Reaper vs Seq24

Reaper lets users change to different themes, supports the use of a wealth of (free) extensions and has a lot of options when it comes to rendering.

Most DAWs have a tendency to crash constantly, reaper crashes very rarely.

There are no limits on amount of tracks and effects that those tracks can be equipped with.

Alongside generally quick pace of updates, Reaper developers pay very close attention to user feedback and are constantly adding features based on their requests so much so that some even consider it somewhat of a crowdsourced DAW.

When using a 64-bit installation of Reaper, all 32-bit plugins will still work alongside 64-bit plugins. On computers with an x86-64 CPU and an OS that supports multi-architecture, you can also run bridged 64-bit plugins on 32-bit Reaper.

Reaper is lightweight enough to be run off of a flash drive; the installer weights less than 20 MB and the portable installation option is included in it.

Reaper's will tailor itself to fit your computer's processing power by automatically using the "anticipative FX processing" feature.

Records in WAV, AIFF, FLAC, WAVPACK, OGG and MP3.

No complex activation shenanigans. No dongle and such.

A freeze can be applied to a group, and then picked apart track by track.

The Reaper DAW offers 2 licenses. A commercial license at $225 and a discounted one at $60. Both licenses give access to the complete DAW. The discounted license is for non profits, educational programs and personal use as long as yearly gross revenue does not exceed USD $20,000. There's even an indefinite free trial with no limitations for evaluation purposes.

You can have open multiple projects via tabs at the top left and easily drag and drop clips, instruments and ideas between each project at ease.

Essentially shareware. After your 60-day free trial runs out, the program does not enforce the end of the trial period, and you may continue using the software for further evaluation or non-revenue generating purposes indefinitely. The only "DRM" is your conscience, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the fact the program is awesome.

In Reaper, a track is a track is a track. There is no distinction among MIDI, stereo, mono, surround or any other tracks, and that means it's possible to put clips of all kinds on the same track. This approach makes the Reaper DAW seem a lot more intuitive than other DAWs.

You don't have to go to a separate editor to edit audio files. You can work directly on the track, and drop/drag pieces to other tracks, sew them together. It's a fun sandbox and easy peasy.

The Application itself has no limitations. Once you understand it you can progress onto the better mastering and editing qualities then all other DAW applications.

Without prior experience with DAW, you can install Reaper, set up ASIO drivers, connect to your amp and mikes, get the hang of recording/re-recording tracks, and render an mp3 in just a few hours. You can accomplish the basics very fast.

Thought has been given to many time-saving features and shortcuts which speed up workflow considerably.

Set the cursor, press a key, done. No need to switch cursor editing modes or work around "smart" cursors.

No need to install Wine, Reaper supports Linux natively!

You can control nearly everything via OSC (and Midi, too).

The GUI is simple and easily gets information across to the user

If you want to use it as a glorified tape machine and nothing else, you'll still be able to get work done. If you want to learn all the shortcuts, scripts, custom actions and macros and really unlock what Reaper can do, you can do that as well. Either way, you'll still be able to make music.

Just a little digging in and you'll find there's more than hundreds of themes you can choose from. If that's not enough, you can customize those themes or even make your own.

If you want to save time mixing

Seq24 can be used and edited by anyone for free.