Switching to Reaper?

[Bullitt5135]

I've been using Garageband for a couple years for producing demos of my classic rock band -- samples for our website and CDs to hand out to friends, bar owners, etc. I've been mostly satisfied with the results for -- I'm able to create mixes I'm happy with in Garageband, but mastering is driving me nuts (trying to get the final exported track to sound like my mix). I'm thinking that Reaper might be better long term.

Our recordings are pretty basic: 2 guitars, bass, 4-channels for drums, and vocals overdubbed later. No keys, no MIDI or samples. I like using the Drumagog drum replacement plugin, and I just bought a copy of Nectar for vocal processing just for the hell of it. I'm OK with one-click presets that make the job easier.

For those who have used both, do you think it's worth my trouble to learn/use Reaper? What's the learning curve like? Or should I stick to what I know and make due with Garageband?

Here's a sample of what I've produced on GB:
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[Luke19Boarder]

I've used reaper pretty much exclusively for the past 3 or 4 years. I honestly didn't find there to be much of a learning curve, but it does have a LOT more options than Garage Band (which is better, but makes it more complicated)

If you haven't, definitely check out the forums on Reaper's website - it's a pretty active forum and there are a lot of people that are willing to help if you ever have any issues.

 

[silky smoove]

If you're already used to the way GarageBand operates, it might be worth looking into Logic as an upgrade. It'll cost you a little more than Reaper, but will keep you in a familiar environment... Well... Somewhat. Nothing wrong with Reaper, or basically any other DAW for that matter, but it's worth a look.