The Sound Board

Looks like some smart enhancements, but they still haven't done the one thing I've been hoping for for years...switch to a vector-based interface for better scaling options. It's an amazing piece of software, but you do a lot of squinting, especially on Retina screens.

More Info: https://www.propellerheads.se/reason/new

Reason is like North Korea of daws. It blows my mind that Propellerheads is still in business.

Very loyal customer base, I guess.

Yasin Yavuz wrote:Reason is like North Korea of daws. It blows my mind that Propellerheads is still in business.

That's Funny

I have Reason 8 , but have never bothered learning/using it (yet) .

I used Reason years ago as a tone generator for Logic via rewire. It was incredible effective! I did some chillout songs on my first Macbook with OS 9, Logic 5(?) and Reason 1. The Macbook had 6 MB (megabyte!) of RAM and a single 300 MHz G3 processor. It was running smooth.
I think Reason is the only app I ever had in use which never ever crashed. I used it 'till version 3.

As far as I know Reason has a mostly HipHopper user base.

Reason is a fascinating product. The North Korea of DAWs is the most hilarious and incisive description of it I've heard yet, but it's not entirely fair.

I've never really used it seriously as a standalone DAW but it's an extraordinary synth/sound rack for other DAWs and the modular work environment is inspiring. And it is absolutely 100% rock solid...very very difficult to crash, slow down unexpectedly, or cause issues with. It's deeply, obsessively predictable in its performance and that in itself is worth giving them credit for.

As a consequence, it allows no VST/AU/AAX/etc. plugins—only their own RE format (which is better, frankly)—and it's never at the cutting edge of DAW tech in terms of fancy features. But what it does, it tends to do exceptionally well.

There are things Reason can do that no other DAW save possibly Bitwig can do, but there are a ton of things that other DAWs do that Reason can't—and unfortunately for media composers (versus other kinds of music producers), it's mostly those things that we need. Doesn't make Reason a bad product though, just the wrong tool for the job that most of us here do.

I always update Reason because I really like it's interface. But I find I hardly use it - probably like many I have staple plug-ins and just don't find (or are note willing to use) substitutes in Reason. I also find the sheer number of Reason Rack Extensions is overwhelming. I wish they presented them in a better manner as to which are good (and popular) and which are not. We do get 6 or 8 'most popular' but unfortunately can't sort by rating (nor is there comments to support ratings).

The current sale makes me want to get a new Rack Extension (or Refill) to try in Reason. Does anybody here have any recommendations?

eegee wrote:The current sale makes me want to get a new Rack Extension (or Refill) to try in Reason. Does anybody here have any recommendations?

Fun!

Depends on whether you're after instruments or effects...

If you're after an instrument, I find Parsec to be lots of fun, and Antidote is also cool, especially for really gigantic sounds.

On the effects side, Selig Leveler is a totally unique compressor whose functionality I actually haven't found in a plugin outside of Reason. I can kind of replicate how it works with several plugins in concert, but I don't think there's an all-in-one solution. Anyway, you can also pick up what is arguably Softube's finest work—the Classic Channel—for less during this current sale than elsewhere.

I still use it once in a while partly because it reminds me of my old synth racks. I probably don't need to run it anymore but it still can be a great little extra set of synths that don't take much CPU.

Yasin Yavuz wrote:Reason is like North Korea of daws. It blows my mind that Propellerheads is still in business.

So let me guess here... you don't own it, you don't use it and know very little about it yet you have to state your opinion about it. This helps people how?

DrQuest wrote:

Yasin Yavuz wrote:Reason is like North Korea of daws. It blows my mind that Propellerheads is still in business.

So let me guess here... you don't own it, you don't use it and know very little about it yet you have to state your opinion about it. This helps people how?

Your guess is totally wrong. Your psychic skills aren't helping people.

I use to use Reason a lot but the 6.5 update really burned me. The promise of RE's was enticing enough to buy but the prices of them are ridiculous. Plus, if they happen to be a plugin with other formats such as VST, they don't include those as part of the buy which is a no-no in my eyes.

After 6.5, the paid updates have been insulting at best. "Look guys, a new browser. Pay $115 for it, plz!" No thank you. When criticized about their decision making, they just decide to shut down their forums rather than address the issues.

Plus there has been very little internal development on it. Even this new update is a bit of a joke in my eyes. I doubt their new Melodyne clone is going to work very well based on their history over the past few years.

0/10 Would not buy again.