@Silver Machine. I can't answer your technical question, but I do know Reaper is not free. That misconception by many is due to their practice of not crippling the program when a user exceeds the trial period. I interpret that to indicate (1) it takes some people (like me) longer than 60 days to determine if the program is worth at least $60 to them and/or (2) they prefer to spend their development energy on the program itself rather than ways to cripple it.
So we're on our honor to pay for it once we've determined it works for us (or not, if it doesn't). I'm surprised, though, that you can't upgrade without paying. Apparently, that's one perk paid users have that others don't. I used Reaper for at least a couple years before I paid for it. It actually took me that long to decide I would actually keep using it. Until recently I almost exclusively used Audacity.
Anyway, if you can't afford the $60, why not try Go Fund Me or Kickstarter or something? I like the idea of supporting Reaper, as it's so low cost compared to any other comparable DAW. Ask all your friends to spread the word. It should be fairly easy to raise less than $100.