Performance
Simply put, its tough as nails. I’ve used other D.A.W’s with a lot less success in terms of CPU. Reaper allows you to have unlimited tracks, thats not a curse either. In many cases my projects will have over 200 tracks and reaper wont even cough. This will depend on your computer specs and interface settings obviously. I run reaper on a Toshiba satellite with 12gb of ram with an i7 2.40 Ghz processor ( not the best or the worst ). The interface im using is the 2i2 from Focusrite ( Which i highly recommend ). The only problems i ever have are with synth pads with a ton of voices and modulation, in which case i raise the buffer. The fact is, i can get by with a lower end PC no problem in reaper.
SWS/S&M
Basically its thousands of new actions created by the reaper community. With these new actions, the sky is the limit. The developers over at Cockos have made it easy for users to tailor reaper for their needs. Through this, Ive developed a workflow that would be pretty imaginable in other D.A.W.’s. If you want, you can donate to some of the creators of the extensions. I am sure they wont mind :).
Get em’ Here – > https://reapack.com/
Customize, Customize, Customize!
Seriously, Sometimes its a curse to have so many options. But in my opinion this flexibility is how each user can define their own experience. Templates, Themes, Menus, Tool bars.. .You name it, You can probably customize it. I don’t feel like a caged animal when i open reaper. Be careful though! Having the world as your playground can open the door to things being broken. No worries, nothing a fresh install wont fix! 🙂
Find your favorite theme here -> http://stash.reaper.fm/
Price (60$)
Listing the product at such a reasonable price just makes sense to me. I don’t feel ripped off. I wont be nervous about next months rent. And I wont have to sell every stuffed animal iv’e owned for the last 12 years… 😉
They offer a fully functional trial in which you can determine whether or not its right for you. No drop outs, no static, No annoying pop-ups. But of course, If you feel its right for you, pay the price. You are a human being with feelings right?
“Our goal is to develop software sustainably while preventing profit rationale from forcing engineering compromises. By doing so, we can keep our product visions intact, giving maximum benefit to our users. ”
“We lovingly craft the software that we want to use.”
– Cockos
Community
The reaper forum is packed full of helpful reaper jedi’s. There truly is a sense of community there. Its a formed effort that is ultimately what helped me improve so much over the years. With out them i would still be smashing my head against my keyboard wondering why i’m getting no output signal.
Here’s a funny comic strip a reaper user made – > https://www.extremraym.com/en/reacomics-une-bande-dessinee-en-ligne-sur-reaper/
Kinda sums up the community 😉
Summary
Ultimately, reaper is just what i use and is what i’m good at. Use whatever software you want. The fact is its a beast of a software and cant go without being mentioned.
Itb Production 
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