I quit my DAW!!! -> Adobe Audition

I’ve spent the last year in Adobe Audition CS5.5 learning the basics of mixing. I’ve picked up alot, and I’m ready to move on to a better DAW. I feel like I’m being limited by my DAW!

My first choice was Pro Tools since it’s industry standard + I hope to learn it one day. But after I investigated some more, I found that Reaper would probably be a better first step to make. Based on your experiences, do you agree with this?

1. Is Reaper enough of a step-up from Adobe Audition to allow me to learn more professional mixing/mastering techniques? (Adobe Audition is missing alot, including sidechaining and countdown punching-in)

2. Would learning Reaper help me when I eventually try to learn Pro Tools?