Selig - I love your work and I am in no way trying to "win" an argument here - but you are making a strawman, and I think this kind of argument actually enables Reason Studios to keep living in their bubble where they think they are making great products. Let me try to explain what I mean.
1: where we agree - "If it sounds good, it is good" - This is my favorite musicology quote of all time, and the Duke is right.
2: The idea of "hi-spec and expensive vs. cheap and cheerful" - this is the strawman. I agree that "hurricane" used some examples that look like they were saying "top-spec and expensive is best". I will try to give my perspective. I LOVE simple and cheap devices. That's why I agreed with THX above, and why I hate stuff like "Scenic". My favorite 2 Reason devices are probably Subtractor and the original half-rack filter. My favorite VST compressor is the ADHD LA2, and that is FREE.
But here's the thing, Reason ISN'T CHEAP. It is charging for a premium product, while delivering quality similar to FREE VSTS. Surely you can see the problem there, from a business perspective? Same goes for RE's. My second-favorite EQ after Pro-Q is Tokyo Dawn Nova, and that is also free, even their "pro" version only costs 60 bucks (compare that to the now old and ugly, slow-GUI, non-dynamic, GQ-7 Rack Extension, which is still considered by many to be the "best" standard EQ in Reason).
3: The idea that it is one-or-the-other. This is a false dichotomy. Updates and better specs
do not conflict with a simple, fun-to-use GUI like old-school Reason. I love Subtractor because it is so well-designed that although a noob can use it like any other basic analog synth, it also has "semi-hidden" features like the oscillator modes, so a sound designer can get into really freaky territory. That is an example of the kind of "quality" I am talking about. As for upgrades - it
already has a "lo-fi" mode switch, so how would adding an oversampled "hi-fi" mode make it worse? Adding that hi-fi mode and maybe an extra filter type would definitely make it more competitive compared to more recent VA synths, without taking anything away from ease-of-use.
So, in a nutshell, you are setting up a conflict that isn't there: "cheap and fun vs. expensive and hi-tech", and that kind of thinking leads Reason Studios to being complacent and not competitive.
edit- for gender neutrality because I am a dinosaur.
selig wrote: ↑21 Jul 2020
hurricane wrote: ↑20 Jul 2020
In this DAW world, it's like, why would I use Scream when I could use (the higher quality) Saturn? Why would I use Thor when I could use (the higher quality) Diva? Why would I use Europa when I could use (the uber higher quality) Serum or Massive? \
Why would I use a silver tone amp when I could use a "higher quality" marshall? Why use a casio when I could use a synclavier, why use an SM57 when I could use a U47? Why use a cheap 808 (or 303) when you can use a higher quality drum machine like a LinnDrum? I could go on…
I believe it is because it's "Horses for Courses" in any art form, with the "quality" being in the eyes (ears) of the beholder. Why use Reason at all, why not use the "higher quality? Logic or Live? In my case it's because I make a shit-ton of music in Reason and I've made 3 songs total in Logic in the past 5 years and I've never made a song in Live despite having the demo and lite versions on my computer for many years. Who knows why Reason works for me, I no longer question it even though I routinely check out other DAWs like SoundBridge/S1/Bitwig.
For me, I've seen this in studios all my life, where the "cheap" instrument gets a certain vibe and creative feel the "high quality" instrument simply cannot achieve. It works both ways, the "high quality" instruments do things the cheap ones can never do. But IMO you are limiting yourself if you believe you can ONLY use the "high quality" instruments (or the cheap for that matter) for some reason based on "logical thinking". Yes, LOGICALLY the high quality instruments SHOULD always work better than the cheaper ones with fewer features. But PRACTICALLY, at least in MY experience, all options are on the table and I use whatever works.
Duke Ellington still sums it up best IMO:"if it sounds good, it IS good". And we each get to decide for ourselves what "good sounding" actually means!