Should I try reaper?

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:31 pm

i still use Cubase alot, like over 90% of the time.

Reaper is great for certain things, but i need the "fake mixer" eye candy of Cubase cos perhaps i'm so dense or ossified or something that i need to be shown pretty pictures that relate to what i learned to record on.

a friend of mine has been using Sonar since v2 and is still in love with it.

dubphaser · Post by **dubphaser** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:18 pm

Inverse- I've recently been digging into Reaper, mainly using it as a host for softsynths and guitar effects. I haven't used it seriously for mixing anything yet. It's a super flexible DAW, very lean, lots of cool features, etc... but...

inverseroom wrote:...#2 is that a bus "track" is indistinguishable from an audio "track."

Same thing in Reaper. Tracks are tracks are tracks. You can send any signal(s) from any track(s) to any other track(s). Confusing at first, but easy to wrap your head
around once you play around with it.

Knights Who Say Neve · Post by **Knights Who Say Neve** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:37 pm

I've been using Reaper for a while now. As a host for Mobius (a multi-track looping program), and as a editing/ mixdown program for stuff recorded elsewhere and dumped into the computer. The edits I do aren't super-elaborate, mostly just cleanup of live takes, volume automations and the occasional cut and paste, but the program hasn't gotten in my way. Very straightforward.

kojdogg · Post by **kojdogg** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:26 am

Yeah another happy Reaper user here. I've been using Logic 8 more since switching to Mac, but I still use Reaper on my PC. Once Reaper matures for OSX I will probably get another license too for the times when I don't feel like dealing with all the extra steps in Logic. It's simple, powerful, and robustly supported (I lose track of all of the updates). It has an uncrippled demo, so you might just want to install it and try it out for the 30 demo period to see if you like it.
One of the best things about it for me was that I installed it, it worked perfectly, and was intuitive enough that I could just start using it w/in minutes.
________
Bondage Discipline

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:34 am

pixeltarian wrote:well shoot man, I like the volume/pan mixers. you know why? because I don't have to switch back and forth or open and close a mixer window! that's crappy workflow if you ask me. tracktion has it all right in front of you.

I think perhaps tracktion is just the best for the type of recording I do. I don't get into mixing and producing a lot. I just record 1 or two tracks at a time and do my editing right then. Then I just keep tweaking things until it sounds right. I just play around I guess. If I was mixing someone else's stuff and it was super serious I might want to use something else...

I kind of wonder why no one uses Live as their main daw solution. it seems pretty capable...

I demoed Live when I was choosing a DAW...I got totally lost! I think for certain types of music, it's indispensible...but I couldn't wrap my head around it.

And as for T3 having it all right in front of you...you're right, that is the best thing about it. It looks like I would have no trouble though configuring Reaper so that there's a mixer along the bottom of the screen and my collapsed tracks at the top, with the track I'm recording expanded.

Don't take any of this as Tracktion bashing. I think it's awesome.

jv · Post by jv » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:46 am

formzero wrote:inverse.
seriously check out sawstudio.
the basic version is only 300 bucks and it's work flow is completely like you are using a tape machine and console.

it's "indie" in that it only has one developer who has been at this shit for years and the application is stupid stable.

i've heard people save they don't like the way it looks, but i think these skins look great:

http://www.thessvideos.com/skins/hooloo ... oovool.jpg
http://www.thessvideos.com/skins/pipenite/pipenitel.jpg

anyway, just another idea. you can grab the demo and play with it.

+1
I've been using the SAW stuff for 12+ years, and I've tried demos of some of the other programs and I always find myself going back to SAW.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:15 am

Well, I've just spent two hours with Reaper and so far I'm very pleased. I rendered a bunch of WAV's from two T3 projects and started Reaper project folders for them...imported...did a quickie mix...piece of cake. You can dock everything...sounds good...batch volume and pan adjustments...skinnable...can't find anything to complain about yet. Also YOU CAN APPLY EFFECTS TO FOLDER TRACKS. God knows why T3 hasn't implemented this. THANK FUCKING GOD. If you want a quickie way to smash the whole drum kit without setting up a bus, there you have it.

Is there any way to resize all tracks at once, BTW? When it's time to mix I won't need the volume and pan controls visible on the track controls...will I have to manually resize them all, or is there a collapse all tracks option?

kronosonic · Post by **kronosonic** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:07 pm

inverseroom wrote:Well, I've just spent two hours with Reaper and so far I'm very pleased. I rendered a bunch of WAV's from two T3 projects and started Reaper project folders for them...imported...did a quickie mix...piece of cake. You can dock everything...sounds good...batch volume and pan adjustments...skinnable...can't find anything to complain about yet. Also YOU CAN APPLY EFFECTS TO FOLDER TRACKS. God knows why T3 hasn't implemented this. THANK FUCKING GOD. If you want a quickie way to smash the whole drum kit without setting up a bus, there you have it.

Is there any way to resize all tracks at once, BTW? When it's time to mix I won't need the volume and pan controls visible on the track controls...will I have to manually resize them all, or is there a collapse all tracks option?

Yeah, you can. I'm not in front of it at the moment, but, you can collapse all tracks with a click and then open them back up, etc.

If you plan on sticking with Reap you need the manual.
and some time working through it...

also search the very good forum...

as for the routing, I doubt there's another daw that is as good as reap in the routing dept. Basically, send any signal to any place. Period.

kronosonic · Post by **kronosonic** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:08 pm

Oh, and grab a few of the skins for enhances aesthetics if needed. many to chose from

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:15 pm

kronosonic wrote:Oh, and grab a few of the skins for enhances aesthetics if needed. many to chose from

Already found a good one, and customized the crap out of it. Looks like a million bucks. Skinning is ace, I wish all the DAWs did it.

CPU is rock solid. No glitching, no spikes, even with 14 effects and 16 audio tracks going at once. I think I'm a convert.

segaface · Post by **segaface** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:52 pm

inverseroom wrote: Already found a good one, and customized the crap out of it. Looks like a million bucks. Skinning is ace, I wish all the DAWs did it.

CPU is rock solid. No glitching, no spikes, even with 14 effects and 16 audio tracks going at once. I think I'm a convert.

I've been thinking about making this jump from Tracktion, too. I especially want to try ReaInsert. Keep us posted on your likes/dislikes.

JamesHE · Post by **JamesHE** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:20 pm

I've been a REAPER user for over a year now.

I came from Vegas and ACID, (and SAMP for MAstering) so the early REAPER was easy for me to get into.

REAPER is almost too customizable, but that is it's greatest asset. It's almost like you create your own DAW. or maybe a choose your own adventure novel. lol.

I understand what you mean about pining for a possible better DAW inverseroom. I still check out Samplitude every new version, (look at my wallet and pass) but I think REAPER is it for me.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:10 am

I really, really liked Acid, actually. My only real gripes were that 1) audio recording was weak, even in v6, and 2) the most important thing, hardly any of my favorite plugins worked, and when I posted about this, with elaborate technical details, on Sony's forum, the moderator kept popping up telling me it was the developer's fault.

Evilspidey · Post by **Evilspidey** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:58 pm

inverseroom wrote:Is there any way to resize all tracks at once, BTW? When it's time to mix I won't need the volume and pan controls visible on the track controls...will I have to manually resize them all, or is there a collapse all tracks option?

Try this:

Ctrl Shift Up = Zoom in vertical
Ctrl Shift Down = Zoom out vertical

- spidey

foxystoat · Post by **foxystoat** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:19 am

inverseroom,

EDIT: I just realized how long ago the last post was, so you may have figured this out by now, but...

You can also cycle through the horizontal/vertical zoom in/out views by double-clicking on the respective scrollbars themselves. If you move off to the side of a scrollbar a 'handle' will become active with which you can click->hold, and drag to your hearts content.

REAPER is so, so super-nifty that I can't fathom using anything else nowadays. Paired with Reason and Renoise (the three R's, heh), it is the perfect setup for myself. And Justin is a pillar example of a good developer in a sea of half-assed, lazy ones.

Hope you stick with it.

Not to hijack the thread in any way, but have you looked in to Renoise? It too is super-nifty, but a completely different paradigm (tracker vs. traditional DAW).

http://www.renoise.com/

If nothing else, you could create some wyked-asz-phat-phunky-beatz.

Seriously, you can do some really interesting programming, it has neat-o built-in effects and a good community behind it.

Regards,
Benjamin W.

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Should I try reaper?

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