Topic: Podium & Reaper side by side

If you intend working a lot with MIDI then no feature comparison is necessary, as Podium is much further developed in this department.

It is robust, sleek and has a much more mature implementation of MIDI features.

although i prefer podium, reaper is more feature rich. however, you should download both becasue there is too much to say to say it in a post about the strengths and weaknesses of the programs. and, as frits states, how you work or what you require will make a difference.

i have had reaper for two years and podium just over one. i use podium mostly but i use reaper regularly to keep up with regular “deep” updates.

good luck.

I think all of us at some point or another find ourselves searching for DAW “Holy Grail” of sorts. And I think a lot of us have come to the conclusion that there isn’t such a thing.

Personally I have found that I pread my tasks across several apps. Why? Well for me, its all about workflow, workflow, workflow… At each stage I need to be comfortable working in the app. Like the previous poster stated each of those apps are good at so many things that you would really have to demo them to see if they fit.

No disrespect to Zynewave but I haven’t found an app (I’ve demo’ed all that have demo’s I think) that flows as well as T2/T3 in the writing/sound development/tracking stage. So, (even with all of its short comings) I’m not parting ways just yet.

Now, 90% of what I do after tracking is done mostly in Podium. And yes, I have owned a Reaper license for quite some time. However, even though Reaper may be capable of doing what I need I just can’t get used to the workflow and screen. Personal preference I know and for me a big deal. There is no way I’m subjecting my eyes to that for hours on end. And that is why I choose Podium. I never get eye fatigue when using Podium, even after 6 and 7 hour sessions.

Happy hunting! Oh, and if you should settle on just one come back and let us know why, if you don’t mind.

…and yes I know this still doesn’t answer the OP’s Q but…

What I was alluding to was that a lot of us hitch our wagons to developer’s that we think are headed in the right direction. Speaking as a party of one, Podium was no where near what I wanted/needed on a daily basis when I sent my money in for registration. But I saw/learned/read enough about Podium/Zynewave that I wanted to see it blossom.

There are quite a few talented dev’s that I support. I am hoping that by investing what I would have spent on a much larger package that was quickly becoming bloated, on a smaller dev, I would get close to what I wanted in the end. I still believe that out of all the companies I gave money to that Podium will end up being the best of the bunch (for me).

And as one last note, if there were two apps that I’m keeping my eye on its not Reaper or T3. Its Podium and eXT2. And the only thing that could change that picture for me is if the Props introduced VST capability and audio recording in their next version of Reason, however, I’m betting they won’t, so….

hi sam,

just had a look at sawstudio, man that’s a pricey one 😯 . I’m really a big fan of performant and unusual apps, the whole thing coded in assember, thats impressive. If the claims are true, it might be the most stable audio app with the best midi timing on winxp, … but the price tag *gulp* ….crazy. Did you spend that kind of money on your hobby, or is it your trade?
And asking an additional 300$ for that very basic midi-addon, …well that’s greedy. But the guy lives in Las Vegas, maybe that gives a completely different attitude towards money.

The whole soft reminds me a bit of the workflow in the audio prisma from Spectra Inc. (harddisk-recording system from the nineties), it surely is a very special one.

according to a few coding experts (not me!) assembly language no longer has the impact it once did due to the speed of computers.

yes, but it’s neat. IMHO assembly (when done by a real master of the trade) definetely has its benefits especially for audioworks on that windows os with its dumb tasks and errands kicking in at the most inconvenient points in time, things cpu speed alone can’t fix.

in my opinion even when you are up to speed in SAW you will work slower than in Podium or Reaper.

I can imagine it after demoing saw a little. Soft , thats modelled after the way pro’s have been doing things for years with hardware, might be the best way those pros are used to, but not from a software usability point of view, when one has the chance to optimize tasks, making things faster and more user friendly, leaving the path how things were done in hardware.
Only recently I found myself staring dumbstruck at a friends computer screen trying to remember how to assign vst’s to tracks in Logic 5.
Embarassing, since I sold him that very copy only 1,5 years ago.
After working with podium it became so natural to me assigning them directly to the tracks, that I had completely forgotten that in logic it took a few clicks just to get there.

Bob L, the developer and regular user of SAW, feels 2K is a steal……he really say’s that.

It seems he is comparing it with some expensive dedicated multitracker workstations, like R-1 from Euphonix. His software with its edl and libraries etc seems to be structured like the one found in such pro gear, and I find most things in saw I’ve checked out so far are very effective and quick, when used to working with consoles. But those units are hardware, which cost a bundle to built, and they often have their own os, alot of work before it even gets considered by a broadcast industry which is prepared to pay high prices. It’s not really a fair comparison calling a software a steal only because it can do roughly the same thing and costs less, afterall it is a software with far lesser costs involved. I would not be surprised if Bob had a professional background as a developer in that industry, there are quite a few things, that strongly remind me of spectral incs audio prisma system from the nineties.
He seems to be an expert for core functionalities, an assembly engine writer and a true magician on that. He could learn a lot from Frits when it comes to gui design though. The whole gui is not very tastefully done… and oh, one really has to be prepared to click on “about” in saw 😆

edit: apart from the gui and the insane price tag, I actually have a hell of a respect for Lentini and his sawstudio after what I’ve seen so far. Just watched the vid, impressive. “very fun, very powerful” … but far too expensive, and with that kind of midi integration … well, I don’t belong to the target group.