Reason 7

[deanc2000]

Just announced...If anyone was interested. And right on the heels of the Ableton 9 update. Those cheeky Propellerheads!

[#1thelark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca0YCbMtoM0

so...
integration of external hardware (midiout)
recycle integration
better routing
spectrum analyser (didnt they say its better to mix with your ears than with your eyes )
bigger soundlibrary

not impressed.
it also depends on the price but I doubt they will repeat paywhatyouwant.

EDIT: No paywhatyouwant, R6 -> R7 is 129 bucks

But you can buy balance if you need it and get the free upgrade to R7.

[puzzlefactory]

They've definitely appeased a lot of the most asked for feature requests with this, recycle integration, grouping/bussing, spectrum analyser/EQ and of course midi out. I'm pretty sure i'll be upgrading my Reason 6.5 to 7 when this comes out.

I'm guessing also that any "VST" that operates as a standalone application (such as NI) stuff will be controllable by the new "midi instrument rack"...

[#1thelark]

They've definitely appeased a lot of the most asked for feature requests with this, recycle integration, grouping/bussing, spectrum analyser/EQ and of course midi out.

Agreed, they pleased their existing customers. But does this also appeal new users getting into Reason? It hasn't changed much, apart from those "bugfixes"...

I'm guessing also that any "VST" that operates as a standalone application (such as NI) stuff will be controllable by the new "midi instrument rack"...

But how would you route that VSTs audio into Reason?
On the PC that's not so easy unless they programmed some kind of virtual audiocable as well.

[puzzlefactory]

They've definitely appeased a lot of the most asked for feature requests with this, recycle integration, grouping/bussing, spectrum analyser/EQ and of course midi out.

Agreed, they pleased their existing customers. But does this also appeal new users getting into Reason? It hasn't changed much, apart from those "bugfixes"...

I'm guessing also that any "VST" that operates as a standalone application (such as NI) stuff will be controllable by the new "midi instrument rack"...

But how would you route that VSTs audio into Reason?
On the PC that's not so easy unless they programmed some kind of virtual audiocable as well.

Those features aren't going to turn away new customers. Quite the opposite. I don't think Reason has a problem with new customers to be honest. It's a very appealing application for beginners. Their main problem i think is hanging on to existing customers. You hear a lot of people talking about how they started with Reason and then moved on to Logic or Cubase or Live. I think the grouping/budding, spectrum analyser etc etc will help to keep people using Reason.

I'm not sure how you would do it with a PC, but ion a Mac (which is what i use) you can use the IAC bus for virtual midi cables and soundflower for virtual audio cables.

[BoddAH]

One thing I always liked about the Reason workflow is that everything is already there to be tweaked. You don't have to create compressors, EQs, gate effects, and now even spectrum analysers. Everything is already there.

[kevwestbeats]

For Live users I am not sure that this is a needed update but then again for Live users I am not sure that anything beyond Reason 4 would really be considered an essential update.

[#1thelark]

Some (most?) of their audio effects are really impressive, and well worth the money. It could make the upgrade a whole lot more appealing.

Agreed, most are quite nice... but I would have wished for some deeper improvements in the workflow, Reasonracks get cluttered up too easy... imho there needs to be an overhaul of the combinator... Yes it can save some screenspace but they should have gone deeper, maybe allowing users to build their own userinterface, sort of a presentation mode like in m4l.

[Rosko]

How is the sequencer, it always frustrated me before, assume they haven't changed it. other than that I'm tempted because its fun to use.

[[art]]

I actually bought the Balance a few months ago which came with Reason Essentials...

Probably due to the fault of Rewire not working properly in Live 9 I took the plunge last week and upgraded to Reason 6.5. Lucky for me I'll get a free upgrade to 7. Nice!

[jlgrimes]

One thing I always liked about the Reason workflow is that everything is already there to be tweaked. You don't have to create compressors, EQs, gate effects, and now even spectrum analysers. Everything is already there.

Cosign.

Reasons strong points is sound design and songwriting in a quasi linear format. It's sequencer is straight and to the point.

I rarely have to second guess how something works which in the end speeds up time. Reasons weak points used to be its synths but now with REs Reason has some great synths (ESP Antidote and the unique Malstrom).

It's weak points though is its sample libraries in some cases. The level of Realism from something like Kontakt is hard to achieve but it is perfect for 90s and early 2000s style sample libraries that said it does have some cool refills for certain cases.

I wish they would have did something with the piano roll and made blocks trigger able. Once they do that I think they could give Ableton some good competition. But nonetheless Reason is heading in a good direction.

[jlgrimes]

How is the sequencer, it always frustrated me before, assume they haven't changed it. other than that I'm tempted because its fun to use.

It's mainly linear.

For linear style sequencing where you play in your parts with a keyboard, it is one of my favorite sequencers. It is very straightforward and quick to the point. Reasons sequencer is like learning to ride a bike where Ableton is more like learning to drive a manual transmission car. In the end Ableton is probably more powerful but Reason is sometimes more fun.

It has some nonlinear aspects as well. (Eg non trigger able Blocks, Redrum drum machine pattern sequencer which is trigger able and the limited monophonic matrix pattern sequencer).

It's audio side though is limited (mainly for mixing and editing). What is great though on the audio side is its comping (my favorite out of any DAW), and time stretching (also my favorite out of any DAW).

It's piano roll though is horrid. Although it is decent for simple edits of notes. It sucks IMO if you are writing music mainly with the piano roll. FL or Even Live is much better in that department.

Lack of VSTs will be a hindrance for some but at the same time it has plenty of cool things hard to get in the VST world (eg Buffre a highly tweak able version of Live's beat repeat with plenty of tricks, Polar one of my favorite chorus units out of any DAW, Antidote a unique take of a synth designed for unison effects and multi saws). It also have the classics (Malstrom graintable synthesis, and Thor jack of all trades but master of none).

It's power comes from combining stuff with combinators and CVs.

Live is more powerful with Live Racks and M4L but a lot harder to master. Lives factory library is probably higher quality but more experimental while Reasons is more bread and butter and practical.

[amillionwinters]

i had been using reason pretty much exclusively since version 1.0. i am new to ableton live, but i have fallen in love with it over the last couple of weeks. i sometimes feel like i am cheating on reason, but the session view in live really just works better for the way i tend to write music.

i have a folder of reason files i have been building up for 10+ years. some of them are just 8 bar loops, some might be 64+ bars. but, for the most part they are just 'sketches,' or loops, that i intended to build upon. experimenting with various arrangements, alternate versions, etc. tends to be tedious (at least for me). that tedium results in me taking a long time to actually finish a song (it is a good thing i make music to remain sane, not pay my rent).

the session view in live makes it almost effortless to create many variations of chords, melodies, beats, etc. and play around with the arrangement of them. i can hit record, improvise for a bit, listen to the results and document what combinations and change ups i like. then rinse and repeat.

i think reason is a great program; however, i have never been too attracted to its aesthetics. i much prefer live's consistent look and feel, as well as its one window layout. but, like i said, i think reason it great, and i know a lot of people like reason's rack aesthetics.

i will probably upgrade to r7, but i don't think i will be in a hurry to do so.

take care.
/alan

[kitekrazy]

They've definitely appeased a lot of the most asked for feature requests with this, recycle integration, grouping/bussing, spectrum analyser/EQ and of course midi out.

Agreed, they pleased their existing customers. But does this also appeal new users getting into Reason? It hasn't changed much, apart from those "bugfixes"...

I'm guessing also that any "VST" that operates as a standalone application (such as NI) stuff will be controllable by the new "midi instrument rack"...

But how would you route that VSTs audio into Reason?
On the PC that's not so easy unless they programmed some kind of virtual audiocable as well.

Those features aren't going to turn away new customers. Quite the opposite. I don't think Reason has a problem with new customers to be honest. It's a very appealing application for beginners. Their main problem i think is hanging on to existing customers. You hear a lot of people talking about how they started with Reason and then moved on to Logic or Cubase or Live. I think the grouping/budding, spectrum analyser etc etc will help to keep people using Reason.

I'm not sure how you would do it with a PC, but ion a Mac (which is what i use) you can use the IAC bus for virtual midi cables and soundflower for virtual audio cables.

I would agree on this. I've come across people who have Reason but they Rewire it into another app and many of them haven't upgraded since Reason 4.

[schullermusik]

Being able to make Rex loops in Reason, and Live now has Rex support... I could see this being useful. (I have 6.5 already - they'll probably get my money, just like NI will for Komplete 9.)