What are your top five devices at the moment?

[Jagwah]

List your current top five devices, could be anything from stock to VST to hardware to WHY, cheers!


1) The Echo - Learning about reverb and using this beast to get a good grasp on it.

2) Subtractor - As I usually remove chorus and reverb from patches for mixing purposes, it's nice to go through Subtractor's patches and know they don't have this.

3) Gtune by GVST - this is a free VST tuner, I don't have a trained ear and when a synth patch is getting really funky I just pop this on the end of it to make sure it is outputting a musical note and not indecipherable noise.

4) Europa - Great synth, love the spectral filter at the moment.

5) - Selig Gain - top device, very handy in the master section.

[jfrichards]

1) Objekt - so deep, I feel I'm 1% into it

2) Friktion - I love orchestral and Jazz strings, beautiful harmonic tones

3) Parsec - Filled with favorites and hidden gems

4) Revival - huge number of organ tones plus amazing guitar amps, both Marshall and Fender

5) Waubaby wah - 20 great wah pedals!

[wereMole88]

1. Europa. Bread and butter synth. Easiest synth to get good sound quickly.

2. Delta Midi Computer. Ridiculously versatile although could really use a CV trigger input node.

3. Polystep Sequencer. I don't have one of the third party rack extensions yet. Works pretty good though.

4. CVPT the tool to switch between CV and players.

5. Charlotte envelope generator (why doesn't this have a 'trig' control like Pulsar).

(Runner ups are Mimic, MClass compressor, CVA-7, RV7000 and Thor)

[arnigretar]

My last two tracks used

Objekt
Subtractor
Monotone
Complex-1
Evolution

And as always there is a matrix

[crimsonwarlock]

1. Kuassa amps, they are all over my tracks now.
2. Thor. Trying to get a NordLead kinda synth string sound from several different synths, and finally Thor did it best. Shows how incredible versatile it is.
3. Korg Mono/Poly, still the melodic synth lead beast. Using it more and more.
4. SKP FAT50. My current favorite for smooth saturation.
5. Red Rock multi-band compressor. My workhorse for selective frequency ducking.

[TritoneAddiction]

There are a couple of devices that I ALWAYS come back to. They have stuck with me for years and continue to do so.
In no particular order:


Synapse GQ-7 Graphic Equalizer

FRG-4RE Compressor
Works on pretty much anything, but I find it gives best results on drums and bass material.

Stereo Splitter
I use it all the time for volume automation. It also makes it super simple to turn stereo sources to mono. Use it all the time on the master to check mono compatibility.

Disperser
It may seem like a niche and unnecessary device to most folks. But I rely on it in my mixing almost as much as I do on compressors. It's very much engrained in my mixing workflow. As far as I know, no other device does what it does.

Carve EQ Ducker


Instruments and synths change all the time for me. There's no consistency what so ever. But if I could only pick one synth to work with, it would be Europa. It's a great all-rounder. Fun and easy to use. And it sounds good.

[Quarmat]

Disperser
It may seem like a niche and unnecessary device to most folks. But I rely on it in my mixing almost as much as I do on compressors. It's very much engrained in my mixing workflow. As far as I know, no other device does what it does.

I've read wonders about the disperser, but not owing it, I do not know its use. Can you explain what it does and how and when you use it?

[TritoneAddiction]

Disperser
It may seem like a niche and unnecessary device to most folks. But I rely on it in my mixing almost as much as I do on compressors. It's very much engrained in my mixing workflow. As far as I know, no other device does what it does.

I've read wonders about the disperser, but not owing it, I do not know its use. Can you explain what it does and how and when you use it?

Some people don't like it at all. Some people don't hear the difference.
It can sound "rubbery". The trick is to not overdo the effect, unless you want to of course.

It changes the transient in some way. I'm really not the right person to explain anything on a technical level. It messes with the phase somehow. That's all I know.
I usually use it on transient heavy material to make certain sounds pop out more in the mix. Great on kicks and snares. But I use it on all kinds of material. I think it works great to make sounds cut through the mix without having to raise the volume. Things just get snappier.

Here's an old example I made. If I remember correctly it's used on several sounds here. Kick, snare, probably bass, blip blops.

[dcharged]

1. Thor - Love the supersaw oscillator even if its mono
2. Malström - Awesome for creating rhythmical sounds
3. Synapse GQ-7
4. Scream 4 - Tube & Tape is my favorite distortion types
5. Polar Dual Pitch Shifter - Great for creating different variations with the punch of hardstyle kicks

[fullforce]

The coffee machine!

[selig]

The coffee machine!

Coffee Machine will always be #1!!!

[challism]

1. Objekt
2. Player RE currently in beta
3. Effect RE currently in beta
4. Effect RE currently in beta
5. Instrument VST currently in beta

Can't talk about fight club.

[ambi]

1. Objekt
2. Player RE currently in beta
3. Effect RE currently in beta
4. Effect RE currently in beta
5. Instrument VST currently in beta

Can't talk about fight club.

How about posting your top 5 RE's that you can talk about?

[challism]

1. Objekt
2. Player RE currently in beta
3. Effect RE currently in beta
4. Effect RE currently in beta
5. Instrument VST currently in beta

Can't talk about fight club.

How about posting your top 5 RE's that you can talk about?

Sure. I use a lot of different devices, but I've been using these continuously since getting them.

Objekt - just try it
Chris Griffin S73 - amazing sounding electric piano.. amazing effects. I wish Chris would give us audio in.
Mimic - the best sampler in Reason (I never really took to Grain and the 19/XT are so outdated)
Bassline Generator - capable of much more than doing basslines, but it's really good at that, too. The last update really moved it up to a new tier.
Combinator 2 - how much fun is this? I love building my own devices.

[huggermugger]

Whichever one catches my attention at the moment. Plus BLG, BeatMap, Korde, Delta and Inspiral.
Also QNG, Step, Euclid, Pattern Mutator and DrumSequencer.
Plus PSQ1684, Shape, Pulsar, CVA-7, and AutoLatch.
Also, A/B Transpose, CVPTap, ChordSQ, Scales&Chords and Janitor.

[Floyd42]

1) Computer - without i`m not able to play with reason
2) Reason - all of it
3) RE from several developers - many of them
4) Midi Controllers - very handy
5) Headphones - so that the house blessing is not crooked

[challism]

Carve EQ Ducker

If I remember right, Carve was a little buggy and never got fixed. Do you find it buggy? I love the concept of it, but don't want to buy a buggy device.

This is also a little buggy...

buggy.jpg

Whichever one catches my attention at the moment. Plus BLG, BeatMap, Korde, Delta and Inspiral.
Also QNG, Step, Euclid, Pattern Mutator and DrumSequencer.
Plus PSQ1684, Shape, Pulsar, CVA-7, and AutoLatch.
Also, A/B Transpose, CVPTap, ChordSQ, Scales&Chords and Janitor.

I see you have difficulty counting to five. ha ha ha
You named a lot of great REs. I know it's hard to narrow it down to 5.

[TritoneAddiction]

Carve EQ Ducker

If I remember right, Carve was a little buggy and never got fixed. Do you find it buggy? I love the concept of it, but don't want to buy a buggy device.

I've also heard someone say it was buggy. But I've had it and used it regularly since 2015 and haven't experienced any bugs. Either I don't know what to look for or perhaps it's like it is with bugs sometimes, it only affects some people.
But I do have Chip64 which is also by Ochen K and that is the buggiest synth I own. Still like it though, despite it flaws.

[huggermugger]

I see you have difficulty counting to five. ha ha ha
You named a lot of great REs. I know it's hard to narrow it down to 5.

Some days I can barely count to one.

You may have noticed that I didn't mention one instrument or effects device. There are good things in both categories in Reason, but I've got so many superb VSTs (actually AUs) that when I'm running the RRP in Logic (which is most of the time), all I want are Reason's Players and Utilities and sequency things.

[rgdaniel]

1) RS - Objekt [new and shiny]
2) Spitfire - BBC Symphony Orchestra [biggest bang for the buck ] (free)
3) RS - Beat Map [quick way to generate a placeholder groove, often that I end up keeping]
4) Lectric Panda - Evolution Sequencer [surprisingly musical for being pseudo-random. Works best for me when constrained to minor pentatonic]
5) Polyverse - Wider [last thing I switch on. like magic, the track seems to go from 2D to 3D ]

[Jackjackdaw]

I’m not making electronic music at the moment so no synths or midi fx are pushing my buttons. But I have some absolute staples that are my go to for any project, live or electronic .

Arturia Plate 140 reverb
Pulveriser
Reason master bus compressor
Kuassa EVE eq
PSP Vintage warmer

[crimsonwarlock]

PSP Vintage warmer

Warm memories of that one. I don't use it anymore, but I did the final edits of the first user-manual (I did several user-manual edits for their early plugins). Very nice guys and a great company to work with.

[Jackjackdaw]

That’s cool, I’ve been using it for donkeys years. I was using a crt iMac with emagic Logic and a FireWire interface when I bought it.

[Last Alternative]

1. Serum - one of my newest toys and oh man I love it! And I'm having fun making my own Reese basses and getting into sound design.
2. RVox - easiest compressor ever. Sounds amazing.
3. Synapse GQ7 - my go-to EQ now. It's so user-friendly, I feel like I EQ better with it.
4. IK Multimedia Aplitube 5 max - wow talk about unlimited sounds. It's actually too much. Mind blowing guitar/bass amp VST.
5. DDL-1 - I forgot how badass this little delay is. Simple and effective for mono elements. It's all about automation for better control.

And if I may, add a couple more...
* BVX vocoder is another one I've been playing with. It's sooo cool it's an insert on a vocal audio track! Something that's impossible with the old BV512. I never liked that one because of all the bs involved haha
* Brauer Motion Stereo - Is there anything like this in the Reason world? I mean... I used to automate panning until I discovered this little gem. It gives incredible motion and a beautiful ambience of sound all around any way you can imagine. It really does create a psychedelic circus and it's bringing some of my boring stuff to life back from the grave in multiple songs. The key is to save it for only the most special parts.

I'm really loving my Waves stuff in general. Not gonna love when the free updates expire tho lol. But also the stock stuff is no joke either. Solid DAW ever since 12.6

[Popey]

1.Serum - had it for ages but use it on every single track. Love the amount of mod options and find it quick when creating sounds.

2. Objekt - it's new and shiny but also so so playful and capable of making things that can range from beautiful to downright weird but still sound ace in a mix.

3. Echo - it's just a great reason delay and does what you need. I have timeless3 and other more fancy delays but seem to always reach for the echo as it is quick when creating.

4. Valhalla vintage verb - only bought it at start of 2023 but quickly becoming the plugin I reach for first now. Still use the synapse verb rack extensions occasionally (they were my old staples)

5. Shaperbox 3 - fun creative playground that they keep adding to. Used for all sorts of purposes from ducking to creative fx.