A few weeks ago I sent out a message to the newsletter subscribers simply asking, “What is your biggest frustration with REAPER right now?”

Here are the results. Let’s keep it going, add your answer in the comments section below.

  • The scale in the volume envelope being logarithmic instead of linear makes VERY difficult to adjust levels unless you zoom the track vertically. Under -20db is very hard to adjust properly
  • The size of the send knobs in the mixer (could be bigger, or a small fader) or the lack of metering for sends.
  • My biggest frustration with Reaper is that, as a newbie to DAWs, I’m struggling to learn the basics of operating the system even after watching some tutorials.
  • That it’s audio engine actually is less effective than BlowTools ones these days..
  • how to import third party plug-ins into Reaper… I seem to be able to download them, but am missing a step to let Reaper recognize them.
  • Once in a while, I’ll be editing (splitting regions, typically), and I don’t know if I hit the wrong key shortcut by mistake, but all the regions in my project disappear. Undo history doesn’t show anything that looks look deleting, so I can’t undo it. I need to go to the bkp file, which fortunately is saved every few minutes. Other than that, I think Reaper is awesome!
  • The inability to use VST3s
  • Biggest frustration…Reaper totally rocks in almost every way – but I would like better MIDI editing capabilities. While I can program anything I need to in the current editor, it still feels fussy and twice as much work as working in other environments, such as Machine, Cubase, or FXpansion Geist.
  • I can hear that my guitar sounds fine through headphone amp, and registers on Reaper track when armed. The wave form looks normal when I am recording. However when I save the take the wave form appears abnormal/segmented , and sounds horrible on play back. I have reset Reaper back to original default settings, it and does the same thing
  • I would be really grateful if the good people at REAPER could implement a score editor.
  • This has become extremely important to me as I get a lot of background scoring projects and it becomes really tough for the musicians to understand the score just by listening to it rather than reading the notation.
  • my biggest frustration is how long is taking to learn to do things, even very basic things, with it. I am more writer/performer than tech guy at this time; maybe that is part of it, I am deeply into something else when I need to learn the recording stuff?

What is there to learn from this?

Some users don’t know what Version 5 features are coming. Some are overwhelmed with the options. Some are confused about basic computer and DAW setup.

For me, I struggle to keep up with all the new features, scripts while constantly discovering things that have been in REAPER for years. It’s frustrating because it feels like I’ll never have time to try everything, but it’s also exciting that so much is possible.

How about you? What is your biggest frustration with REAPER right now?


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139 responses to “Your Biggest Frustration with REAPER Reader Poll Results”

  1. Mike McGuill Avatar

    My two main grumbles:

    1. FX button on track disappears when tracks are scaled down past a certain ‘slimness’. This was a fairly recent change – it used to remain visible/accessible regardless of track size. Annoying for someone like me who’s constantly tinkering with plug-ins…

    2. I personally find video support pretty unreliable/unpredictable compared to say Pro Tools. Makes doing music/sound for media in Reaper more difficult than it might otherwise be.

    What I LOVE is that even after 7/8 years of using Reaper, I still regularly discover hidden little features that do cool things! Doesn’t happen with the other DAWs I use!

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Hi Mike. I don’t know the answer to #1, hadn’t notice that myself. Video functions in V5 are pretty great, huge improvements.

  2. Aidan Avatar
    Aidan

    There’s nothing really to complain about. Reaper is such a deep and powerful daw and it takes time to get it doing and set up just as you want it. A lot of peoples frustrations are because they haven’t taken the time to fully understand how to modify reaper to suit their needs. Also to allow time to forget the habits of using another daw. Reaper really isn’t any harder to understand than any other daw and the fact you can take that understanding as far as you want may fascinate people or it may scare some people. All I know is in Reaper I have a daw that I may never fully understand but I understand more and more to make using it a pleasure. Most things you may find annoying can normally be fixed, not many if any other daw lets you do that.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Agreed! I really enjoy making custom actions. I know it’s not for everyone. The far more ‘professional’ software I’ve used is so constrictive. You have to hack it to do what you want.

  3. Matthew Haw Avatar
    Matthew Haw

    I really like reaper but I have some serious issues with certain plugins that use OpenGL for their GUIs, namely waves stuff. I have lots invested in waves products and its really a bummer when I get working on a bigger session for a film project or something and constantly have crashes. I typically get around this by freezing tracks to free up memory for OpenGL but it really puts a hamper on the work flow.

    Another thing that would be great to have is to have multiple third party editors. That way I could right click and send a clip to either RX or Melodyne. <— a little nit picking thing that would make my day. Who knows, there may already be a way the guru's do this.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Hey Matt. Thanks for commenting

      I have no solution for the Waves issue. Unfortunately you’re unlikely to get any help from Waves either.

      You can have two editors in V4.77. Are you a few versions behind?
      external editor setup

    2. Rafael Avatar
      Rafael

      Have you tried opening those plugs with a different “Run as” configuration?

  4. Bob A Avatar
    Bob A

    Aidan wrote: ” A lot of peoples frustrations are because they haven’t taken the time to fully understand how to modify reaper to suit their needs. Also to allow time to forget the habits of using another daw.”

    This points to a shortcoming of Reaper-it does not come set up for immediate use, instead you have to find out how to set it up so you can make best use of it. I came to Reaper from long experience with Pro Tools. It would have helped me a great deal in adapting to Reaper if there had been an optional setting that would organize the GUI and general signal flow to mimic Pro Tools functionality pretty closely, right from the start.

    Reaper can be set up that way, but it takes time and effort to learn how to do that. Part of Pro Tools appeal is that it is set up to mimic the way analog multi-track hardware used to work. This was quite deliberate–the developers of Pro Tools were trying to wean a generation of engineers away from their hardware setups to the digital paradigm. They succeeded very well, and for the type of audio work that used to be done with analog hardware, Pro Tools is really well suited. Further, this basic setup has been maintained for over a decade now, so you have a great many engineers who are familiar with it and like it. Add on the outstanding digital editing capabilities of PT and it is not hard to see why it established itself so well.

    Reaper, as currently supplied, has an organization that is very flexible–maybe even too much so for the average user. Re-organizing Reaper for practical audio work involves learning a very deep, flexible program in some depth, which is time consuming and can be frustrating. I have been using Reaper for over a year now, and I still do not feel at home with it the way I do Pro Tools. I am willing to put up with that, due to the shortcomings of being dependent on Pro Tools and their business model. But it would be nice if Reaper could be more easily set up to be like PT, without abandoning the strengths it already has.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      REAPER’s defaults flat out suck. They’re unintuitive and annoying. I don’t mind saying this because I’m working on fixing it. Take 2 hours of setup down to 10-15 minutes.

      1. Anthony Pero Avatar
        Anthony Pero

        Couldn’t reaper ship with a few different preference and config files that could be loaded in the preferences screen to create workflows that mimic other systems? Wouldn’t it just be a matter of setting the prefs, exporting them and making them available for download on the REAPER website?

  5. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    It would be really nice to have a structured project saving method, archive and backup methodology that helps you keep all the project files in better order.

  6. squooshbug Avatar
    squooshbug

    I wish there was a sample tagging feature for the media library…

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Yeah! The databases feature helps but it would be great to be able to search more than just filename. I don’t think there is a cross-platform standard for audio file tags.

      1. squooshbug Avatar
        squooshbug

        I’d happily add the tags myself – there aren’t any good PC programs out there either, as far as I can tell.

        1. ntnsystems Avatar
          ntnsystems

          I found the Find in Files feature of Notepad++ (or other text editors) works perfectly for searching *.rpp project files for region or marker names.

        2. Admin Avatar
          Admin

          Professionals use Soundminer.
          http://store.soundminer.com/

          I was shocked at the price.

          I used to use a program called Sample Tagger on Windows but it doesn’t seem to be around anymore.

          While looking for that I found WavSniper for windows.
          http://www.74mph.com/wavsniper/

          So ideally, if REAPER did add tag support, it would have to read the xml or whatever formats those other companies use.

          But I’d be happy with just a temporary favorites list and star ranking.

          EDIT –
          Recommended reading
          http://designingsound.org/2010/12/frank-bry-special-methods-of-a-metadata-madman-part-1/
          and the links at the bottom of that post.

          1. Eduardo Magalhaes Avatar
            Eduardo Magalhaes

            Hello, i was using Soundminer at a facility. Shocked by the price as well i have been using AudioFinder since then. Studio owner was also shocked by the price but in the opposite direction when i showed it to him. All the best, E.

          2. Eduardo Magalhaes Avatar
            Eduardo Magalhaes

            PS- Linked as as secondary editor to REAPER, of course 🙂

  7. Jason Freake Avatar

    My biggest frustration is when using 32 bit vsts in 64 bit reaper, the daw loses focus when working on the vst’s settings. Ie you have the 32 bit vst open on screen, you edit some settings and you cannot use any keyboard hot keys to control the daw as it has lost focus. I wish the way that reaper bridges was more seamless.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      On Windows you can embed the bridge and its way more seamless, one of the few differences between the Win and OSX versions.

  8. Jonespnice Avatar
    Jonespnice

    My main frustration is that they add so many things and if you don’t stay on the forums you may not know about certain features. Their are so many things that I don know how to do in Reaper and I’ve be using Reaper for several years, contrast that with Sonar (my last Daw) I knew everything about it.

  9. pedro Avatar

    It is annoying not to have reaper properly translated properly to other languages. Just use a translation server and let the users collaborate.
    I know there are buggy, incomplete language packages, but it can be done properly and efficient, check Musescore.

  10. megawilsound Avatar
    megawilsound

    the only issue i have with reaper is the lack of options for control surfaces. i would love to see one that has the functionality of the Pro Control, with a joystick that can be used to control ReaSourrond. all in all i love reaper and would recomend it to anyone looking to get into music production or sound design.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      The whole industry has a lack of decent control surfaces.

      1. megawilsound Avatar
        megawilsound

        if this is the case then COCKOS has an opening in the market right there, i honestly believe that if COCKOS developed one for Reaper that it could easily over take Pro Tools as the industry leader. i know that a lot of training providers are starting to use Reaper so the market for this program in the education sector is growing. a lot of training providers who have to use Pro Tools because it is the current industry standard are not at all happy with the way they have to constantly up date there hardware at grate expense and would in all probability move to Reaper, as would i suspect a lot of studios who are faced with the same issues.

        i was introduced to Reaper while i was training at one of the worlds biggest audio training providers, i did however have to use Pro Tools while there but as soon as i graduated i left Pro Tools for Reaper and have not looked back.

        1. Admin Avatar
          Admin

          I’m quite sure Cockos is not interested in manufacturing. They’re not even interested in competing with the other DAWs.

  11. ntnsystems Avatar
    ntnsystems

    I wish that Reaper would show 32-bit/64-bit next to the name in the Plugin list. I have installed a mix of both on a 64-bit Reaper installation, so I try to avoid the 32-bit versions so that I don’t experience the two window bridge mode. Without this label it can be difficult to know which plugins to choose without loading each one first.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      It should show (x64) or (x86) if it will be bridged. x86 means 32-bit.

      fx browser, 32-bit

      1. ntnsystems Avatar
        ntnsystems

        Hmm… I am not in front of my system right now, but I am almost 100% sure that mine does not show (x86).

  12. Zach Avatar
    Zach

    I teach Reaper to college students and these are my top 3 issues:

    It took me a long time to realize that the track fader is not automatable, but that it temporarily gets assigned to the vol envelope (turns green) in certain auto modes. It seems weird to me that there’s a UI-accesible gain stage that can’t be automated. I’d rather the fader was always representing the vol envelope or be gone altogether.

    The router is visually counter-intuitive. It took me several tutorial videos to figure out how to set up for surround, and I’m still not sure I get the icons that mark connections in the matrix. It depends on contextual menus to reveal the connection details, so important info is visually hidden. I’ve used the ProTools “IO setup” router for 15 years and it seems to reveal the connections more inuitively.

    The included plugins are generally great, but they could use some visual polish to help new users understand which parameters are most important. The Reaverb/Reaverbate distinction seems ridiculous to new users (why not put a word like “impulse” or “convolution” in the name of Reaverbate instead of an impossible-to-pronounce spelling difference?) Since there are no included impulses in Reaverbate the plugin appears “broken” to new users. (The self-generated impulses in the presets don’t reveal the promise of IR verb.)

    Regardless of the above, I’m in love with Reaper. I’ve happily jumped ship from Avid and never looked back. I’ll be happy to fork over my $$ again for v5!

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Track faders are definitely automatable. Trim/Read mode is unique (and great IMO). If you want to see the fader move you put it in Read mode, latch or touch (same as pro tools). Trim mode let’s you do the same fader moves but relative to the fader position. You don’t have to edit the envelope to make overall adjustments. I love that.
      You can set you track defaults to read instead.

  13. ntnsystems Avatar
    ntnsystems

    Another frustration… I would like to be able to hover over the track record button to see the full interface channel name configured for recording. Currently I need to right-click the button, and select Mono, Stereo, MIDI, etc. to see which is channel is checked. The Routing Matrix shows this information, but it is not convenient to keep it open while in the middle of recording.

    I also agree with someone earlier that stated the Routing Matrix is not intuitive. I am sure if I used it more often, I would get accustomed to it. There must be some better icons that could be added to more clearly represent things.

  14. Buchi Avatar
    Buchi

    One thing that frustrates me is that you can´t link parameters between different plugins. For example you have running two tracks of guitar, followed by ReaEQ on each channel an you want to adjust the 3rd band simultanouslyand HEAR it, not copy the plugin over after having processed one guitar on its own…

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Parameter modulation link only works on single tracks. You’d have to process in a folder. Small complaint for a feature that’s not possible in any other daw. Correct me if I’m wrong.

      1. Buchi Avatar
        Buchi

        It´s possible in ProTools, saw it in the Metal Mixing Masterclass from Eyal Levi. Somthing that is sadly not implemented in Reaper yet. Maybe in v5 it is, didn´t check it out yet.

        1. Admin Avatar
          Admin

          Did a quick google and looks like it’s one of those HD only features in the group attributes.

          But you can’t link controls on different plugins, can’t assign an LFO or envelope follower like you can in REAPER.

          1. Buchi Avatar
            Buchi

            You are right, there are some really cool features in reapers parameter modulation. And by the way for me reaper is the DAW to go!!!
            And with the abillity to link plugin parameters between tracks it would be simply godlike 😉

      2. SourBattery Avatar
        SourBattery

        This JS oldie helps you link parameters across tracks.

        http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=86188

  15. Tyler Pilot Avatar

    I love Reaper. It’s, flat out, the best audio software I’ve worked with – it just agrees with my brain. Thanks for makin’ it, guys who developed Reaper!

    A couple things I find difficult:

    1. Lack of VCAs. It sounds like that will be in V5 when it’s released so I have no complaint there. I’m looking forward to it!

    2. Send pans are (as far as I can tell) forced into being post-track pans if you want them to be post-fader. I’d love to be able to route signal path as input->inserts->track fader->aux send->track pan. The way it’s set up now – and it’s 1000% possible I’m just missing the fix/workaround for it – if I want to send a hard-panned shaker (for example) to a reverb aux track but I want that shaker’s reverb to be center-panned, I have to either send pre-fader or put a center-summing plugin on the reverb aux which then forces me to set up another iteration of that reverb for parts intended to not be center-summed pre-verb.

    I do a pile of automation so pre-fader is mostly a no-go for me.

    Am I missing something? Is there something in the pan settings that will make it behave a bit more like (what I remember of) ProTools’s aux send panning?

    Any other problems I can deal with (I’m looking at YOU “Playrate” bar that I inevitably accidentally scroll my mouse across and change).

    Thanks for the great info, Jon, and thanks for the wonderful product, Reaper cats!

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      VCAs are in V5, subject to change. Many like them, many realized that they just wanted the folder tracks to control child send levels. That’s all I wanted. Hopefully we’ll get both.

      Send pans are weird I guess. Try the mono sum button in the send parameters.

      Playrate slider can be hidden from transport. I put in a feature request a long time ago to have it hidden by default. You can also disable mousewheel on faders.

  16. Sam Avatar
    Sam

    Is there a way to nest projects into a master project like you would with video in premiere pro?

    For example, just finished an album and each track is within its own project.
    When the mix is complete, I then render a stereo file and then import that into a mastering project for leveling and final overall tweaks.

    When working in the mastering project with all tracks if any changes need to be made within the previous mix projects I have to go back to the original project, make the change and then re-bounce. Once the track is bounced I then have to replace the now “old” file.

    It would be great to be able to “nest” the master output of multiple projects into one master project and show the region. Have all mix project tracks open in tabs, and if any changes are made within the mix projects the master will automatically update the master region file. Kind of like an offline rewire..
    Any suggestions?

    Cheers!

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      There’s an experimental Project In Project (PiP) feature you could try.

  17. Jon Bash Avatar

    1. ReaSurround is difficult to use, especially compared to DAWs that have built-in surround panners.

    2. Some of the film scoring features are behind programs like DP and Logic. Even something as simple as being able to set the ruler and transport to beats and SMPTE (hr:min:sec:frame.xx) are missing and keep me from ditching Logic completely.

    3. The built-in sampler is still really sub-par in seemingly simple ways. It’d be wonderful ReaSynth could see some improvements as well. These are less annoying, though.

    Other than that, Reaper has recently re-piqued my interest after dealing with some of Logic’s weirder bugs and idiosyncrasies. Loving my time back with it.

  18. Robert Lennon Avatar

    I think Reaper is great and I find it easy to work with on the whole. The thing that has eluded me is how to copy an envelope from one track to another without grouping the tracks – if it’s possible.

    Otherwise, great value and I’ll be happy to pay up again when I need to.

  19. Spiros Avatar
    Spiros

    Reaper is a fantastic DAW.
    My main “complaints”:
    -Few customization options for the transport buttons especially size-wise
    -MIDI editor issues and quirks. For example I constantly find that if i move a midi-item that just edited or change its length in the arranger view, a couple of notes get trimmed to really tiny ones that i have to manually the re-strech to their original length.
    -Really miss live’s plugin chainer, I know you can do the same thing and way more in reaper but its surely more time consuming and less intuitive. A dedicated plugin with a good graphical representation for parallel fx and/or multiple vstis per track is really missing
    – JS plugins should be renamed and categorized. There are so many gems in there that are getting overlooked because of poor implementation.
    -I really think that the play and edit cursors should be united into one entity or at least the user should be able to define that in the preferences
    -I’m not sure about this but, I think it would be better if there was actually a send type track. I know reaper’s tracks are so much more flexible but for speed and ease actual send tracks are for some people good just to be there
    This DAW is definately the best IMO, and I’ve used quite a lot of them. I’m waiting to get my hands on reaper 5!

  20. Mike W Avatar
    Mike W

    I Love Reaper. Just wish I knew more on how to set up. I would have gladly paid more for the software if it came with more informative info. I’m not going to buy a book. I want a program that sees what I’m doing and gives me help tips along the way. I know this can be done. Both my brother and son are programmers and they say it can, so there. LOL. Anyway my biggest pet peeve is a quick way to find BPM on sound files like Riffstation can. Otherwise Love this DAW

  21. Rafael Avatar
    Rafael

    I have a few. I use FL Studio, so I can’t help but miss some things when transitioning to REAPER.

    -It’s a subjective complaint, but I feel REAPER’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness. It’s so powerful I can’t help but feel I can’t do anything, and it’s tough to learn for this reason. Maybe the following items reflect my ignorance.
    -MIDI editing works, but it’s still kind of clunky.
    -Not being able to insert multiple instances of an Item instead of copying it.
    -I like using the Virtual MIDI Keyboard to test virtual instruments, so I always set all keyboard input to it, so I can test knobs and stuff while playing notes. But then I can’t use my keyboard for anything else on REAPER…
    -Not being able to work with “Patterns” instead of just adding individual items to the main playback timeline. FL Studio it works by creating Patterns and organizing them on the timeline, and it does wonders to my workflow. It would be fantastic if I could overlap Regions or overall manipulate their instances.

  22. The Telenator Avatar
    The Telenator

    Plugins, when open and floating just don’t really have the focus — that is, say I’m typing in a preset name into the preset itself to save, I HIT SPACEBAR to put space between two words, and suddenly the stinking track is playing instead (because I hit spacebar)! This is simply ridiculous and must be fixed. Aside from that, there is a certain track ‘jumpiness’ that I find no cause for and I also find hard to explain — e.g., I click to open a plugin window on one track, it opens but at same time all tracks roll up and suddenly some other track is sitting there where the track I just clicked on should still be. Just a general unreliable, unpredictable sort of jumpiness in Reaper. WTF?

  23. Jeff Johnson Avatar
    Jeff Johnson

    This is for Tyler Pilot, on how to defeat the panning when sending something to a reverb. If it is a single item, just duplicate the track, take the duplicate out of L/R on the I/O page, pan in the middle, then send to wherever. With multiple items set up a channel to receive the sends, then go to the I/O page on the summing channel, take it out of L/R, then go to the width control next to the pan slider, and reduce it to 0%. Set the pan in the middle, problem solved. You’re welcome…..

  24. Jeff Johnson Avatar
    Jeff Johnson

    One thing that sort of irks me is that the I/O page closes the minute you click anywhere else. And every time you add a receive that closes, also. I use that page a LOT, and have found that the volume slider there is far more sensitive to small changes than the main fader, so it would be handy during mixdown when I am making small adjustments to have that window hang around. Maybe somebody knows how to make that stop, researching it isn’t my cup of tea.

    1. nightowl4272 Avatar

      Maybe you’ve figured this out by now but his can be changed. It’s buried pretty deep though. in Preferences/General/Advanced UI/system tweaks (a button at the bottom that opens up another window), check the, “Allow track envelope/routing windows to stay open” and you’re good to go. Also, hold down ctrl (cmd on Mac I think) when making fader/knob adjustments and you’ll have finer control (approx .05 increments).

      Btw, ctrl-adjust is a common procedure for fine adjustment in most DAWs and plugins. If researching isn’t your cup of tea (it’s not mine either), I highly recommend at least watching some of the basic tutorial videos on Youtube. They answer tons of question.

  25. Airmann Avatar

    Reaper is great, but I miss a simple direct text input field for fader / pan values etc.. I know that it is possible to open the track routing window via right mouse button and there it’s possible to enter fader / pan values directly using the keyboard, but it’s a very cumbersome way. Other DAW’s allowdirect text input e.g. whenever the fader is double clicked.

    Moreover, some views can not be maximized when detached/undocked. E.g. mixer view is maximizable whereas media explorer isn’t.

    Also I agree about the midi editor. It feels clumsy and somehow overloaded.

    Also for DSP handling, sound design and VST modulation mayhem there are better DAW’s on the market like Ableton, Bitwig, Renoise. I really miss a view like the DSP chain view.

    But regarding recording, audio slicing / cutting and so on Reaper is my #1. Also I love the advanced rendering possibities using templates, batch converter and so on. My swiss army knife.

    1. Rick NANCE Avatar
      Rick NANCE

      “ossible to open the track routing window via right mouse button and there it’s possible to enter fader / pan values directly using the keyboard, but it’s a very cumbersome way. Other DAW’s allowdirect text input e.g. whenever the fader is double clicked.”

      Is this repaired yet? Seems pretty basic.

  26. Martim Durão Avatar
    Martim Durão

    Not being musical enough, either with Midi or Chord Progressions. It should be more musical in the sense of allowing you to compose and create intuitively and with ease. Some Midi features that Logic has should be available in reaper.

  27. Tristan Young Avatar
    Tristan Young

    Overall I really like Reaper, have been running the beta/pre-release versions for a while. Currently running latest v5, and have been with Reaper since early v4. It would be nice to have meters on the sends, but before you mentioned it I didn’t know I was missing it.

    I have previous DAW experience with systems like Reason, Cubase, FL Studio, etc. Have to say I like Reaper the most. It’s been very stable, and I find it very easy to work with. Am I still learning all that Reaper has to offer? Yes. I play in the studio and try to dig a little deeper each time, when I can – when my 2yr old isn’t trying to help me 🙂

    I wish it had an intelligent chord browser that would help find nice progressions. I also wish there was a feature by which I could select a track and my Komplete S61 keyboard would automatically re-map to the correct instrument (should be an option).

  28. CloudSpell Avatar
    CloudSpell

    My only frustration about reaper is that using my laptop keyboard as midi controller to control the vsti’s/
    I know how to set it up but it’ll be better if I just going to put the vsti’s and then control it with my laptop keyboard or a midi controller. In that manner I can speed up my workflow using Reaper

  29. Damion Avatar
    Damion

    I use Reaper to import MIDI tracks that I have created in tabit. sometimes when I add a VST to a specific track I notice that it does not play all of the notes at same volume. I’m wondering if it is something to do with note spacing. I’ve noticed that faster “speed picked” notes tend to get lost in a washy blur. not really sure if this is a Reaper problem or the plugin itself. Very very new to Reaper.

  30. dmitrij Avatar
    dmitrij

    Well, I must admit that Reaper isn’t a DAW that is for musicians and performers without engineering background. It is more of a modulation environment with steps involved in creating combinations of synthetic components for mixing, mastering etc.

    1. Mike W Avatar
      Mike W

      I would like to respond to your post if I may. I am an musician ex performer. But have been around engineers and can tell you straight up I am not one. But I think reaper will take me closer to being one. It does have kind of a steep learning curve at first, but the thing is you have the ability to reconfigure to your likening, or work flow. As a musician I use it mainly for tracking, with mixing as an process I’m learning as I go along. One of the features I do love about Reaper is how easy it is to edit and modify MIDI. Add plugins and preview wav files. Something I spend 75% of my time on. It allows me to be creative without spending all my time just setting up to record. Just give it some time I think you will find it easier to use as you go along. Also there’s a ton of info on YouTube. Cheers. Mike…

  31. Łukasz Piechnik Avatar

    in event editor area is one problem. Other things in reaper is ok. This is the biggest problem of reaper….I can link midi param 20,21 etc to plugin knobs but i cant see in midi editor what is name of 20 midi cc which i using to manipulate for example filter frequency in my plugin and for example i use 21 cc midi param for manipulate resonance of my plugin on track. I would like to rename midi cc in midi editor for each track….that would solve problems with manipulating midi events as parameter of plugins. Without renaming these is impossible to use midi events as plugin param controls properly.

  32. SoulboyAndy Avatar
    SoulboyAndy

    Lack of gain pots on the mixer for setting levels prior to mixing. Son;t understand a lot of the gripes above tbh. Inability to import plugins? There is VST3 support now.

  33. Alan Goldstein Avatar
    Alan Goldstein

    The cumbersome, overly crowded MIDI window with over the top information -sometimes useless- can really make reaper look like a cripple in crutches, where as other programs as P tools for example you throw your VST -Kontakt and set your midi channel once and ONLY once and you are done! it’s play time! not on Reaper; VST set up is a serious pain in the nuts. Filter.. Color, Action and forget right clicking on a note 10 header menus followed by 20 submenus each and still not a fucking word on how to get that particular midi item to channel 3 onto Kontakt… and do not even attempt at setting this from the piano roll window, spaghetti or tacos with mayonnaise will be your mess. other then that Reaper is not bad at all and I say not bad cause it has a long way to go in terms of defining what is really needed to record, playback and mix music without all of the extra (“options”). Please this is how most artists will approach: Play an instrument and record it then playback adding a few FX at most then mix it down to 2 track. where is the mp3 option?
    It is still a night mare in progress. and should anyone comeback saying ohhh but reaper this reaper that..jeeeeeeeesus! gimme a break! did Zeppelin make some great music on a 4 track tape machine?

  34. gary Dowell Avatar

    I a newbee . Can’t figure out how to install 3rd party plug-ins on Windows 7 or Mac

  35. JR Avatar
    JR

    The one thing that is really bugging me right now is folders. And I mean now because only now did I find its shortcomings. I used to make a folder for my drum tracks, and then slap a compressor on that folder and voila. All good and now I was ready for some good old automation of volume on the drum folder :). Buuut, the problem is that I had a send for example in the snare for a reverb aux outside of that drum folder. And just found out that while I was lowering and raising the volume of the folder of drums, the send signal of that snare was not changing with this. So, higher volume for all drums meant lower reverb on the snare comparatively, following the automation… Because the send signal was not changing with it. I can wonder how many mix “mistakes” I did because of this. And I think most people have no idea about this problem. I’m trying to work around a solution to this. Right now I’m trying to make that drum folder also a vca master and all subtracks of that folder their vca slaves and hopefully this will work and do what I thought I was doing in the first place. I already tried with grouping volume master and slave but that’s to no avail since that compressor on the drums folder would receive a difference volume every time I’d be riding the volume automation because the subtracks would be summing different volumes. And this is really bugging me because since I keep my tracks all neatly tied inside folders and then automated the folders, some of my mixes have this mistake all over the place. It doesn’t mean that they sound bad because the mixing result is such a subjective one. But now I’m realising why I did have to ride reverb sends so many times and feel that the reverb was OK in some parts of the arrangement and in others not when nothing in the arrangement would point to that. It’s the way that folders works and I don’t think most people realise this.
    Or maybe it’s just me, but this past two days I’ve just been pulling hairs.
    And if it hadn’t been for Kenny’s reaper tutorials I don’t think I would have found about this any time soon

    1. JR Avatar
      JR

      And that does not work as well. Back to routing 101 to figure this out..

      1. Tristan Young Avatar
        Tristan Young

        Too bad there was no easy way to configure a folder to behave the way we want. I would like to use folders, but still have the sends vary with the folder parent volume slider. Too bad there is no per-folder option. Guess i’m using VCAs for now.

    2. Anthony Pero Avatar
      Anthony Pero

      That is a feature, not a bug. It’s by design. The function you are looking for can be achieved in 5 through VCAs.

      1. JR Avatar
        JR

        Hi Anthony, I know it’s not a bug but the design. Remember the post is “what bugs you”, not “what is having bugs” 😉
        But are you sure that VCA’s do cover this problem? i’m on Reaper 5 and here’s the scenario:

        You have a folder track that has a Snare track and a Kick track and another for overheads.
        ok, the sound is being routed through the folder DRUMS. so you slap a compressor on that folder track, say a 76 or an ssl and compress it to taste, adjust the mix if you want parallel, etc.
        Then you make a send from the snare to your AUX reverb track that is not inside that folder, because you also want to send a guitar to that reverb aux.
        and there, I though All is good, I got my drums sounding just peachy and now I just have to adjust its overall volume in different parts of the song. so, for me, the logical would be Automation for the Drums folder and that Volume automation was post-FX of that same folder. and it is, but what I did not know was that the reverb and the amount I had for chosen for snare would lose equilibrium with the automation of the folder.

        So, if I keep the folder structure and create a group: master for the folder and slave for the drums subfolder, when I automate the volume for the Overall kit via automation in the folder DRUMS, the reverb aux will be unaffected. meaning, more volume in drums, same reverb in snare. If in automation of that folder, i lower the volume so nothing is coming out of the folder, the reverb aux is still having that snare banging away. the compressor of the folder remains as well as the overallsound, but forget reverb.
        so thats’ the scenario I was working with and from this standpoint, might as well not use groups at all before you begin putting on your reverb aux.
        Because here I was speaking of automation. But before automation is considered, when you’re just moving the folder volume slider trying to find the sweet spot of volume of drums against the whole song, mind you that those slave tracks volume sliders will move and thus wrecking havoc in your Drum folder Compressor… so that will have to be a no no.

        so, here come VCAS to save the day?
        When turn the folder into a master VCA(being the snare, kick, overheads, vca Slaves) I do achieve control over that reverb problem since it goes down with the volume of the whlole drumkit as intended, BUT, as the volume of the folder goes down, the Compressor is not being hit so hard, so I lose the sound I had struggled to achieve by slapping that comp in the folder of drums. now if the volume of the VCA was POST-FX the compressor in the folder would be unaffected. so, it keeps the same level of reverb, but now when the volume of the whole kit is lower, the whole kit sounds different because the compressor is not reacting how it should be. the same, but at a lower volume…

        If anyone has found a way around this, please do enlighten me because I’m just finding this reaaaally mind blowing confusing. and what’s more is that nobody else seems to be addressing this problem. I’ve searched many tutorials now and though some acknowledge the problem, I’ve yet to see a good workaround to this problem. and for me it is really a problem, as I have no sure way now to know how I must approach my next mix session regarding this situation… please Help!

        1. Anthony Pero Avatar
          Anthony Pero

          I see the problem more clearly now. Use VCAs so the reverb problem works, use a compressor on that, then rout the Drum VCA output to a new buss, and do your volume automation on that, post-everything. Would that work?

        2. Admin Avatar
          Admin

          Really making a mountain of a molehill JR. hahaha. 🙂

          I’ve tried using VCAs exclusively but keep coming back to folders.

          It’s very rare that I automate my drum bus level (for example) more than a few dB, so little that you don’t hear the “problem” of the drum reverb remaining. If it’s a real problem I can also automate the reverb return level. I use VCAs pretty rarely.

          There’s a feature request on the forum for folder tracks to optionally control the post-fader sends of it’s child tracks. That would be the perfect solution.

          1. JR Avatar
            JR

            Hey Admin, thanks for replying, but I don’t view this as a molehill at all. only if it’s a giant one. the Drums were but an example. and we’re talking in my example as a reverb in the snare. what if it’s a delay? now that would change the game a bit. or if it was whatever other aux fx that would leave more of a trail than a simple reverb that can be washed away with the rest of the song.
            what if i’m mixing a singer songwriter where things are more exposed? what if it’s a giant session with hundreds of tracks? (and mind you, i’ve mixed some projects that big). when all is edited and each folder have tracks really well balanced, you will then proceed to automate these “groups” of instruments. that was my workflow.
            And I know you meant it as a joke 😉 but, what is indeed THE mountain for me is that I’ve suddenly lost my trust in the good old reaper folders and how I could and can use them.
            so now besides organizing all into folders, whenever I want to ride the volume of a group I also have to ride each reverb send for the affected tracks ? that’s just crazy!
            and if in the middle of an automation of volume in the middle of the song, I have to ride the drums all the way to silence I have to always keep in mind that i have to ride that reverb send ? what if i’m using three different reverbs for that same snare? say a room, a hall an a plate, all to achieve the sound I like for that snare (and this is not uncommon at all)? so after achieving that equilibrium, then i will have to ride them as well? that’s a show-stopper. specially, since when i’m riding the volume while i hear the song, my ears will be fooled by what is going on because i will not be sure if the drums volume, or whatever instrument folder’s volume is correct, or if it will be correct only after i ride the reverb as well.
            Man, I’m appalled. And it’s not like I mean to move to another daw. I love reaper.
            I just need to find a way out to create a workaround to this. it’s a mountain because this simple thing means changing my whole way of approaching the organization of a project.

            so any help would be appreciated until they actually implement “folder tracks to optionally control the post-fader sends of it’s child tracks”

      2. JR Avatar
        JR

        Hi Anthony,
        I was trying now your suggestion, but still to no avail.
        I routed the Drum folder vca output to another Bus and killed the Master Send on the drums folder, so that i could freely automate the volume of the drums throughout the song. The result is that the compressor will be working ok and with the levels I wanted for it, but alas, the Reverb becomes a problem again. and as I raise or lower the Mentioned new DRUM BUS I just created, the reverb aux volume stays the same… rendering this solution a return to the same problem. and as you mentioned earlier, this is a problem of design, because it figures that the outcome would be this. Because when I mess with the volume of that new drum bus, that action is not communicating with the reverb aux… so it runs freely…

        In a tutorial I just watched they said: put the reverb aux inside the drum folder. but that’s a very poor solution since that would mean in this case specifically that this same reverb signal would be compressed by the comp I chose to put in the Folder drum. And if that wasn’t enough of a problem in itself, that would mean that I would have to put that same reverb inside each folder that I have in the session where I wanted to use it. say, for the folder of guitars, the folder of pianos, the folder of vocals….
        that hardly seems a solution… to have (in this example i just stated) 5 reverb aux with the exact same reverb and plus, since i don’t want it to be affected the same way i intend to affect the tracks in those folders when i put something as trivial as say an EQ or a Comp.
        It never crossed my mind that this could be so complicated, and I’ve done a fairly amount of mixing over the past years using only reaper. I can only wonder how many of my mixes are plagued by this mistake as well as other reaper users that might not be aware of this.

        so, If you have any other suggestions, or anybody else reading this… please do help.

        1. Anthony Pero Avatar
          Anthony Pero

          Route the Drum reverb output to the new volume buss as well.

          1. JR Avatar
            JR

            Hey Anthony, another valid suggestion, but just tried it out and no cigar.
            I mean, it would work but that would mean I would have to create an aux reverb for every single folder.
            Because the moment my DRUM BUS is in charge of that reverb aux output, then it means that the same drum bus controls all that is going into the reverb aux.
            for example if i want to use the guitars folder with that reverb it’s a no go, since the drums bus will wet and/or dry the guitar’s assigned sent reverb.
            rendering that reverb aux inoperable other than for the drums.
            meaning, that a session where I just need for example 3 aux instances of reverb: say a plate, a hall and a room, i would have to have those exact same reverbs for each one of the folders I mean to use.
            that’s crazy.
            if i have 1 folder for each set of instruments that make sense volume riding in the mix, say all guitars, drums, all keyboards, all vocals, that would mean i would have to have 12 reverb aux (3 reverbs for each folder – 4 folders in all, equalling 12 reverbs ). and though that could work, cumbersome as it is, how do you think my pc would hang on with a fully loaded fx session and on top of that 12 instances of say Altiverb. 🙂 hehe. dead on arrival. if one instance of, for example H-Reverb, is enough to send up the hill the usual less than optimal mixing pc feature wise.. imagine 12…
            it would be an interesting fix, but still not a good or at least practical a feasible.
            But thanks for the input. at this time, all help is appreciated.
            🙂

          2. Anthony Pero Avatar
            Anthony Pero

            This is true. A lot of people have a separate reverb for their drums anyway. I actually load up a separate reverb just for my snare and don’t even use an ayx buss for it.

            Automating the volume on the combined Drum output is not something I’ve ever had cause to do much of, certainly no more than a db or two, so I’ve never experienced the problem you are having.

          3. JR Avatar
            JR

            Yes, but I think you can see the real problem. It’s not such a huge problem until it is. And when it is then it really is. It’s making me reconsider the way I have been working with reaper all together and I wasn’t counting on this one so far into the game. It’s really a game changer this one and I still am trying to figure out how to proceed now in my next mixes because the way I used to handle things such as this is terribly flawed because of the way this is designed.

  36. Tristan Young Avatar
    Tristan Young

    I wish Reaper supported Track Selection and Automatic Track Focus with Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol. There are currently only 4 DAW’s listed with this support.

    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      one of those situations where Reaper users aren’t buying the hardware because it’s not supported and NI won’t put the time in for supporting reaper due to lack of demand.

      1. Tristan Young Avatar
        Tristan Young

        I haven’t seen any evidence that Reaper users aren’t buying the hardware. From what I’ve seen, lots are, and are making do. It’s not a major problem, it’s not impossible to use N.I. Komplete Kontrol keyboards with Reaper, but an annoyance. Us users see it as a Reaper annoyance, not a Komplete Kontrol annoyance.

        There are lots of other DAW’s that don’t support Advanced Integration: Track Selection and Automatic Track Focus with Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol. Reaper is one out of a list of many others.

        Is adding Advanced Integration something Native Instruments can directly do to Reaper, or is it something only the Reaper developers can do?

        What would it take to add it to Reaper? Has Cockos tried reaching out to Native Instruments? Has Native Instruments tried reaching out to Cockos?

        I would be happy to volunteer my time to help make connections between Cockos and Native Instruments if that is what it takes to improve integration. It helps both products to have the integration. Native Instruments can say they have even more support from DAW producers which helps their cause and their battle with AKAI’s product, and Cockos can say they fully support N.I. keyboards and join the ranks along-side the other four DAW’s listed as supporting Advanced Integration.

  37. JR Avatar
    JR

    One of my biggest frustrations is the rendering of midi and also the render of Vsts such as Drumagog. I generally just trigger the kick, and it would be wonderful to freeze or render the track and have it just as I hear it when playing back. But most of the times it’s a bit out of sync and even skips some notes. I already tried rendering in realtime (online) to no avail (the render online proved to be sucessful when rendering for example a track with melodyne, but drumagog is a no go). still there are some things always missing. wish it was more reliable. it happens sometimes when rendering midi with kontakt for example. skipping notes, etc. but what’s really bothering me now is the drumagog thing. just can’t trust reaper to render it right and most of the times I have to go and adjust manualy almost every single kick… it’s very time consuming. any ideas?

  38. tom harrison Avatar
    tom harrison

    Ableton Live Lite was the first DAW I ever saw or heard of. It came with the Novation Impulse 61 that I got as a Christmas present two years ago. It was the most complicated software I had ever touched in my life making my first days with Photoshop seem easy by comparison.

    I went to college last year studying music technology and I came across Reaper. I immediately preferred it and found it easier (and hella cheaper). I took Pro Tools in college but cancelled the subscription as soon as the class was over ’cause I could do everything I wanted in Reaper. It will take me years to truly master all of the power this little software comes with as I learn about things like compression, side-chaining, etc. But it has been sooooo easy to learn how to change the look or assign my own keyboard commands for anything.

    My only frustration is that Automap doesn’t automatically synch with Reaper making everything work as easy as some tutorials show:) But, give me another week or two of watching/reading tutorials and I am sure I will find the answers I am looking for.

  39. Cássio Avatar
    Cássio

    this one I can’t solve until this day: tiny fade-in when rendering, mainly low-end-heavy stuff that I need to start exactly at the very beginning of the print; such as drum samples printed for TCI files, etc.

  40. Seymour Heron Avatar

    Iam going to quote IAN Gillinggs earlier post, almost word for word ”my biggest frustration is how long it is taking to learn how to do simple things in REAPER, even very basic things…, I am more writer/performer than tech guy I am deep into a song production, like I am right now, and need to do a simple thing like rendering my song… When I check the finish file its only 15 seconds long. I go back and render again, this time the file is 5 seconds.. I have no idea why Or I need to convert MIDI stereo file to audio mono file…. I go to EDIT where I expect to see a heading discribing how to. no go,,..so I have stop what I am doing, and go search the web to find the answer. I would happily make a contribution to someone who could set up a simplified NEWBIE friendly menu version, which would be GREAT for beginners.., and leave all the other options for the more advanced among us.Thank you reading my rant. God bless you.

  41. matthewrummler Avatar

    My biggest frustration with Reaper is that my music is terrible. I’m having the same problem with Ableton.

    There should be a feature, a button or something, so that what ever anyone records, it comes out a pop hit.

    Okay, just kidding.

    But I do wish the routing matrix was bigger, and that I could assign the different squares of the matrix to an external button to turn them on or off.

    Oh, and I really dislike that when ever I turn something off in the routing matrix, it asks me if I really wanted to do that.

  42. Grant Stanley Avatar

    problem is vst patches resetting to init sound, very frustrating , tried all of the suggestions in the reaper forum , kvr,etc, problem still persists. on both machines which i have reaper installed.
    https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=271876
    http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=54919

    1. Poofox Avatar
      Poofox

      You might have the plugin compatibility option enabled to disable saving full plugin state. This is set in Reaper prefs as well as per plugin with the + button in the Fx Chain. Otherwise check that you didn’t accidentally assign an fx preset action to some MIDI control.

  43. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    Reaper is awesome and über powerful. Maybe I just haven’t figured it out yet but I would love to have the ability to save piano roll templates for all the notations I do on the various views. This would make life much easier while using Kontakt.

  44. Arcay Mixing Mastering Avatar

    Will be awesome post fader inserts in all channels! Great blog!

  45. Richard guy Avatar
    Richard guy

    Why does Reaper lock up if it cannot find any audio files.

  46. Sean Castleton Avatar

    REAPER is one awesome DAW but has some serious hang-ups…First, it won’t load alot of VSTi’s, whereas Synapse Orion, for example, will load pretty much anything. Second, there needs to be a way to toggle the FX window, or even better, have it’s own FX window like in Ableton Live. Third, there needs to be an option to show/hide the static toolbar, of which I find unnecessary and a useless waste of space, as you can pull up most things via keyboard commands. There are some minor other gripes, but those three are in my opinion the most outstanding.

  47. Roy Sonobel Avatar

    1. Pretty simple. When you color a track, the whole track should be exactly that color, not just a dimmed version of that color only as a background of the track name.

    2. That horizontal scroll handle gets so tiny if you zoom in to do tight editing.

    3. I would REALLY love to be able to delete, move, or rename files in the Media Explorer.

    4. I have many more I can’t think of right now but I am very happy with Reaper.

  48. Edward Duckworth Jr Avatar
    Edward Duckworth Jr

    I am more of a musician than a tech. I have a specific problem which is Reaper stops recording during a recording , also during playback Reaper stops and will not resume playback until i reboot the entire system. There should be some tech support to communicate with.

  49. James R Beavers Avatar
    James R Beavers

    Reaper is the only DAW which feels “normal” to me, almost like a console and a tape machine. It’s straightforward, it’s not as bizarrely convoluted and all martiany to get around as most DAWs are. BUT… At least my other DAWs accept all my plugins. Reaper sniffs at about 15% of plugins you buy, and you can keep stuffing “Sugar Bytes” in every folder you have all you want, until you turn gay, but nothing’s going to happen. Reaper appears to have feuds going on with quite a few plugin devs, obviously.

  50. Daniel Good Avatar
    Daniel Good

    This may be something wrong with the settings, but what I hear in the workstation itself is not what I hear in the rendered audio file in terms of volume. Before I realized this, all of my mixes were very quiet.

  51. Paul Edsall Avatar
    Paul Edsall

    It would be really helpful to color sends,when they bank up on a reverb channel its quite confusing all being black and white

  52. Panos Avatar
    Panos

    Missing a way (star / colour) to indicate a favourite plugin in its folder.

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