Compare to Reaper?

[funkifized]

How does Audacity compare with Reaper?

[kozikowski]

Quite well, I believe.

If you're in a position to directly compare them, post back with your observations and conclusions.

Koz

[steve]

It is a different sort of program.
Reaper is a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).
Audacity is a multi-track audio editor.

Audacity and Reaper complement each other very well. You can use Reaper with ASIO devices, and VST plug-ins, and you can use Audacity along side it for editing the sounds that you are using in Reaper.

[funkifized]

Well, I'm trying to get a headstart on Audacity. I'm brand new to it. Is there a start-up manual, how to record into it, etc.? I'm looking to record guitar, maybe vocals. I've got a Line 6 digital amp modeler, which worked really nice for recording on my band's CD direct, but I haven't done any recording of my own yet. How available are drum loops to work with? Can I incorporate BIAB for backing tracks, etc.? Do I run sound directly into my soundcard, or is there some type of USB interface that I should be using?

[steve]

It will probably be worth you using Audacity 1.3.6 rather than the old 1.2.6 version. 1.3.6 is pretty stable and has a lot of improvements - it will be the basis of the new 1.4 version when it is released.

A good place to start is with the Tips and Tutorials section of the Audacity wiki (see link at top of page).