Reason 8.2 Update is Available!

[jfrichards]

Wasn't meant at a person but at Props attempt to pass it off as something big

Props did not try to make 8.2 into something big, unlike 8.0 and Discover (and the marketing hype for them have been justifiably ridiculed even by those who have embraced those features).  With 8.2, Props added back Cancel Browse, added colors, added a streamlined update procedure, and other things, all of which demonstrate that far from R8 being proof of the end of Reason itself, Props is a serious software company that does listen to its users.  People want everything faster and cheaper, but those that appear to be giving great stuff for cheap (like Apple dropping the price of Logic), are always getting your money in other ways (like Apple and the iPhone).  At the same time, Props have developed their mobile software, obviously heading towards an integrated mobile mini-Reason.  You may not like any of this, which is totally fine, but those of us who like it all have our own legitimate reasons.

[tiker01]

 At the same time, Props have developed their mobile software, obviously heading towards an integrated mobile mini-Reason.

I think it will rather be a sketchpad for Reason and maybe some Reason devices similarly to Thor. It doesn`t mean that Figure and Take won`t be merged together or work like Reason and Record did though.

[ClassickHitz]

Wasn't meant at a person but at Props attempt to pass it off as something big

Props did not try to make 8.2 into something big, unlike 8.0 and Discover (and the marketing hype for them have been justifiably ridiculed even by those who have embraced those features).  With 8.2, Props added back Cancel Browse, added colors, added a streamlined update procedure, and other things, all of which demonstrate that far from R8 being proof of the end of Reason itself, Props is a serious software company that does listen to its users.  People want everything faster and cheaper, but those that appear to be giving great stuff for cheap (like Apple dropping the price of Logic), are always getting your money in other ways (like Apple and the iPhone).  At the same time, Props have developed their mobile software, obviously heading towards an integrated mobile mini-Reason.  You may not like any of this, which is totally fine, but those of us who like it all have our own legitimate reasons.

As I've stated I'm not impressed with 8.2, period. Just can't get excited about extra colors and Props adding things back that should have never been taken away in the first place. With regard to faster and cheaper. I don't personally care about how soon Reason updates. I really don't. What I care about is quality which I'm willing to pay more for. Case and point my purchase of Logic over upgrading to R8. By spending more I obtained even more in value.

The whole Apple and iPhone getting more money mythical debate I don't care to entertain. This is a loaded Windows vs Mac black-hole I'll just choose to avoid. I don't remember mentioning anything about not liking Reason heading toward a mini-mobile model as I'm an IOS user so it benefits me. Admittedly I was a little irritated that Take and Figure projects didn't have Reason integration initially but that was taken care of in R8. And that's what I'm not happy about having to upgrade in order to take advantage of something that should have made sense to do from the start.

For now I'm patiently waiting for my value threshold to be met then I'll pull the trigger.

[clone]

ClassickHitz,

But 8.2 has pineapple color, that alone is worth $129! Actually I bought it for 109, thanks to a 2 year old xmas gift card.
 

[jfrichards]

If you do a lot of samples and loops into your sequencer, R8, and especially 8.2, is very good for that.  Here's a song in 8.2, which was helped a lot by having the browser prominent.  (I didn't even use F3 - Traditional View - once during composing/mixing).  I even found the patches for Ochen K's A1 modular synth by happy accident and it's doing the lonely flute-like modulations on top of the piece.  There are dozens of samples dragged in and edited for length, quantize, transpose, volume and fade all in the sequencer from many different sources.  Love Revival for Electric Piano.



Here's the layout.  I'd love to see what others are doing with layout and colors.

[eusti]

Wow! Love the way the song looks, John! The synchronous lanes is fab!
Not so sure why I'm excited about this... But I'm too lazy and often stick with the track colors that Reason gives me automatically...
So, my songs usually look more drab! Should change that!

D.

[gak]

So, are there any showstoppers for updating?

I've been reluctant because 8.1 works so well, and I've seen a few random posts that indicate a couple of issues...but they seem resolved.

I'm win7x64

[Soft Enerji]

Just downloaded and installed with no issues as per usual. Nice new colours, a minor thing but very welcome.

With regards to the subscription fears mentioned above, Cakewalk's version seems to be a fair deal. Buy a subscription for a year and you keep what you have at the end of it. I normally skip every other Sonar upgrade and I'm sticking with X3 Producer for now because at this point I don't see any benefit in the upgrade to Platinum, but maybe in a year or so I'll buy in to the sub, depending on what's on offer.

Cheers

Mark

Cakewalk's methos seems to work well (for them) from a users perspective it involves a price hike being twice the price of the previous version upgrade around every 18 months for $99 as opposed to $199 annually as it is now.

The good thing about Sonar is that you get to keep what you paid for if you no longer choose to subscribe and can join back in at any time.

Personally I think it's fair to consider that new pricing models may be in the pipeline as the new upgrading method certainly facilitates some changes there if the Props decide to do that at some point.

It's certainly the way things are going and it isn't exclusive to professional markets anymore.

Frankly I'd be surprised if Reason doesn't go that way before too long, it's certainly better placed to do that now, it's just the sign of the times but it's not necessarily a scary thing as companies will still have to offer bang for buck for customers to buy and nobody is going to be in a rush to completely price themselves out of any market.

I remember when the Bakers asked their users to complete a survey on how we use their products. From memory the clues to what they were planning came towards the end of the survey. The Sonar forum was abuzz with rumours and conspiracy theories immediately afterwards.

Any company thinking about this path should do their homework thoroughly to avoid any potential backlash.

[Soft Enerji]

Actually I'm gonna start a thread to see what folks on here think..............

[EnochLight]

So, are there any showstoppers for updating?

I've been reluctant because 8.1 works so well, and I've seen a few random posts that indicate a couple of issues...but they seem resolved.

I'm win7x64

Not that I know of. Things are working swimmingly for me, at least.

[gak]

One thing that doesn't copy over is templates. What other things am I missing from the older reason 8.1 version? All the songs and files seem to show up. I had all that on my E drive though. 

[EnochLight]

One thing that doesn't copy over is templates. What other things am I missing from the older reason 8.1 version? All the songs and files seem to show up. I had all that on my E drive though. 

Templates are right where you'd find them on my machine. Demo songs are now downloaded as additional content separately.

 

[Jagwah]

God, look at that gigantic big browser taking up almost half your screen! Do you just leave it there? And it won't even let you completely minimize it, how incredibly intrusive - stupid grey bar! :m0358:

[Lunesis]

Sure you can minimize it, just double click the browser bar on the top left.

 

[jfrichards]

...
God, look at that gigantic big browser taking up almost half your screen! Do you just leave it there? And it won't even let you completely minimize it, how incredibly intrusive - stupid grey bar! :m0358:

Do I just leave it there?  How many times do I have to tell you that F3 closes the browser?  I posted this picture to show my working screen when I am browsing and dragging samples, patches, and devices.  You can also close the browser with its gray bar or with the Window option list.  You can also change the size of the browser to be one narrow column, which also leaves the favorites icons showing down the far left side, and they can change what's in the narrow column.  Personally, I've moved way beyond the limitations of R7 and use numerous screen layouts that are simply better for me.  Why are you complaining to God about this?  God has lots of money, he uses ProTools.

[trimph1]

Some just gotta complain....

[jfrichards]

...it won't even let you completely minimize it, how incredibly intrusive - stupid grey bar!...

There are dozens of easy to set up screens in R8, including traditional ones.  This one is cool because the track colors match the device colors for quick eye association.
 

And it's nice to be able to upload and link to the private song file in one minute:
http://phead.mu/s/WdA0yX2d

[softska]

Still wish the Browser is detachable though (or attach to the racks window instead, which is almost 90% where I wish it to be).  Browsing new patches without the rack window attached to the sequencer is still a pain to me. Love having more colors though for sure.

[gak]

One thing that doesn't copy over is templates. What other things am I missing from the older reason 8.1 version? All the songs and files seem to show up. I had all that on my E drive though. 

Templates are right where you'd find them on my machine. Demo songs are now downloaded as additional content separately.

 

Sorry, what I meant was that if you have your own templates you MUST copy them over from 8.1. 

I'm wondering what other stuff that someone would have saved around in reason 8.1 isn't copied and needs to be done manually. 

[jfrichards]

Still wish the Browser is detachable though (or attach to the racks window instead, which is almost 90% where I wish it to be).  Browsing new patches without the rack window attached to the sequencer is still a pain to me. Love having more colors though for sure.

Not sure what you want exactly, but maybe something like this?  This allows straight drag from browser to devices.

 

Detachable would be good.

[softska]

Not sure what you want exactly, but maybe something like this?  This allows straight drag from browser to devices.

Your image is basically what I settled with when I'm not on the road.

On my laptop however, before v8 I used to have the rack/mix window detached and maximized on separate virtual desktops (OSX). Not really usable with v8 when browsing patches force focus to the sequencer window where the browser lives with, drag and drop between virtual desktops is no fun either.

For now F5/6/7 is more usable, but I still find a bit frustrating to use in practice for myself after couple months. Wonder why props didn't consider vertical split view if they're so entrenched in this single window model thing. Mentioned in beta but I didn't see Prop comment on it. Can use more refinement to this workflow thing they sold us on before another paid upgrade.

[Jagwah]

Why are you complaining to God about this?  God has lots of money, he uses ProTools.

I use the browser when I am working on my drums which is the first thing I do in a track, kick and percussion samples, from that point on I don't need no browser, if I get intense with the track heck I may not need the browser for a whole week. I don't like that grey bar I find it intrusive, it was implemented for a noob workflow. I would really like to be able to get rid of it completely, any screen space is valuable real estate. I think a good analogy here is to imagine if there was a grey bar on the right that had instructions or the manual which you can pull out, which you probably rarely use JF, but there is a permanent grey bar there that you have to look at all the time for ever and ever JUST SO NOOBS CAN FIND IT EASILY! :m0358:

That being said, after using R8 for a while surely I would get used to the permanent grey bar, it's still annoying though.

[raymondh]

I use both R7 and R8, swapping back and forth for collaborations.

I find Reason 8 doesn't get me excited so much, but going back to Reason 7 is frustrating (if that makes any sense)!

Why I don't like Reason 7, after using Reason 8
- can't use transport controls when the browser window is open. let's say I'm flicking thru sounds in the browser while a track is playing, and I want to rewind a few bars? I have to exit the browser. (In Reason 8, no problems)
- can't browse through my sample library and drop new kick and snare drums onto kong while it is playing and I am going back and forth with the transport controls
- slow search in the browser - not too bad since I have SSD, but it's so much faster in R8.

The other features in Reason 8 are nice (like moving note start, and the extra colours) but I don't miss them when I switch back to Reason 7. But I really miss the Reason 8 browser.

[jivemaster]

Get a grip? LOL I have no problem with online login. My concern is if anyone else shared my concern about PH moving toward ONLY being able to use Reason by logging in/monthly subscription... with all the changes happening and all it's pretty understandable. I think your approach is a bit rude.

My apologies to you, no offence was meant. My comment was simply made in disbelief of the subscription model conspiracy theories cropping up here, theories which are unsupported by current events. Nothing in this 8.2 update suggests a change in strategy by Propellerhead in the way they license Reason to customers, so I'm not sure why people were/are worried. Must the sky be falling after each update?