Reaper 7 is coming... Not a deal

[ralfrobert]

Development is at pre-release 2 now. Changelogs and downloads can be found on the Reaper beta distribution site which is publicly available. I have removed the link to this site as the Cockos folks obviously do not want any links pointing there. (See Bapu's post below.) However, if you are feeling adventurous and want to install the pre-releases, just go here ... 

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=22836

... and follow the link in the first post. It might be a good idea to read the warnings, as pre-releases are not production-ready. 

Strange requirement for a public download location, but as I'm a nice guy, I am playing the game as they want me to.  

Edited August 5, 2023 by ralfrobert
Direct link to the pre-releases removed as per requirement by Cockos.

[Last Call]

Having used it since version 3, I think, and it still feels like a toy (because of the interface, Reaper is great, don't get me wrong).

Haven't check out the new version but I bet I am going to be disappointed again, and again...

That's my (whiny) take, lol.

 

EDIT: Yeah more of the same, White Tie wouldn't take risks to make something amazing...

Edited August 5, 2023 by Last Call

[Esteban Villanova]

I think White Tie doesn't have the talent to make something amazing. All of the suggestions people made about the new theme were simply brushed off repeatedly and we were told that he would simply do wha he wants. I said that his attitude was unacceptable towards paying customers and that any decent company would fire an employee like that. He proceded to delete my posts (he's the forum moderator). So yeah, Reaper is a company run by a guy who has NO aesthetic or moral sensibilities to see that the guy he hired is a talentless tyrant. I now use Bitwig.

[Bapu]

6 hours ago, ralfrobert said:

Development is at pre-release 2 now. Changelogs and downloads can be found here:

3. DO NOT LINK TO THIS WEB SITE OR ANYTHING ON IT FROM ANYWHERE

Edited August 5, 2023 by Bapu

[Lemar Sain]

2 hours ago, Last Call said:

Having used it since version 3, I think, and it still feels like a toy (because of the interface, Reaper is great, don't get me wrong).

 

Isn't Reaper skin-able.???  Besides, remember when we had to use interfaces that looked like this?  ?    In fact back in those days the whole OS would look like this too. Still got the job done. Just saying.

[Last Call]

I said don't get me wrong, omg! lol. Reaper is great, I said that!

I can count with one hand 3rd party proper skins.

Using Logic Pro right now, which among other things allows me to select a DIFFERENT interface for input and output.
And doesn't remove my selected TRANSPORT area when I click anywhere on the interface like Reaper, among other things. ?

[Last Call]

2 hours ago, Esteban Villanova said:

I think White Tie doesn't have the talent to make something amazing. All of the suggestions people made about the new theme were simply brushed off repeatedly and we were told that he would simply do wha he wants. I said that his attitude was unacceptable towards paying customers and that any decent company would fire an employee like that. He proceded to delete my posts (he's the forum moderator). So yeah, Reaper is a company run by a guy who has NO aesthetic or moral sensibilities to see that the guy he hired is a talentless tyrant. I now use Bitwig.

Totally agree. ?️

[ralfrobert]

1 hour ago, Bapu said:

3. DO NOT LINK TO THIS WEB SITE OR ANYTHING ON IT FROM ANYWHERE

I have modified my original post to fulfill this requirement. Strange, but whatever. 

[Starship Krupa]

6 hours ago, Lemar Sain said:

remember when we had to use interfaces that looked like this?  ?    In fact back in those days the whole OS would look like this too. Still got the job done.

Sure. I also remember that the people who came up with those UI's revised them to look better, to keep up with the times.

The appearance of the tools I use to create audio and visuals is important. It affects the amount of enthusiasm I feel for using the tool and my mood while using the tool. This is true for instruments, software, etc.

If I have to shield my eyes from a program that looks dated/ugly, I'm less likely to want to use it.

I definitely don't mind functional UI's; my favorite plug-in house is Meldaproduction, but they have also made many changes over the past several years to their UI's, based on customer feedback. They're never rude about customer suggestions. If they don't like them, they dismiss them politely or just stay silent.

[iNate]

On 8/5/2023 at 4:14 PM, Starship Krupa said:

The appearance of the tools I use to create audio and visuals is important. It affects the amount of enthusiasm I feel for using the tool and my mood while using the tool. This is true for instruments, software, etc.

It's almost like half the developers of creative software are incapable of understanding this. 

A $225 Pro DAW with the design investment of $19.99 1980s shareware. 

I couldn't be bothered. 

[Milan]

Everybody is different - I prefer a utilitarian interface with low resource requirements. I do use a third party theme for REAPER, but mostly because I prefer flat, dark UIs, but this is also entirely subjective.

[Bapu]

13 minutes ago, Milan said:

Everybody is different - I prefer a utilitarian interface with low resource requirements. I do use a third party theme for REAPER, but mostly because I prefer flat, dark UIs, but this is also entirely subjective.

Same here. Reaper is not my daily go to, but I have great respect for its low footprint/fast install, elegant track design (it's whatever you want it to be), no need for MIcrosoft C++ libraries and the active theme community.

 

[ralfrobert]

Plus scripting interfaces for several languages, third party stuff other than themes, stability and the great videos to get you started. All included, thus cheap as hell for a beginner just starting out. 

I got it in 2017.

60 bucks until now. 

Not a bad deal. 

But I went to Studio One for my main mixing work for exactly the reasons listed above. 

[jackson white]

15 minutes ago, Bapu said:

Reaper is not my daily a leading candidate for a go to cross platform DAW, for its low footprint/fast install, elegant track design

as a S1/CW user. have you found a custom theme that enhances your productivity in Reaper?

or do you run with the default ui?

tia

 

[ralfrobert]

I like this theme a lot. 

https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=260786

But this is very subjective. 

[Zolton]

2 hours ago, jackson white said:

as a S1/CW user. have you found a custom theme that enhances your productivity in Reaper?

As a Cakewalk user curious about Reaper, this modified Echolot theme put most of the basics in familiar places for me, so I could focus on learning about the differences, new features, workflow adjustments, etc.:

https://forums.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=2546076

[tom]

Love Reaper, I’ve tried so many other DAWs and always come back to Reaper because it just does absolutely anything you want it to (with a script here or there when required).
Agree the interface is uninspiring but I’m so used to it now I don’t even bother with skins, default skin is absolutely fine for me. 

[Monomox]

On 8/5/2023 at 5:19 AM, Last Call said:

Yeah more of the same

This is my non-developer take on developing (innovative) software:

• you think of a million things you can improve from the status quo, and
• create an innovating product that impresses people and makes them think "how innovative, if this is v1, imagine v6!!"
• however, every new version becomes more complex and, adding to the complexity, it has to be compatible with previous versions
  • in the case of Reaper this is probably worse since there's an ecosystem of 3rd-party extensions
• by the time v5 comes along people are "blah, what else is new.... uh! look! that other developer created a truly innovative daw, if this is v1, imagine v6!!"
• however, every new version.... blah blah blah

[iNate]

4 hours ago, Bapu said:

Same here. Reaper is not my daily go to, but I have great respect for its low footprint/fast install, elegant track design (it's whatever you want it to be), no need for MIcrosoft C++ libraries and the active theme community.

 

You can statically link to libraries like Qt and Microsoft C++ Runtime, Foundation Classes, etc. 

Need for Redistributable is really a completely ignorance concern. There is only a need if you choose the wrong compile flags. Experienced developers know how to avoid that, assuming they'd want to. 

Using a Redistributable - dynamically linked- means the library can fix security issues and bugs without requiring you to recompile and distribute an update... unless something fundamental about the classes or methods used was changed. 

It's a case of balancing the benefits vs the risks and/or potential inconveniences. Bandwidth isn't free, either. 

Footprint mattered more when we had to pay $500 for a 120GB SSD.

[iNate]

36 minutes ago, Monomox said:

This is my non-developer take on developing (innovative) software:

• you think of a million things you can improve from the status quo, and
• create an innovating product that impresses people and makes them think "how innovative, if this is v1, imagine v6!!"
• however, every new version becomes more complex and, adding to the complexity, it has to be compatible with previous versions
  • in the case of Reaper this is probably worse since there's an ecosystem of 3rd-party extensions
• by the time v5 comes along people are "blah, what else is new.... uh! look! that other developer created a truly innovative daw, if this is v1, imagine v6!!"
• however, every new version.... blah blah blah

Not quite sure thats how things went exactly for products like Studio One and Bitwig. 

As products mature there is less room for innovation, so v6 is bound to be less revolutionary than v2. 

But, "blah blah blah" is a bit exaggeratory, don't you think?

By the time a product line gets to v5/6, users have generally pivoted towards asking for QoL over big ticket features. The product, by that point, has already established itself and the people looking for things like clip launchers have already chosen to go elsewhere and get it. 

Expectations have been set, and the user base has largely leveled out and biased heavily towards those people who the DAW already meets the needs of, which ultimately tilts development in the direction of their desires. 

Anything else becomes niche de facto, so the people who want it tend to choose a different product. 

This is pretty standard across all product lines. 

It's why most REAPER users are fine with the UI, even as many of us avoid it for that specific issue - in many cases choosing to pay a far higher price to get a product that delivers what we desire ? 

And REAPER is unlikely to improve in that area for the exact reasons I've mentioned.