Reaper...Is it an equal option?

[camerondye]

I downloaded Reaper and am interested in what people think of the program. I was reading all the specs on it and it seems that it is able to compete, It is getting updated a ton, and is a small program so it's easier on the computer. I put up a thread along the lines of "does Tracktion sound as good as others" and people kept saying Reaper. I have searched for more opinions about Reaper but it seems to be very scattered. What are the drawbacks/bonuses of Reaper and how has it handled recording audio?
Cameron

[manning1]

i'm biased.....i love reaper.
full stop.
i also love powertracks (very easy for beginners..and a raft of features for pro's also...).....both together i need nothing else.
both programs complement each other imho....cos one has features the other doesnt and vice versa.
the cost for both is under 100 buks.
and is a combo that beats much more expensive solutions imho.
reaper is superb for audio tracks and its host of audio features....
and huge built in effects suite.
powertracks is superb for its vast range of midi features and its no slouch in the audio recording side either...also has a vast range of audio effects.
both will let you record lots of tracks at once if you have the right sound device...
and a powerfull enough pc.
go to www.simpletonguru.com to hear what one powertracks user is producing with an inexpensive delta sound card and powertracks.
both support third party plug ins and softsynths....both dx and vst.
for example i am a huge fan of the powertracks echo/chorus plug in on vocals which i plug into vocal audio traks in reaper.
i love the fact i can use all the low resource consuming powertracks plug ins within reaper.
in a nutshell ive had experienced people over to my little studio blown away with what this combo does for such little money who say to me they wish they had known about the combo before spending lots of money.
my advise..get both.
(pgmusic.com for powertracks demo/other user references..if u doubt me.)
all the best.
ps..also check out band in a box at the pg site.
used by thousands of musicians for putting together v quickly and generating song ideas.
can save a lot of time.

[Geert van den Berg]

I demo'ed Reaper and think it's nice recording software, I didn't care for any of the bundled FX but it supports VST plugins so there's plenty of good plugs available to be used with it. IMHO the user interface is quite allright and customizable... and it uses very little system resources (hope it'll stay that way, once the software gets more mature...)

Hats off to the software designers...

[sam c]

I have been messing with Reaper a week or two. I am very impressed with it. It is feature rich and growing so fast it is hard to keep up with. Very clever programming with less bloat!!


I really don't know the drawbeacks yet. Maybe just the fact that it is still in it's early stages.

The positives are too many to list. But I woudl sure look close before I wrote it off!!!

[Solar]

Originally Posted by camerondye

I downloaded Reaper and am interested in what people think of the program. I was reading all the specs on it and it seems that it is able to compete, It is getting updated a ton, and is a small program so it's easier on the computer. I put up a thread along the lines of "does Tracktion sound as good as others" and people kept saying Reaper. I have searched for more opinions about Reaper but it seems to be very scattered. What are the drawbacks/bonuses of Reaper and how has it handled recording audio?
Cameron

I'm very happy that there is a thread talking about REAPER! Man Reaper is everything that you've ever think of in a DAW. No seriously, Reaper is a the smallest, fastest and growing DAw in the market. One thing that i've noticed with Reaper and that when i go back and think about Big DAW developpers such Sterinberg, Apple etc.. for not naming any, is that there is a small amount of people working behind REAPER including the master mind "Justin" and this little daw has now more feature in AUDIO Editing & Mixing more then what those major developpers have tried to achieve in 10 years business. Just one example, yesterday night, Justin with Reaper users (from getting feedback and request in the forum) Justin has ccome up with at leat like 10 featurs fixed and updates in a space of like 3 hours, i mean that was really ridiculous to see him going, i mean i never experience such thing with major developpers. I mean to have the opportunity to exchange with the guy that are coding and updating the software and try to fix things Live (realtime) etc.. that never happen and that is why a lot of PEOPLE using DAW are really intrested in Reaper and they are hooked and following its growing days.

Ok i'm not saying here that you should leave your Daw system that u're using now and jump into Reaper and forget ab out the one you've been using, no no no!! Simply, for 40$ i mean come on, wich DAW in the market can give you all the AUDIO possibilities that Reapers have for that "mediocre" price and stil;l have great update and fixes? If you could name any then i'll consider. Not like Digi who's trying to sell you everything, next they will sale you what?

My only advise is, yes Reaper is not a huge "Hype", Reaper is REAL and it worth to follow because its gonna put a shame a lot of DAW developper pretty soon. Give it the time. And while you are experiencing Reaper, you will feel yourself if the time is right for you to switch or not. As for the GUI look, true its not the most exciting one for now, but its customizable and the main principe behind reaper ain't the LOOK, its the WORKFLOW and man!! thats all i can say

Edit: By the way concerning Recording in REAPER is TOP NOTCH, the system and not the application use 64 bit engine and has more advanced audio feature that you would not think of!! And the think we can list a tons of what it can do but the best thing if "you try it and get your own conclusion"


Long life to REAPER!

TRY IT and BUY IT & never look back!!!

[statikcat]

Originally Posted by Solar

and this little daw has now more feature in AUDIO Editing & Mixing more then what those major developpers have tried to achieve in 10 years business.

This made me laugh. Discredit all the innovations and new ideas (of their time) other companies have accomplished over the years. Don't fool youself into thinking this DAW is a leader in audio editing etc.. unless you are an expert on other DAWS.. which I highly doubt.

Hey don't get me wrong rooting for the 'little guy' is totally cool but let's not overdo it k? Reaper fans are almost cult like it seems. Do you really think this guy makes his living on Reaper?.. You think he will keep charging 40$ if it gets bigger? He is going to have to hire a graphic designer, pay for expensive marketing, namm boths, etc if he is going to get anywhere and then you might see the cost going up quite a bit.

[sam c]

Originally Posted by statikcat

This made me laugh. Discredit all the innovations and new ideas (of their time) other companies have accomplished over the years. Don't fool youself into thinking this DAW is a leader in audio editing etc.. unless you are an expert on other DAWS.. which I highly doubt.

Yeah, nobody is an expert in all DAWS. More than anyone could accomplish unless that was their only focus. Then you might ask, why?, get a life!!

Hey don't get me wrong rooting for the 'little guy' is totally cool but let's not overdo it k? Reaper fans are almost cult like it seems. Do you really think this guy makes his living on Reaper?.. You think he will keep charging 40$ if it gets bigger? He is going to have to hire a graphic designer, pay for expensive marketing, namm boths, etc if he is going to get anywhere and then you might see the cost going up quite a bit.

Well now, be careful cause you are on the verge of being proved foolish! The "guy" doesn't make his living making Reaper. But, I am not sure that is the issue. Right now it is an application that is headed towards one of the finest DAW's available......that I am familiar with. And, I have too much time cause I no longer work so I have checked out a few!!

Reaper is new to me, just a few weeks. But check it out and compare to yours. I think that is the best way and it is what I am currently doing.

Oh yeah, google the main creator/programmer. You can apologize later!

[sam c]

dbl pst:(

[Phil Aiken]

Originally Posted by statikcat

This made me laugh. Discredit all the innovations and new ideas (of their time) other companies have accomplished over the years. Don't fool youself into thinking this DAW is a leader in audio editing etc.. unless you are an expert on other DAWS.. which I highly doubt.

Hey don't get me wrong rooting for the 'little guy' is totally cool but let's not overdo it k? Reaper fans are almost cult like it seems. Do you really think this guy makes his living on Reaper?.. You think he will keep charging 40$ if it gets bigger? He is going to have to hire a graphic designer, pay for expensive marketing, namm boths, etc if he is going to get anywhere and then you might see the cost going up quite a bit.

I wouldn't say it is a leader in editing....but it is close,if idiosyncratic, and it IS a leader in routing capabilities, speed of development, efficiency, small footprint, etc.

It lags behind the big companies offerings in midi capabilities, and as with all DAWS, one's personal preferences and workflow determine what is best.

Justin's business practices are fantastic. The demos are fully functional and not time limited. The copy protection is what I call "ethicsware" - as in there is no physical copy protection. The price of the software makes it silly to steal it anyway.

I am in the process of migrating away from PARIS, and have it, PTLE, Samplitude LE and Reaper loaded on my machine - working on demos and some roughs to get a good feel for each. I was leaning towards Samplitude PRO as my system of the future, but am more and more enamoured of Reaper as time goes on. I am planning on purchasing it shortly whether or not I plan on making it my main "hangout", as it does some very useful things.

I do not think that the developer is planning on skyrocketing the prices anytime soon.
If you google "Justin" and "Winamp" you can probably find some articles about his background.

Definitely play with it awhile before you write it off, and be sure to explore the keyboard shortcuts and user customization features. You may hit it off with it and may not, but it is certainly a very deep program for audio, and developing at an astounding rate.

-Phil

[statikcat]

Originally Posted by sam c

Yeah, nobody is an expert in all DAWS. More than anyone could accomplish unless that was their only focus. Then you might ask, why?, get a life!!



Well now, be careful cause you are on the verge of being proved foolish! The "guy" doesn't make his living making Reaper. But, I am not sure that is the issue. Right now it is an application that is headed towards one of the finest DAW's available......that I am familiar with. And, I have too much time cause I no longer work so I have checked out a few!!

Reaper is new to me, just a few weeks. But check it out and compare to yours. I think that is the best way and it is what I am currently doing.

Oh yeah, google the main creator/programmer. You can apologize later!

Don't get me wrong.. I have nothing against Reaper I am sure it is great especially for the money. My post was more based around the other guys attitude towards other DAWs and that the cheap cost is likely a leader to get it used more.. which is fine and smart. Again.. not a slam on Reaper.

[sam c]

Originally Posted by statikcat

Don't get me wrong.. I have nothing against Reaper I am sure it is great especially for the money. My post was more based around the other guys attitude towards other DAWs and that the cheap cost is likely a leader to get it used more.. which is fine and smart. Again.. not a slam on Reaper.

No prob statikcat. But maybe google the creator to see what you think the future is for Reaper. It is worth a few miniutes!

[Solar]

Originally Posted by statikcat

Don't get me wrong.. I have nothing against Reaper I am sure it is great especially for the money. My post was more based around the other guys attitude towards other DAWs and that the cheap cost is likely a leader to get it used more.. which is fine and smart. Again.. not a slam on Reaper.

By the way "staticat", sorry if i mislead you but my main point was not to bash on other Daws or to say that because of the price reaper is going to be used more.. hell no... And i myself am a Nuendo user so please trust me, what i was just saying is that its a bit a shame when you see big developers that are making us pay big money for their DAW and promising us Update & fix that takes months & year before they come up with what they promised to us ( Just a quick example, did you got the chance to go in Steinberg forum and read how USers are going crazy over Stein & Yamaha)? and that ain't fair and when you see a little DAW like REaper coming its way and when you look back, it makes you think twice and that is my case.. thats all!!!

And please do not get me wrong again, i ain't saying Reaper is going to be the Leading DAw on the market or not... but i'm sure its gonna go far and use what make your workflow better thats all!


Peace!!

[Timothy Lawler]

Long time Cubase and N-Track user here. Thumbs up for Reaper. Very good audio editing, routing, rendering.

Uses VST and DX plugs, as well as their own which I haven't tried to any extent.

[Fuzzhead]

Originally Posted by statikcat

This made me laugh. Discredit all the innovations and new ideas (of their time) other companies have accomplished over the years. Don't fool youself into thinking this DAW is a leader in audio editing etc.. unless you are an expert on other DAWS.. which I highly doubt.

Hey don't get me wrong rooting for the 'little guy' is totally cool but let's not overdo it k? Reaper fans are almost cult like it seems. Do you really think this guy makes his living on Reaper?.. You think he will keep charging 40$ if it gets bigger? He is going to have to hire a graphic designer, pay for expensive marketing, namm boths, etc if he is going to get anywhere and then you might see the cost going up quite a bit.

Hahaha.....seriously man you have no idea about Reaper or Justin. Really. Download a current version and educate yourself.

[cAPSLOCK]

Originally Posted by statikcat

Do you really think this guy makes his living on Reaper?.. You think he will keep charging 40$ if it gets bigger? He is going to have to hire a graphic designer, pay for expensive marketing, namm boths, etc if he is going to get anywhere and then you might see the cost going up quite a bit.

First of "this guy" might (I am not sure of this) be set for life from the sale of Winamp to AOL.

Second, I don't think you quite get it when it comes to this app. And I am NOT a cult member. I use other apps for my business right now.

But you pretty much just outlined exactly what the creators do NOT want the application to be.

And for as many people who walk around namm with their plastic bag full of plastic garbage chanting "digi, Digi, Digi Alsihad..." there are as many who want a slim efficient low hype application that is smart and minimalist.

Reaper wont need standard marketing to become a phenomenon any more than Winamp did.

cAPS

[Todd24]

Originally Posted by cAPSLOCK

And for as many people who walk around namm with their plastic bag full of plastic garbage chanting "digi, Digi, Digi Alsihad..." cAPS

ROTFLMAO

Reaper is just what a DAW program should be. Is it missing a feature important to you? Ask for it. I got two of them in the last 24 hours.

I have no need for any other DAW at this time.

By the way. I paid my 40 bucks after about 1 day of using it.......just because its that good.

[Finnish]

I bought FW1814 to get more I/O and used REAPER to record drums and later import those tracks to PTLE.. This was my plan, I was collecting money to get M-Powered. But, I'm using reaper 100% nowadays. Just lovin' it, everyday more and more.

[camerondye]

I am looking at it at my work currently, this weekend I am going to bring Reaper home at hook it up to my system and really check it out. I am currently happy on Tracktion, but Reaper seams to be almost equal (and better in some areas) and is a lot smaller program which seems a lot better to me. I have great VST plugins that are separate so if the VST's aren't the greatest with Reaper then I'm in the same boat as Tracktion. Tracktion's effects are just about useless. I just hope that Reaper is kept at the low price and really makes the other bigger guys work harder at putting out a decent product. Protools proprietory garbage is really annoying, i know there stuff is nice but I wan't to choose what I want to use. I don't want to bash anybody though, I just don't feel compelled to use 1 software over another because of the feeling that I have to use it because everybody else does. Congrats on the product and the great feedback I'm getting about the product so far.
Thanks,
Cameron

[Solar]

Originally Posted by camerondye

I am looking at it at my work currently, this weekend I am going to bring Reaper home at hook it up to my system and really check it out. I am currently happy on Tracktion, but Reaper seams to be almost equal (and better in some areas) and is a lot smaller program which seems a lot better to me. I have great VST plugins that are separate so if the VST's aren't the greatest with Reaper then I'm in the same boat as Tracktion. Tracktion's effects are just about useless. I just hope that Reaper is kept at the low price and really makes the other bigger guys work harder at putting out a decent product. Protools proprietory garbage is really annoying, i know there stuff is nice but I wan't to choose what I want to use. I don't want to bash anybody though, I just don't feel compelled to use 1 software over another because of the feeling that I have to use it because everybody else does. Congrats on the product and the great feedback I'm getting about the product so far.
Thanks,
Cameron

hey Cameron! Simply to answer your question about how Reaper handles VST plugins = No problem at all (well i'm talking in my experience with it) i never got any problem, it reads all vst plugins and man, one best and top thing i love about Reaper, you don have to wait after years before it scans the plugins, it a question of blinking you eye and band its UP & Running!!

Enjoy!! the best is yet to come..

[d. gauss]

i have several audio apps. in general, i don't use midi very often. just straight up live blues & rock n roll here. out of the bunch, reaper works best for ME, for what I do. as always, YMMV.

the speed of development, customer attention, and routing flexibilty are all excellent.

give it a shot.

-d. gauss

[Fuzzhead]

The bundled effects are pretty awesome actually, although their spartan GUIs might fool you, it's mostly sliders with no eyecandy...there's some unique stuff there though, eg Thunderkick and Hugebooty for kick and bass, all sorts of accurately modelled compressors, an amazing gate (ReaGate), a new expander and auto-expander, a great convolution reverb (ReaVerb), an autotune still being developed (ReaTune) etc etc. It proved to me a smart coder is worth more than a pile of digitools.

Current fx problems would be :

Some UAD-1 CPU munching...mostly on slower computers...and that's getting solved still, Justin only just got a card to check (UAD is totally unhelpful)

Waves is only working in DX on mine, seems to work on others though. Oh yes, Reaper runs DX as well as VST.

Almost the best thing about it is Bugs get fixed straight away! Hope it works out for you, there's a great forum at Cockos if you need any help. Cheers

[jackrabbit]

The routing is really, really really good.
The software updates are super fast, and the GUI is very customizable.

[camerondye]

I love my UAD-1, once you use those plugins its hard to go back to using other stuff. I have Melodyne for the Auto-Tune stuff which is amazing also. I am in the same boat as gauss, I don't use a lot of midi I record almost all the stuff I need to mix. I midi in some piano/organ in ever now and again but thats about the extent of my midi experience. I installed the program this morning at home and recorded a quick guitar part and it worked perfectly. I watched the videos to get an idea of the workflow and chose my RME FF800 and it started working. I'm curious if I can get the Latency settings as low or lower on Reaper as I could with Tracktion.
From your guys experience, does it record as well as the others doing multiple inputs at 24/96...say recording drums??? I do like having the mixing window on there, I think Tracktion should have at least the option of the mixing window IMO. I like Tracktions drag and drop VST's better, but Reapers way is good also...just different from I'm used to. It looks like audio editing is going to be as good or better. I initially like the look, I don't care about the fluff. The designers are working on the more important things first and that's the way it should be. I would much rather keep the program small as opposed to adding aesthetics. I am excited that this is going to be a great alternative to the big guys. Go Reaper!!!
Cameron

[manning1]

other advantages of rpr....
god there are many....
the frickin footprint for one.
on even a junk pc it loads fast.
the fact i can carry it around on a darn usb flash drive.
whatever anyone says.....i have a sneaky feeling the devs of reaper arent in it for the money. imho this app will continue to upset status quo.
looks like they already have loads of money.
worst case its good for the musician cos it will force larger companies to be competitive.
naysayers can say what they will.....the devs on this project i have a feeling are type A personalities and very gifted software engineers.
this app will dominate i suspect . cos of the personalities involved.

[Methlab]

Once they get MIDI on point with Cubase, I will be very interested in this software.

[True North]

I am relatively happy with SX3 so far but I have a couple of reapers questions;

1) Automatic Delay Compensation - I am ass-uming (maybe I shouldn't) that Reaper has ADC for software (I hope) but does it have it for external hardware?


2) Are there any Beat Detective type functions / plugs ?

[hgen]

I'm on the Samplitude Newsgroup, and a couple of the Brains there rate it up there with Sam in terms of features and say it is similar to Sam. It's right up there they say! I'm sure its gonna take off with that sort of start!

[hakkamacher]

Reaper's workflow is very logical and intuitive.

Justin listens to his users very closely, and very quickly integrates workflow suggestions into the interface. Aspects that have been favorites of other DAWS have been integrated into it, while avoiding obstacles/problems of those same DAWS that people don't like.

Unlike other DAWS it does not suffer from some strange dictate from above that governs all aspects of the UI; it's a pure hybrid approach, what works best is used. Where that same approach doesn't work it's ditched.

It's a DAW mongrel, and hybrid vigor tends to win out.

It's 64 bit. Does VST/VSTI. More stable than any DAW I've used. You can actually suggest things to the developers and they actually listen.
You can use your own hardware. Doesn't cost much. Why would I want to use another DAW...?

[hakkamacher]

Originally Posted by Methlab

Once they get MIDI on point with Cubase, I will be very interested in this software.

How is it not? Go to "Feature requests" http://www.cockos.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=20 and suggest why it's *not* there, and it will be there faster.

Features have been known to be added literally over night, BTW....

[BradD]

I checked out the Reaper cite and forum. It certainly looks like it has potential. However, when I looked at the list of features that users were requesting I saw a post for "pre and post roll." This seems to be a pretty basic feature that all the mainstream DAWs have. I would sure hate to do punch-ins without at least pre-roll.