the Reason sound was a lie

[sdst]

I was very frustrated with the Reason sound, but now that I finally learned to mix

I tell you that Reason sounds like pro tools or any professional daw, the Reason sound is people that don't know how to mix

I make this post for those that say that Reason is not a pro DAW

[ShelLuser]

Mixing is only part of the whole thing. You're right if you say that you can make high quality material using Reason, but having said that it's also true that many Reason instruments and presets can have a distinctive sound to them.

Just check their orchestral setup.

[miyaru]

I guess almost every DAW out there is capable to deliver, but it is up to the ones who know how to use it.......

[PhillipOrdonez]

That old myth still around?

[sdst]

That old myth still around?

haha it was all a lie, Reason sounds great

[reddust]

I've read recently someone saying Reason sounded kind of plastic, whatever that means I guess he just let himself get influenced by how Reason devices sometimes look, they do indeed look sometimes like some plastic toys and I love that, but the sound is the same as any other DAW

[orthodox]

I've read recently someone saying Reason sounded kind of plastic, whatever that means I guess he just let himself get influenced by how Reason devices sometimes look, they do indeed look sometimes like some plastic toys and I love that, but the sound is the same as any other DAW

Eye of the Beholder affects Ear of the Listener.

[guitfnky]

Mixing is only part of the whole thing. You're right if you say that you can make high quality material using Reason, but having said that it's also true that many Reason instruments and presets can have a distinctive sound to them.

Just check their orchestral setup.

that’s not the same thing as Reason (the software) imparting a sound on whatever it is that you’re using it for.

every DAW has its own instruments, and each of those instruments have their own sounds. just because Reason has some readily-recognizable instruments and effects doesn’t mean Reason has a “sound”. the instrument has a sound. Reason does not.

[PhillipOrdonez]

I've read recently someone saying Reason sounded kind of plastic, whatever that means I guess he just let himself get influenced by how Reason devices sometimes look, they do indeed look sometimes like some plastic toys and I love that, but the sound is the same as any other DAW

I don't think they look like plastic toys though ‍♂️

[Oquasec]

Invest in libraries, done. Convo over.

[guitfnky]

I have a microKorg that I think of as a(n expensive) plastic toy. it looks neat, but feels very cheap, and sounds sometimes good, but usually just okay.

I’ll take the “plastic” sounds I can get out of Reason any day.

[reddust]

Eye of the Beholder affects Ear of the Listener.

Totally

I've read recently someone saying Reason sounded kind of plastic, whatever that means I guess he just let himself get influenced by how Reason devices sometimes look, they do indeed look sometimes like some plastic toys and I love that, but the sound is the same as any other DAW

I don't think they look like plastic toys though ‍♂️

not everyone of them but some of them do, in my opinion, specially the new players like the drum sequencer or the polystep, at least they look like plastic toys to me but that's not negative at all

[Creativemind]

I've read recently someone saying Reason sounded kind of plastic, whatever that means I guess he just let himself get influenced by how Reason devices sometimes look, they do indeed look sometimes like some plastic toys and I love that, but the sound is the same as any other DAW

Yeah someone on a Reason Facebook page a few months ago said Reason sounds thin lol!

I definitely think there was some truth in the Reason Sound though. It came IMHO from everything having to be done in the box with stock devices. Once Re's arrived in 2012 that started to change and then when VST's were useable in Reason, the Reason sound vanished completely.

As for the look of some of the devices, yeah they look like they've been designed by kids lol! Grain's GUI is awful in my opinion. Mainly the audio / sample display at the top and those flags but the rest isn't spectacular looking either really. Europa on the other hand looks fantastic, as does Thor and Subtractor.

[guitfnky]

I think Grain is one of the best looking devices in all of Reason. and that’s just the GUI. the thing sounds like a dream. *swoon*

Thor and Subtractor are ugly AF, IMO.

[chimp_spanner]

Yeah I don't know if there was any truth to it with regards to the audio engine in the early days? But for the most part I think when casual/inexperienced users talk about the 'sound' of a DAW they're talking about things like presets, included sounds, etc. FL Studio has really kind of spoiled younger/newer users as it ships with a lot of "soundgooderizer" type plugins that just add instant fatness to a mix. Same with Live - wonder how many people use OTT on their master bus and think it's Live that sounds good. Hey I even use OTT VST in Reason and it is drastic/impressive.

But yeah ultimately it's mostly down to technique and experience. Obviously the tools you're able to use in the process do help but REs and VSTs have just opened it right up for us.

Regarding appearance, it would be nice if the old devices got a facelift in any coming visual update, but I'm still kind of fond of them. Nostalgia is a powerful drug haha.

[Creativemind]

I think Grain is one of the best looking devices in all of Reason. and that’s just the GUI. the thing sounds like a dream. *swoon*

Thor and Subtractor are ugly AF, IMO.

It's a very decent synth don't get me wrong but I want Knight Rider GUI. Lol! PadShop Pro for instance, like the Lambourghini of stock granular synths.

[QVprod]

There was never a “sound”. Years ago, Reason didn’t really have “big” patches and required a bit more work with fix or layering whereas newer VSTs had that out the box. Also, yes mixing was part of it since the mixing tools were a bit limited before Record/Reason 6.

[reddust]

Yeah someone on a Reason Facebook page a few months ago said Reason sounds thin lol!

I definitely think there was some truth in the Reason Sound though. It came IMHO from everything having to be done in the box with stock devices. Once Re's arrived in 2012 that started to change and then when VST's were useable in Reason, the Reason sound vanished completely.

As for the look of some of the devices, yeah they look like they've been designed by kids lol! Grain's GUI is awful in my opinion. Mainly the audio / sample display at the top and those flags but the rest isn't spectacular looking either really. Europa on the other hand looks fantastic, as does Thor and Subtractor.

haha, well I guess which ones look good or ugly is a matter of tastes as well...

I can imagine people complaining about thin sound when using devices that might not have the best quality when processing that sound or using sample based instruments that might have very reduced sound quality to save disk space and sacrifice frequency ranges for that purpose.

Some of the Reason devices or REs might fit that description and if the musician doesn't know about any skills to make that sound wider or richer the final product might end up sounding thin indeed, but that's not because of Reason itself. Some people might not know that it is not the same using a sample library based on mp3 files than using one with high resolution wav files or don't know how to mix their instruments by frequencies and end up blaming the DAW for that

[gregmarksimpson]

Invest in libraries, done. Convo over.

Absolutely right. That and don't just use stock Reason device factory default presets or those visible in the default context menu! But mainly, learn how to mix

[Faastwalker]

Looking back I think the 'Reason sound' thing was a lot to do with Reason being self contained, having a limited number of devices & people using the factory sound bank a lot. Once it started to expand & open up more this went away. By the time Reason has acquired audio tracks (initially via Record), Rack Extensions & VST support the Reason sound myth was all but forgotten

[Creativemind]

Looking back I think the 'Reason sound' thing was a lot to do with Reason being self contained, having a limited number of devices & people using the factory sound bank a lot. Once it started to expand & open up more this went away. By the time Reason has acquired audio tracks (initially via Record), Rack Extensions & VST support the Reason sound myth was all but forgotten

That's what I said minus the audio tracks.

[BigPictureSound]

I think Grain is one of the best looking devices in all of Reason. and that’s just the GUI. the thing sounds like a dream. *swoon*

Thor and Subtractor are ugly AF, IMO.

I’ll raise you Maelstrom.

[TheDragonborg]

I think Grain is one of the best looking devices in all of Reason. and that’s just the GUI. the thing sounds like a dream. *swoon*

Thor and Subtractor are ugly AF, IMO.

I’ll raise you Maelstrom.

I actually liked Maelstrom (sound wise) more than Thor back when I started on Reason 4.

[guitfnky]

I think Grain is one of the best looking devices in all of Reason. and that’s just the GUI. the thing sounds like a dream. *swoon*

Thor and Subtractor are ugly AF, IMO.

I’ll raise you Maelstrom.

yeah, Malstrom is not a pretty device

[jlgrimes]

I was very frustrated with the Reason sound, but now that I finally learned to mix

I tell you that Reason sounds like pro tools or any professional daw, the Reason sound is people that don't know how to mix

I make this post for those that say that Reason is not a pro DAW

I think early on it did have some issues but it got corrected in like Reason 3.0 or something.

But that said all DAWS somewhat have a sound that is based off of their stock devices, such as Reason's Scream can do things other DAWS might not do as easily and vice versa, but if you use 3rd party plugins they are all pretty similar.

Also some DAWS workflows default settings probably promotes certain mixing/production decisions.