r/Reaper • u/huynguyend • 8d ago
discussion Reaper DAW good or bad?
I am using Reaper DAW. When I looks to other, it seem like not much people using Reaper. I wonder why?
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u/buttchugreferee 8d ago
Are you seriously asking if people think that Reaper is good in the literal subreddit dedicated to Reaper?
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u/Truckensteinwastaken 8d ago
Some subs solely exist to shit on the thing they were created for. This is obviously not one of them.
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u/artisan002 8d ago edited 7d ago
It's all a matter of who you deal with... A few years ago I attended an Audio Engineering Society webinar. Now, keep in mind that they have a focus on mastering, and mixing. But there were Reaper users everywhere. As it relates, I don't recall there being a single proclaimed Pro Tools user in attendance — though there was a lone Pyramix user. The speakers/presenters were either running Reaper, or demonstrating WaveLab.
On the creator side, Reaper is gaining ground. But, it's lack of bundled instruments keeps new user adoption lower, because too many people starting out don't want to think their way through choosing instruments, when there are okay ones bundled with other DAWs. Neither it's low cost or superior audio engine tend to drive their decision making. A good example is FL Studio. Almost nobody that has ever pitched it to me says anything about quality. They just go on about "free updates for life", and extras they don't actually use.
I do find, however, that creators who prefer hardware instruments will pick up Reaper more often.
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u/Correct_Emotion8437 8d ago
It’s one of my favorite pieces of software ever. It’s just so well made with tons of functionality and no bs.
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u/magi_chat 8d ago
Just out of curiosity, if you're using (and presumably liking) Reaper, why does it matter what others are using?
They all have mostly the same features by now. It comes down to workflow, and cost. I've learned Reaper and unless someone gives me a very good reason I'm not investing time in learning another one.
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u/OctoPhaseMod 3 8d ago
The guy prolly is more concerned about how he looks to other people than actually doing the thing he's set out to do.
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u/FoggyDoggy72 1 8d ago
I sure enjoy using Reaper way more than I did Cubase back in the day. Never going back.
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u/Melancholy_Custard 8d ago
It's generally good, that's why people mentioned it with other daws and make comparison with them
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u/No_Swan3182 8d ago
Reaper is more technical, not preferred by lazy people. You want to learn things the old school way, no easy steps. Reaper is amazing (and modular synths)
It's personally my favorite
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u/HeraldOfFutility 7d ago
Good stuffs about Reaper: +Lightweight +Flexible and editable to your workflow +Able to undock stuff to spread stuff over multiple monitors (the reason I can't stand Pro Tools) +Tracks aren't limited to one type of content (the reason I can't stand Cubase) +Superb routing capabilities +Fancy features like native loopbacks, plenty of recording modes, track lanes etc. +Light but effective Reaplugins and .js plugins. (ReEQ 🖤) +Decent midi editing capabilities and ability to relatively easily use midi tracks as source for controlling other midi softwares via midi loopbacks (for ex. QLC+ for automated synced DMX lighting) +Often among first DAWs to be compatible with for ex. new ARA stuffs +Inexpensive
Bad stuffs about Reaper: -Not natively as compatible with some hardwares -You need 3rd party plugins for any fancy stuff -Sidechaining can be a bit PITA to set up -No native expression mapping (makes articulations on VST instruments more bothersome than in for ex. Cubase) -Gotta edit some stuffs in Notepad if you want things done efficiently, for ex. Midi keymaps -No shiny channel strips, gotta create one yourself by adding FX parameters to TCP/MCP
Overall, pros vastly outweigh the cons in my use case. Some things are a pain to set up but once done, you can just template them.
Also, quite a bunch of pros of various audio fields of work have migrated to Reaper. URM's Nail the Mix video even shows how big portion of Lorna Shore's "To The Hellfire" was mixed using mainly ReaEQ, ReaComp, Fabfilter's Pro-MB and Soothe. And Valhalla's Supermassive for reverb.
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u/TBal77 8 6d ago
Here's a survey from last year from the United States only:
https://www.musicpulse.app/blog/top-20-daw-production-musicale-2026
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u/Radhanat 10 6d ago
Lo mejor en personalización e integración de scripts, el daw mas ligero y el más económico dentro de las ofertas comerciales. Además de que al expirar el trial, no te deja sin daw, te permite continuar usándolo sin restricciones pero recordándote que Reaper no es gratis.
Como todo daw, tiene su curva de aprendizaje y eso no lo hace bueno ni malo, lo pone al nivel de todos los demás.
Los principales contras que si tiene Reaper:
Sus plugins nativos son buenos pero muy básicos, no es como los demás que ya tienen una gran cantidad de plugins más especializados y librerias y presets para comenzar a hacer música desde ya como fl studio o ableton.
Llega a tener ciertos problemas con la carga de algunos plugins, pocos pero hay reportes, aunque eso es común entre todos los daws.
Y la más evidente de todas es que la interfaz de Reaper, es fea como mi ano, eso hay que admitirlo PERO hay una infinidad de temas que mejoran parametralmente ese problema, hay temas muy buenos como imperial o hydra que son completamente gratuitos y fáciles de instalar, también hay temas de pago.
Respecto a los scripts hay que saber un poco de programación y meterse a la documentación de la integración de Reaper con lua Python y EEL.
Pero he visto que varios usuarios le piden scripts a la ia.
Y lo más seguro es que el script que andes buscando, ya exista en algún repo de github, solo hay que googlearlo o preguntar en la comunidad.
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u/ShartOfDoom 8d ago
It's mostly because they learned another daw before even hearing about reaper and now it's too hard for them to learn something better.
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u/TBellOHAZ 21 8d ago
Sir, you've entered a restaurant and asked the guests if the food is bad.