GPO4 and Reaper Sequencer...

[PrestonC]

I downloaded Reaper and am thinking of purchasing it. Is it a good sequencer? I am new to sequencer's so do not know much about them.

The problem I am having is that there is a slight delay from when I press a key on the midi keyboard to the time it plays a GPO4 sound in Reaper. Anyway to fix this?

Thanks,
Preston

[Steve Milward]

Hi,

What you described is known as 'latency'. It will appear in any sequencer/DAW - it's not a Reaper issue per se.

It depends on your soundcard. It hopefully has an ASIO driver. If so, go to options\preferences\audio\device...make sure you have an ASIO driver selected.

If your soundcard supports an ASIO driver, there should be one listed there.

Hopefully that gets rid of unnecessary latency.

What is your soundcard?

[PrestonC]

Thank you Steve. I am using a M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, and, it does support Asio. Right now what is selected in Reaper is something called WaveSound. I will change it and give it a try.

I am using the trial version of Reaper but for the price I am thinking of buying it. It has a great price. Is it a good sequencer?

[Steve Milward]

You should find a big change when you use the ASIO driver. If you can, set the latency to as low as you can without introducing pops and crackles.

Reaper has many fans - read the review at http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun0...les/reaper.htm. It rather depends on what you want to do - record MIDI/Audio, have extensive or limited effects etc. Some DAWs come with their own synths. I use Cubase 5, which is an advanced DAW and may be too over-the-top for your needs. For the money, Reaper has few equals.

[PrestonC]

Well changing it to Asio fixed the problem! Thank you for the information on Reaper.

[kastra]

I downloaded Reaper and am thinking of purchasing it. Is it a good sequencer? I am new to sequencer's so do not know much about them.

The problem I am having is that there is a slight delay from when I press a key on the midi keyboard to the time it plays a GPO4 sound in Reaper. Anyway to fix this?

Thanks,
Preston

Hi Preston,

Firstly, Reaper is well worth the asking price! I've been using it since February this year (version 2.54, now at 3.13) and can attest that it's a lot more powerful than it seems to be "out of the box" - I mention that because most reviews and references I've seen appear to classify Reaper as "very good for shareware". Initial plug over!

Some tips on using Reaper:

1. In case you haven't already found the shortcut, you'll notice that the current Audio Settings are shown on the top right of the main window. Clicking on them will take you straight to the Audio Device tab of the Preferences dialog (you may find you need to play with buffer sizes a little when using Aria Player, depending on your circumstances).
2. The User Guide is well written, reasonably up date given the frequency with which the program is updated, and your best friend. If installed in the same folder as Reaper, you'll find it under "Help/Documentation" on the menus. You'll find quite a bit of useful general advice in there as well as operating instructions.
3. Jesusonics (JS) are scripted plugins, mostly developed by regular users, and are therefore easy to dismiss as "hobbyist developments". If you check them out, however, you'll find they range from fairly simple MIDI tools to emulations of classic hardware units and also a powerful guitar amp/cab modelling plugin. You'll also find a number of useful mastering tools there.
4. Finally, if you don't like the default appearance of the GUI (which is -er- functional), just visit the Reaper Stash and download a theme. There are any number of different options available there - you can even use one to persuade you that you're using Pro Tools! I tend to change themes to suit my mood or the project I'm working on.

Anyway, I think I've probably said more than my customary two penn'orth so I won't go on to summarize the (430+ pages) User Guide , but I hope that my rant assists in your deliberations.

Best regards,

Keith

[PrestonC]

Thanks for that Keith, . Yes, Reaper has a great price and does seem and sound to be a really good sequencer. I will definitely be getting it.

[PrestonC]

Keith, I have been fiddling with Reaper more. It is truly a worthy program. I have nowhere near the money to keep spending constantly on new software- which has gotten so expensive, not GPO ofcourse.

In short, Reaper is a thing of beauty.