Reason Sounds Sound Dated

[FrankJaeger]

Anyone else feel like reason is hard to get good sounds from. The FSB and Reason 9 sounds all seem really dated and "weak" sounding compared to other DAWs and VST plugins out there. None of the drums are very punchy for example and all the other sounds are flimsy. The only reason I stick with Reason is that I'm accustomed to the workflow and rather enjoy that aspect, but I need more modern sounds with some wow factor.

[drloop]

What genre?

[Oquasec]

So basically you just said "You don't use the stock material in any daws"
And not to seem like a shitposter but eh...
All daws have access to the same things via rewire.
Or Remote/Rex.

Which is why the daw still EXISTS
Somebody who probably doesn't use this daw at all [Or a newcomer who is interested] would obviously not know it's possible to use other plugins besides the integrated modules granted you knew a thing or two about midi ox/yoke/emi/rewire/remote/refill.

[qn5]

You can make something dope out of anything if you try.

[Revise]

You know how to sound really modern? Learn your tools inside and out and use them creatively. I'm sorry, technology (Reason) is not your problem. Reason is teeming with sounds, it's up to you to layer them and use them well.

[16BitBear]

Anyone else feel like reason is hard to get good sounds from. The FSB and Reason 9 sounds all seem really dated and "weak" sounding compared to other DAWs and VST plugins out there. None of the drums are very punchy for example and all the other sounds are flimsy. The only reason I stick with Reason is that I'm accustomed to the workflow and rather enjoy that aspect, but I need more modern sounds with some wow factor.

I am curious what is stopping you from buying Refills with more modern sounds.

[FrankJaeger]

Anyone else feel like reason is hard to get good sounds from. The FSB and Reason 9 sounds all seem really dated and "weak" sounding compared to other DAWs and VST plugins out there. None of the drums are very punchy for example and all the other sounds are flimsy. The only reason I stick with Reason is that I'm accustomed to the workflow and rather enjoy that aspect, but I need more modern sounds with some wow factor.

I am curious what is stopping you from buying Refills with more modern sounds.

I have other refills with good sounds like bitley's sounds and all of the old New Atlantis Audio line which are really nice. All of those refills are on another computer that I can't use right now. I just have my macbook and Reason to work with for now. It's just when I dig into the FSB and the reason 9 sounds I don't get inspired at all. Everything sounds meh to me at best.

[FrankJaeger]

You can make something dope out of anything if you try.

You have a point.

[FrankJaeger]

What genre?

Hip Hop/Rap

[Oquasec]

I've seen so many fl studio threads like this it's not even funny lol

[QVprod]

Not at all. Reason has plenty of gems built in but they're not dripping in fx. Layer patches, add effects (sometimes audiomatic introduces some suprises), use arpegiators. Those are just some suggestions. For drums doing Hiphop, you have no choice but to layer, that's what the genre calls for, and there are even 808's in the FSB (not sure what subgenre you do).

The Reason 9 sounds folder however has plenty of patches (with layers and effects) on par with vsts though.

[drloop]

What genre?

Hip Hop/Rap

All you need is this!


And this!

[16BitBear]

Anyone else feel like reason is hard to get good sounds from. The FSB and Reason 9 sounds all seem really dated and "weak" sounding compared to other DAWs and VST plugins out there. None of the drums are very punchy for example and all the other sounds are flimsy. The only reason I stick with Reason is that I'm accustomed to the workflow and rather enjoy that aspect, but I need more modern sounds with some wow factor.

I am curious what is stopping you from buying Refills with more modern sounds.

I have other refills with good sounds like bitley's sounds and all of the old New Atlantis Audio line which are really nice. All of those refills are on another computer that I can't use right now. I just have my macbook and Reason to work with for now. It's just when I dig into the FSB and the reason 9 sounds I don't get inspired at all. Everything sounds meh to me at best.

There are at least a handful of nice free Refills, most mentioned here. Do a search and see if those will work till you get to your other sounds.

[Oquasec]

Derp derp derp

[Soft Enerji]

You know how to sound really modern? Learn your tools inside and out and use them creatively. I'm sorry, technology (Reason) is not your problem. Reason is teeming with sounds, it's up to you to layer them and use them well.

This^

[chk071]

You know how to sound really modern? Learn your tools inside and out and use them creatively. I'm sorry, technology (Reason) is not your problem. Reason is teeming with sounds, it's up to you to layer them and use them well.

Curious to know how you'd get a great sounding piano, and, with that i mean a piano which sounds like one of the modelling plugins, or a good Kontakt library, out of Reason's factory devices. It's not always "Learn your tools inside and out and use them creatively". Especially with sampled content, you will hit the limitations of your "creativity". Same with Reason's synth devices.

To be fair though, same holds true for most other DAW's as well. The difference is though that the whole concept of Reason is based on using stock devices. Yes, we have RE's now, but, OP was talking about the stock sounds.

[Oquasec]

Cv lends itself to an unlimited array of options [as does daws without that literal layout]
But yep in most cases you'd simply need to not use stock.

Soundfonts, libraries & plugins/refills exist for that very reason.

And is a very good reason infact, for propellerhead to cram as many RE devices or new ones from scratch into each whole number update as possible.

[normen]

All you need is this!


And this!

Those devices sound a bit dated, don't they?

[chimp_spanner]

Wow factor just comes from practice and experience man. I watched a really interesting talk by the guy who mixes some of the biggest names - Phil Tan - and he was walking through a project for Beyonce's "Diamonds" and the source sounds actually weren't that great (could've been Reason or any other DAW for all I know). But it was the processing and the layering that made the song powerful and punchy. If there was a DAW that sounded "done" out of the box, everyone would sound the same. TBH I kinda feel like that about FL. I can spot a fruity production from a mile off. Can't put my finger in it but there's a sound, and waaaay too many people have it. IMO anyway.

[Gorgon]

What genre?

Hip Hop/Rap

Are you sure you've checked out the Kong 808 kits? Some good stuff on there.

Then stick a Scream 4 with Tape setting on it, add some reverb, maybe some parallel processing, boom, massive sound.

[Ostermilk]

As far as bundled DAW content goes I reckon the FSB is one of the better offerings.

I've got 2 other DAW's that come with content weighing in @ around 40 Gb's worth of filler that I've never used past auditioning it once or twice. The FSB however comes in at less than 3 Gb and there's a bit of something usable for everybody in there. Not only that there's a complete education on how to use Reason by looking at how some of the patches are put together that are contained within it.

Despite using Reason since v4 I can still find stuff in there that I find surprising, new and interesting or just as a basis to get a vibe going.

Fair enough if you can't find what's right for what you are doing at the moment though, I suspect we all go through that feeling from time to time. I guess that's why there's such a insatiable market for extra plugins and soundware out there.

And yet there's people producing out there basing their music just around the NN-19

[QVprod]

You know how to sound really modern? Learn your tools inside and out and use them creatively. I'm sorry, technology (Reason) is not your problem. Reason is teeming with sounds, it's up to you to layer them and use them well.

Curious to know how you'd get a great sounding piano, and, with that i mean a piano which sounds like one of the modelling plugins, or a good Kontakt library, out of Reason's factory devices. It's not always "Learn your tools inside and out and use them creatively". Especially with sampled content, you will hit the limitations of your "creativity". Same with Reason's synth devices.

To be fair though, same holds true for most other DAW's as well. The difference is though that the whole concept of Reason is based on using stock devices. Yes, we have RE's now, but, OP was talking about the stock sounds.

This would be a great point if OP specifically needed a great piano sound to stand on it's own. Most modern synth sounds can be made with Reason stock devices. Reason may lack on the realistic instrument side, but there's plenty of sound shaping and experimenting that can be done. Hiphop in general though (genre the op creates) doesn't really require stand out sounds per-se. If the sound does stand out, then its more than likely something layered or an instrument used in an unorthodox way.

[chk071]

Ok, but, mind that it could be much easier, and quicker, to just go down the "sound good out of the box" route, which is, IMO, the main difference, if we're talking about instruments, or sounds which sound good out of the box, and the argument is brought up, that you can make everything sound good, if you just try hard enough. Interestingly, most popular artists rather seem keen on going down the "sound good out of the box" route, which is also why the respective instruments are so sought after, and expensive.

And, again, for Hip Hip, or EDM, a stock piano may be good enough, if you're doing film scoring, or instrumental stuff, even a sampled, or a physically modelled piano may not be good enough. I don't really see a way around that. Of course, depends also on the demand you have personally.

[Noplan]

Reason sounds just how you use it.

[kuhliloach]

When I want fresh 3rd party sounds I go straight to KORG on iOS and on desktop I go to Native Instruments. Factory patch-wise I'm impressed with Reason but wish they would make the Browser slicker. Reason remains the destination for all the sounds either via importing audio files or live capture.