Would this be the same Computer Music magazine that has a regular column about Trackers, which mostly features Renoise, and also occasionally uses Renoise in their step-by-step demos (the most recent issue about Ambient Music has such an example IIRC)?
I’m a big fan of Renoise, but demanding that it is considered equivalent to Ableton Live/Logic/Protools etc for general recording purposes is just unrealistic. This kind of use is what I bought REAPER for (I own both now).
In any case, should renoise really be punted as a mainstream DAW? I think the smaller community is something that really makes renoise cool… if it were to be made more mainstream, it would have to be “dumbed” down considerably : think piano roll, sequencer layout and no hex 
.
This post really nailed it. It’s why (in all respect) I can’t see Renoise as a ‘mature’ software yet, and maybe also why CM didn’t featured it in their article.
Vv mentioned some basic functionality that should be present in a DAW to be fully usable by any one.
Don’t get me wrong, Renoise is a really good feature packed piece of software and it’s my Nr.1.
But when the fundamentals are complete, it would not be an underdog anymore apart from it’s tracker nature.
funny how you can learn more from reading emu morpheus manual than every issue of cm+fm combined
Post of 2010!!
Yeah, the big thing about Renoise is that its the best Tracker. It´s an excellent sequencer for sure, and it´s a very different DAW. "
A different way to write music" Absolutely, thats a very important thing while most DAWs are the same thing.
I had been trying to get my “ideal DAW” for a long time… After Cakewalk Sonar, Traction1/2, EnergyXT1/2, some HW (Roland’s and Yamaha’s) I’ve finally found Renoise. I’ve to exploit it to fuller extent yet. Learning Renoise wasn’t easy but its distinguishable features made me to stick.
For first it almost never crash! (important to be able to focus on music entirely)
It’s quick, runs everywhere (important as at home I’ve Linux, in a studio it’s Mac) and just computer keyboard it’s enough to do a lot.
It’s flexible - via pattern editor, meta devices and interfaces options (on Linux LADSPA, DSSI, Windows VST via DSSI-VST bridge, all power of Jack routing…)
The way Renoise handles samples make it unsuited for multitrack works thought. However XRNS being self contained, plus automatic plugin sampling, makes archiving a breeze. I’ve dozen songs from over 10 years ago made in Cakewalk. Yes - it has bundles, midi/audio export but… by comparison Renoise makes archiving effortless.
Using Renoise is just… way if achieving peace of mind. 
Really, there needs to be a word beyond “DAW” and “sequencer”. A word that basically means “It’s not strictly a DAW, but a producer/musician could conceivably find this environment all he/she needs to ply their craft”. That’s the category in which I see applications like Renoise, Numerology, Metasynth, etc. You wouldn’t use them to record Weezer’s next studio album, but you could definitely use them to make an entire album of your own.
There are many “sequencers” of which that’s not true. So we need a word in the middle. Maybe ACME - Album-Capable Music Environment. 