Mixing in Reaper

Reaper is the ultimate power-user DAW — lightweight, endlessly customizable, and priced at a fraction of its competitors. Its routing engine is arguably the most flexible of any DAW, allowing unlimited track sends, receives, and channel configurations without arbitrary bus limits. Combined with a full suite of included JS and ReaPlugins, Reaper provides professional mixing capabilities in a package that runs on almost any hardware.

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Mixing Workflow Tips

1Use Reaper's flexible routing by clicking the Route button on any track. You can send to any other track, receive from any track, and create complex parallel and serial signal paths — all without creating dedicated bus tracks.
2Set up folder tracks as submix buses by dragging child tracks underneath a parent track. The folder track automatically sums its children and can be processed as a bus with inserts and sends.
3Use Track Templates to save and recall entire channel strip configurations (EQ, compression, sends) that you can apply to any new track in any project.
4Leverage Reaper's Item-level processing (right-click an item > Take FX) to apply effects to individual audio items without affecting the track's insert chain. This is ideal for clip-level corrections.
5Customize the Mixer layout via View > Mixer to show/hide panels, reorder channels, and create layouts optimized for different mix stages. Save layouts as screensets (Ctrl/Cmd+E) for instant recall.
6Use the SWS/S&M extension's snapshots feature to save and compare different mix states — switch between snapshots to A/B different EQ settings, balances, or effects configurations instantly.

Best Stock Plugins for Mixing

ReaEQ

Unlimited-band parametric EQ with multiple filter types per band. Extremely low CPU usage means you can run it on every track. Supports up to 256x oversampling for transparent high-frequency processing.

ReaComp

Full-featured compressor with sidechain input, wet/dry mix for parallel compression, program-dependent release, and lookahead. The built-in wet/dry knob eliminates the need for parallel routing setups.

ReaVerbate

Lightweight algorithmic reverb suitable for send effects. While not the most feature-rich reverb, its low CPU cost allows multiple instances across a session without performance impact.

ReaDelay

Multi-tap delay with up to 50 taps, tempo sync, filtering per tap, and stereo spread. Use it for simple slapback delays, complex rhythmic patterns, or as a creative sound design tool.

JS: Loudness Meter Peak/RMS/LUFS (Cockos)

Integrated loudness metering with LUFS, RMS, and peak readings. Essential for monitoring loudness targets for streaming platforms and ensuring your mix meets loudness standards.

ReaXcomp

Multiband compressor with up to 32 bands, flexible crossover points, and per-band ratio, threshold, attack, and release. Ideal for mastering and detailed bus processing.

Export Settings

Render via File > Render (Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+R). Set the "Source" to "Master mix" for the full stereo mix, or "Selected tracks (stems)" for individual track exports.
Choose WAV as the output format, 24-bit depth, and 44100 Hz sample rate. Reaper supports virtually any format, but WAV 24-bit is the standard for streaming delivery.
For dithering, add a dither plugin as the last insert on the Master track when rendering to 16-bit. Reaper does not apply dithering automatically.
Use "Normalize/Limit to: Off" in the render dialog to preserve your intentional headroom. If you need loudness adjustment, do it with a limiter plugin, not the render settings.
Set the "Tail" option to include a few seconds of silence after the end of the project to capture reverb and delay tails that extend beyond the last item.

Common Mistakes in Reaper

Getting lost in customization instead of mixing

Reaper's extreme customizability can become a productivity trap. Spending hours tweaking themes, scripts, and custom actions instead of mixing is common. Set up your template once, save it as a track template and project template, then focus on the music.

Ignoring the SWS extension

The SWS/S&M extension is a free, essential add-on that provides snapshot recall, advanced marker features, track coloring, and dozens of mixing workflow improvements. Not installing SWS is like using half of Reaper — install it immediately.

Creating overly complex routing when simple folders would work

Reaper's routing can do almost anything, which tempts users into building unnecessarily complex signal paths. For most mixing tasks, simple folder-based submixes with sends to FX tracks cover 90% of needs. Save complex routing for specialized situations.

Not using the built-in wet/dry mix on ReaComp for parallel compression

ReaComp has a built-in "Wet" knob that blends the compressed signal with the dry signal — instant parallel compression without any routing. Many users set up separate send tracks for parallel compression when the wet/dry control achieves the same result in a single plugin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Reaper's audio engine supports 64-bit double-precision processing, automatic plugin delay compensation, and unlimited track counts. Its ReaPlugins suite is transparent and CPU-efficient. Many professional engineers and post-production studios use Reaper for commercial work. The low price reflects an efficient business model, not a lack of features.

SWS/S&M is a free, open-source extension that adds features like mix snapshots (save and recall different mix states), advanced marker and region management, auto-coloring, and hundreds of additional actions. It is maintained by the community and considered essential by most serious Reaper users. Install it from sws-extension.org.

When you drag a track underneath another track, it becomes a child of that folder. The folder (parent) track automatically receives the summed audio from all its children. You can process the folder track with inserts just like a bus channel. Nesting folders inside folders creates a hierarchical bus structure — for example, individual drum tracks inside a "Drums" folder, which is itself inside a "Music" folder.

Absolutely. JS plugins are text-based, open-source effects included with Reaper that cover EQ, compression, delay, distortion, metering, and more. They are extremely CPU-efficient and many are surprisingly high quality. The "Cockos" JS plugins are well-maintained, and the community has contributed hundreds of additional JS effects. They are particularly useful for utility tasks like gain staging, metering, and simple filtering.

Helpful Guides

Mixing With Stock Plugins Quick Mix Improvements Mixing on Headphones

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