jlgrimes wrote: ↑02 Feb 2021
Can I point out what seems to be a heavily overlooked fact? The rack and devices has always been the core of Reason
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That has never really been my take on Reason and misses what I consider the most beautiful thing about Reason.
I been using Reason since 2.5 2003.
When I bought Reason, I knew they didn't have the best devices. There were already better VSTis, than Subtractor. Kontakt was a more powerful sampler even back then.
This became more evident as the years passed. Thor which was a groundbreaking eye dropping synth when it was released, was released around the time VSTis started advancing at light speed.
Reason lacked midi out, audio recording, actual sampling of audio input which to some people probably would have thought was a severe curse.
In the 2000s, it wasn't for certain producers/beatmakers who didn't primarily rely on those needs but more of a gift.
All the other DAWS, had audio input, midi out, VSTs (which were constantly getting better). They also had some of the problems that came with it. Crashes. More convoluted workflows etc.
Reason was a breath fresh air.
Solid Efficient coding (proved by how rarely crashes happened or users complaining of them). Also you could take a pretty old machine, install Reason and have fun making tracks.
Great well rounded factory library geared for composing (comparable to hardware workstations).
Nice effects. It was often hard getting good two track mixes with hardware. Reason made it alot more easier and I'm talking about the old mixer here. It was a very effective mixer which in some ways made you focus more on arrangement/sound design than trying to professionally mix your track.
A solid online community who made refills (and plenty of 3rd party developers who offered tons of sample libraries in refill format. IMO I think Reason replaced the Akai sampler more than anything.)
Simple, basic, effective, and easy to understand midi sequencer. Probably the most controversial point as Reason's sequencer was clearly not as advanced as any DAW at that time (although it had a few tricks certain DAWS lacked). Reason as a sequencer feeled the most like a hardware sequencer than any DAW. Very quick for getting ideas down, not so great for editing midi. For a keyboard player, Reason's sequencer is pretty good.
The most important thing though really wasn't the Rack (the modules weren't that great), nor the sequencer (simple, effective, but weak editing). It was the integration of how everything worked together. One company designed the sequencer, Racks, and all working together. Sonar was nowhere near as smooth when it came to workflow. Sonar had great synths, but never really felt like a part of the program.
I think overtime though other DAWS started figuring out how to better integrate VSTIs, improve DAW stability which kind of caught up with Reason. I think also Reason going DAW kind of highlighted many of its weaknesses which weren't really an issue until it became a DAW.
Reason for the last 10 years kind have struggling deciding if it wanted to be a DAW. it has made great strides but still hasn't improved as fast as other DAWS. And it seems the last couple of updates, its hinting as not wanting to be a DAW (with certain feature releases, marketing announcements), which is giving the users on this ride a bump.
That said Reason is still a solid program. If it focused on a few small things, it really could change the game I think.