Top 5 Reason Release Moments

[avasopht]

Easy, and in chronological order

1. 2.5 ... came not long after I got Reason, and was awesome (pretty sure it was the reverb and M-Class)
2. R3 ... Combinators were a game changer
3. R4 (Thor)
4. Record (+ Reason/Record) ... SSL, Line6, Neptune (I'm including that ...), Timestretch, Recording ... ... ...
5. R6.5 ... Rack Extensions, SNM

While R9.5 (VST) and R11 (RRP) were also great releases, ... ... ... I wanted to list my favourites in chronological order and, ... ... ... at the time of the release I can't say I was half as excited about VST or RRP as I was about the others.

[jlgrimes]

Code: Select all

Here's my list:

1. When the Combinator was released in v3. Sleepless nights thinking about rolling your own devices!
2. When Kong was released in v5. Always loved the MPC concept but could never afford one at the time.
3. When Record was released. I had always wanted to hear what Reason devices would do to live audio!
4. When Scream was introduced in v2.5 - the tape algorithm is still the best for phat everything!
5. When Reason Suite 11 was released - I got to catch up on all the REs I missed out on for a great price!

1. Combinator (A reason feature that made its way into other DAWS)
2. Thor
3. Record
4. Rack Extensions
5. Reason 4 sequencer improvements (imo this was my favorite Reason upgrade, as they made the sequencer even easier to use although I think this one is buried in many people's memories now, but my creative output skyrocket with this feature).

[jlgrimes]

V1 was a revelation and a revolution. They had already brought us Rebirth at a time when all other software instruments sucked, then they hit us with Reason, complete with a method of running Rebirth alongside it. Reason 1 (or Reason as it was known!) was streets ahead of anything else back then.

Since then it's all the same stuff others have mentioned. Players, VSTs and the RRP.
I was never very excited by Rack Extensions. At the time I just wanted them to support VSTs.

I never imagined in my wildest dreams that one day Reason itself would become a VST. I think history will show that to be a decision that ensures Reason's future survival and maybe even allows it to break out into the wider market.

You are probably right on this. I got Reason on 2.5 and it was a very unique environment then.

At that time, most people would think you were crazy if you said you had Samplers, drum machines, synthesizers, and sequencer in one package (with a great sound library and easily expandable via Refills), all using a fairly basic PC. Reason's goal was to replace hardware and v1 did an incredible job at that.

[Jagwah]

Cool thread idea!

1) The releases of Reason 5, 6 and 7, not too sure about the ones after this but back in the day these releases were super exciting and inspiring, Props let out little cryptic teasers and we tried to figure them out, good times
2) Reason / Record duo, audio and the SSL mixer and not sure if this was when the ability to have multiple racks side by side was introduced but I still love that. Took it from a 'not really a DAW' state to a fully fledged one.
3) Rack Extensions and the idea of 3rd party devices - that was a huge deal at the time.
4) Europa
5) VSTs

...then they hit us with Reason, complete with a method of running Rebirth alongside it. Reason 1 (or Reason as it was known!) was streets ahead of anything else back then.

It was at that moment they decided they never wanted to be streets ahead again and made sure they really took their time with everything moving forward.

[selig]

When the combinator was about to be released and they had a small pieces of it on their website every day or so for us to wonder what it was before they revealed the whole thing was cool

That, and the teaser/clues for the v5 release with Kong, Blocks, live sampling, Dr Octa Rex, and Neptune, which had us all guessing what the five new features were for Reason 5. I remember an ape was for kong, toy blocks for Blocks, and a trident for Neptune(?) but can’t remember the other two…
Alas, those days of teasing new features are gone and now we have “The Roadmap - the road to broken promises”. /s

[DaveyG]

Alas, those days of teasing new features are gone and now we have “The Roadmap - the road to broken promises”. /s

It's a good concept but your song title needs some work.