Reaper vs Ardour?

What other apps and distros do you use to round out your studio?

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elsmandino
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Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by elsmandino »

Hello there.

I am tempted to have a go at a bit of recording, but am a total novice to it.

I know it is a very subjective question but which DAW should I use?

I wanted (if possible) to avoid just installing and trying both, as it might end up confusing me.

Is there any sort of consensus as to which is the best, out of the two? E.g. support, ease of use, etc?

Thanks very much.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by d.healey »

If you're just doing a bit of recording use Audacity.

Reaper vs Ardour. Ardour is free software therefore it wins.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by TAERSH »

Hi.

Audacity is Audio only (though, it has some less MIDI features).
I would recommend Qtractor. It's small, easy to use and ready for Audio and MIDI.
I'm using it for years now...
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by GMaq »

elsmandino wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:03 am Hello there.

I am tempted to have a go at a bit of recording, but am a total novice to it.

I know it is a very subjective question but which DAW should I use?

I wanted (if possible) to avoid just installing and trying both, as it might end up confusing me.

Is there any sort of consensus as to which is the best, out of the two? E.g. support, ease of use, etc?

Thanks very much.
Hi, If you want to try both Ardour and Reaper without installing or changing anything on your computer just download AVL-MXE and make a bootable USB Key. You can live boot a complete ready to use Linux studio with Ardour and Reaper pre-installed with a ton of great Audio Plugins and play around to your hearts content without installing or changing anything on your existing computer.. It also has a very handy User Manual right there to help you get set up (with Ardour).

http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/

If you like what you see you don't necessarily have to install AVL-MXE, you can install Ardour or Reaper (or both) on your existing system.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by Basslint »

I fully agree with @d.healey. Even if Ardour were worse than it actually is, I would use it. But it happens to be very good :D

Keeping that aside, they have different focuses. Ardour is not focused on MIDI but it has gotten good enough at it (even if the UX for editing MIDI is not the best). If you don't do a lot of MIDI, I think you will be fine on Ardour!
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by Largos »

Both reaper and ardour have youtube tutorials, I would say watch some videos and see what appeals to you more. I think this is the best way to have a look without actually installing.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by lilith »

You can download Reaper, extract it and just run it. It's only 8 MB!

Ardour is more basic and also a good option if you are just recording. I would not recommend Audacity.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by alexson »

Reaper is much better than Ardour
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by sysrqer »

Reaper all the way for me but both can record easily enough.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by LAM »

Ardour is FOSS, and if the concern is recording audio, Ardour is very good for that. 8)

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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by elsmandino »

Thanks everyone - some really helpful comments and advice.
lilith wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:27 pm Ardour is more basic and also a good option if you are just recording. I would not recommend Audacity.
Lillith - can I just ask what you mean by just recording? What sort of things, beyond this, might be a problem for Ardour?

Based upon my initial research, I think that Reaper might be a bit the better choice at the moment - purely on the basis that there seem to be a lot more instructional videos on YouTube. As a total beginner, I really need a lot of hand holding to get up-to-speed and I think that videos are going to be the best way.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by LAM »

If you need video tutorials on Ardour there is the @unfa's YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/unfa000

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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by lilith »

elsmandino wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 10:08 am Thanks everyone - some really helpful comments and advice.
lilith wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 10:27 pm Ardour is more basic and also a good option if you are just recording. I would not recommend Audacity.
Lillith - can I just ask what you mean by just recording? What sort of things, beyond this, might be a problem for Ardour?

Based upon my initial research, I think that Reaper might be a bit the better choice at the moment - purely on the basis that there seem to be a lot more instructional videos on YouTube. As a total beginner, I really need a lot of hand holding to get up-to-speed and I think that videos are going to be the best way.
If you need much midi and Plugins I found Reaper much more stable also the midi editor in Reaper is much better.
The gui feels also smoother.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by sysrqer »

Reaper is also much more customisable and therefore more powerful when you start using and combining actions (many tedious or repetitive things can be automated). I think there is a some kind of system in place for this in Ardour but the last time I looked there was barely anything created for it by the community.
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Re: Reaper vs Ardour?

Post by merlyn »

They're not the same thing.

Ardour is free and open source. Reaper isn't. I think that should be a factor in your choice.

The Reaper love is coming from people who produce electronic music. (I like your music guys, no offence). For electronic music MIDI is very important and (at the moment) MIDI is a bit of a weak spot in Ardour.

For audio I prefer Ardour and the MIDI is good enough for what I do.

I've been teaching basic Reaper over lockdown but I'm glad to get back to Ardour which could be due to the fact that I'm used to it. One thing that annoys me about Reaper is that there is no differentiating between mono and stereo tracks. I'm sure I could get used to that but to me it shows that Ardour is more focused on audio.
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