# Audacity or Reaper?



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I'll be moving in the middle of next month and once I am settled in, I will start doing some home recording. First it will be just guitar tracks over backing tracks. I have a Line 6 Guitar Port that I can use an interface. I was thinking of using Reaper or Audacity. Anyone here used both feel one or the other is better for a first time recording?


----------



## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

I've not used reaper so I just looked it up. Very nice user interface by the look of it. Audacity being free open source wins over reaper for me though. If I had funds though I would give it a go. A REAPER 2.0 license would have included over 100 free upgrades!Purchasing a license now includes upgrades through REAPER 5.99.What You Pay We offer two licenses, depending on how you use REAPER.$225: full commercial license. $60: discounted license.Read the pricing details here.


----------



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


> I'll be moving in the middle of next month and once I am settled in, I will start doing some home recording. First it will be just guitar tracks over backing tracks. I have a Line 6 Guitar Port that I can use an interface. I was thinking of using Reaper or Audacity. Anyone here used both feel one or the other is better for a first time recording?


I've got both on my "music only" computer but I use Audacity more for editing wav files. One of the big benefits of Reaper is the support for VST instrument plug-ins as well as pretty comprehensive MIDI support and the capability to record and playback loads of tracks as well. If, however, you won't be doing anything with MIDI or using VSTI plug-ins then Audacity does let you record up to 16 audio tracks, which really is more than sufficient for most people, plus it's free. If you encounter any problems once you get things set up let us know.


----------



## Andy (Sep 23, 2007)

Reaper is vastly superior and the learning curve isn't terrible.


----------



## Nick Burman (Aug 17, 2011)

Another vote for Reaper. Regular updates, ridiculously versatile, works with everything else (iPad control, VST...) and can even be themed if you really have to. I moved from Cubase and use it as my regular DAW, along with Ableton Live. 
Love it.


----------



## Fajah (Jun 28, 2006)

Kenmac said:


> If, however, you won't be doing anything with MIDI or using VSTI plug-ins then Audacity does let you record up to 16 audio tracks, which really is more than sufficient for most people, plus it's free.


I agree here. Reaper is very good and relatively inexpensive if you need to have VST plugin and midi capability. I find Audacity very easy to use and although I've tried other DAW's (including Reaper), I keep coming back to Audacity. BTW, their latest beta version has just been released.


----------



## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Fajah said:


> I agree here. Reaper is very good and relatively inexpensive if you need to have VST plugin and midi capability. I find Audacity very easy to use and although I've tried other DAW's (including Reaper), I keep coming back to Audacity. BTW, their latest beta version has just been released.


My only real crit is the lack of backward compatibility of project files for Audacity.


----------



## georgemg (Jul 17, 2011)

Robert1950 said:


> Anyone here used both feel one or the other is better for a first time recording?


It's been a while since I used either but for a first time recording I'd suggest Audacity. It was the first program I started using. The layout is very intuitive, which makes it easy to get recording instead of trying to figure the program out. You can always move to something with more options later.

And if you want something with more options, another free program I used was Kristal Audio Engine. There's no longer any official support but the User Forum is very helpful and still fairly active.


----------



## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

If you are going to be doing any serious audio work over the long term the minimal investment for Reaper is well worth it, IMO. As with any piece of complex gear, there is a learning curve, although with help from the excellent Forum and available written guides it shouldn't be too daunting. The frequent updates respond to user feature requests and stability issues, and they are free (see licensing agreement on the home page). 

I have tracked dozens of commercial projects using Reaper and use Adobe Audition as an embedded editor. The two work seamlessly together and offer me a stable platform to track, edit, mix and master.


----------



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

I've used both and find Reaper to be far easier to use. The initial download is a free full version so you can try before you buy - there is no designed cutoff either, just a friendly reminder that you've used the unlicenced version for x number of days. That's how confident they are that most people who try it will also buy it. I know I did.


----------



## Jeff B. (Feb 20, 2010)

Ardour is a great DAW and it's free but it's only for Linux and Mac currently.
I use Audacity as well and would recommend trying it first before spending money on another program. There are plugins available for Audacity.
You can also pair it with JACK (also free) and be able to route it through other programs among many other things.


----------



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...the learning curve for these programs wouldn't be nearly so steep if the engineers who designed it hadn't decided they need to invent an entirely new language, and not bother to offer a translation.

does anyone know what the reaper word for song "arrangement" is, for example?

i tried reaper - 400-page manual, and cubase le - 600-page manual. both left me with a renewed appreciation for garageband.


----------



## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

i use both-
for basic recording of sounds etc, song ideas, scratch tracks, jam sessions, i use audacity.
its great for those times when extra features and mouse clicks would be distracting.

if im going farther than that, ill use reaper.

audacity is the one i find most easy to use. i use it the way one would use a basic tape deck.
its capable of much more, but if im actually sitting down and getting serious, ill use reaper.
although i never create audacity projects, i will save audacity stuff as WAV, then open it and use it in reaper.

to start, id get audacity for sure- its free, and in my opinion is the easiest way to get started.
reaper is basically free as well, and id get it also- but there are more things to distract you, more mouse clicks to make, more ways to get frustrated.
audacity is a good way to ease yourself into this type of recording, i think


----------



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

fraser said:


> audacity is a good way to ease yourself into this type of recording, i think


That's where I'm leaning right now. I also use Ubuntu in addition to windows so, hey.....


----------

