Reaper 7 - We Take A Look At New Features | Production Expert (2025)

In Summary

Users of other DAWs will be aware of Cockos’ slightly ominously named REAPER. Following the recent announcement of its seventh incarnation, here we run through the new features that make it anything but scary…

Going Deeper

Although a lot of DAW discussion on the blog understandably concentrates on the established grandees such as Pro Tools, Logic, and Studio One, less widely-used platforms are no less important. One of these is Cockos’ Rapid Environment for Audio, Production, Editing, and Recording, aka REAPER. As the tool of choice for a number of engineers, its uses extend beyond music and post production, with game audio, broadcast, and scientific research all calling on its light-footed, bullet proof credentials. You can read more about our experience of REAPER here.

Here we outline some of our favourite new features, with Cockos’ exhaustive changelog covering the rest of the new goodies in this enormous update.

1 - Swipe Comping In Track Lanes

OK, let’s get this one out the way while Pro Tools users and the rest of the world light a cigar and settle into their comfy reclining chair and/or shout at their screens…

All DAWs have their own way of implementing multiple takes; engineers can pick the best one and/or sections from the others to get the final comp. For producers, it goes without saying that being able to quickly record, review, and choose takes or sections is the ultimate way to get to pristine performance nirvana.

Up until v7, REAPER had been showing a rare moment of, dare we say basic implementation… Previously, multiple Takes could be shown stacked up inside a single track, although that track’s height would have to be tall enough to let the engineer see and hear what they were doing. Out the box, although default behaviour of ‘recording over’ the previous Take to create a new one was slick enough, switching between them involved shortcuts and various other ways to compile the keeper.

V7 sees REAPER employing a more familiar MO with dedicated lanes to manage Takes. There is now a new Action in the Actions menu “Track properties: Fixed item lanes (convert takes to lanes)”. Having tried it, I can confirm that comping has gone from being slower than the “industry standard DAW” to being much quicker thanks to its tool-less workflow that ditches any kind of ‘promote’ button for takes or even the need to spit or Separate. Just see, monitor, and swipe.

2 - FX Containers

Being able to save signal chains sees different MOs in each DAW with varying levels of success. Although virtually all will let you save and recall things like channel strip setups, some only go this far. REAPER has long been able to store both channel configurations and effects chains separately, and v7 brings yet another way to customise signal flow through effects.

The new Containers feature applies to groups of audio plugins that live within each Container. This can keep commonly used-together tools in one place such as having containers for dynamics, EQ, or cleanup, for example. These can be more conveniently re-ordered, or even used in parallel to each other thanks to v7’s new FX routing (more on this later). Each Container supports configurable channel feedback.

3 - In-Track Gain Reduction Metering

Yes, other DAWs do have this, and now so does REAPER.

Another feature that natives of other DAWs had to live with in REAPER was not having this helpful visual reference in the channel strip. Being able to see the amount of gain reduction happening across the session is one of those things you miss if you use it elsewhere… No more! V7 brings this pro mixing must-have into the fold alongside existing options to embed things like dynamics threshold or anything else next to the fader. The audio plugin must be able to report GR data to the host in order for this to work; now REAPER lets v7 users switch this on for new tracks under Preferences > Track/Send Defaults.

4 - Parallel FX Chains

With the benefits of things like parallel compression or saturation well-known, there are a number of universal techniques that will work on any platform that let engineers split audio, process one leg, and delay the other so that both line up at the output. The easiest way is of course to use a processor with its own mix control. Without that, engineers can bus their signals down two or more mixer channels to achieve the same thing.

In typical REAPER style, there is now another way, in the form of the new Parallel FX Chains feature. In the FX window, users can right-click a plugin and select "Run selected FX in parallel with previous FX". This puts an "||" next to the FX, to show which are running in parallel.

5 - Expanded Track Channel and MIDI I/O

All DAWs offer varying audio channel widths, even if it’s just a binary choice between mono or stereo. With many going much higher for mixes to picture or other jobs, REAPER’s Track Channel architecture has been supercharged in v7. Not only can each track now accommodate up to 128 internal audio channels, but also 128 MIDI buses. Moreover, hardware compatibility enables the use of up to 128 MIDI input and 128 MIDI output devices. It's notable that in REAPER there are no restrictions on track numbers, sends/receives, FX, or ReaScripts.

6 - Expanded Folder View Options

Since its introduction REAPER’s advanced folder functionality has made Project management and signal flow just that bit easier. With a simple reliance on track order, users click on one icon to select whether a track is a Track, Folder, or the last Track in Folder, and folder view options get another boost in v7. Now there are four options under Preferences > Appearance > Track Control Pane for collapsing and/or doing Child track show/hides for Folder Tracks.

7 - The Rest?

V7 brings a whole tonne of extra features including some less glamorous but highly useful workflow lifts and bugfixes.

GUI

REAPER comes with three different track and mixer layouts - A, B and C, and as with previous updates, v7 gets its own new default theme. This is a nice balance between looking new and feeling like you’ve just walked into the wrong room! A particularly welcome feature (for this user at least) is the repositioning of the TCP (arrange/edit window) Mute and Solo buttons next to the track name rather than teetering on the border between the TCP and Items on the timeline. Track Inserts can now also be seen in the TCP as well as the mixer like many other DAWs. Really handy is the new ‘radar’ animation in the Ripple Edit button to make it more obvious when Ripple is engaged.

Track Spacers allow some welcome breathing space between channels and audio in the TCP. Track Spacers’ default height can be changed in Preferences under Appearance.

Keyboard Shortcut And Mouse Modifier Sets

REAPER’s highly advanced shortcut mapping and Actions see a boost with the addition of new Shortcut and Modifier Sets. These allow multiple layers of keyboard shortcuts to be mapped for different tasks such as recording, mixing, or NLE duties. REAPER’s mouse modifier shortcuts already allowed users to determine what these did in combination with mouse moves; the new Sets also allow multiple states to be stored. Keyboard sets can have Actions to make them persistent or momentary.

Backup

REAPER v7 has some pretty comprehensive options for backup that go far beyond how often they are made.

You can configure the path for auto-saving unsaved projects. By default, it will save up to 50 timestamped projects in the "Backups" directory for new users. Additionally, you have the option to save timestamped backup projects to the "Backups" directory and auto-saved projects to the "AutoSaves" directory. You can also choose to retain the last X copies or X unique days of timestamped backups.

In The Background

There are is also reduced web server latency for control surface connections, improved tools for those using API/ReaScript, and expanded ARA support with the introduction of ARA Pooled Edits.

Version 7 Might Cost You Nothing

Do You Use REAPER?

Does REAPER figure in your daily working life? Do you rely on it, and if so what kind of work are you doing with it? What can it do that has won you over from other platforms? Is there anything it cannot do that you’d like to see available in future versions? Let us know in the comments.

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