Using Reaper with Play+ (best budget DAW to sync MIDI clock to and record in multi-track mode)

I had to download reaper because I just can’t rationalize spending another $400 to upgrade my DAW just to see and edit the tracks I made on my play+ :face_exhaling:

Now, either the internet gods are playing another one of their cruel tricks on me, or the reaper forums are at about as much of a loss as I am.

I know it’s a long shot, but does anyone know how I can set reaper’s midi clock to follow to the play’s clock? I just want to see which track/s are clipping and fix them so I can finally record this album I spent so much time creating😵‍💫

I’ll also take any suggestions for inexpensive/free 32+ track DAW that isn’t going to to be a huge headache to figure out how to use and works well with the play+ (I’m familiar with Logic and Ableton. Also Protools, but it’s been a hot minute for all that and is too convoluted for what Im trying to achieve) I have a dell laptop with windows 11, so be gentle please lol.

Any help is greatly appreciated :grin: thanks!

Edit: For anyone, like me, looking for a DAW that can sync and follow the Play+ midi clock as well as record all 28 channels in multi-track mode simultaneously, Bitwig Studio Producer allows for this functionality and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. (I’ve changed the title for clarity)

After you configured your device in the midi in settings, right click the play button. There is the config for the sync settings.

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Not sure of the midi syncing with Play+ but Presonus Studio One 7 is cheap as chips especially during the summer sale and it’s such an easy daw to use, just got Bitwig too, I’m not as familiar with this but I just picked up license transfer for the latest version for £100 and it seems intuitive enough.

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check out tracktion/waveform, the free version might have everything you need and it’s probably the easiest daw to wrap your head around, only 1 screen and everything goes left to right. not sure why it’s not more popular, it’s very capable of ‘pro’ results

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Thanks for the reply! Sorry, I should’ve clarified a bit better. I’ve checked the “enable synchronization to timecode” box after right-clicking the play button, as well as the “start playback on valid timecode when stopped” box. I’ve gone through each of the inputs for LTC, SPP, MTC, and ASIO positioning protocol, all with no results except for “SPP: All Inputs”, which only starts/stops the transport and doesn’t sync the tempo🤷‍♂️

Ive been eyeing studio one🤘 how would you say it compares to bitwig in terms of mixing and mastering fx? Thanks for the help!

That just might be the ticket I need! Thanks🤘 I’ll check it out now

Ah okay, i can test the setup later this evening with reaper and the tracker, should be the same.
Stay tuned :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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I appreciate that!

I dont tend to use them mate, it’s part of creating music I can’t stand, I just use Izotope Neutron and Ozone on my tracks, cant be bothered with all those crazy chains of compressors, limiters, eq, I just want to get my ideas down

Studio one is quick for that, especially dragging a sample to the timeline and timestretching it, Bitwig does this automatically, but I like to have some control on this.

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For me play+ worked perfect with reaper. In windows I needed to follow the guide by @Sandroid to be able to record on multitrack and worked very well. I don’t know, In my PC y use a midi usb interface by Roland and always works. I almost never use USB except for multitrack recording.

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Which guide might you refering to?

The midi device could be a good fix! I have a cme midi host i might be able rig up like that. Good idea🤘

Lol yeah, i feel that. I prefer to be outside the box, but until I can afford that model 24 Ive been dreaming of and polyend decided to put a mixing section on the play+ (like the tracker’s mixer view), this is what Im stuck doing​:man_shrugging::joy:Thats why i liked ableton. It has a few mix and mastering tools that i like and can just drop in and go, but are def not worth the money to upgrade, especially since my computer isn’t made for running a program like Albeton Suite without issues. I plan on giving these recordings to a DJ friend of mine to use in his sets, so I want to make sure the bpms are locked in for him, hence the need for the DAW to follow the midi clock of the play while i multi-track.

I did end up dl studio one since I was thinking of making the switch anyway for recording purposes and the workflow reminds me of Logic. I have a couple more questions for you if you dont mind helpin me out a little further😁

I have mine plugged in via usb and am trying to do the process above where the DAW receives midi clock and records at the same time. The audio, i have coming through perfectly using vb-audio matrix coconut (thank you @Sandroid :sign_of_the_horns:), but the midi clock does not seem to come through when I press the sync button on the transport. Does this work the same for you, or are you able to sync and get transport controls as well?

Back again, i tested the sync setup with reaper.

Reaper usually expects to receive mtc not midi clock. Therefore it does not transport/clock sync to the Polyend stuff.
An external clock converter or a master clock solves these issues ( like my e-rm, does transport and sync perfectly) but is not a cheap solution.

Tldr: Play+ alone to reaper as slave not possible.
Play+ as master to an external mtc device to reaper as slave works as expected.

A workaround would be to slave the play+ and let reaper be master, setting the song bpm in reaper.
That works just fine.

To add for reference: there are 3 protocols we can use here:

  1. Midi Clock
  2. Midi Time Code MTC
  3. Song Position Protocol SPP

There are more, but these are the 3 that are relevant in this case.

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Oof🤦‍♂️ welp, I guess that means studio one is in the same boat. At least i got it on sale🤷‍♂️

Thanks for looking into this for me. I’ve never run into this issue until now, so guess today’s the day to learn new things. I appreciate the help🤘 I’ll be looking into the external clock converter as that sounds like it could be handy in a few situations.

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You’re welcome. Yes it seems so. Almost all major DAW have the same implementation. There’s a simple reason: where midi clock provides a simple pulse, mtc submits also the exact location. Its like smpte.

I use the e-rm multiclock. Super helpful as it provides 4 Independent clocks that can be shifted to create a more layed back feeling. It also can divide the clock for resolution.

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