Reaper

[nickmoore]

How about a DAW with unlimited (full) evaluation license and moderately priced non commercial/commercial licenses?

I've tried out Reaper and it seems to be great for me, there is a lot of functionality and plug-in support, and 64-bit friendly!

Anyone have any opinions on this software?

It's a very small download, can be got from here:

REAPER

Feel free to discuss

[Ian B]

Hi Nick,

I have Reaper and think it's great, the routing options are superb. I can't quite agree on the pricing tho', the non commercial license is a steal at the price, but the commercial license is way overpriced imo, for what is the same app.

Another downside for me, and others, is that the midi side is a tad basic. It's functional at best, tho' to be fair, Reaper did start out audio-centric, and the midi is improving, but it's got some way to go to be up there with the 'big boys'

I've seen people actually complain about the frequency of updates, tho' they are not as regular now, it's still gotta be better than waiting months for fixes or new features.

Ian

[Failed Muso]

Reaper is the mutts nuts !! It's unbelievable at that price point, i.e free !! It's that good that not buying a licence is positively rude !!

Seriously, it is a cracking DAW and today has just seen it get a major update (2.5) that features, amongst many other things, full REX2 support

To not try this is to miss out on one of the best DAW's out there, payware or otherwise.

[Monarch]

Reaper is certainly a powerful app. I read this spec page and was immeadiately impressed...but that was over a year ago...it has had many updates since then and I suspect that page has, as well.

Impressive.

It's interesting to see how popular it is even though it has had little press. But it has had some very vocal forum exposure. I guess it worked.

[sureno]

Im no user of this D.A.S but from what iv seen it is the only one that is continually being updated regularly whether its because it's full of bugs or what i like to think that they have a pretty on the point dev team but im too set in my way to go down this route now, may be if i was new to it though

[Monarch]

Originally Posted by sureno

Im no user of this D.A.S but from what iv seen it is the only one that is continually being updated regularly whether its because it's full of bugs or what i like to think that they have a pretty on the point dev team but im too set in my way to go down this route now, may be if i was new to it though

I think the Dev (Frankel) or devs with Christophe I think...prefer to add features and fix as they go. You do get a stable and reliable enough app (very IMO) so no beta as such, but if nothing else updating the manual might not be that easy with such a regular update model.

While there are different opinions on Reapers stability (same with any host I guess) the demand for more regular features definitely drives the devs to add them and fix any bugs that might slip through the net.

Midi seems to be one of the most sought after areas for improvement.

[mrfracas]

Wasn't Reaper developed by the same folks who brought you WinAmp (aka Nullsoft)? I think my knowledge is a little foggy on this'un.

A good friend of mine who writes metal uses Reaper; and he couldn't praise it more. He dropped Cubase after a personal distaste - having used it for only 2 years - and decided to opt for this. His music sounds remarkably better for it. Which just proves that you can't write great music unless you're happy with your gear!

I don't think Reaper would be for me. Very little from other DASs ( hrmph) has attracted me; besides the features in Logic, Live and Pro Tools. However, I was very impressed with the stability, and would recommend it to anyone who wanted to compose with a DAS on a budget. So, +1 on bringing it up.

Oh, and I think the colour scheme is quite attractive too.

[Monarch]

Originally Posted by mrfracas

Wasn't Reaper developed by the same folks who brought you WinAmp (aka Nullsoft)? I think my knowledge is a little foggy on this'un.

Yep. Nullsoft. The very same guy is behind Reaper and worth millions. Justin Frankel.

A good friend of mine who writes metal uses Reaper; and he couldn't praise it more. He dropped Cubase after a personal distaste - having used it for only 2 years - and decided to opt for this. His music sounds remarkably better for it. Which just proves that you can't write great music unless you're happy with your gear!

It appears there are many users of more feature packed apps that are now quite happy to make do with less features in Reaper if it means they can enjoy what they do. So yes I agree one must be happy with a host (feature packed or not) to get the most out of it.