I've always wondered what Reaper has that some people like it. I don't have any particular opinion and the only thing that is good about the software is the small size of its Install file and its taking up a little space of RAM. I don't know any other reason. What are your reasons? There are probably better ones that some users like this DAW. Does Reaper have a chance to be used in Hollywood studios one day?

 

It is indeed very flexible and FUN to use. But it's not perfect. It all depends on what you are trying to do. "Hollywood" is very general. Is it a professional tool: yes. Good for every use case: no.

 

I knew it just from the title again

 

What do you mean by flexible?

 

Then biggest upside of Reaper is that it's only $60 for most people starting out. I used Reaper for a year before switching to Studio One 3 (at the time) and it's still one of my favorite DAWs. For mixing and mastering, it's really hard to beat how much you can do with it. It's made for the people who like to get their hands dirty with a very advanced tool.

 

It can easily be extended with ReaScript: LUA, Python, or EEL scripts, or you can write plugins for the DAW itself in any other compilable language. There are literally thousands of extensions that add small, or big, features to the DAW, and those can also be chained together via scripting to make other new features.

For example, for years it didn't have retrospective recording natively, but it did have it via a set of scripts that could be installed from the Package Manager.

 

Quite simply, it does everything any other DAW will do, often performs better and sometimes with less limitations than other DAWs, all for a very low price. The devs keep rolling out *well tested* updates quite fast too (bug fixes and new features). It's also very customizeable with a great forum community that can help create scripts to do a lot of complex tasks.

The reason I stopped using Cubase (my last DAW) was because I got tired of their plan of giving them $600ish every couple of years when I can pay Cockos (Reaper) $60USD every 4 years and get all I need.


Really, I use it because I love it and don't really feel the need to sell anyone else on it. It doesn't matter to me if Hollywood uses it, Hans Zimmer uses it, some YT influencer uses it, you use it, or who uses it.. it works perfectly for everything I need (and then some), and I can afford to own it, which is great. Use whatever the DAW you want to use... your choice is your choice, but don't presume that Reaper is a watered down DAW, because it's actually quite the opposite.

In the end though, it's a chisel to an artist.. the talent you have is the most important part.

 

Last edited: Dec 11, 2024 at 5:27 PM

I'd start by answering the thread title "Why do some people like and promote Reaper?" first:

people like to promote Reaper because they appreciate a company/product that doesn't burn money through bullshit marketing, but spends it on actual development, and prioritizes swift bugfixing and reputation, delivering a good (not saying perfect though) product

what Reaper has and I like (because no other DAW has /combined):

try before buy without ANY limitations, generous non-subscription pricing and no obfuscated license checks
multiplatform consistency (Windows/MacOS/Linux) because I switch between those daily
reliable operation regardless of project complexity (track count, project length, samplerates, delay compensations etc...)
freedom of versatile tracks content - audio of various channel counts, midi, texts, images, video
(custom) actions, (custom) hotkeys, (custom) mouse modifiers - which are a huuge efficiency booster, if it was called AI everyone would be obssessed about it and every software developer would implement it everywhere
simple efficient (custom) web interface(s) (for remote control, musician monitoring mixes etc..) integrated for free
tons of import/export formats supported and including (not so basic) video support - there are many NLE softwares (like DaVinci Resolve) but most DAWs don't really support usable video editing, color grading, effects etc... as a side feature of being audio focused softwares
batch processing - surprisingly rare feature in DAWs again, no need for additional dedicated software
scripting support with open reascript documentation without paywall - more for devs and specific use cases, basically you can bend it the way you need for "non-DAW" purposes, like easier to troubleshoot for plugin devs, audio interface manufacturers etc...

to your last question:

it's not about "if" but "when", because AI is apparently storming the multimedia market, and Reaper is the most agile/open DAW platform to AI integrations for third-parties

 

Reaper can do almost anything and can be customized to suit user's workflow. Small footprint. You can run it on anything. No need to upgrade your PC/Mac every year. Never crashes. Runs all kinds of plugs. It's also cheap and the company has the best biz model. They seem to care. Also, the support from tutorials and their forum is by far the best. If I ask a question, I sometimes get the answer in minutes. The interface and parameters are very utilitarian, but you can make it pretty if you want. I go back and forth between Reaper and DAW ____.

 

I used to use Reaper daily, then I got lost in the infinite customization. It was a lot of fun though.
What I really appreciate is you can just download reaper, wait 5s for the nag screen to go away, and record mix and master a song. It's that easy of a process.

 

the customization in Reaper is just so heaven too me you can literally make reaper your daw make it function how u want it to function no other daw has this ability

 

Eh, I'll play.

Reaper is powerful, effectively coded, has a small footprint, doesn't cost much at all, it's an excellent piece of software. I grew up using Cakewalk which I'm loyal to so I don't use Reaper but it's objectively good on many levels. It doesn't get used in Hollywood because people in Hollywood are idiots that care only about image and a culture of acceptance with other people that use stupid bloated crap expensive software and platforms because iNDuStRy StAnDaRd reeee.

 

Last edited: Dec 11, 2024 at 5:47 PM

yeah at first people think Reaper is boring and difficult to use because all of the customization you have to do but after 10 minutes u starting to see how fun it is to create your own workflow with the power of Reaper

 

Reaper is the best tool for managing notes, which are an essential aspect of music.

 

reaper is, simply put, great!

 

You can create any shortcut imaginable, vocal editing is a breeze, unbelievable CPU management, easy routing, constant updates and many more stuff. For exemple in Ableton God particle uses more than 20% without OS of CPU and Orion uses like 26%, but in Reaper only 7% without OS and 12% with 2x OS using a old ass Jurassic Intel i5 and the CPU temps are much lower. Everything is fast and easy, rendering is way faster than Ableton or Fl studio.

 

It already is... Just like in the gaming industry.