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Logic Pro X VS Reaper

Compare Logic Pro X VS Reaper and see what are their differences

Logic Pro X logo Logic Pro X

Music production.

Reaper logo Reaper

Reaper is a focused digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Cockos. In the creation of the software, the digital audio technology company intended to make audio editing accessible to the masses.
  • Logic Pro X Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-29
  • Reaper Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-06

Logic Pro X features and specs

  • Comprehensive Toolset
    Logic Pro X offers a wide range of tools and features, including virtual instruments, effects, and extensive MIDI capabilities, making it suitable for both beginners and professionals.
  • User Interface
    The user interface is intuitive and well-designed, allowing for a streamlined workflow that improves productivity.
  • Integration with Apple Ecosystem
    Seamless integration with other Apple products and services such as macOS, iOS, and iCloud, providing a cohesive experience for users.
  • Advanced Editing Features
    Offers advanced features like Flex Time and Flex Pitch for detailed audio manipulation, making it easier to correct timing and pitch issues.
  • High-Quality Sound Library
    Comes with a vast library of loops, samples, and instruments that offer high-quality sound, suitable for various music genres.
  • Value for Money
    Provides a powerful DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) at a relatively lower price compared to other professional-grade software, offering great value for its features.

Possible disadvantages of Logic Pro X

  • Mac-Only
    Logic Pro X is exclusive to macOS, limiting its accessibility to users who are on Windows or other operating systems.
  • Resource Intensive
    The software can be demanding on system resources, requiring a powerful Mac for optimal performance, especially with large projects.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its intuitive interface, the depth and breadth of features can present a steep learning curve for new users, requiring time and effort to master.
  • Lack of Plugin Compatibility
    While it supports AU (Audio Units) plugins, it does not natively support VST plugins, which are more common and might require additional steps for compatibility.
  • Periodic Updates
    Although updates bring new features and improvements, they can sometimes introduce bugs or require time to adapt to the changes.

Reaper features and specs

  • Affordable
    Reaper offers a full-featured digital audio workstation at a fraction of the price of many competitors, with a very reasonable one-time licensing fee.
  • Customizable
    Reaper is highly flexible and customizable, allowing users to script their own features and modify the interface to suit their specific workflow needs.
  • Lightweight
    Reaper is known for its low resource usage, meaning it can run efficiently on both older and less powerful computer systems without sacrificing performance.
  • Frequent Updates
    The developers of Reaper frequently release updates, ensuring the software remains current and packed with new features and bug fixes.
  • Strong Community Support
    Reaper benefits from a strong, active user community that provides tutorials, scripts, plugins, and other resources to extend its functionality.

Possible disadvantages of Reaper

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Beginners may find Reaper challenging to learn due to its extensive set of features and customization options, which can be overwhelming at first.
  • Less Industry Standard
    While powerful, Reaper is not as widely recognized and used in professional studios compared to industry standards like Pro Tools and Logic Pro, which could be a drawback for collaborative projects.
  • Limited Native Plugins
    Reaper comes with fewer high-quality native plugins compared to some other DAWs, which might require users to rely more on third-party plugins.
  • Complex Customization
    While customization is a strength, it can also be a downside for users who prefer a more straightforward, out-of-the-box experience, as the initial setup and tweaking can be time-consuming.
  • Interface Design
    The default interface design of Reaper is often considered less polished or modern compared to other DAWs, which might affect the user experience for some.

Analysis of Logic Pro X

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Logic Pro X is generally considered to be a high-quality digital audio workstation.

Why this product is good

  • Logic Pro X offers a wide range of powerful features including an extensive sound library, advanced MIDI editing capabilities, seamless integration with other Apple products, and a user-friendly interface. It supports high-definition audio and provides professional-level production tools like Flex Pitch and Flex Time for pitch and timing correction. Additionally, regular updates by Apple continue to enhance its capabilities.

Recommended for

  • Professional music producers looking for a comprehensive DAW
  • Composers and songwriters who require robust MIDI and audio editing tools
  • Home studio enthusiasts who use Apple hardware
  • Sound designers seeking a wide variety of plugins and virtual instruments
  • Educators and students in music production disciplines

Analysis of Reaper

Overall verdict

  • Reaper is considered a highly capable digital audio workstation (DAW) that provides excellent value for money. It is particularly well-suited for users who desire a powerful yet customizable tool for music production.

Why this product is good

  • Reaper is praised for its flexibility, affordability, and lightweight performance. It offers a comprehensive set of features for audio recording and editing, supports a wide range of plugins, and is highly customizable. Furthermore, it has a strong user community and receives regular updates.

Recommended for

    Reaper is recommended for musicians, audio engineers, and producers who need a flexible and efficient DAW without a high price tag. It is ideal for those who are comfortable configuring and customizing their workflows and for users who predominantly use Windows, although it is also available on macOS.

Logic Pro X videos

The Top 10 Reasons You Should Consider Buying Logic Pro X

Reaper videos

Reaper DAW review - best free daw software for music production?

More videos:

  • Review - Why Reaper? | pros and cons
  • Review - Why I love Reaper with Glenn Fricker - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Logic Pro X and Reaper)
Audio
13 13%
87% 87
Audio & Music
12 12%
88% 88
Audio Recording
14 14%
86% 86
Music
20 20%
80% 80

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Logic Pro X and Reaper

Logic Pro X Reviews

5 PRO TOOLS ALTERNATIVES FOR RECORDING AND MIXING AUDIO
Logic Pro X is a professional-level DAW used by many Grammy-winning producers. It has a wide range of features and is very user-friendly. It is available on both Mac and Windows. Some features that make Logic Pro X stand out are its automation capabilities, its ability to create multi-track recordings, and its mixers.
Best FL Studio Alternatives In 2022
Logic Pro X is a great DAW that is compatible with Mac only. While this might be a drawback, it is great for those looking for a professional level DAW outside of FL Studio.
10 Best Audacity Alternatives for Audio Recording and Editing
If you are looking for great audio recording and editing software compatible with your Mac device then Logic Pro X from Apple it is! This legendary audio editing software comes with awesome features like audio plug-ins, vintage EQ’s, smart tempo, audio loops, multi-touch mixing, multi-track editing and user-friendly interface, etc.
Top 12 Audacity Alternatives You Could Use
One of the benefits of using a Mac is the exclusive app support that you cannot find on other platforms, Logic Pro X, which is one of the best audio editing software on the market, being one of them. Logic Pro is one of the oldest audio editing and production software on the market and it has aged just like a fine wine. You get access to all the cool audio editing features...
Source: beebom.com

Reaper Reviews

Top 18 Free Music Making Software for Beginners [2023]
Launched by Cockos in 2006, Reaper has grown into a robust, feature-rich DAW, offering full audio and MIDI recording, sound editing, mixing, and mastering functionalities.
5 PRO TOOLS ALTERNATIVES FOR RECORDING AND MIXING AUDIO
Reaper is a low-cost digital audio workstation with many features. It is available for Windows and Mac and can record, mix, and master audio. It has many features, including multichannel recording, surround sound support and a powerful effects engine. Reaper is a good option for home recording and mixing, and has many features that make it an alternative to Pro Tools.
9 Adobe Audition Alternatives That Do More Than Cleaning
Not as recognized as rivals like Ableton, Pro Tools, and FL Studio. If your employer or client requires you to have access to these tools and you’re only using Reaper, that could be a problem.
Best FL Studio Alternatives In 2022
Reaper puts its stamp in the conversation as it offers users an incredibly active community as well as everything you need in a DAW. Speed is one of the selling points with Reaper as it loads up extremely fast compared to certain DAWs. This is mainly due to its lightweight size, with its downloader being less than 20MB. In making Reaper, the software devs also did a...
Top 12 Audacity Alternatives You Could Use
Lastly, you can also check out Reaper, which features multi-track audio editing, processing, and more. Plus, it supports a wide range of hardware and plugins, and also comes baked with some pretty neat features such as the ability to record and edit musical notations with support for key signatures, multiple clefs, and more. What’s more, Reaper also supports scripting, so...
Source: beebom.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Reaper seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 80 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Logic Pro X mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Logic Pro X yet. Tracking of Logic Pro X recommendations started around Oct 2022.

Reaper mentions (80)

  • Extensible Control of Reaper via OSC and Scripts
    REAPER is a powerful Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) with enormous customization possibilities. Its scripting support, external control capabilities, support for many DAW plugin formats, and compatibility with MacOS and Windows make it an obvious choice for building all sorts of integrations and automation. At Sonarworks, we use REAPER as a plugin host as part of our DAW plugin test automation framework. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Ask HN: Is There a Blender for Music?
    Almost free. https://reaper.fm It's cheap enough for almost anyone to buy and you can play around with the free version. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Best DAW for putting E-drum tracks on PC
    I'm a big fan of Reaper (reaper.fm). It's technically not free, but $60 is totally worth it, plus you can trial it full featured, indefinitely. Source: over 1 year ago
  • What Is the Future of the DAW?
    If you use the Linux port, you may want to use Yabridge to load Windows VSTs in a transparent way. http://reaper.fm/ https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Where do I start designing my own audio for my games?
    My recommendation would be Reaper from reaper.fm Reaper is used in the video game industry due to it's customization, routing, batch processing and scripting capabilities. It's very customizable and has small CPU footprint. Source: almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Logic Pro X and Reaper, you can also consider the following products

Audacity - Audacity is a free and open-source audio production software suite that includes a surprising array of editing tools and recording systems.

Ableton Live - Ableton makes Push and Live, hardware and software for music production, creation and performance. Ableton´s products are made to inspire creative music-making.

FL Studio - Image-Line's FL Studio, now on it's 12th version, is a well-known music production suite and the most popular beat processor on the market, due no doubt to its longevity. Read more about FL Studio.

GarageBand - GarageBand is a fully equipped music creation studio for Mac

LMMS - Make music with a free, cross-platform tool

Ardour - Record, edit, and mix on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.