This is a bit of a testamonial on a new VST host app called REAPER. REAPER is an acronym for
Rapid Recording for Audio Prototyping
and Efficient Recording. I have been basically \"testing\" REAPER out off & on now since last MARCH and basically following it's
development. I think I even got a real early alpha/beta to look at, last January. I have been impressed and amazed with the many
refinements & improvements over the past 8 months. But had not really committed to really finishing (begining to end) anything with
it until recently, when some last remaining UAD-1/EZdrummer issues were addressed in recent updates.
There were a few specific REAPER \"Preferences\" tweaks that I had to figure out, to make it work with my UAD-1's & E6300 Duo Core/ASUS
P5B-E DAW optimally. I would expect these same configuration tweaks to be needed by anyone using UAD-1's with REAPER.
There are however, a number of caveats to consider. At least, on my system:
1) Native CPU munching is very prevalent at higher latencies. I have found that if you mix at very low latencies (128 samples/2.9msec
or less) the chronic native CPU munching is non-existant. Since I use a E6300 Core Duo I can easily mix 20+ audio tracks (including a
multi-out VSTi) and 12-18 DSP heavy UAD-1 plugins (80% or more DSP on 2 cards) and I rarely ever get out of the single digits
(peaking in the low teens), in native CPU. Disabling/re-enabling the PPI's from the PM hardly budges the native CPU usage! If I raise
the DAW latency to 1024 (23.2msec), due to the inevitable native CPU munching (at higher latencies) the CPU use jumps up to 30%-35%
playing back the same project. So when using REAPER and UAD-1's it is actually
less native CPU intensive to use extremely low latencies. Go figure! But, I like it.
2) When rendering/exporting, the REAPER Render Buffer Size must be the same size, as the REAPER/UAD-1 project latency. In my case, it
is 128 samples (2.9msec). I think it defaults to 256, at initial install. Otherwise, your rendered audio will not export correctly and can be distorted.
3) On rare occasions, I will get a brief spike in the native CPU usage when I first press play. Then after a few seconds it settles back down to normal levels.
4) On rare occasions, I will experience a brief crackling in the audio when I first start playback, even though the native CPU usage is only in the single digits or teens.
Once I changed a few REAPER specific Preferences, from their defaults to UAD-1 friendly ones, lowered my project latency to 128 samples (2.9msec) everything has been pretty much hunky dory. No showstopping gotchas! During playback, REAPER is very smooth, responsive & gapfree even when heavily using & editing UAD-1 plugins, doing track editing (moving, slip-editing, fading tracks/clips, etc.), project looping or doing most anything when mixing a project. Overall, I am quite pleased with how my UAD-1's work with a $39 audio host like REAPER. Much better in fact than most DAW's costing ten or twenty times that amount! There is still some features & refinements that need to be added on the MIDI side. I would like to see the ability to create & save drum maps, for instance.
Mixing with EZdrummer & UAD-1 plugins:
(20) track project using EZdrummer VSTi, in multi-out mode, (12) UAD-1 plugins (96% DSP on 2 cards) @ 128 samples (2.9msec) project latency. Average total native CPU usage 7%-12%. After making a few UAD-1 friendly performance tweaks in REAPER's \"Preference's\", playback using UAD-1 plugins is nearly flawless. Project renders are perfect and you can even burn MP3's from the timeline after you drop the free lame_enc.dll into REAPER's application folder. There is native control surface support for various devices. My Frontier TranzPort wireless DAW controller works perfectly with it.
I created a little Optimizing guide for using the UAD-1 with REAPER (v1.41 and above):
http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Gro ... REAPER.jpg
If you are interested, here is the link to the REAPER website & forums:
http://reaper.fm/