Purchasing reaper

[Jak Angelescu]

Hi there everyone! I'm going to be buying reaper soon and I'm confused by what it's asking. Do I purchase the $60 1 and not the commercial one? Also I know I have asked this about a dozen times but could anybody give me a basic gear a list for really starting a small at home recording studio?I lost my list from last year that everyone helped me with

 

[Ed Seith]

Yes, the $60 version. Now that V06 is out, that $60 license will last you all the upgrades for probably 6-8 years before Reaper 8 comes out. I originally bought v4 back in 2012, and I only this month had to pay for it again.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Yes, the $60 version. Now that V06 is out, that $60 license will last you all the upgrades for probably 6-8 years before Reaper 8 comes out. I originally bought v4 back in 2012, and I only this month had to pay for it again.

Ok great! Thanks Captain!

 

[Manvir B]

I'm pretty sure all you need for the basics is a DI box like a focsurite, Studio monitors or headphones, midi controller if you want one and a mic aswelll if ya want one. There might be some stuff I can't think of rn but someone else might add in.

 

[Donovan Etue]

With Captain Ed already helping out on Reaper I think I can help out some with the gear related question. I've been watching a ton of content on how to setup a beginner home studio and what gear is good to start with. First is to get an Audio Interface. The interface is where you plug in your mic/instrument input as well as having your output jacks for a pair of studio speakers and with some a headphone jack for your headphones. Focusrite's Scarlett series is incredibly popular, low priced, and well made. The Solo model has 1 mic input and one instrument only input so you can plug in a microphone for say vocals or an instrument as well as the strictly instrument only for a guitar/bass cable. They have a couple tiers above as well that have 2 Mic/Instrument jacks, 4 of those, and I believe an 8 input as well. Each tier getting more expensive of course. From there a mic or two is good to have if you want to record your own amplifier if it doesn't have it's own DI Out jack. The Shure SM57B is a studio standard cab mic that is never not seen in any decent studio. They're great mics and relatively cheap too! For vocals the Shure SM58 is another industry standard vocal mic good for live or studio situations. Another choice for vocal microphones is a Samson C01 which seem to be well reviewed too. Depending on your living situation whether you live in an apartment with rice paper for walls or you are renting/own a house will help you choose between headphones vs studio monitors. If you go with headphones the Audio Technica ATH M40x's or the M50x's are great headphones. For monitors I have heard great things about Kali Audio's LP Series. They're pretty cheap, are eq'd flat, and seem to be pretty sturdy! So to make a list of stuff that's a tad easier to read

Home Studio Gear
Focusrite Scarlett series audio interface
Shure SM57B Cab Mic
Shure SM58 vocal mic or the Samson C01
Audio Technica Ath M40x's or M50x's Headphones
Kali Audio LP Series Studio Monitors.
And if your budget allows some good acoustic treatment!

These are of course just recommendations and I haven't personally used any of these before. I'm just recommending these after watching hours of videos over the last few months.

 

[Hiroshi Nakauye]

A good interface. I like the focusrite scarlett products. The 2i2 is nice for recording stereo unless you plan for doing live drums, then it gets more expensive.

A pair of monitors. Krk rockit monitors are great for the price.

Good quality cables. You dont have to go for the best but good cables will save you from lots of problems which will waste your time.

Head phone adaptors. You will lose a bunch.

Painters tape and some sharpies. Great for temporary labels for everything.

Microphones depend on your application but a good multi pattern condenser can cover a lot of ground. Plus your industry standard sm57 and sm58.

One tall and one short mic stand

A usb midi keyboard. Easier than using your mouse for certain midi functions.

Good sound treatment for your room. A bad room can really mess with a mix.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Since when did reaper cost 60 dollars?

 

[Filip Tomiša]

First thing that you need is an interface but I believe that you already have one. Next thing would be good speakers like Yamaha HS5 which are one of the "industry standard" speakers but If I remember correctly you already bought some speakers which is great. The most important thing is that you know how your speakers sound like, that you are familiar with them because then you can make anything sound good on them. You don't need some super expensive speakers in order to get a great sound out of them. The entire "Thriller" album by Michel Jackson which is like the most succesful album of all time was mixed on Auratone 5C speakers and they are a small cone speakers.

Next thing would be microphones and mic stands. For recording your amp shure sm57 is a classic mic for that and with that you would need a small microphone stand. For vocals you could get shure sm58 but that mic is intended for live performances but you can still get a good sound with it when you are recording. With that you would need a big microphone stand. Also you need a pop filter so that you don't get those hard "p" "f" "s" sounds in your recordings. Isolation shiled is also a great thing to have if your room is not acoustically treated and a shock mount is a good thing to have as well.

Acoustic treatment is important but you need a big budget for that but there are some cheap alternatives for that. Here is a 3-part tutorial on how to make acoustic panels that you can hang on your walls. You don't need to have them but they are a great plus.

 

[Ed Seith]

Since when did reaper cost 60 dollars?

Always, as far as I know. The "evaluation" version is unrestricted and can be used perpetually, but that still doesn't mean it's ACTUALLY free - the people who wrote it deserve compensation for it.

 

[Edward John]

Always, as far as I know. The "evaluation" version is unrestricted and can be used perpetually, but that still doesn't mean it's ACTUALLY free - the people who wrote it deserve compensation for it.

Yes, compensation, but at that price? Nah.

 

[Ed Seith]

Yes, compensation, but at that price? Nah.

Sorry, are you suggesting that's too expensive? I dare you to find a pro-level DAW anywhere near that price. ProTools is 10x the price. Reaper is dirt fucking cheap for what you get.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Always, as far as I know. The "evaluation" version is unrestricted and can be used perpetually, but that still doesn't mean it's ACTUALLY free - the people who wrote it deserve compensation for it.

I have never used the program. I use audacity. But I always was told there was a free version of reaper too. That is the only reason why I asked.

 

[Ed Seith]

I have never used the program. I use audacity. But I always was told there was a free version of reaper too. That is the only reason why I asked.

It was never ACTUALLY free, but the "evaluation" is full-featured, not hobbled, and not time-bombed, so you COULD use it forever without paying for it. It's recommended that when one gets to where they CAN afford to pay for it, they SHOULD. That's just honesty.

 

[AGA]

Yes, compensation, but at that price? Nah.

I have to agree with @Ed Seith on this one. $60 is nothing for a DAW. Ableton costed me $1,000 for comparison, granted I got the Suite version but still, even the lite version is $120.

 

[Edward John]

I have never used the program. I use audacity. But I always was told there was a free version of reaper too. That is the only reason why I asked.

This was my reasoning also.

 

[Rute Rodrigues]

I have reaper and I didn't pay anything

 

[Ed Seith]

I have reaper and I didn't pay anything

You're still "evaluating" it then.

 

[idssdi]

I have studio one artist, GarageBand and an logic pro x.

I like studio one the most but if you want to use 3rd party plugins you need to pay for an extra package which allows it

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I have the studio 1 from my interface audio box but I don't use it. I just stick with audacity. Cause it's simple and it doesnt sound terrible. I'd need a walk through for protools i tried using the free version. It was very confusing to me.

The audio box definitely made a difference in my tone in some areas over the USB plug I used to use. That USB plug now is in the interface. The only issue is my camera still records the interface in stereo only through the left speaker. It's weird why it does that cause in audacity its straight mono.