I've been using Reason Lite for the past few years, initially only for recording hardware but increasingly as an actual DAW. Consequently, I'm starting to feel the limitations of only having 8 tracks to work with.
I installed Reaper a little while ago to evaluate it but am not overly enamoured. So I'm looking at alternatives as there's no way I can afford the full version of Reason.
Ableton Live seems to be where most of the action is so I've installed the trial. The 'Intro' version with 16 tracks is currently only £55 so is a lot more affordable.
The downside is that there will be a massive learning curve while I get used to a new system. There are a lot of training resources available, however.
Ideally I also want to get a new audio interface with more inputs/outputs so that I can simultaneously record more things to separate tracks. Again, we have the issue of cost so that's not something currently on my radar.
@colinwalker If you are an Apple person, Logic is fantastic. It is well worth the price and the updates are free forever. I am a former Reason user and while the workflow is very different it is also very stable and I haven't run into any limitations.
I used to use Logic for a bit many years ago when it was still on Windows but can't justify £200 for it at the moment.
Just need to spend more time with the alternatives to see what vibes better.
@colinwalker A +1 for Logic. If 8 tracks is limiting with enough Mac you can have thousands. There are plenty of free DAWs.
I saw that article a while ago 😉