Calling Reaper Users

[jac79dj]

Hey all i keep seing reaper come up in forums.
ive looked through the main website and i must say it looks interesting and tempting at the price but what i want to know is your experiences good or bad in using it.
would be glad to hear what you have to say

[ArDee]

i used to use Acid pro and Fl studio, I started using reaper about a year ago, took a few weeks to get to know it and now use it exclusively, just don't need anything else, except plugins

[Ian B (again)]

I've used Reaper for a while, but like Tracktion, the midi side is the weakest point, it's basic at best, but unlike Tracktion which now appears to be all but abandoned, Reaper keeps being improved and hopefully the midi aspect will follow. The routing possibilities are amazing

Once you have got your head round the basics, Reaper is a breeze to use and is rock solid and at the *non pro* price, is a steal imo. The hardest part has been keeping up with the updates, tho' they have slowed recently.

[jac79dj]

the things that have caught my attention are the 'skinable' interface and the routing but is it worth the gamble of switching from sonar 7 producer?

[Ian B (again)]

Originally Posted by jac79dj

the things that have caught my attention are the 'skinable' interface and the routing but is it worth the gamble of switching from sonar 7 producer?

At the price, Reaper isn't much of a gamble is it? I would imagine you'd miss the piano roll from Sonar, especially if you're used to in depth midi editing, but beyond that give Reaper a try, you have nothing to lose. I'm pretty sure there's still free versions available, just remember things have come a long way since then, but the basics are still pretty much the same. It's amazing just how much power/funtionality they're managed to squeeze into a 3.5mb app.

[Grunfeld.]

Originally Posted by jac79dj

Hey all i keep seing reaper come up in forums.
ive looked through the main website and i must say it looks interesting and tempting at the price but what i want to know is your experiences good or bad in using it.
would be glad to hear what you have to say

Reaper is excellent.

I used to record in Sonar all the time then for some reason Sonar 6 didn't get on with my PC and I had to find something else so I started using Reaper. I.e. at first I was forced into it! Initially I resented the learning curve but I had to get on with it -- and it didn't really take that long to get used to it.

Now I use Reaper at least half the time; Sonar 8 PE the other half.

Reaper is fast to fire up; very efficient for CPU usage; easy to customise (I now have everything in templates -- a big time saver); and a totally flexible and powerful routing system.

I can't really fault it tbh. The MIDI editor may not be powerful enough for really serious high-end users (apparently) but it's done everything I've ever thrown at it. I suppose it would be nice if it was in-line MIDI like SONAR but other than that I can't think of anything bad about Reaper.

Easiest thing to do is try the demo. I reckon it took me about a month at most to become nippy at working in it. Like I said, I probably wouldn't have bothered if I hadn't had to because I was very happy with Sonar (and still am now it's back up and running).

Just remembered!! Reaper is very much about working with KEYSTROKES, not icons. As a Sonar user, where there must be about 90 icons (until I customised) the keystroke thing was at first a pain in the arse BUT BUT BUT -- it is now without any doubt at all the FASTEST way of working once you've learned them. (I got so into this way of doing things that I forced myself to learn SONAR with keystrokes too).


Oli

I still record with SONAR 8 PE too btw just because I like it! And it's got some very good plug-ins (which half the time I use in Reaper lol ) So it's not really about having to switch from one to the other. I like working in both!

[jac79dj]

useful to know many thanks its more as a second system to use between me and my partner in crime to send whole projects between each other as at the moment we have invested in diferent platforms. her on traktion me on sonar and it seems an ideal solution

[Grunfeld.]

Got to be worth giving it a go. And Clare will probably make the transition to Reaper very easily because like Tracktion its default is an all-in-one-window view (again, very customisable; which is really useful to have your different views at a keystroke for such-and-such a track you're editing; or mixing a piece; and so on).

I've just checked to see if Reaper imports/exports OMF but it doesn't, which is a pity cos then you and Clare could just use those.

I've done collaborations with other Sonar users before and it has been effortless; I've never collab'd with another Reaper user so far so I don't know what it's like -- can't be that much of a problem though.

[TheDriller]

definatly worth giving it a shot.
i used Reaper exclusivly until recently (switched to Logic Pro 8 on a Mac). Reaper is a great program, the routing is great. give it a try.

my only problem with Reaper is the fairly shady plugins that are bundled with it. i wouldn't expect much for the price anyway but only the EQ is worth using, which means you either need to pay out for good plugins or get freeware ones.

and i found the MIDI editing to be fine and functional.

[jac79dj]

its fine i own the urs everything eq suite