Ableton Forum

what I like about Blocks and the way it appears to be implemented is that takes the essence of the session view and keeps the linear nature of arrangement on one screen.

Its yet another way to tackle the same problem Live tried to solve since version 1.0.

For Reason/Record users this is a great thing for creative workflow. I dig it.

rob.

While initially underwhelmed, thinking it was just a reiteration of what they already had going on, I can see how this is a much more streamlined approach.

And to the people that are comparing this to session view.... Seriously? It's called pattern based recording, its been around since.......

Reminds me of the pattern mode in the MV-8000.

reminds me of "pattern" mode in Opcode Music Shop, which I was using back in '95-'96


useful.

lord toranaga wrote:reminds me of "pattern" mode in Opcode Music Shop, which I was using back in '95-'96


useful.

I thought of studio vision pro's sub sequences

kb420 wrote:

rompling wrote:Synths incorporating an anti-alias mode.....


What is an anti alias mode in synths

& now the fun begins!!!!!

oh man!! i could ramble on for a while on this one...
but i wont..
most soft synths out there contain very noticeable aliasing.
in fact there are only 3 soft synths i have tried where i can not hear any aliasing.
they are sylenth1 (not synth 1) u-he ace (this is the best analog modeling soft synth out there) and u-he zebra.
every synth in reason contains very noticable aliasing. it is so bad that the synths really dont sound any better than the worst free ware out there.

ok.. since im not going to go on about it i will just say google it.
try searching "anti aliasing soft synth " or digital audio aliasing.

Personally not really feeling the new updates much tbh. Blocks mode doesn't really suit the way I compose and kinda seems a bit superfulous really; nothing stopping you from copying and pasting colour coded sections of your work in reason 4? I don't really use Dr Rex enough to be excited about the new version.

We'll see what the next few days bring though!

Arturia's synths have very, very low levels of aliasing too (mostly in the almost inaudible 16 Khz and above range), their TAE modelling is very accurate at reproducing classic vintage synths but does come at a CPU hit, much like ACE.

There is no aliasing from 0.1 Hz to 16 Khz according to research done on Arturia's synths.

leedsquietman wrote:Arturia's synths have very, very low levels of aliasing too (mostly in the almost inaudible 16 Khz and above range), their TAE modelling is very accurate at reproducing classic vintage synths but does come at a CPU hit, much like ACE.

There is no aliasing from 0.1 Hz to 16 Khz according to research done on Arturia's synths.

there is nothing noticeable with the prophet synths but last time i tried the mini moog and jupiter from what i remember i was hearing over tones.
and last time i checked i can hear up to 19 khz.

19kHz, really? At what weighting?

It's possible you can hear 19 Khz (the last audio test I did I could hear 18.5 Khz, not bad for someone who is almost 40 and worked for years around loud audio in studios etc), but most people cannot hear above 17 Khz, especially today's kids who have damaged their hearing with excessive Ipod usage. The aliasing above 16 Khz is mostly in the -90dB range, so if you can hear both 19 Khz and -90dB (dithering noise is often louder) then your hearing is like that of a bat.

I have the JP8V and Analogue Factory which has a lot of the Moog sounds in it and do not hear aliasing overtones in either. Of course, the last option is to high cut filter the synth at 14 Khz or so (or if using a gentler curve starting around 12 Khz), something I find useful anyway to prevent digital hash building up in the high end, especially where several softsynths are being used.

It also helps to use higher sample rates, such as 88.2 or 96 Khz to help reduce anti-aliasing on virtual synths, even if you set your project to record at 44.1

Man - if these are three of the big-ticket reveals they've got, this is going to be a severely underwhelming update.

I mean, they seem like great new features for what they are - but what they are is sort of... small, compared to what I'm guessing a lot of people are expecting/hoping.

still 2 more days.. i'm guessing they're saving the best for last. i'm not sure what you guys really expect them to be including, though, that they don't already have in the Record/Reason bundle. they have numerous synths, drum machines, samplers, a rex player, time stretching, reverb, eq, compressor, limiter, distortion, vocoder/eq/gate, step sequencer, arpeggiator, amp modeling, an SSL-ish channel strip, and now a better rex player and pitch correction. i think the Redrum could stand to be upgraded but i can't think of anything it really needs for the market it was made for.

McQ714 wrote:still 2 more days.. i'm guessing they're saving the best for last. i'm not sure what you guys really expect them to be including, though, that they don't already have in the Record/Reason bundle. they have numerous synths, drum machines, samplers, a rex player, time stretching, reverb, eq, compressor, limiter, distortion, vocoder/eq/gate, step sequencer, arpeggiator, amp modeling, an SSL-ish channel strip, and now a better rex player and pitch correction. i think the Redrum could stand to be upgraded but i can't think of anything it really needs for the market it was made for.

Agreed.

For one thing Reason doesn't really have a history of big, new feature rich updates. Reason 4 is probably the biggest update they've had. From what I remember all Reason 3 really got was the Combinator and the Mastering Suite. Reason 2.5 got the Vocoder, RV7000 and Scream ( I think the Spiders as well). Version 2 only got the NNXT and Maelstrom.

Reason users have always been largely a "Use what you got" type of crew, creating new sound more based on complex routing and effects chains more than anything else.

And don't expect Anti Aliasing synths to show up on this list even if they do add it. That's just a little techy for a press release. I mean they did show a clip of a little girl playing with blocks.

They have 2 more days to unveil something else, which will surely be more substantial than presently featured.

Reason 4 had the arpegiattor, Thor and a vastly improved GUI with Lane automation, which were all reasonable upgrades, but I left Reason behind at 2.5 and only miss how light it was on CPU load, but the GUI and the synths, particularly Subtractor and Maelstrom were quite limited and thin sounding. Redrum and NNXT were good though.

Thor gives more range and synthesis types and LOOKS great, but it's not that great a sounding synth put up against something like Zebra or Massive etc.

It's true that previous Reason updates were "small-ish" but I feel like at this point in the game, and with the competition being where it's at (LIve Suite 8, Logic 9, Cubase 5...) they just can't get away with that anymore. I think the next two reveals are going to be huge. If not, I'll be surprised and, yes, disappointed. I'm a long time Reason user -- I used to use just Reason and CoolEdit Pro, back in the day! -- and will certainly update, but here's hoping there's something awesome around the corner. (though I actually do rather like Dr.OctoRex and Neptune, but Blocks is useless to me as I don't do any sequencing with Reason anymore)

-M