Reaper posted by Tadpui

So my home studio has run upon some tough times lately.

The biggest problem is that it has been severely neglected and underused due to a very strong bout of total apathy on my part. You know how it goes, when you don't feel the muse, there's no forcing it to happen.

But just a couple of weeks ago I noticed that my recording computer wouldn't boot up. I started fiddling with it and eventually had to declare the old tin can dead.

But luckily, M-Audio finally got off their asses and got some 32-bit Vista drivers together for the Delta series interfaces. This allowed me to move my recording rig back upstairs to my new(ish) computer in the study.

But when I went to install Cubase SE1, I found out quickly that it is very unstable in Vista. And Steinberg has totally abandoned SE1 as far as support goes. They'll still gladly take your money to upgrade to SE3, which is pretty much a waste of money and still doesn't provide Vista compatibility.

So I started shopping for new software. Then I remembered Reaper and that it has a totally functional trial version available. So I downloaded it last night and started messing around with it.

So far, I've created a project, added a MIDI track, loaded a VSTi, played some drums, recorded some audio on a new track, used the looping functionality, added a few VST plugins, and done some other general "home studio-y" things.

I have to say that so far, its been awesome. I was about to start saving for the $100 of CakeWalk Home Studio, but Reaper seems to be very similar in capability for 1/2 the price.

PJK, I think you've created another convert to the Reaper fanboi crowd. You've been touting the gospel of Reaper for a long time now, and I have to say that its been very impressive. It's laid out totally differently than the Cubase setups I've worked with for my entire tenure as a hobbyist home recordist. But I see that everything is laid out intuitively, even if it is very different from what I'm used to.

I'm probably going to pay the $50 after all of my holiday bills clear. I'm very excited about getting back up and running in my new/old studio!