Reaper: finally made the switch

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getreel
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Reaper: finally made the switch

Post by getreel » Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:13 am

I recently switched to Reaper after attempting various methods of working with other DAWs. I own Logic Pro 9 and run that on my Macbook but my big DAW system at home is Windows 7! Sure, I could use my Macbook Pro with an adapter for firewire to my Audiofire 12s, but the small screen and well, I just like working with Windows DAWs even though the Mac IS much more stable. Reaper runs on both which is great and then once I installed the White Tie theme, Dead Ringer, I was just hooked. I tried Reaper a few times in the last few years and it just seemed more complicated than I had time to learn. I think that was back on version 3. I'm using 4.31 now and finally bought the license after I tested it a few weeks. Now I'm starting to get the hang of Reaper and I just find more and more to love about it. Plus it's more fairly priced and very fast and stable. I use a Duende mini as well as many many other plugins and Reaper handles all of it without a glitch, something I could never say about Sonar, the PC DAW I am most familiar with. My buddies at the studio where I work part time are divided on Sonar(they have X1). The main engineer loves it, but he's not that great with computers in general and I suspect he just doesn't want to learn anything new having used Sonar since version 7. The other new guy up there hates X1 and uses Pro Tools with his own rig. I put the Reaplugs on one of the systems up there and the new guy loves them I love the JS plugins and I even find ReaTune to be a great alternative to AutoTune or Melodyne which is such a resource hog. So are there still lots of Reaper users here on TOMB? What do you guys like about it compared to other DAWs. I am just scratching the surface but am using it very successfully so far now that I've skimmed the manual and perused the forums. Good stuff and I just love looking at the Mixer with the White Tie theme. So pretty!
Last edited by getreel on Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by kevin206 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:21 am

I dabble with Reaper. I like it because it's fairly priced, the 'trial' doesn't expire so I can take a little longer to learn it and even try it on different machines, and they have a great user forum that is really helpful.

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Post by dfuruta » Mon Dec 31, 2012 10:10 am

Reaper's great. I used to use Logic, but Reaper is (for me) more stable, has more flexible & powerful routing, and allows more kinds of plugins (au and vst).

I don't do anything fancy, but for general recording, editing, and mixing there aren't any problems that bother me.

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Post by GooberNumber9 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:15 am

Doing an EP or something like that with my band currently in Reaper since we don't want to spring for anything more serious. I'm surpirsed at how much it works for me and how bad it doesn't sound. I'm just using the included plug-ins and I'm pretty happy. For $60 I'm over-the-moon happy. It did take me a while to customize it to my workflow, and I still miss Pro Tools, but again: $60!

getreel
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Post by getreel » Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:46 pm

EVen though the price is low, I think Reaper is a very professional product. It is so stable and so functional with many high end features. Also 64 bit internal makes headroom great. I'm finding it' easier to get my mixes sounding like I want faster now that I've learned a bit about how to use it. It's one of those things that gives back for the amount of time you put into learning it. Plus, the great themes look better than most DAWs. I also love the Performance meter which shows more detail than most about what in your mix is using the most CPU etc. I'm going to stick with Reaper and with the fair pricing, I can actually upgrade when I need to although I'll get 2 versions worth with my current license. That is just great!
Last edited by getreel on Sat Feb 16, 2013 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

Rikharthu
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Post by Rikharthu » Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:44 pm

Started on Audacity (still a great tool), switched to FL Studio (haha!), switched to Sonar, switched to Samplitude, switched to Reaper. Tried many others along the way. Now I'm staying put...never said that with any of the other DAWs. I don't know, everything just seems to work, and the GUI stays out of my way.

I'm a bit odd, though. I can't stand 'high def' user interfaces with shadowing and bubbly faders and knobs and such, so I use the Classic theme (I'm on WinXP with classic theme enabled too, so it fits in better). Looks great to me. But I also think small children are vomiting on the blueprints for modern cars, and everyone else loves them, so what is my opinion worth?

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Post by kslight » Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:03 am

I used Reaper as the DAW on the secondary recorder for a couple of live concerts I've done (the primary recording being on an HD24XR) and it worked fine, but I guess I wasn't thoroughly impressed, not enough to buy it...I ended up just installing Pro Tools 9 on that laptop instead (which i already own on my desktop) and using that for shows after that. The thing about Pro Tools is that because I've used it so long, I'm super fast with shortcuts and its interface, it would take a long time I think to achieve the same level of (user) efficiency within Reaper for me, and without a doubt because I use multiple PTHD and LE systems for my work it wouldn't make a ton of sense for me to switch back and forth between DAWs.

For my secondary DAW I really like using Reason, its very fast to use and allows me a lot of creative effects...though not as strong in the editing department it works really well when I do remixes. For my tertiary DAW I've been learning Ableton, which is also pretty interesting for doing remixes, but perhaps requires a little bit more preliminary work to become functional for me in this style.

getreel
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Post by getreel » Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:31 am

I liked Record which is now a part of Reason and I've used Ableton a bit and like that as well. However, since I don't use that much MIDI stuff, I am loving Reaper for recording and mixing. We are lucky there are so many good DAW products out there. I also own Harrison Mixbus which actually sounds great and I don't mind the workflow either but it's plugin limitations of only mono plugins on mono tracks kills it for me when mixing. I use a lot of inserts and I just can't get all my plugs to work in Mixbus. It's another that has both Windows and Mac versions. I've actually owned it since version 1 and bought the upgrade this past summer. Both were more expensive than Reaper and I like Reaper better overall. Mixbus does sound better however if that's even possible that one DAW sounds better than another. I don't want to open that debate again though I do think Reaper sounds better than Sonar. My mixes come together faster in Reaper than Sonar.

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Post by germaniac » Tue Jan 01, 2013 4:27 pm

Glad to see this topic on TOMB. I won't embarrass myself by telling what ancient software I use now, but suffice it to say I know I'll have to get current eventually. Reaper looks intuitive and supposedly mixes/renders accurately. Having had a chance to tinker with Logic and Sonar X1, I find the navigation of both gets on my nerves. Reaper also fits my cheap-bastard budget. I haven't actually taken the plunge yet, but will keep an eye/ear on this thread for more first-hand testimonials. . . .

Thanks,
Joe

getreel
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Post by getreel » Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:37 pm

Definitely look into Reaper. The trail version doesn't expire and doesn't even bug you for 60 days. It's a great DAW in my opinion and I've been using DAWs since Pro Tools 3 in 1997!

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Post by germaniac » Mon Jan 21, 2013 5:16 pm

Okay, finally got Reaper up and running last week. Auspicious beginnings--program loaded easy and started working right away. I haven't got very deep into it yet, but so far, I've got sort of a crush on it. ;)

Likes:

--Seems stable and fast, lean coding
--Almost totally customizable to my established habits
--Fairly intuitive. Click around, and it's where you think it should be
--Lots of built-in plugs that sound good and don't hog the CPU
--EQ with UNLIMITED BANDS and a BUILT-IN SPECTRUM ANALYZER!

I have a lot more to learn, but I'm thinking seriously about making the big commitment. My only concern is whether Cockos/Reaper will be around for the long-haul (say ten years plus), or if they plan to eventually sell out to some bigger fish. I have this recurring nightmare that one day, all the software in the world will be owned by Adobe. :kotzen:

Joe

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Post by Bro Shark » Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:24 pm

germaniac wrote:Okay, finally got Reaper up and running last week. Auspicious beginnings--program loaded easy and started working right away.
Hmm, must be something wrong. Did you try trashing prefs, rolling back drivers, adjusting BIOS, disabling RAID, shutting down every other running process, reverting to basic graphics mode, disabling wifi, and otherwise surrendering your machine's entire set of resources to it?




^^sarcasm

germaniac
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Post by germaniac » Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:54 pm

Bro Shark wrote:^^sarcasm
TRUTH--gotta laugh to keep from crying! . . .

Hey, I'm not a fkkn computer tech, I'm just a lowly musician, right? And this is why I'm only now getting ready to leave behind software that, as a DAW, is VERY outdated: because it just works, instead of giving me ulcers, insomnia, paranoia, pessimism, cynicism, alopecia, depression, and general bummer fatigue. As far as all that, Reaper hasn't given me anything but a case of good vibes and some new enthusiasm up to this point. . . .

Then again, maybe it's too soon to tell. . . . :wink:

Joe

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Post by EasyGo » Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:54 pm

I switched over to Reaper about a year and a half ago. Really intuitive but very powerful and customizable. Also very solid and stable. I don't think I've ever crashed it. I would really love it if it had a stereo editor, but it's not a big deal. The only thing that gives me trouble is some delay compensation issues with some of the plugins, particularly the distortion and JS amp modelers (which I love). I'm sure there's a solution or workaround though.

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Post by numberthirty » Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:51 pm

germaniac wrote:My only concern is whether Cockos/Reaper will be around for the long-haul (say ten years plus), or if they plan to eventually sell out to some bigger fish. I have this recurring nightmare that one day, all the software in the world will be owned by Adobe. :kotzen:

Joe
I think it has been a commercial product since around 2008. It seems like it was freeware/shareware for a few years before that(maybe 2006?).

That would put it at maybe seven years along.

I like to believe that they will be around for a while.

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