Reaper: Is it any good?

[ecktronic]

Just found out that Reaper is inda shareware, so I downloaded it.

Are there any commonly known bad sides to Reaper?
For example does it handle VST and DirectX plug ins well?

Cheers,
Eck

[zed32]

what software are you used to using? chances are, Reaper does whatever your old software does, but easier and more efficiently. i love it.

[true-eurt]

I downloaded that today too...actually two of them, but have not had a chance to read the manual or anything.

Reaper 1.886 and 1.888....what is the difference in the two programs..one just an upgrade of the other?

[kubeek]

See the change list or whatever it is called, 1.888 is just a bit more debugged and slightly better than 1.886.

[pipelineaudio]

1.888 is ancient, the 2.0 betas feature elastique pitch modes and then some

[true-eurt]

Okay, thanks...I just downloaded the 2.0 betas.

[travelin travis]

reaper is kick arse. some are wanting better midi editing and automation. for my current needs and forseeable needs, reaper has it all 99% covered and then some.

hey true, read the users guide thinga ma jig. reaper is well documented and there are plenty of other ways to learn like pipeline's videos, the chat room, the forum, the manaul..........everything but a 24 hour phone support system. (holy shit that job would suck).

[Slowrider]

{{Reaper: Is it any good? }}

I bought Reaper 2 wks. ago, and a Presonus Firepod tonight........so it'd better be damn good.

If I can understand the terminology, should be able to figure it out, maybe

4 yrs. from now, maybe I'll post a tune or two

[Slowrider]

Hey Pipeline, Is this for vocal correction?[[elastique pitch modes]]?

[pipelineaudio]

Originally Posted by Slowrider

Hey Pipeline, Is this for vocal correction?[[elastique pitch modes]]?

It can be, but also for timestretching and general pitch duties

Its in reatune now, and hopefully we will see some real harmonizers

[Rokket]

Reaper Rawkz!!!!

I bought it a couple months ago, and have 1.888.

I can't believe how much better my songs sound over Vegas...

[jpmorris]

Originally Posted by ecktronic

Are there any commonly known bad sides to Reaper?

It doesn't seem to support SMPTE lockup, which makes it totally useless for me

[true-eurt]

Originally Posted by TravisinFlorida

reaper is kick arse. some are wanting better midi editing and automation. for my current needs and forseeable needs, reaper has it all 99% covered and then some.

hey true, read the users guide thinga ma jig. reaper is well documented and there are plenty of other ways to learn like pipeline's videos, the chat room, the forum, the manaul..........everything but a 24 hour phone support system. (holy shit that job would suck).

Thanks Travis, I will. I have most likely just downloaded, one more program to drive me nuts!!

[pipelineaudio]

Originally Posted by jpmorris

It doesn't seem to support SMPTE lockup, which makes it totally useless for me

what are you chasing?

[jpmorris]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

what are you chasing?

A TSR-8. Currently I'm using SONAR for the composition and Rosegarden for the performance, since SONAR can be flaky with SMPTE. Rosegarden isn't perfect but it does the job, is free, and doesn't need Windows.

Basically I work by sequencing in SONAR, and then laying the sequence down on tape track by track, usually using Rosegarden since it generally has tighter sync, which is very important when you're working on a 26-minute song.
Now I'd love to get shot of SONAR, but Rosegarden isn't as intuitive and at present it only works on one platform as well, which is the trap I'm trying to get out of. Reaper seems to work on Win32 and the MacOS, which is a good start and I've heard rumours that it will work in Linux through WINE et al.

So yeah, I guess I could try using Reaper/Rosegarden instead of SONAR/Rosegarden, but it would be nice to have the whole thing in one program.

[pipelineaudio]

Chase will be added soon, but why in the world would you chase tape with a computer? REAPER will send sync as audio or MTC, and you can even edit the smpte track as you would any other track.

I know some TSR-8's can chase sync, not sure if that was stock or as an option though

[jpmorris]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

Chase will be added soon, but why in the world would you chase tape with a computer?

Because it's way easier than making the tape chase the computer. All you need is a generic MIDI-SMPTE bridge.

If you really meant "Why are you using tape at all", that's a different question. The quick and easy reason is "Yes, it could all be done with the computer but that would be very boring". There are other answers as well, but we'd derail the thread. The original question, when it comes down to it was "what are the drawbacks of Reaper?" And lack of Chase support is one of them. Good to hear it is likely to be fixed soon

I know some TSR-8's can chase sync, not sure if that was stock or as an option though

Currently I have the gear to make two decks chase each other... chasing a MIDI signal might just be feasible but it would be far from pleasant.

[ecktronic]

Originally Posted by zed32

what software are you used to using? chances are, Reaper does whatever your old software does, but easier and more efficiently. i love it.

Thanks all for the replies.
Zed32, I use Cubase SX3 at the moment. I love it although the routing isn't the best at all. Not enough options.

I don't see my VST plugs in Reaper though. I see some VST ones but not all of the ones I have like Gclip and SIR etc.

How good is the automation? Can you automate everything, and is it easy to automate? I really like Cubase automation, pretty dang easy, same idea as Pro Tools automation I suppose.

Cheers,
Eck

[AMTA]

I love Reaper, but I had to dump it due to limitations with tempo changes in MIDI.

Once Justin splits the Time Sig/Tempo change tools into two functions, and allows me to do tempo changes OFF the grid, then I'll be back to Reaper in the blink of an eye.

[pipelineaudio]

Originally Posted by jpmorris

Because it's way easier than making the tape chase the computer. All you need is a generic MIDI-SMPTE bridge.

If you really meant "Why are you using tape at all", that's a different question. The quick and easy reason is "Yes, it could all be done with the computer but that would be very boring". There are other answers as well, but we'd derail the thread. The original question, when it comes down to it was "what are the drawbacks of Reaper?" And lack of Chase support is one of them. Good to hear it is likely to be fixed soon


Currently I have the gear to make two decks chase each other... chasing a MIDI signal might just be feasible but it would be far from pleasant.

It wouldnt be midi, as I said above, reaper will generate SMPTE * AS audio and/or MTC* and you can edit the smpte track as you could any other audio track

Chasing an unstable device with a stable one is usually backwards. Back in the day, we'd alwyas have analog tape recorders chasing the digital tape recorders, with unpleasant results when going the other way

Again, this will be added soon, but I still wouldnt chase a tape recorder with a computer if I had the choice

[pipelineaudio]

Originally Posted by AMTA

I love Reaper, but I had to dump it due to limitations with tempo changes in MIDI.

Once Justin splits the Time Sig/Tempo change tools into two functions, and allows me to do tempo changes OFF the grid, then I'll be back to Reaper in the blink of an eye.

Im not exactly sure what the problem is, but I know some tempo stuff has been changed in beta 12...does that fix the problem for you?

[jpmorris]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

Chasing an unstable device with a stable one is usually backwards. Back in the day, we'd alwyas have analog tape recorders chasing the digital tape recorders, with unpleasant results when going the other way

Ah... I think you're under the impression that I'm going to be using Reaper for audio. Reaper's job would be to drive the synthesizers, using an MTC signal from tape. Yes, I've tried syncing audio (softsynths in fact) and the results were horrific, but that's not what I'm doing. Just MIDI, as was often done in the 80s.

[AMTA]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

Im not exactly sure what the problem is, but I know some tempo stuff has been changed in beta 12...does that fix the problem for you?

I just upgraded to 2.0 today and I couldn't be happier! Fixed all my tempo problems. It works great now. I can do tempos off the grid just like I need to, without affecting the settings of the previous marker.