Where did the Propellerheads I/ we loved disappear to?

[MrFigg]

I could write a lot here but I'm going to keep it short.
I'm a Reason User since 4 and I used my friend's Reason at his house since 1.0. To me, up until recently, Propellerheads always seemed like family. The user community lived in harmony with the company. A grassroots concern who genuinely cared. A place with people who could always be relied upon to help and encourage.
Now, to me at least, it feels as though "Reason Studios" has taken on an anonymity and distanced itself from the users. Daily we read on ReasonTalk of failed downloads, authorizer crashes, mistakes in the shop and unresponsiveness of support. Even when support finally answer, many customers are met with an unwillingness from RS to offer help.
Is it just me? I'm on 10.4. I won't move to another DAW. I love Reason but I honestly believe there'll be no more upgrading. Maybe I'm being dramatic but I feel as if I've lost something which I held dear and that is saddening.

[BRIGGS]

100% of the problem, is 100% at the top.

New management brings new challenges and new ways of doing things.

Hopeful the changes will work out to be good changes, and not just changes for the sake of changing.

The change from PH to RS was unnecessary.

Think if Lamborghini changed their name.... Not too smart.

[Oquasec]

I like how prop---reason studios handled reason 11.
The workflow stays the same, but can be moooooooooooved to any other daw.
We had rewire already I know I know

[motuscott]

Not giving up because frankly I'm not up to the task of learning a new DAW. Explored Reaper when Reas11 came out and it's a wonderfully personalizable program, but too much for this old dog. Plus I've got no idea where all those AUs I used to own live. Diminishing returns, I got 'em.
Make Reason Great Again

[BRIGGS]

Make Reason Great Again

woo hoo!!!

[MrFigg]

I like how prop---reason studios handled reason 11.
The workflow stays the same, but can be moooooooooooved to any other daw.
We had rewire already I know I know

I’m not referring to the products. My focus is more on the disappearance of a closeness between the company and the users.

[Oquasec]

Oh. Well they gotta work you know.
Got a lot to do, they might be deciding whether or not to rewrite the whole thing

[motuscott]

they might be deciding whether or not to rewrite the whole thing

Now you're scaring me

[Zac]

I understand how you're feeling MrFigg. I too have begun to despair at the shoddy and poor service by the props. I think the more money a person has invested in the platform the greater the sensitivity to these service aspects. For me, I'm pretty sensitive but realise I have no power over what they are becoming and where they are going. So I just watch and listen most of the time now. But I can relate to your post. It is a bit saddening.

[challism]

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[thx]

It might just be feelings. Impressions. Not that they are wrong per se, but previously just knowing names and faces in the past made you feel a more personal, deeper connection. Maybe that was misplaced? I mean, I never really understood how everyone bought into the insane copy protection. I mean it is draconian. Putting up with it is one thing, but talking about it like it's some blessing is just weird.

[dezma]

I've been a very loyal reason user from R3 up to R10 paying for each upgrade and now switched to Studio One as my main DAW, and unfortunately had to pay for R11 upgrade to safeguard my RE investments.

Reasons for jumping ship:

It's plain frustrating to see the gap between grown up daw's get bigger each year. Once they added VST, I naively thought they would go all-in on the DAW side which couldn't have been further away from the truth. More and more useless devices appeared, and daw stayed a nineties daw. Some examples:
-no autosave
-no sample drag and drop from internal browser to VST
-no previewing sample loops in sync (realtime tempo sync)
-no instrument folders
-no ARA
-no midi out for VST
-terrible piano roll that didn't change in 15 years

I reported a bug in 2017 about avenger VST automation, which is after all those years still not fixed. They just don't f*cking care. Customer support experience in general went from ok-ish to terrible.

They just have become so frustratingly clueless and seem to fail at thinking things through over and over again in almost all area's. To me introducing VST into reason in 2017 and then introducing rack VST into other DAW's in 2019 are 2 completely opposite strategic directions. Especially considering they could easily put all that menpower into implementing midi vst, and many other daw shortcomings. It's not making any sense at all to me.

They gone from the sympathetic Swedish company, creating great devices with a limited sketchpad sequencer to something they are obviously very incapable of handling in a decent way. If that's because of a lack of (capable) employees, bad management or something else, I really don't care anymore. I've made up my mind.

I'll throw my money at companies that at least pretend to listen to customers. Reason isn't even trying, seems the only thing they care for lately is getting cash out of our pockets. I haven't regretted switching to Studio One for a second. Reason just can't compete with the major league and they only got themselves to blame.

[Oquasec]

I love what they did.
They don't necessarily need to add all of these additions when other daws have had them since the beginning of time.
These modules carry enough functionality in them for music.

[bxbrkrz]

Reason is getting a new fresh paint from time to time (hopefully until the end of Time), while we all are getting older and older, and older, and older, and older, and older, and older.




Enjoy life, while we can

[MannequinRaces]

Support has always been subpar (mostly long response times) and there will always be bugs that need ironed out (all software has them). It’d be great if support improved but I don’t feel like Reason Studios is any less community oriented then Propellerhead was. Bottom line is they’re a company that needs to make money to keep making new things to make money.

[guitfnky]

I think whatever midpoint features they may add in 11.x are going to be make-or-break for a lot of the loyal users that have been patiently waiting for them to bring the DAW/sequencer up to modern usability standards.

Mattias has acknowledged that he understands much of the backlash over v11’s heavy focus on OTHER DAWs, while only giving us 7 new workflow improvements. if they put out midpoint updates that don’t add some significant quality-of-life improvements (at least enough to convince us they’re making a good faith effort to address those shortcomings), I think people like myself are going to start slowly excusing ourselves from the party. we’ll probably upgrade to v11, but only so we can take our rack with us to greener pastures.

and if they wait until v12 before they start addressing those needs, it may be too late for many of us. RS’ reputation will already have been damaged. they’ve lost a lot of trust as it is.

[guitfnky]

I love what they did.
They don't necessarily need to add all of these additions when other daws have had them since the beginning of time.
These modules carry enough functionality in them for music.

of course they don’t need to add them, but they’re doing their user base a disservice by not adding them.

the fact that you can do something in another piece of software isn’t a valid argument against suggesting you should be able to do it in *this* piece of software.

[Oquasec]

Reason 5 manual is 500 pages.
Reason 11 manual is 1500 pages.
They have been very busy the last 8 years.
:]

[guitfnky]

Reason 5 manual is 500 pages.
Reason 11 manual is 1500 pages.
They have been very busy the last 8 years.
:]

so? no one’s suggesting otherwise. they still haven’t added basic quality-of-life features available in literally every other major DAW. the page count in the manual is completely irrelevant.

[Loque]

Probably more customers...

And don't forget... As soon as you talk about good old times, you should realize that you are old now...

[sdst]

people waiting more than 10 years for a combinator with more Knobs, and they know it

anyway I don't care i switched to Reaper and create a Reason theme, and now it's like Reason 25

[MrFigg]

Probably more customers...

And don't forget... As soon as you talk about good old times, you should realize that you are old now...

Nah. I was only 9 when Reason 4 came out.

[Oquasec]

I'm sorry but most of the features we've gotten now have been somewhere else forever.
I don't see the point in not making reason a vst :]

Sometimes, this workflow also works just fine as it is.

[MrFigg]

I meant for this thread to be about the demise of the “special relationship” between props and their customers. There’s a risk at the moment of it becoming another DAW comparison discussion.

[motuscott]

I blame Trump.