Tutorials Audio

Editing a Podcast in REAPER

Intermediate · ~50 min

Overview

REAPER costs a fraction of Pro Tools or Logic, has a fully unlimited free trial, and is the DAW most audio professionals actually recommend to budget-conscious podcasters: it's fast, endlessly customisable, and doesn't compromise on core editing and mixing capability. This guide is a complete podcast workflow from import to final export.

What You Need

REAPER (free 60-day fully-featured trial, then $60 one-time for individuals)
Your recorded episode tracks (see the Editing a Podcast in Audacity guide for comparison)

Steps

Set up your project and import tracks

Create a new project, set your sample rate to match your recordings (typically 48kHz), and drag in each speaker's track onto its own row. Label tracks clearly (Host, Guest 1, Guest 2) immediately.

Edit for content first

Use REAPER's ripple edit mode to cut dead air, mistakes, and tangents while keeping all tracks in sync automatically, do this full content pass before touching any processing, so you're not re-doing EQ decisions on material you'll later cut.

Build your FX chain per track

On each speaker's track, add ReaEQ (high-pass filter, presence boost), ReaComp (compression, 3:1-4:1 ratio), and ReaFIR or ReaGate for noise reduction, all included free with REAPER, no extra plugin purchases needed to get a solid result.

Add a master bus limiter and loudness check

On your master track, add ReaLimit set a few dB below 0 to catch any peaks, then use REAPER's built-in loudness metering (View → Loudness) or the site's LUFS File Checker to confirm you're hitting your target platform loudness.

Render to your final format

File → Render, choose MP3 (192-256kbps for most podcast platforms) or WAV if your host handles its own encoding, and confirm your normalisation target matches your platform's requirements before rendering.

Pro Tips

Save your FX chain as a track template once it's dialled in, apply it instantly to every new episode's tracks instead of rebuilding it each time.
REAPER's customisable toolbar and actions list (a searchable command palette, "Actions" via the "?" menu) can automate repetitive tasks, worth exploring once you're comfortable with the basics.
Use regions to mark chapter/segment boundaries as you edit. This speeds up building a chapter file later with the Chapter & Timestamp Generator.

Knowledge Base

Why REAPER, Specifically

REAPER offers professional-grade editing, routing flexibility, and a genuinely capable set of free bundled plugins (the "Rea-" plugin suite) at a one-time cost far below subscription-based competitors. Its efficient engine also runs comfortably on older or modest hardware, which matters for budget-conscious podcasters who may not have top-tier machines.

REAPER vs. Audacity

Audacity is free and simpler, suited to quick single-track edits. REAPER costs a small one-time fee but adds proper multitrack routing, sidechain compression, a more capable native plugin suite, and far more flexibility as your production needs grow. Most podcasters who start on Audacity eventually outgrow it faster than they expect.

The Ripple Edit Workflow

REAPER's ripple edit modes (Ripple all tracks, Ripple per-track) mean cutting dead air on one speaker's track can automatically close the gap across every other track too. A significant time saver over manually re-aligning tracks after every cut, which is a common pain point in simpler editors.

Where This Fits

This guide covers one specific part of podcasting. The wider picture. The whole setup from equipment and recording through editing, publishing, and handling remote guests, is in Best Podcast Setup for Beginners, which frames the discipline as a whole and links out to the detailed guides underneath it, including this one. If you are starting from scratch rather than solving a specific problem, read that first and come back here.

FAQ

Q: Is REAPER's 60-day trial actually fully functional?
A: Yes. It's the complete, unrestricted application with an occasional reminder screen, not a limited demo.

Q: Do I need to buy third-party plugins to get a good podcast mix in REAPER?
A: No. The bundled Rea-plugin suite (ReaEQ, ReaComp, ReaFIR, ReaGate, ReaLimit) covers everything described in this workflow at no extra cost.