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Reason Software: Pros and Cons?


petros

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Pros:

Great Value

Solid and stable

Does not require a powerful computer

Good sound for the price

Easy to use

Lots of refills available

Works as a Rewire sound source

 

Cons:

Not a MIDI sequencer in the line of Cubase, Sonar, etc.

Refills cannot be customized. They are locked so that you cannot pull out your favorite parts and create a master.

 

There was a time when Reason was the automatic choice for pattern based music. Now FrityLoops, Project5, and even Sonar II are good choices. These programs can use DXi and VSTi's which are not available in Reason. Sonar and Project 5 can use Acid files and host Rewire instruments. With the abondance of free instruments and effects they can even compete with Reason in value.

 

Robert

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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I basically use it as a series of Soft Synths. For that purpose it's a great package at a very affordable price. It's very easy to use and the routing capabilities are incredibly flexible. In addition there are lots of reasonably priced sounds avaiable in the form of "refills". Lots of people use it for dance and electronica but I've also used it for pop and r&b.

 

I'm not sure that I'd recommend it as the only sound source in an entire studioI, but as an element in larger setup it's a real winner. I'd also suggest a more powerful sequencer. I can't believe why everybody doesn't own it!

- Jan Folkson

http://www.janfolkson.com

 

"How do you know when it's music and not just a bunch of noise" - Dennis the Menace

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It's pretty much all I use these days so I guess you could say that I like it. :)

 

In the end I find that working with Reason is like coming back to an old friend. Easy to get along with and effortless to interface with.

 

Additional Pros:

 

No crashes for me. Ever.

 

Handles like my old studio.

 

The sequencer is limited but not enough to really make a difference. All of the basic utilities are there and unless you are getting binary on something you could easily do almost any project with it IMHO.

 

The ability to route all of the various devices and tools into each other in an almost obscene fashion is super sweet.

 

Try the demo and be amazed.

 

- DJDM

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djdm since you're the resident reason expert, do you (or does anyone else for that matter) have any insight as to why the price for reason just skyrocket $150 to $350 now? I could have sworn that in july, it was 200 EVERYWHERE ( I even checked the latest musician's friend catalog and sure enough, it was on sale). Was it just that all the resellers where trying to sell their remaining 2.0 copies with the free upgrade, or is there something else that I'm missing?
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Originally posted by schmoron13:

Was it just that all the resellers where trying to sell their remaining 2.0 copies with the free upgrade, or is there something else that I'm missing?

That's exactly it. Once 2.5 came out it was so hyped that the retailers must have thought that they needed to blow out 2.0 and get it. I wonder if many of them realized that 2.5 is a free upgrade and they were throwing away profit?

 

Customers picked it up and moved over to 2.5 thus getting the latest version for under $200. :)

 

Were you able to get in on the cheap 2.0?

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Originally posted by schmoron13:

NO CAUSE I'M AN F*ING IDIOT :mad::P when I realized that the price jumped up, I quickly tried to find a sucker ERR retailer who still sold it at 2 bills, but no luck...BOO HOO BOO HOO

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I have a feeling that 3.0 will cost (and may be quite a ways off) so I don't know if I would bother to wait for that kind of deal again.

Additionally people are not selling their older versions as they loose their license # if they do. It's a little tricky but the props treat Reason from version 1 till now as if all of the upgrades are the same piece of software. So if the props sold you version 1 and you upgrade to 2 or 2.5 and sell your version 1 CDs to a third party you are handing your license over to the new owner of version 1.

Ick!

I think it is designed to stimulate sales and keep the serial # accounting simpler but damn. Oh well.

- DJDM

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pros:

 

Very flexible. The two synths are very powerful. Subtractor doesn't just do subtractive synthesis, it also does FM (with a wide choice of waveforms). The two samplers likewise give you a lot of power, and there are some killer effects units. Rex files are nice to work with.

Sounds great.

Not strictly for loop-based production, but gives you some of the simplicity of strictly-loop-based tools: doesn't get in your way, lets you get down to work without having to fuss much with the program itself.

 

cons:

 

Probably need to use it in conjunction with another sequencer to get the most out of it. If you already have a rewire-compatible sequencer, that's not really a downside. If you work without a sequencer, you won't be able to work with audio files unless you load them into one of the samplers. MIDI editing is pretty basic, and if you're, like me, reliant on score editing, you're going to find yourself lost without a notation window. Time change? Only if you use rewire.

 

Check out the demo to see if it's for you. I think P'heads have done a great job of putting a lot of power into a package that's easy and fun to use, and their support has been excellent (updates, new features, a good website with tutorials).

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