My experience with Reason Essentials

[stanshear]

After much consideration and comparison with other DAWs I decided to use Reason Essentials. It worked very well at first but I started to get the usual "Computer too slow to play song" error message about which much has been written. I ignored it at first but it became very bad to the extent that it was impossible to use the program. I created an empty project, inserted an empty track and ran it, with similar results. I have an up-do-date laptop which is certainly fast enough to cope with the Reason requirements.
I addressed the issue to Propellerhead and categorized the issue as a bug. I was surprised that after so many posts had been posted by users experiencing the problem that folks have been trying to get their computers to work using workarounds, rather then address it as the bug, which it is, and laying the responsibility on Propellerhead to address and correct it. My response from Propellerhead was that it was not a bug but that my computer was simply too slow and there was nothing they could do about it - which is not true since any DAW that cannot even run with an empty track on a modern laptop must have a fault with it.
This is a pity, since I now have to start my current project from scratch on another DAW, and can only express my extreme frustration and disappointment with Propellerhead for their attitude to this problem. What a pity, since Propellerhead has excellent products with top functionality, and I feel they have not only let me down on this issue, but the whole Propellerhead community. I'm interested in other user comments.
Stan

[diminished]

You leave out crucial information while focusing solely on the complaint you have with PH. Did you register on Reasontalk only to vent? Or are you looking for help with your problem?

What exactly did you ask the support? What's your computer stats, what's the audio interface you're using and at what buffer size and sampling rate? What driver? What did your project consist of? Did you use any VST? Was there any Windows Update running in the background (turns every system to shit)?

[Loque]

Just to add to diminished, what power saving settings do you have?

Its always the same... Lack of info... I never have problems with it.

[pushedbutton]

Hi Stan,
I'd be interested to hear the spec of your Laptop and Audio Interface.
I've not seen the 'computer too slow' message since I ditched my core2duo and that wasn't without a fair amount of effort.
The more specific you are with your problems the more specific we can be with our solutions.
I don't think you're going to start much of a crusade since all we're getting from what you're saying is 'I bought a shitty laptop and it wont do what I want it to do'.
As a long standing member of the Propellerhead community I don't feel let down by anything you've talked about so far but feel free to elaborate so we can understand why you feel this way.

[motuscott]

ReasonTalkers, unreasonably reasonable.
Is this a trick?

[mjxl]

I'm interested how you push your audio as well. Are you using a DAC or just pushing it out the default sound card?
I've had a couple of messages "computer too slow lalala" when I initially bought Reason Intro and put a few things in the rack via my onboard audio card.
I've got a desktop PC with an i5 2500, 8GB RAM a GTX960 and SSD drives, so I figured that shouldn't be the problem.

[napynap]

After much consideration and comparison with other DAWs I decided to use Reason Essentials. It worked very well at first but I started to get the usual "Computer too slow to play song" error message about which much has been written. I ignored it at first but it became very bad to the extent that it was impossible to use the program. I created an empty project, inserted an empty track and ran it, with similar results. I have an up-do-date laptop which is certainly fast enough to cope with the Reason requirements.
I addressed the issue to Propellerhead and categorized the issue as a bug. I was surprised that after so many posts had been posted by users experiencing the problem that folks have been trying to get their computers to work using workarounds, rather then address it as the bug, which it is, and laying the responsibility on Propellerhead to address and correct it. My response from Propellerhead was that it was not a bug but that my computer was simply too slow and there was nothing they could do about it - which is not true since any DAW that cannot even run with an empty track on a modern laptop must have a fault with it.
This is a pity, since I now have to start my current project from scratch on another DAW, and can only express my extreme frustration and disappointment with Propellerhead for their attitude to this problem. What a pity, since Propellerhead has excellent products with top functionality, and I feel they have not only let me down on this issue, but the whole Propellerhead community. I'm interested in other user comments.
Stan

stanshear,

You are clearly frustrated with your experience with Reason Essentials. I think that frustration has clouded your understanding of Propellerheads' attempts to resolve your issue. I'm sure they attempted to help you out. I have some questions for you:

>>>"I have an up-do-date laptop"
As others here have requested, what are your computer specs? CPU type and speed, Memory amount and speed, Hard drive size and speed, Audio interface make/type.

>>>"My response from Propellerheads was that it was not a bug but that my computer was simply too slow and there was nothing they could do about it"
Did Propellerheads suggest you to check their minimum specifications requirements, and to update your hardware accordingly?

>>>"extreme frustration and disappointment with Propellerhead for their attitude to this problem."
I'm sceptical of your reports that Propellerheads' attitude was a factor here. I'm sure they acted professionally to guide you towards a solution to resolving the issue.

>>>"I feel they have not only let me down on this issue, but the whole Propellerhead community.
If Propellerheads let you down, then please send them a response to the questions they asked you about, so they may continue to resolve the troubles you had. The issue you experieinced pertains to your situation, but not their whole customer base.

[Magnus]

After much consideration and comparison with other DAWs I decided to use Reason Essentials. It worked very well at first but I started to get the usual "Computer too slow to play song" error message about which much has been written. I ignored it at first but it became very bad to the extent that it was impossible to use the program. I created an empty project, inserted an empty track and ran it, with similar results. I have an up-do-date laptop which is certainly fast enough to cope with the Reason requirements.
I addressed the issue to Propellerhead and categorized the issue as a bug. I was surprised that after so many posts had been posted by users experiencing the problem that folks have been trying to get their computers to work using workarounds, rather then address it as the bug, which it is, and laying the responsibility on Propellerhead to address and correct it. My response from Propellerhead was that it was not a bug but that my computer was simply too slow and there was nothing they could do about it - which is not true since any DAW that cannot even run with an empty track on a modern laptop must have a fault with it.
This is a pity, since I now have to start my current project from scratch on another DAW, and can only express my extreme frustration and disappointment with Propellerhead for their attitude to this problem. What a pity, since Propellerhead has excellent products with top functionality, and I feel they have not only let me down on this issue, but the whole Propellerhead community. I'm interested in other user comments.
Stan

This sounds to me like you haven't got an ASIO driver running properly and thus Reason is using some horrible default Windows driver and the CPU doesn't like it...

[reddust]

I'm using a laptop too and there are many things and tweaking options that make a big difference when using DAWs, not only Reason for this matter.

In my case I need to plug the charger to the laptop for it to not be complaining just on one single track.

I'm using ASIO drivers for better performance as well as Maschine, which has an internal sound card that is surely better than the onboard one on my laptop.

And I did some tweaking to get the best performance for the laptop as many are set up for the regular user who may have more interest in getting emails and notifications from apps than use it for making music or video editing, graphics... and things that really demand more power from the pc.

Reason is working on better performance in an update that is just around the corner, a modern laptop should be able to work pretty good with it

[mjxl]

To chip in on the ASIO thing, i highly recommend Voicemeeter (Banana or Potato)

It's a 3/5 channel mixer with virtual asio baked in, you can set samplerate per channel, route any channel anywhere etc.

This helped me with the same "too slow" message.

If you need help setting it up, you can pm me.

[stanshear]

Thanks for the comments guys. My computer specs are: HP Desktop-ML3212B running under Windows 10. Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U. CPU @ 2.5GHz Installed memory (RAM) 8.00 GB (7.88 GB usable) 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor. I'm working through the ZOOM R16 Mixer and using the ASIO-ZOOM R16_R24 ASIO driver. Haven't had any trouble with that.
Stan

[sleep1979]

Thanks for the comments guys. My computer specs are: HP Desktop-ML3212B running under Windows 10. Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U. CPU @ 2.5GHz Installed memory (RAM) 8.00 GB (7.88 GB usable) 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor. I'm working through the ZOOM R16 Mixer and using the ASIO-ZOOM R16_R24 ASIO driver. Haven't had any trouble with that.
Stan

Have you got loads of other programs running ‍♀️ in the background? sometimes just uninstalling reinstalling things sorts problems out ,

i have reason intro 10 with an old amd 6 core phenom black series and 17gb of ram and i can run reason intro 10 with vst with no issues.

thats without the update , and your coms better than mine ithink so its definetly an issue with one of your drivers


or some software/hardware conflicting the issue .

[EnochLight]

Thanks for the comments guys. My computer specs are: HP Desktop-ML3212B running under Windows 10. Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U. CPU @ 2.5GHz

Jesus man... honestly that CPU is pretty damn weak for a DAW, in my humble opinion. My CPU is long in the tooth - approaching 8 years old this year - and your CPU is noticeably slower than mine. It's also only dual-core. You are literally running Reason on barely more than the minimum required hardware specs. Also, the Zoom R16 is a decade old piece of hardware with questionable ASIO drivers (they haven't been updated since 2016).

Anyway, maybe you'll be fine once 10.3 drops and you can increase your audio buffer a bit?

ummm.jpg (113.7 KiB) Viewed 1492 times

[sleep1979]

Thanks for the comments guys. My computer specs are: HP Desktop-ML3212B running under Windows 10. Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U. CPU @ 2.5GHz

Jesus man... honestly that CPU is pretty damn weak for a DAW, in my humble opinion. My CPU is long in the tooth - approaching 8 years old this year - and your CPU is noticeably slower than mine. It's also only dual-core. You are literally running Reason on barely more than the minimum required hardware specs. Also, the Zoom R16 is a decade old piece of hardware with questionable ASIO drivers (they haven't been updated since 2016).

Anyway, maybe you'll be fine once 10.3 drops and you can increase your audio buffer a bit?



ummm.jpg

Maybe i was wrong then this is mine ,

[reddust]

To chip in on the ASIO thing, i highly recommend Voicemeeter (Banana or Potato)

It's a 3/5 channel mixer with virtual asio baked in, you can set samplerate per channel, route any channel anywhere etc.

This helped me with the same "too slow" message.

If you need help setting it up, you can pm me.

Looks really nice, gonna try it these days, thanks for sharing

[EnochLight]

Maybe i was wrong then this is mine ,

But my comment was to stanshear...

[sleep1979]

Maybe i was wrong then this is mine ,

But my comment was to stanshear...

I know that i made a comment mine is not as fast as hisb

[stanshear]

Phew, and I really thought I had a good, fast computer. It seems then that it is just too slow. Oh, no. Now I've got to think about getting a new computer, and patch the hole in my pocket to do so. But thanks for this enlightening comment.
Stan

[sleep1979]

Phew, and I really thought I had a good, fast computer. It seems then that it is just too slow. Oh, no. Now I've got to think about getting a new computer, and patch the hole in my pocket to do so. But thanks for this enlightening comment.
Stan

I dunno still dont think u should get that with a blank project with a celoron d and 1gb or ram

[stanshear]

I see in the Reason specs, that you require internal free space of about 40 GB to function properly. My computer is so cluttered with old stuff which accumulated before I started using an SD card for storage, that I only have 6.5 GB out of 110 GB !!! We're onto something. So I'm going to clean that up and hold my breath and there's a good chance that will do the trick. If that works, then I owe an apology to Propellerhead for my false accusations. We'll see, but thanks again everybody for you comments.
Stan

[pushedbutton]

I'm glad we could peel you off the ceiling Stan and I'm looking forward to hearing what you can do with Reason. It sounds like you're on the right track now.
This is a really strong community and aside from the inevitable disagreements I've never met a more helpful bunch of people.
& Head pats all round, I've seen other forums where newbie questions are treated with absolute contempt, we're better than that.

[EnochLight]

Phew, and I really thought I had a good, fast computer. It seems then that it is just too slow. Oh, no. Now I've got to think about getting a new computer, and patch the hole in my pocket to do so. But thanks for this enlightening comment.
Stan

Well, I'd also give Reason 10.3 a try once it presumably drops in a couple of weeks (or less). Users are reporting performance gains all around, even if you're not using VST. So even with your low-spec machine, you might be able to get some work done. It's worth giving 10.3 a try before shelling out money for new hardware...

I see in the Reason specs, that you require internal free space of about 40 GB to function properly. My computer is so cluttered with old stuff which accumulated before I started using an SD card for storage, that I only have 6.5 GB out of 110 GB !!! We're onto something. So I'm going to clean that up and hold my breath and there's a good chance that will do the trick. If that works, then I owe an apology to Propellerhead for my false accusations. We'll see, but thanks again everybody for you comments.
Stan

Right, so if you only have 6.5 GB free out of 110 GB, then Windows 10 itself will have issues running properly, let alone Reason!

[sleep1979]

I see in the Reason specs, that you require internal free space of about 40 GB to function properly. My computer is so cluttered with old stuff which accumulated before I started using an SD card for storage, that I only have 6.5 GB out of 110 GB !!! We're onto something. So I'm going to clean that up and hold my breath and there's a good chance that will do the trick. If that works, then I owe an apology to Propellerhead for my false accusations. We'll see, but thanks again everybody for you comments.
Stan

Keep your pc streamlined man for audio , clean that mofo often maybe clean install windows

[PhillipOrdonez]

I see in the Reason specs, that you require internal free space of about 40 GB to function properly. My computer is so cluttered with old stuff which accumulated before I started using an SD card for storage, that I only have 6.5 GB out of 110 GB !!! We're onto something. So I'm going to clean that up and hold my breath and there's a good chance that will do the trick. If that works, then I owe an apology to Propellerhead for my false accusations. We'll see, but thanks again everybody for you comments.
Stan

Wow that's really low. Definitely declutter that thing, man!

Your cpu is quite slow, I had one of those and it was just okay. Upgraded to a much better CPU and it works a treat. Now with the upcoming update, I'm curious about how this processor will perform. I might have saved a lot of money had I waited a little longer or had they released the update sooner. Too late for me, but you still have a chance, so wait for it! And declutter, definitely declutter that drive!

[diminished]

I see in the Reason specs, that you require internal free space of about 40 GB to function properly. My computer is so cluttered with old stuff which accumulated before I started using an SD card for storage, that I only have 6.5 GB out of 110 GB !!! We're onto something. So I'm going to clean that up and hold my breath and there's a good chance that will do the trick. If that works, then I owe an apology to Propellerhead for my false accusations. We'll see, but thanks again everybody for you comments.
Stan

I suggest a clean Windows reinstall. Win10 if you have it. Try ASIO4ALL. Kill stuff running in the background, like 3rd party antivirus, disable power save mode when producing music. While the CPU is def. on the weak side, your system should in theory handle a lot of stock devices without problem. Leave VST out of the equation until you actually secured a smoothly running Reason. Anything new and fancy from the synth VST world can and will drop your CPU to its knees.

And like we all agree, free up some space on your disc!