Does Studio One "Sound Better" Than Reaper?

SEA · 12-04-2010, 12:13 PM

Or any other daw that is.

I posted a thread on the Presonus forum asking about Reaper vs. S1 and some guy said S1 "Sounded Better" (from what the pros say) than other daws.

Like "What???"

Here's the thread http://forums.presonus.com/posts/list/0/5709.page

Anyone done some "ABs" between the two?

SEA

JMS49 · 12-04-2010, 12:21 PM

Not to my ear...

EvilDragon · 12-04-2010, 12:21 PM

That question is ridiculous. They all sound the same.

gwok · 12-04-2010, 12:22 PM

ya and that dude saying Reaper is on shareware level is not to be heeded

SEA · 12-04-2010, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwok

ya and that dude saying Reaper is on shareware level is not to be heeded

FREAL!!!!!

He's just upset cause he spent the $$$ on Studio One before trying Reaper (LOL)

Just download S1 and do some mixes. I'm going to and see who can tell which daw is which!

Trancit · 12-04-2010, 12:28 PM

He gave you the answer in the last sentence:

Quoted from original thread: "Now, one thing you didn't ask but I feel compelled to mention in the Audio Engine. What I'm about to say is subject to opinion but you will find most people here (and a few Pro reviews) say that Studio One has a much better sound overall and mixes just sound bigger and more clear. I believe this is also because of the huge workflow improvement, making it easier and faster to get the sound you're looking for."

It´s only a personal impression, nothing more...

EvilDragon · 12-04-2010, 12:32 PM

Mixing up workflow with how it actually sounds is really not a good idea.

It's all psychological. In practice, they all null.

Smurf · 12-04-2010, 12:48 PM

They all WILL null AFTER you go thru the motions of setting them all up the exact same way (pan laws, rates, etc) but out of the box, the way each DAW is delivered I have to agree that S1 & Reaper DO sound different...

Lokasenna · 12-04-2010, 12:51 PM

This exact question has been asked about a thousand times on every audio forum you can think of, and the answer is always "No". When both DAWs are set up with the same options for dithering, pan law, etc, they will sound the same. Their default setups will probably be different and thus one might sound better, but every DAW is capable of being set up the same way.

Veneteaou · 12-04-2010, 12:53 PM

I think the best bit of information you get in that thread is this:

Quote:

You can't really go wrong with either imo but Reaper will require a bit more "digging in" initially. The thing is, Reaper is so inexpensive everyone should own a copy anyway... even if it's not your main host it's a great utility tool and secondary host and it will load as an S1 rewire client.

Get Reaper. Use Reaper. It is the Batman's Utility Belt of DAWs. Get familiar with it, come here with your problems, and then make a specific list of things that you need that Reaper does not offer. Based on that list, find your next DAW. Personal preference may lead you to use another DAW as your main, but Reaper is too good to not have.

But for the love of God don't surf forums looking for reasons to choose one over another. Idiots over there tell you the audio engine is superior, idiots over another way tell you audio engine comparison is meaningless, and idiots yet another direction tell you, "Yeah, I think PT has a plug that can fix that."

cerberus · 12-04-2010, 01:05 PM

in terms of dsp, reaper makes fewer math errors by default.

Jae.Thomas · 12-04-2010, 01:06 PM

Jamie - just do.

pbk · 12-04-2010, 01:18 PM

Yes.

"Studio One" <- has the "Studio" word in it. Sounds more professional.

"Reaper" <- Sounds rotten and dead to me.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

Mr Ected · 12-04-2010, 01:32 PM

I've often wondered about this (in general, not just with S1 and Reaper). Some people say they all sound the same if set up the same, but even if they have the same values for pan laws, dithering, etc don't they use different algorithms to do such, thus the potential that they produce different results? I've only used Cubase and Reaper and they sound the same to me, and I'm sure they would all sound the same to me but it seems like there is a potential for difference thus one might sound better than the other.

Lawrence · 12-04-2010, 01:33 PM

You really can't have a vs thread without some nonsense coming up and/or somebody taking offense at someone else's subjective opinions.

It's as certain as the sun being there.

There is a relative lack of random host basing in the S1 forum though. Those discussions there generally never devolve into a bash fest on the others. People give their views and it pretty much ends there.

Sam C · 12-04-2010, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trancit

What I'm about to say is subject to opinion but you will find most people here (and a few Pro reviews) say that Studio One has a much better sound overall and mixes just sound bigger and more clear.

Based on the above sentence he should be nulled from writing any sort of review!! Ever!!

bullshark · 12-04-2010, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilDragon

That question is ridiculous. They all sound the same.

The question IS ridiculous, but depending on what's included in the comparison, they will not all sound the same.

Audio summing, yes they have been demonstrated time and time again to be identical.

But included plug ins? Pitch shifting? Resampling? Pan taper? etc... They can all be demonstrated to be different, and sounding different. As to evaluating the "better", it is a judgment call and completely subjective.

Jae.Thomas · 12-04-2010, 01:44 PM

the better question is:

can YOU get to the BEST sound possible, in the LEAST time needed, using X host

bullshark · 12-04-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Brian Merrill

the better question is:

can YOU get to the BEST sound possible, in the LEAST time needed, using X host

Yes, nailed it!

Lawrence · 12-04-2010, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Brian Merrill

the better question is:

can YOU get to the BEST sound possible, in the LEAST time needed, using X host

I'd say that's the ONLY question.

Reno.thestraws · 12-04-2010, 02:04 PM

bullshark · 12-04-2010, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawrence

I'd say that's the ONLY question.

Well, for me cost also is a major factor. But it is a hobby for me, which means I don't have clients screaming to have their stuff done, and also that I can't factor in the expense against the revenues.

SEA · 12-04-2010, 03:49 PM

Great replies!

It's funny when people say "This sounds better than that" without giving you an AB example so YOU can hear the difference and say "Man!!!! You're RIGHT!!! This DOES sound better than THAT!!!"

So to me, the burden of proof is the ones SAYING it IS better!

With that being said... "Where are the FREAK'N DEMOS!" LOL!

SEA

Eyes · 12-04-2010, 05:03 PM

Doesn't Studio One have some sort of mastering suite built in? Not sure if its relavent but they could be using that as a comparision.

IMO they sound the same anyway, from testing the demo.

bullshark · 12-04-2010, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SEA

With that being said... "Where are the FREAK'N DEMOS!" LOL!

There's a forum full of great sounding stuff right here http://forum.cockos.com/forumdisplay.php?f=24

All done with the Reaper.

Veneteaou · 12-04-2010, 07:29 PM

Quote:

I've only used Cubase and Reaper and they sound the same to me

To be fair, audio comparisons between audio engines will not produce audible differences until you are sitting with 15k worth of sound system in a room that cost just as much. At that point, the fact that we are all recording through consumer-grade electronics is going to be a much larger factor than which DAW you are using.

Jae.Thomas · 12-04-2010, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veneteaou

To be fair, audio comparisons between audio engines will not produce audible differences until you are sitting with 15k worth of sound system in a room that cost just as much. At that point, the fact that we are all recording through consumer-grade electronics is going to be a much larger factor than which DAW you are using.

you can spend 1 million bucks and there won't be a difference between the straight up audio quality of cubase and reaper.

buvoltz · 12-04-2010, 08:16 PM

I'm on OSX with Reaper, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live. I tried Studio One because I use three Presonus FP10's. I liked Studio One but found a lot of bugs in it. As far as does it sound better...NO, not at all... core audio and the FP10's don't care about Studio One

Steve

strunkdts · 12-04-2010, 08:21 PM

of course it sounds better, numerous tests have shown REAPER to sound the worst out of all the DAWS. I only use it cos my 4 Track was stolen.

steveo42 · 12-04-2010, 08:28 PM

Many times when people hear differences between various DAW's it boils down to using different pan laws.

70srocker · 12-04-2010, 09:00 PM

Don't know about better, but they do sound different.

timlloyd · 12-04-2010, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveo42

Many times when people hear differences between various DAW's it boils down to using different pan laws.

Not just that................confirmation/expectation bias and placebo can be a massive influence over what you perceive.

This is why I don't like overly ornate gui's, because vision dominates hearing, and it's all too easy to be fooled.......................

Lawrence · 12-04-2010, 09:25 PM

Just turn knobs until you hear what you want to hear... I mean, assuming you don't like what you hear.

jlgrimes11 · 12-04-2010, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SEA

Or any other daw that is.

I posted a thread on the Presonus forum asking about Reaper vs. S1 and some guy said S1 "Sounded Better" (from what the pros say) than other daws.

Like "What???"

Here's the thread http://forums.presonus.com/posts/list/0/5709.page

Anyone done some "ABs" between the two?

SEA

When people refer to the sound of a DAW it can mean a myriad of things:

1. Robustness of audio engine. Not really a sound quality issue but more of a stability issue. The presence or lack of pops, clicks, and gaps in audio playback when editing audio while sound is playing. A lot of this is subjective as well. Some PCs that are poorly configured or with poor components will produce more gaps as well as some sound cards. Some DAWs such as Live are designed for minimal gaps in mind, but then most others are designed to keep playing under a heavy amount of tracks (Sonar, Reaper). While Live plays great with a low amount of tracks it comes with a cost of high cpu and disk usage. Add a lot of tracks and tracks that are easily playable in Sonar will be unplayable in Live. A lot of people confuse this with Sound Quality because pops and clicks tend to be perceived as a "cheap" audio engine where it more just really mean the intended use of the software or stability problem.

2. Sound of the included plug-ins. It can be quite possible that Studio One has better included plug-ins than Reaper. That is also subjective because what one person might thing is great the other one will think is horrible. But Waves plug-in in Studio One should sound the same in Reaper or very similar.

3. The sound of the mixing bus and processing engine. Reaper is 64 bit. I think Studio One is 64 bit is well so this should be the same quality.

4. The sound of the plug-in processing engine. Once again both of these should sound the same being 64 bit.

5. The sound of the pan laws. Reaper's pan laws are highly configurable so it can be set up to mimic different DAWs. Most people tend to like the -3db pan laws because those are the ones used on high end analog consoles.

6. Dithering quality. This probably would produce minimal difference and will really play effect in the rendering.

In the end, most of these differences should be minimal. Probably the biggest difference is the sound of the included plug-ins but I don't think that would be a fair way to rate a DAWs sound quality because someone could go and buy some very high quality plug-ins for Reaper and have better sound quality than the Studio One built-in plug-ins.

shawnguess · 12-04-2010, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 70srocker

Don't know about better, but they do sound different.

christ. im so tired of this discussion. THEY NULL!! export tracks from any serious DAW: cubase, nuendo, samplitude, reaper, protools -- with equal settings, THEY FREAKIN NULL!! yes, change pan laws, pan them differently, change fader settings, of course they wont null. but the same files with the same settings null. . . end of discussion.

bennisixx · 12-04-2010, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawrence

Just turn knobs until you hear what you want to hear...

The true mixing technique.

hopi · 12-04-2010, 11:26 PM

totally missed the real question, ..."Does one or the other taste better"... Now THAT is the burning issue.

Hubie J · 12-05-2010, 07:08 AM

Hiya
Tried Cubase (did't like the dongle), Tried Mackie Trackiton, now dead, Tried Studio One demo but have gone back to Reaper, great for the price and I can spend a little more on some of the best vst pluging to make great music.

Hubie J Music

vocalid · 12-05-2010, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veneteaou

Get Reaper. Use Reaper. It is the Batman's Utility Belt of DAWs.

Holy Fanboi Batman!

vocalid · 12-05-2010, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timlloyd

Not just that................confirmation/expectation bias and placebo can be a massive influence over what you perceive.

This is why I don't like overly ornate gui's, because vision dominates hearing, and it's all too easy to be fooled.......................

Just think how good your projects will sound with White Tie's V4 Theme!!!