Cockos Reaper 4.2 review

Reaper isn’t as intuitively easy to get to grips with as some rivals and the lack of a wide range of default synths means that new users will have to spend time locating some VST instruments to use. It doesn’t look particularly slick, either – the drab grey icons don’t make their function immediately obvious. However, Reaper has a wealth of easy-to-use documentation, well designed options menus and handy tooltips which do a lot to make it more approachable. The program’s flexibility, wide plug-in support and massive stability on even basic hardware are all points in its favour, as is its low price of £38, available for users who earn less than $20,000 a year from their music, and this price includes guaranteed updates until version 5.99.

If you’re new to audio production, Propellerhead’s Reason Essentials provides a glossier and more approachable interface, including its own PCM audio editor, but it’s twice the price of Reaper and – although it comes with a wealth of synthesizers, effects and plug-ins – lacks VST support for third-party plug-ins, which is an area in which Reaper excels.

Reaper isn’t perfectly polished and there are some features which are conspicuous by their absence, but it’s a stable, cost-effective and ultimately very professional music production environment. It’s our Budget Buy.