Thanks Propellerhead!

[two shoes]

There's a lot of criticism of Propellerhead on this forum - it's kind of the nature of internet forums in general - people don't tend to post about things they're happy with but boy do they ever post about things they don't like. I feel like some (not all) of this criticism is legitimate and an important form of feedback for Propellerhead, especially now that the official forums are closed, though there's definitely a right and a wrong way to go about it.

That said, I can imagine if I were a Propellerhead employee doing my best to create a great product that I take pride in and I read this forum on a regular basis I can certainly see how all the endless negativity could be discouraging. I've made plenty of negative posts myself when I get frustrated with certain decisions Propellerhead makes, but I'm trying to make an effort to be more conscious of my tone and keep things in perspective when I do post about things I don't like.

The reason for this thread is to take a break from the criticism and make a point of saying how much I love Reason and how grateful I am that it exists. I had pretty much stopped making music altogether for a couple of years and Reason is what brought me back - since I rediscovered it in early 2018 I've had more fun making music than ever before. It's just a brilliant peice of software and an incredible platform that is fun and inspiring to work with in a way that no other software I've ever used comes close to. When people bring up this or that feature that other DAWs have that Reason doesn't what never gets mentioned is all the stuff that ONLY Reason does.

From what I can tell Propellerhead is an independent thinking company that doesn't do development (or anything else) the way everyone else in the industry does and while this may lead to certain points of frustration I think it's also what makes Reason so unique and wonderful. The fact that we have cream of the crop third party development from the likes of Blamsoft, Lectric Panda, Synapse, Jiggery Pokery, Robotic Bean, Selig, etc. etc. is a testament to what Propellerhead has accomplished. So here's a sincere thank you to Propellerhead for making such an amazing product and to all the great thirdy party devs as well - even though I'm sure I come off as negative and ungrateful on this forum at times, I really do love Reason and I expect I'll be a enthusiastic Propellerhead customer for as long as it exists.

[Boombastix]

I agree that it is probably tough from time to time to be an employee (or founder) to read about criticism so often. I just hope they put on their mental iron shield before going to any forum (or twitter/FB...), because there are also a lot of nuggets in the posts and feature requests that surely can be helpful for future development direction. Sure, some just come on to blow off steam, but many times I see it as someone who is invested and committed to the product and want push it on in certain directions so that the product stays relevant for years to come. That's what we all want, perhaps courtesy and constructive criticism with a touch of positive attitude is the best and fastest way to get there, for everyone.

[Jackjackdaw]

+1 for this. Reason is awesome. As a platform for creative synthesis, experimentation and sound design it stands alone. I love the RE ecosystem. I love Europa, Grain and Complex -1 and Kong, even if it is getting long in the tooth.

Long live Propellerhead and Reason!

[Desmondblack]

hear hear! especially after the 10.3 update! its like I have a new DAW!

[Heigen5]

I totally agree that Reason is an awesome tool for the people, who enjoy making music with. And when you said that "people praise the other DAWS for doing an A), B) and C) beterly, you could as well turn it vice versa - i.e. Reason is superior for lots of the stuff, wherea's the other DAWs lack more of. The old "curse" that Reason is a toy changed already, after Reason getting an Audio In/out, The REs and VST and Timestrech, a tempo Automation etc. The most things are better in Reason, than in the other DAWs. The rack concept, the mixer and all the major features are superior in the comparison.

I have used Reason since Reason 2.0 and at this point I want to say that, I'm satisfied and really impressed how the Props catched up the others and outdid the others in most cases. The main thing, I'd like to happen is how Reason would get the most bestest stock effects in the universe to take that "curse" out of Reason how it doesn't do HD-SOUND.

I think that a top-notch Reason version would MOSTLY require, that the DSP allows us to sound as good as possible. This would mean that every part in Reason i.e. the filters, compressors and EQs etc, don't produce as much of artifacts and other imperfections, that are present there in many cases atm. In my poinion anyway.

This is not all, There's millions of patches that people have created for Reason, that need to be overhauled. AFTER when the Props have provided us the 2nd generation tools to do that. The HD DSP is the answer IMO.

[Heigen5]

PART 2:

We all know that music is mostly about the feel and the sound mostly and this is where the lots of the Long Time Reason Users had to suffer for decades as Reason didn't have REs or VSTs. At this point we might be still using some old stocks as we're used to these. Re-Parts could be the answer for most of it now. Let us choose the filters for the NNXT-sampler, let us have a semi-modular approach to have an option to load a variable effect, where-ever we desire to. Not all the stocks suck and sometimes a stock is even better than any other tool. But at the end of the day, it would be great to lessen shit and put more quality into everything, IMO.

Every compromise in a sound per a device makes the total summary of artifacts and imperfections huge.

[chimp_spanner]

Positive vibes, I like it! I think most people want Reason to be the best it can be (or the best they think it can be at least). But as a kid of the 80s and 90s who remembers working with general MIDI on an Atari ST, Reason (and Cubase and all the others) is basically magic. It’s more than 10 year old me could’ve dreamed of.

And ultimately, whatever I think it’s missing, Reason has paid my rent for the last few years. Most of the barriers to my making music are in my head, not in my software. So here’s to an exciting future for all us Reason fanboys and girls! Roll on 11

[BRIGGS]

Positive vibes, I like it! I think most people want Reason to be the best it can be (or the best they think it can be at least). But as a kid of the 80s and 90s who remembers working with general MIDI on an Atari ST, Reason (and Cubase and all the others) is basically magic. It’s more than 10 year old me could’ve dreamed of.

And ultimately, whatever I think it’s missing, Reason has paid my rent for the last few years. Most of the barriers to my making music are in my head, not in my software. So here’s to an exciting future for all us Reason fanboys and girls! Roll on 11

[scratchnsnifff]

Reason taught me all that I know, and that can never be changed. When I found out about rack extensions and understood what they were all about, my knowledge grew rapidly. Experimenting led to some experience, which leads to song creation. At the end of the day, the props are there to provide a platform where users can create music at a relatively fast rate. They have even stated as such, it seems to be their prime directive. So for all of the help in the journey of music making, thanks propellerhead!

[mashers]

What a lovely idea for a thread. I absolutely love Reason. I've been with it since the very beginning, and it just gets better and better. Does it have its foibles? Of course, but so does everything. Every piece of hardware I own has something about it that bugs me. But at least with software, there is the possibility for those things to change and improve. And particularly with Reason, I find that little niggles can be worked around as it's so modular. Reason is like a third arm to me. It works so intuitively to me, and almost never gets in the way of my creative process. I know for a fact that I wouldn't still be doing what I'm doing without it. I use it literally every single day of my life and would be totally lost without it.

[ProfessaKaos]

Hi fellow forum members and Propellerhead,

Just wanted to take the time to say a BIG THANK YOU to Propellerhead for listening to us have a whinge (especially ME) and implementing a great performance update.
Much appreciated and much love to you guys.

Thank you Propellerhead
Kaos

[Slappy]

I can't say enough about how great Reason has been for me over the years. I have used it since version 1 and have NEVER felt like I am outgrowing it. I love that it takes me mere seconds to learn how to use a new tool or device . So intuitive...so inspiring!

[bitley]

Lovely vibes in this thread!

Yes thanks Propellerhead for keeping it up delivering top notch tools for us all!

[Vesterager]

Yes, THANKS Props! Reason was an education for me. I was a working guitar player that always just...played guitar. I never did anything mixer/production related. It was always just playing guitar...for 20 years.

I bought Reason at version 1, but just months before version 2 came out. I knew 0 about sequencers. I knew 0 about control voltage. I knew 0 about synths. I knew 0 about samplers. Basically I knew ZERO. I hit the books (Peff) and websites (Reason Station, Prop board, the Reason tuts were always great, James Bernard and Frederick Hagglund ). Now I'm surrounded by Reason itself plus branching out to Elektron and a Eurorack setup. I can remember the moment I was first digging into the Matrix sequencer. I thought...WOW that is frigging AWESOME. I was HIGH! It was somewhat overwhelming.

[Bloma]

Two shoes and everybody else who commented, thanks for writing this! I feel the same way about Reason.

[CephaloPod]

Way back in the day, when Reason first came out, it changed my life forever. I'm not joking. It got me finally making music the way I wanted to make it, without spending literally thousands of dollars on hardware. I have since enjoyed thousands of hours enjoying my passion, which is making horrible, horrible music. Over the years, I've branched out. I'll go for months using Logic or some other program, but I always come back using Reason. Something about it feels like "home" even though I still don't consider myself a "power user." When Reason came out, it changed everything for me.

[MGB]

Just echoing the general sentiment here. I got a copy of Reason essentials when i bought Pro tools back in 2006. Tried Reason, never used Pro tools, and have only used Reason since! As a small company Props do a great job of listening to their users, engaging with their community (as they do here) and working to deliver the features that we request. So thank you for that!

[supersplaron]

[Kategra]

I'm happy customer over all. Every 129 EUR update gives me something that is worth it, sometimes it feels like an amazing deal. I have GAS, but it's curently under control.
If PH delivered Reason 11 now, I would update now, because updates always delivered something briliant.

It is very easy for us to ask for features, but now I've grown to uderstand that even ultra simple features that don't do much can cost alot of for PH to implement. Reason is not a one trick poney, is a BEHEMOT of software, every new feature can have lots of impact or deny future development if not done with extra planning care. We just can't have it Afordable & Fast & High Quality, one of this always get's pushed back. We live in a phisical world, there is no magic or faith based software )))


Congratulations to all people at Propellerheads, former and current: you've created something that gave a lot of smiles on many people faces, eyes and ears!

PS. excuse my grammer, auto correct is not working and I'm not an native english writter )))

[Mataya]

Just bought Cubase 10 Pro yesterday. (it's on 50% discount, by the way). So hard to make techno with it. Reason is fun in a unique way. It could have more functions and I'm sure it will, but straight from the box...reason 10.3 is capable of entertaining you for sooooo looong. Keep up.

[kitekrazy]

Just bought Cubase 10 Pro yesterday. (it's on 50% discount, by the way). So hard to make techno with it. Reason is fun in a unique way. It could have more functions and I'm sure it will, but straight from the box...reason 10.3 is capable of entertaining you for sooooo looong. Keep up.

Got Cubase also but more for orchestra stuff and the staff view which is very good. I collect DAWs like people collect VSTs. The licensing for Reason is far more flexible. I think Steinberg finally realized the DAW market is competitive. Reason 10 was the only upgrade that went on sale. All of my other versions were $129. Plus we got some free stuff along the way. I like how unique Reason is. When trying to compare it to other DAWs is like apples and oranges.

[FrankJaeger]

Let's keep this going for as long as possible. I just commented the other day on a youtube video where a guy was claiming to use and like Reason while simultaneously throwing shade and some pretty weak complaints out about the software. The main complaint was that the workflow was trash and that you couldn't produce quality tracks quickly enough with it, which to me is completely false. I commented that it's really about knowing your choice of DAW in and out and that I knew Reason almost like the back of my hand (propellerhead has put so many little hidden gems in Reason that I STILL get surprised when watching other people work in it). Reason isn't perfect and no other DAW is either, but I have the most fun in it and that's what matters the most.

So thank you propellerhead for keeping me inspired to make more and better music!!!

[MannequinRaces]

Reason isn’t perfect but it’s perfect for me. I’m so glad I bought a boxed version of R4 at a Guitar Center and haven’t looked back since. When I started I didn’t even know it didn’t have audio recording capabilities, lol. I’ve learned so much since then and still have tons to learn and explore. It really is a fantastic environment to be in that brings me lots of joy. With each release it gets better, and better. I tip my hat to all the fine employees of Propellerhead. Please know that your work is appreciated and loved by many. Onwards and upwards.

[Skimrok]

I also like to say thank you to Propellerhead because Ive been learning Reason 10 since last Summer in 2018, I think im at a stage now I can share some music with other fellow Reason users and if it wasn't for Propellerhead software I wouldn't have made nothing so BIG THUMPS UP!!! From Skimrok

[Aktivistmusik]

Yeah!
I love it as much as when I first picked up 2.5.
Just bought an MPC Live and realize more than ever that I just can't walk away from you babe.

You're amazing still!!!

I luh you boo!