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Reaper - what are your favorite VST

#2
I figured I might as well copy paste my answer to your question, as you originally posted it in Is Reaper adequate?:

I would say it highly depends on what I need to do.

It's kind of like asking what your favorite string on the bass is, or what fret you prefer to play on.

Different situations calls for different tools.

If I had to answer your question and only chose one VST though I would probably have to say Kontakt 5 by Native Instruments, which is an incredible VST instrument, or rather actually a whole sequencer program with tons of useful and great sounding samples of nearly any instrument you could want.

Also I could add that of the VSTs that are included when you download Reaper the ones I have find most use for is the ReaEQ (equalizer, parametric EQ with the option of choosing almost as many bands as you like) and ReaPitch (pitchshifer, with the option of splitting up your signal to several different pitches at the same time).

And here's a list of other VSTs that I really like and use frequently:

Free VSTs:
Blue Cat Audio - BC Chorus 4 (chorus, great sounding with a lot of useful parameters)
Blue Cat Audio - BC Flanger 3 (flanger, great sounding with a lot of useful parameters)
Full Bucket Music - Frequency Shifter (filter, to be exact I think it is some kind of advanced phasing filter)
Variety of Sound - NastyDLAmk2 (delay, pretty advanced tape like delay with a lot of features and the option of running two different delays in stereo)
Softrave - Bass Landscapes (exciter, primarily designed with bass instruments in mind, though I found it works well for a lot of other instruments as well)

VSTs you'll have to pay for:
Crysonic - SpectraC1 (compressor, great sounding classic studio like comp)
ValhallaRoom (reverb, extremely great sounding with a lot of parameters to fine tune your reverb to exactly how you like it)
Native Instruments - Guitar Rig 5 (really well made and great sounding amp and guitar effect emulator with a lot of different amps, effect units and parameters to chose from)
 
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#8
NI has some great VST plugs. But I gravitate to Universal Audio. I like their older iterations of famous gear - 1176 and LA2A comps, Pultec EQs, and most importantly, EMT reverbs.

Although now you have to have your computer connected for NI and UA software to be activated. So, eventually, I'll either have to give in and rebuild my computer to join the ranks again, or look elsewhere for plugs... I'm leaning towards the latter thought...
 
#10
I used to use less VSTi's and get deeper into to tweaking them to make a sound patch. Now there are so many good free synths with many well defined presets that I tend to search forums for what I'm looking for in new synths on each song I write. I save time this way, but have many many synths installed on my midi computer. Frequently I layer similar sounds from different synths and add effects after I render them to audio. I know that's not really a VSTi recommendation but I know other producers who do things this way too so maybe you find it food for thought.
 
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#13
i'm doing a lot of writing and arranging = piano is often enough! most of the stuff requires some sort of manuscript/chart as an end product so i take it all to pro tools for charts/audio, anyway.

IME: favorites for reaper = free.
 
#14
I've successfully used Guitar Rig from NI, in various incarnations. There's not a lot there that is specific to bass, but I don't have many guitar-oriented physical effects, and no longer have my little 10W tube amp, so it fills a gap. The AC30 model is pretty good.
 
#15
I've only been using Reaper for the past few weeks since I grabbed a decent computer, and it's the first time I've been self sufficient in recording in a very long time. I must say that I love the software. Very intuitive and easy to get up and running.

So far, I prefer Reaper's stock FX to most of the free VST's I've tried thus far. I tend to prefer a clean, non-gain driven sound anyways. I have gotten some use out of Sonic Anomaly's Bass Professor, but use it sparingly. The onboard EQ, compression and limiting software is great for me. I'm interested in learning more about this IR stuff to simulate a bass cab. Voxengo seems to sound very nice and flexible for the skinny strings that I've recorded at home.

I did splurge on EZ Drummer 2 and I'm really glad I did. It's a fantastic practice and writing tool that's fun and easy to use. Probably my favorite overall plugin so far.
 
#16
Of Reaper's native audio effects I use the compressor, multi-band compressor, basic reverb and delays and convolution reverb as a matter of course, as well as the octaver on occasion. The saturator comes in handy too.
 
#17
GlassToMouth said:
I've only been using Reaper for the past few weeks since I grabbed a decent computer, and it's the first time I've been self sufficient in recording in a very long time. I must say that I love the software. Very intuitive and easy to get up and running.

So far, I prefer Reaper's stock FX to most of the free VST's I've tried thus far. I tend to prefer a clean, non-gain driven sound anyways. I have gotten some use out of Sonic Anomaly's Bass Professor, but use it sparingly. The onboard EQ, compression and limiting software is great for me. I'm interested in learning more about this IR stuff to simulate a bass cab. Voxengo seems to sound very nice and flexible for the skinny strings that I've recorded at home.

I did splurge on EZ Drummer 2 and I'm really glad I did. It's a fantastic practice and writing tool that's fun and easy to use. Probably my favorite overall plugin so far.
Click to expand...

For IR you can use them for reverb and cab simulation:

For reverb:
REAPER | Resources
4 Superb Impulse Response Reverb Packs To Download • RESOUNDSOUND

For cabinets you'll need
IR's:
Link Removed
Free Guitar Cabinet Impulse Responses!
Rosen Digital Audio Impulses-Cab IRs-Guitar Cabinet Impulse Responses

VST:
Mercuriall has a free IR loader called Mercuriall Cab 3.0, you can download it at the end of the page don't forget to download the IR library they offer too.
Mercuriall Audio Software
Download Free IR cabinet simulator plug-in: NadIR by Ignite Amps
 
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#18
Quick question for all you Reaper users actually. I only just started doing my own home recording stuff a few weeks ago, and I went with Reaper for the price.

For plugins though, do they go in the "Plugins" folder, or the "FX" folder inside the plugins folder and if they go in Plugins, what goes in the FX folder?

Thanks in advance.
 
#19
GBBSbassist said:
Quick question for all you Reaper users actually. I only just started doing my own home recording stuff a few weeks ago, and I went with Reaper for the price.

For plugins though, do they go in the "Plugins" folder, or the "FX" folder inside the plugins folder and if they go in Plugins, what goes in the FX folder?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

You can place your plugins in any folder you prefer but make sure that you go to Preferences and in the plugin (vst) tab you add the path to that directory.
 

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