Would you upgrade from 11...?

[Ulpu]

One thing I would like to see in Reason would be ability to see things
I mean somethings are pretty hard to see (especially in smaller screen). Especially in the piano roll if the track color is something yellow/light... But this can be fixed at least a bit by selecting something darker color.

[Oquasec]

Yeah Reason's piano roll needs a MAJOR REDESIGN for all the versions.

[f1lt3r]

One thing that almost stopped me upgrading to 11, was that they were bundling so many third party instruments and plugins that I had already purchased. That made upgrading a hard pill to swallow.

I am now dis-incentivized from buying new instruments, as the really good ones will end up in the next version of Reason Suite, so I may as well just wait.

[ltbrunt00]

I will more than likely upgrade as I always do. Since I am currently enjoying the current version of Reason I do hope Reason 12 only comes out if there are some big changes in it.

I do suspect since they embraced the Studio title that we may see some features consistent with other DAW software like Notation editing, Syncing audio to video. Mixer templates .

[dvdrtldg]

I'm on 10, and I honestly don't know what it would take to get me to upgrade. I like the look of Suite because it would give me a bunch of cool REs at a bargain price, but that's just sort of icing on the cake and there's nothing there I really need

In future versions, upgrades to the sequencer would be nice, a super combinator would be nice, a better sampler would be nice, freeze tracks would be nice, lots of things would be nice. But none of that seems absolutely necessary. And given the unbelievably shitty currency exchange rate from my part of the world, none of that is worth the money right now. Reason 10 in conjunction with WaveLab 9.5 is a pretty perfect combo for me

[lrey]

Reason 12 needs to be more of a DAW for me to be interested purchasing an upgrade. I don't need or want it as a plugin in another DAW. I remember when it was released, I purchased RECORD(remember that?) because I wanted an alternative to the other DAWs.

I made the jump to Reason 11 Suite even though I owned some of the included REs. There needs to be a better way to upgrade, especially for those who already own some of the REs. If you own any of the included REs, you should receive a discounted upgrade cost to the next Reason Suite. Reason Studios has access to all of the purchases we've all made. Why shouldn't they be able to do this? (It's just common sense and fair... don't be evil, Reason Studios)

Lastly, can we please have "Time Markers?" To be honest, we shouldn't have to wait for Reason 12 for this. This is such a basic feature that could and should easily be added in a standard update. It's a shame that we have to use work-arounds (using blocks).

[Spryx]

I've used Reason since version 1.0 and ReBirth before that. I've held licenses for Cubase, and Studio One for several years as well.

I've upgraded from version 4 onwards religiously, but i'm tired of waiting for VST midi out, offline rendering and workflow improvements. I'm tired of RS seeing itself as the "Apple" of the audio software world yet catering to hipsters and refusing to be called a DAW. I'm tired of the clunky mixer, rack, and seq windows. I'm tired of not being able to route midi to multiple channels. I'm tired of trying to work with external hardware in Reason. I'm tired of the super weird zooming and scrolling that goes on in the seq. I'm tired of the super tiny GUI ...etc. Yes, they are a good company with great ideas sometimes, but they have let everyone else slowly eat their lunch since 2003.

Reason is in a rough spot as it started out as something entirely different. Ableton Live is somewhat similar, yet it has been able to reinvent itself with the passing of time. Reason is stuck in this weird clunky space, not embracing what truly makes it special (rack paradigm, skeuomorphism), with an odd mix of modern and legacy features. In some ways, it truly feels like a program out of time. The newer features eschew some of this. For example, players could be considered midi processors, but you can't find a single midi (or any) cable connected to the back of them. They are literally devices that sit in the rack and do god knows what if you aren't familiar with the program. They have to sit in a certain spot in the rack that never makes sense unless you think it out logically. All of this is at odds with what Reason was originally designed to do. Take a look at the newer devices. The older ones look far more similar to something you might find in a real hardware rack than the newer ones. It sometimes feels like RS doesn't who they are marketing towards.

I work in software design. I realize you have to prioritize features and milestones, but propellerhead had an early lead in this market. They are a larger company (in terms of market share) that still for whatever reason (pun intended) thinks of itself as a small player in this game and often acts like a startup. The Reason as a rack concept was a good move, but where does that leave Reason itself. It is just so far behind, I can't for the life of myself ever see the standalone version catching up to the likes of Studio One, Live, Logic, Cubase, or even FL Studio unless the company decides to re-write the entire program and reimagine it as something else. Furthermore, now Reason mostly exists as a VST. How exactly would they have the time to dedicate toward writing a new program vs maintaining legacy code?

I think ultimately, RS might just become a plugin company...and perhaps that is their place in the world now. I don't know. I hope i'm wrong of course. I still enjoy using Reason for what it is, but there are many more players in the game now. I think at this point I want Reason to be something it is never going to be and it might be time to move on without it. Even hipster indy kids grow old.

[xylyx]

The v11 update to allow me to use my RE's and refills in my other host has pretty much fulfilled what I wanted from a Reason update, especially now it has midi out too, so I cannot imagine what they could include in v12 that would make me upgrade to it.

[DonnieAlan]

Just out of curiosity - what would Reason12 need to offer for you to upgrade from 11? A new synth? Or something else... what? Or is Reason11 offering enough for your needs?

For me Reason11 seems to have plenty. Especially the VST support is such a gate to huge collection of different synths. But I confess, I might start drooling for Reason12 even though I now think I don’t need anything new

I've only wanted 3 things ever since Reason 9.5 offered VST hosting. 1. An AAX version - well it was just announced that that is coming for Reason 11 on May 5th, 2020. So yay for that!! 2. Allow VST hosting in the rack with Reason hosted in (for me) Pro Tools (or any other DAW for that matter). Unless I missed a major announcement, I believe that VST's can only still be hosted with Reason standalone, not as a rack plugin. Is that correct? and 3) (a bit less on the priority scale, but still a goodie) Put MIDI IN/OUT ports on the back of the RE's and allow MIDI cable routing just like we can now with audio cables. With that kind of feature you could route players to multiple instruments, especially if you had a MIDI Spyder, with multiple outputs for an input, for example. You could trigger individual drums in Kong or ReDrum from various other sources, and on and on. With cables to plug in and route however, the possibilities would be endless.

So, with AAX coming May 5th, I WILL upgrade and then HOPE for #2 to come real soon, as I know thousands of Reasons users are begging for it. And keep my fingers crossed for #3. I've made the suggestion as a feature request to the P-heads, more than once. We'll see.

I won't need some fancy new VI's or processing plugins to entice me to upgrade. THose I have a-plenty anyways. Its the VST hosting now that is the real deal-maker for me.

[kitekrazy]

All I need to be persuaded to upgrade to 12 is enough time to have gone by since 11 launched, for there to have been plenty of ongoing free additions and fixes to 11 and for there to be a handful of new toys (that I don't really need!)

I suppose I also need to have survived coronavirus with both my life and with some disposable income.

I'm paying attention to this with my DAW collection. $129 is still a fair upgrade price. I wish they would have a sale on it. Even then I really can't afford it and now with this virus thing I regret buying stuff on credit.

[groggy1]

I haven't upgrade from 10 yet! Even though I would get a lot of value out of the rack VST and midi out. But I find I can make do with Rewire and exporting stems etc. I have been putting my money into Cubase instead.

My two main bug bears are the lack of midi and the lo res graphics. I could probably hold my breath for the graphics but if they haven't done midi by now then I don't think they will.

I’m worried too that midi vst support may not come for years. I can imagine that vst support so far reduce instrument/effect RE purchases. But Re player purchases are perhaps more healthy since there’s no alternative in reason.

Net net, I can understand if reason-studios would worry about releasing vst midi support and gutting players.

[Boombastix]

For me it is easy. I'll upgrade when the Rack Plugin can host VSTs and VSTs can do midi out (RRP and Standalone). I look at their social media and other forums, to me if seems this is one of the most requested features. I really hope they take this to heart.

No wonder actually, the most exciting plugins are midi tools, not another 1176 compressor emulsion. So let us use those VST midi tools.

[stxlm]

I've upgraded to every version *and* Record, since 2.5. They've got me now. I don't see myself ever quitting Reason.

[Kalm]

Honestly, as long as they make improvements or give me something valuable ill probably upgrade to keep with the times. Every time I upgrade I don't wake up tomorrow like Hmmm, I was better off with the DAW from yesterday

[Heater]

I’m not buying another version of Reason until they have track freeze.

[joeyluck]

I’m not buying another version of Reason until they have track freeze.

Nothing can freeze my tracks...
...because they are fire

[ShelLuser]

I hardly follow suit with upgrades because in my opinion new Reason versions pop out way too often while they barely add something substantially new. Of course this is in the eye of the beholder. But I can easily summarize my past endeavours: started with 4 (with an option to get 5 which I never used), upgraded to 6 and from there I went to 10 "all in" (bought myself pretty much all the Prop RE's) with an option to upgrade to 11.

Anyway, a few months ago I figured that 10 was probably my last version of Reason. Well... I kinda came around from that in the mean time... it's amazing how 1 small keypress can change your perception of something. Because in all fairness... I mostly used 10 rewired into Live and when doing so my work would focus around the combinator which I controlled from within Live. Nothing too much different from one single rack, though I do often miss the ability to move some 'external' effects onto a second rack for easier access.

The point.. these days I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that I'd upgrade again somewhere in the future. I highly doubt I'd get Reason 12 (or 13), also considering my experiences in the past, but who knows. But yah, going from 6 to 10... that was something I seriously considered worth my while. And given my positive experiences with the rack so far...

[Krell]

I'm still on 10 but...

-Graphical update to make it work on modern monitors and for those of us who would need to use an electron microscope to see the tiny little buttons and text as it is currently.

-Sequencer update. It's a mess currently.

Can't see any of the above happening as Reason Studios is now just another plugin maker and there is zero incentive for them to make "Reason" a great DAW.

[Mike B]

I've used Reason since version 1.0 and ReBirth before that. I've held licenses for Cubase, and Studio One for several years as well.

I've upgraded from version 4 onwards religiously, but i'm tired of waiting from VST midi out, offline rendering and workflow improvements. I'm tired of RS seeing itself as the "Apple" of the audio software world yet catering to hipsters and refusing to be called a DAW. I'm tired of the clunky mixer, rack, and seq windows. I'm tired of not being able to route midi to multiple channels. I'm tired of trying to work with external hardware in Reason. I'm tired of the super weird zooming and scrolling that goes on in the seq. I'm tired of the super tiny GUI ...etc. Yes, they are a good company with great ideas sometimes, but they have let everyone else slowly eat their lunch since 2003.

Reason is in a rough spot as it started out as something entirely different. Ableton Live is somewhat similar, yet it has been able to reinvent itself with the passing of time. Reason is stuck in this weird clunky space, not embracing what truly makes it special (rack paradigm, skeuomorphism), with an odd mix of a modern and legacy features. In some ways, it truly feels like a program out of time. The newer features eschew some of this. For example, players could be considered midi processors, but you can't find a single midi (or any) cable connected to the back of them. They are literally devices that sit in the rack and do god knows what if you aren't familiar with the program. They have to sit in a certain spot in the rack that never makes sense unless you think it out logically. All of this is at odds with what Reason was originally designed to do. Take a look at the newer devices. The older ones look far more similar to something you might find in a real hardware rack than the newer ones. It sometimes feels like RS doesn't who thy are marketing towards.

I work in software design. I realize you have to prioritize features and milestones, but propellerhead had an early lead in this market. They are a larger company (in terms of market share) that still for whatever reason (pun intended) thinks of itself as a small player in this game and often acts like a startup. The Reason as a rack concept was a good move, but where does that leave Reason itself. It is just so far behind, I can't for the life of myself ever see the standalone version catching up to the likes of Studio One, Live, Logic, Cubase, or even FL Studio. Unless the company decides to re-write the entire program and reimagine it as something else. Furthermore, now Reason mostly exists as a VST. How exactly would they have the time to dedicate toward writing a new program vs maintaining legacy code?

I think ultimately, RS might just become a plugin company...and perhaps that is their place in the world now. I don't know. I hope i'm wrong of course. I still enjoy using Reason for what it is, but there are many more players in the game now. I think at this point I want Reason to be something it is never going to be and it might be time to move on without it. Even hipster indy kids grow old.

I couldn’t have said it better. I’m currently finishing off all the tracks I’ve started in Reason for OCD reasons. And then I’m completely either uninstalling the program or selling my license. FL studio all the way for me.

[mcatalao]

+1 on almost all of this.

but why do you double click the track in the sequencer? I didn’t even know double clicking was a thing. now that you mention it opens the VST on the track, that’s one thing I’d say is a feature, not a bug. definitely will be trying that out. it would be pretty useful for my workflow.

I think that was introduced in R11?
Double clicking a track loads it's rack. But if you have vst devices they get focus when you go to the rack.

This would be good if the vst loaded was only the one from the track but it not always is.

[mcatalao]

I haven't upgrade from 10 yet and will not upgrade in the future. Version 10 is working perfect / fine for me and I'm using and prefering mostly RE's.
a) Version 11 using as to much CPU,

Version 11 is using almost the same as V10.3/10.4.

[Loque]

...
a) Version 11 using as to much CPU,
...

I cannot agree to this. I use a big bunch of devices at the same time in R11. I never could use this amount of stuff before.

[EnochLight]

Just out of curiosity - what would Reason12 need to offer for you to upgrade from 11? A new synth? Or something else... what? Or is Reason11 offering enough for your needs?

For me Reason11 seems to have plenty. Especially the VST support is such a gate to huge collection of different synths. But I confess, I might start drooling for Reason12 even though I now think I don’t need anything new

A few things Reason 12 will require to grab my interest:

1. More core standalone improvements, such as "track freeze", and basic sequencer editing tweaks we've asked about for years (as I tend to work in Reason exclusively)
2. Proper 4K/high dpi support for all Reason native devices and RE's (preferably in the form of some sort of "zoom" feature)
3. VST 3.0 support for Reason standalone
4. A massive browser improvement, such as instant search and tagging

If those 3 things aren't covered, or at least 2 out of 4, it's going to be a tough sell IMHO.

[chimp_spanner]

Just out of curiosity - what would Reason12 need to offer for you to upgrade from 11? A new synth? Or something else... what? Or is Reason11 offering enough for your needs?

For me Reason11 seems to have plenty. Especially the VST support is such a gate to huge collection of different synths. But I confess, I might start drooling for Reason12 even though I now think I don’t need anything new

A few things Reason 12 will require to grab my interest:

1. More core standalone improvements, such as "track freeze", and basic sequencer editing tweaks we've asked about for years (as I tend to work in Reason exclusively)
2. Proper 4K/high dpi support for all Reason native devices and RE's (preferably in the form of some sort of "zoom" feature)
3. VST 3.0 support for Reason standalone
4. A massive browser improvement, such as instant search and tagging

If those 3 things aren't covered, or at least 2 out of 4, it's going to be a tough sell IMHO.

I'm in the same boat as you Enoch. Still Reason exclusive, even though I currently have Cubase 10.5 Pro, Studio One 4 Pro, FL Studio 20, Maschine 2 and a trial of Logic Pro X on my computer. I still feel like it's the best environment for me to work in all around, with Cubase being a close second but only for a handful of features.

I can hear notes in the editor when I move them with arrows (sounds small but it's a huge deal for my workflow)
MIDI notes play if they're triggered from halfway through them (essential for drones/pads/etc.)
Track folders
Markers

That's it. I mean, there's more on the wishlist. But these 4 things + auto device ordering when I drag things around would save me so, so much time. Add ghost/instanced clips and I probably don't think I'd ask for anything else.

Things like browser improvement, VST3, etc. currently don't affect me (although I appreciate they affect other people!) but I obviously wouldn't turn them down either

[jam-s]

A new browser that is like Loopcloud on steroids. VST3 support (for Rack and standalone), proper (auto) track freeze.

Ok, just kidding, a hypersampled radical cowbell and kazoo ensemble will totally do.