# Cubase vs. Reaper.



## kitekrazy (May 8, 2019)

My mindset is "oh what a great deal on Cubase". I'm trying to say no as I don't need another DAW.

I've had a license of Reaper ever since it came out. 

Some advantages are budget friendly. I don't have to pay until Reaper 6 comes out. I've had it installed on every machine I have, even a laptop that doesn't even have modern cell phone specs.

It's constantly evolving and doesn't eat disk space.

There's far more learning resources now. 

I'm trying to persuade myself from spending $155 on Cuabse and invest more in learning Reaper. Cubase also charges for a .5 update. Not a fan of that. Plus Cubase will basically stay on one machine. Buying a new DAW usually takes away from spending on toys that works in other DAWs.


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## ceemusic (May 8, 2019)

If you're not using Reaper after all this time what makes you think you'd use Cubase? Every DAW has a certain learning curve which can be learned in about of week or two if you spend the time & effort.

You say you don't need another DAW so why consider buying it in the first place?


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## mscp (May 8, 2019)

Are you happy with Reaper? Stick to it then. Cubase will definitely not be the reason why you could perhaps end up being nominated for an academy award statue. I use Cubase because I like it. Reaper's visuals bother me but it's my pet-peeve. Some people use Logic. I dislike Macs nowadays - so there's that. Be comfortable. Use what you like.


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## handz (May 9, 2019)

Cubase has most user-friendly Midi editing. If you are writing notes into piano roll most of the time using tons of channels - Cubase is the best - of course just my opinion based on 10+ years of experience with occasional testing other DAWs.


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## Feral State (May 9, 2019)

I am also considering its buy but... don't sure if its worth for me since I am not interested on the included instruments, chord pads and Variaudio.


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## MauroPantin (May 9, 2019)

I own Reaper as well. You mentioned no benefits on buying Cubase, and quite a few about owning Reaper. Reads like an impulse purchase to me. Maybe try to rationalize it a bit more. Is there anything about Reaper that you are unhappy about? Will Cubase solve any of that?


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## BlackDorito (May 9, 2019)

Justifying a $170 impulse purchase ... you called it! I'm downloading Cubase 10 Pro right now and my justification is that I want to try out the MIDI CC editing capabilities. Plus .. sometimes people share Cubase projects, such as the folks at VSL.

There ... feeling better now.


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## Feral State (May 9, 2019)

I am wondering if this offer is symptomatic of the growing DAW competition: REAPER for 60$, Cakewalk going free, the also agressive offers and crossgrade prices from Presonus etc. It is difficult to justify a 600$ DAW this days.


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## rudi (May 9, 2019)

Cubase has evolved over a long time, and has been piling on heaps of facilities. The team has access to some large resources. It covers lots of ground and is one of the "standard "DAWs. Reaper is the result of a tiny team (I believe it may only be one or two) and has developed in a more idosyncratic way and GUI wise it is far less polished (at least IMHO). 

It all depends on what kind of DAW you need, and which approach you feel more comfortable with. I currently own Cubase Pro 9.5, but I am increasingly relying on Reaper for my workflow. I especially love how easily it can be customised.


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## rudi (May 9, 2019)

Feral State said:


> I am wondering if this offer is symptomatic of the growing DAW competition: REAPER for 60$, Cakewalk going free, the also agressive offers and crossgrade prices from Presonus etc. It is difficult to justify a 600$ DAW this days.



I think that there is no doubt that the market for DAWs is evolving and fragmenting. Whereas you used to rely mainly on a few "pro" packages, there are many more alternatives now; many of them coming from smaller, more focused teams rather than trying to be all things to everyone. There is also a large amount of convergence with most DAWs offering more and more facilities.


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## MichaelVakili (May 9, 2019)

New DAW will bring fresh air into your workflow and it will give you another perspective on how to get things done. Other than that if you don't have problems with your current DAW - I see no reason to switch. For example - I've switched from FL to Studio One - simply because FL will burn your CPU with like 5 sustain libraries playing together and if you start to mix them ,it will crash and it will load the project 10 minutes. 
But again ,the option to work with another DAW can be powerful tool specially if they are designed for specific things that you might need.


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## givemenoughrope (May 9, 2019)

Not to hijack, but I’m in a similar boat. I need to jump up to C10 (I need that audio alignment feature, even if it only works like 30% of the time I need it) but I’m on the fence if Nuendo 8 is a better option considering the current upgrade price (lots of advantages that I may need in the future). Can Reaper cover some of the space between C10 and N8? Mainly interested in the editing features and surround...


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## kitekrazy (May 9, 2019)

MichaelVakili said:


> New DAW will bring fresh air into your workflow and it will give you another perspective on how to get things done. Other than that if you don't have problems with your current DAW - I see no reason to switch. For example - I've switched from FL to Studio One - simply because FL will burn your CPU with like 5 sustain libraries playing together and if you start to mix them ,it will crash and it will load the project 10 minutes.
> But again ,the option to work with another DAW can be powerful tool specially if they are designed for specific things that you might need.



I'm a big fan of FL and I also have Live. I like them better for softsynths and not orchestra stuff. One of the small appeals to me about Cubase is it's staff scoring may be the best without using a notation program.


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## kitekrazy (May 9, 2019)

BlackDorito said:


> *Justifying a $170 impulse purchase ... you called it! * I'm downloading Cubase 10 Pro right now and my justification is that I want to try out the MIDI CC editing capabilities. Plus .. sometimes people share Cubase projects, such as the folks at VSL.
> 
> *There ... feeling better now.*



Welcome to my world.


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## kitekrazy (May 9, 2019)

Feral State said:


> I am wondering if this offer is symptomatic of the growing DAW competition: REAPER for 60$, Cakewalk going free, the also agressive offers and crossgrade prices from Presonus etc. It is difficult to justify a 600$ DAW this days.



Now we will wait for Pro Tools to step into the ring. When Cakewalk went under the other DAW developers started throwing out deals. At that time a Cubase crossgrade was $250.
Last year was the first time Propellar Heads offered a sale on a Reason upgrade.

On the other end of the spectrum Magix does something stupid by bloating the price of Acid Pro with some addons.


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## ResSerp (May 9, 2019)

kitekrazy said:


> On the other end of the spectrum Magix does something stupid by bloating the price of Acid Pro with some addons.



I was going to buy the new version of Acid out of nostalgia, and because I thought it might be a fun toy to generate ideas. I reloaded the web page because I thought there was an error in the price. Couldn't believe it.

If you're on Windows, and you do MIDI, Cubase is where it's at. My only regret is that I didn't buy it years ago.


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