j_el_jee]

I’m just slightly past recording noob status. Not familiar w studio one. I started w GarageBand and quickly ran into its limitations at the time. So I moved to Reaper. Yes I was overwhelmed at first. But i took it a little at a time (google and YouTube are packed w free resources)and learned how to do what I needed. It used to be free to download and use, but I purchased the $60 license. I see now you get 60 days to evaluate free, but I wouldn’t think a noob would get very far in that time period (perhaps you’ll learn quicker than i). Anyway, ten years later and I’m still learning every time I fire it up, but there is no way Reaper will ever be the limitation for me when it come to recording. $60 well spent IMO.

 

[BlueWolf]

I don’t think you can go wrong with either, but I ended up with Studio One Pro. I use a couple of their interface products too, and I’m very happy with my setup.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

I'm currently (still) trying to evaluate DAW's for my personal, casual use.
They are all quirky. The are all deep, very, very, deep.
They will all do the job with enough study, but if you want something special, say audio to MIDI conversion, to pick one of many examples, that might include waveform editing, MIDI event management, patchlist compatibility, true binaural panning, and many more details that only become apparent after study you have to dig in.
Garageband has a limited set of features and might be the best starting point.
Its lack of MIDI file in/out is a game stopper for me.

Studio One is quite normal and has some intuitive features, along with many deep features, a weak manual, but good training vids.
I can't speak to Reaper.
GB and Logic are the ugly looking ones, but work well.
There are no bad choices until you realize what a bad choice, for you actually is/was.
That takes a long time.

 

[art_z]

I work with Studio one on occasion at a friends studio. He was a total noon at recording and was able to get pretty good with it quickly. I don’t particularly care for the way some things work. I used to use Reaper 10 years ago and found it super easy. I use Logic on my Mac now.

 

[TurquoiseStrat]

Reaper is the most flexible DAW on the planet IMO, but Studio One has a way more streamlined and user friendly interface. Neither is going to hold you back from doing the vast majority of things most people are using modern DAWs for.

If you're a tinkerer you might like Reaper more, but if you just want to get up and running quickly then Studio One will probably be a better fit.

 

[MKB]

Just one philosophical suggestion; IMHO the most expensive thing you invest in a DAW is your time learning how to use it to the point it doesn't stifle your creativity. Nothing kills an idea quicker than having to search through a manual or help screen to figure how to do something. With that in mind, it makes most sense to start out with a DAW that will meet your needs for the long term, even if you have to pay more for it. That is all.

 

[smallbutmighty]

Reaper is the most flexible DAW on the planet IMO, but Studio One has a way more streamlined and user friendly interface. Neither is going to hold you back from doing the vast majority of things most people are using modern DAWs for.

If you're a tinkerer you might like Reaper more, but if you just want to get up and running quickly then Studio One will probably be a better fit.

Totally.

If you enjoy creating your own skins, icons, buttons, macros, shortcuts, hotkeys, presets, templates, and preferences, you'll love Reaper. You can do it for days.

 

[TurquoiseStrat]

Totally.

If you enjoy creating your own skins, icons, buttons, macros, shortcuts, hotkeys, presets, templates, and preferences, you'll love Reaper. You can do it for days.

Since you quoted me I have a question for you! I'm ordering the Wilkinson WVS1302P for a Warmoth build and just watched your video about the issue with the compact model not fitting Strats properly. Have you guys tried one on a VIP body yet? Do you think the normal size one is a safe bet or is it possible I might need the compact for the VIP? Can't wait to get started!

 

[kiki_90291]

Also, you might want to check out Groove3 tutorials - they have great walkthroughs for StudioOne. I found them really helpful to get started (a lot of the YouTube content, even from Presonus assumes some basic familiarity with the DAW). Looks like they have Reaper content, too.

I got an all access pass for a couple of months and got content on S1 and a bunch of other plugins and software as well.

 

[smallbutmighty]

Since you quoted me I have a question for you! I'm ordering the Wilkinson WVS1302P for a Warmoth build and just watched your video about the issue with the compact model not fitting Strats properly. Have you guys tried one on a VIP body yet? Do you think the normal size one is a safe bet or is it possible I might need the compact for the VIP? Can't wait to get started!

I'll PM you.

 

[pipelineaudio]

If you want crippleware limits, go studio one. On the other hand, its supposed to be easier for some people to write and structure songs in

 

[Tone_Terrific]

If you want crippleware limits, go studio one. On the other hand, its supposed to be easier for some people to write and structure songs in

It came with Studio One v5 Artist.

S1 v5 Artist is not crippleware, although it may not have everything one wants.
That's the hard part. There is no way for a noob to know without expert knowledge at hand, and I mean right over your shoulder.