Cockos REAPER 7.4.8 on Mac

REAPER supports up to 128 MIDI input devices and loopback streams, which gives you an idea of how far this DAW stretches. It runs on macOS 10.15 through macOS 26.x, on both Intel and ARM64 Macs, so an M2 Air handles it without a second thought.

Record anything

Whether it's a soloist, a full band, or an orchestra, REAPER's multitrack audio and MIDI recording handles it. Folder tracks let you group by dragging one track above others and hitting the folder button.

Edit and arrange

Import audio and MIDI, slice, trim, loop, and rearrange. The editing tools stay quick and responsive, even with large sessions.

Mix and master

The mixing console covers processing, routing, and effects, while the master section gives you the final polish. A single version works for beginners and pros alike, and you can script or extend it as you grow.

First days with REAPER

After you install REAPER 7.4.8, spend the first session just poking around. Open the default template and create a few empty tracks. Right-click on buttons to see what they do. REAPER hides a lot of useful actions behind right-click menus.

Set up your audio device early. Go to Preferences, pick your interface or built-in output, and adjust the buffer size. A higher buffer stops crackles when mixing many tracks; a lower one cuts latency for live monitoring.

Learn the routing matrix early. Click the routing button on any track to see sends, receives, and hardware outputs. Once you understand that panel, REAPER's flexibility starts to make sense.

Save a basic template

Set up two audio tracks, two MIDI tracks, and a folder track for drums. Save it as a template. Every new project starts from that base, so you skip the repetitive setup each time.

Try the Actions list (press ? on the keyboard). Type in any command name and assign a shortcut if you want. This is how REAPER adapts to how you work, not the other way around.

Scenario: a podcast editor moving from another DAW

Maria edits a weekly interview podcast. In REAPER, she imports a two-hour WAV file, splits it at every question using the dynamic split tool, and labels each section. The track stays clean, the edits are non-destructive, and the whole session fits in a small project file.

She adds a compressor on the master bus, a gate on each voice track, and renders the final episode as MP3 with a single shortcut. REAPER does not force a project structure on her, so she works fast and keeps the workflow minimal.

Default template loads with two armed tracks

I open REAPER and the default template loads. Two audio tracks are already armed for recording. I plug in a microphone, hit the record button on the first track, and play a few bars on the guitar. The waveform appears instantly. I stop, trim the silence at the start, and record a second take on the track below.

I open the takes manager and comp the best parts from both takes into one clean performance. The comped take stays on the same track, no extra lanes to manage.

Next, I add a MIDI track and draw a simple bass line with the mouse in the MIDI editor. I load a free synth plugin on that track, adjust the volume envelope, and loop the pattern for the chorus section.

For the mix, I open the mixer panel at the bottom. Each track has an EQ and a compressor. I adjust levels until the guitar sits behind the bass and the vocal cuts through. The folder track groups the drum submix, and the master bus gets a limiter.

I play through the whole arrangement once, tweak a few fader moves, then render the project as a 24-bit WAV. The whole session takes maybe forty minutes, and nothing slows down or asks me to commit to a workflow I do not want.

• macOS 10.15 or later (up to macOS 26.x)
• Intel or Apple Silicon (ARM64)

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