Along the bottom is the mixer, with the transport sitting above it and to the left so far, so good. The left side shows your track list, and the main arranging window is to the right.
The opening screen indicates what is arguably the biggest roadblock to getting started with this program it's essentially a blank slate. The first time you open Reaper, you're greeted with…not much. Reaper also has a seriously dedicated online community, and it seems the developers are always hard at work providing updates, bug fixes, and notes ( click for a current list). Say you buy 7.11 today you get free updates through 8.99, which should keep you current for several years. I had no problem getting my audio interface and MIDI controller up and running for this review.Ĭockos offers a 60-day unlimited trial version, and if you buy it, you get free updates through the next full-point version. When you first start, you must go to Options > Preferences to set up your audio interface and MIDI controller. The PC and Mac versions have feature parity, and the Mac version was rock-solid in testing. Reaper is free of copy protection, and you can download the 440-page manual in PDF format from the company website.įor our latest review, I tested Reaper 7.11 on a MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021, M1 Pro) with 16GB RAM, a 1TB SSD, a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 (2nd Gen) audio interface, a Nektar Impact GX61 MIDI controller, and a pair of PreSonus Eris E8 XT studio monitors. You can even run it from a portable or network drive, Cockos says. The program is a paltry 15MB download for Windows, 25MB on the Mac, and 11MB for Linux. Reaper is available in both PC and Mac versions, and a Linux version is currently in beta. If you plan to use it for commercial music purposes and gross more than $20,000 per year from your audio work, it's $225. Personal, school, and small business licenses for Reaper all cost $60. It covers nearly all the bases of a Pro Tools or Cubase-equipped workstation at a fraction of the price. But put in the time, load it up with some free (or paid) third-party plug-ins, and Reaper pays real dividends in power and flexibility. It's a complex program requiring study-perhaps the opposite of something like Apple's GarageBand. Unlike competing DAWs, Reaper lets you build your menus, toolbars, and macros, and change the look and color scheme of the interface. It packs a real punch, with live audio and virtual instrument recording, a full mixing console, accurate notation editing, and support for scoring video. Reaper is our favorite digital audio workstation (DAW) for tight budgets. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.