The Future of Reason DAW

[chimp_spanner]

Yeah feature bloat is real. It's one of the main reasons I can't get into FL. There's too much stuff, everywhere. And also I've been using Cubase since version TWO (the one on the Atari) and I still don't know where everything is in preferences cos there are too-damn-many haha.

[kitekrazy]

I have other DAWs with way more featurs than Reason but often go back
to RS anyway.

I think many DAWs has become monsters because of way to many features.
If you constantly are going to menu dive to find one specific feature
it's not very workflow friendly.
It can also be a pain with to many keybord shortcuts or mouse cliks.
Whats more - DAW complexity often add more probability for bugs.

I think one reason to this could be all that company competition.

One of RS forces is it's simplicity and stability.
And then it also one of the best looking DAWs.

Hope not RS will be to much infected by competition from other DAW companies
and still keep it simple and stable with a few but effective featurs.

I would say the same. Reason is lacking a few more features imo but I don’t want it to become bloatware.

It already is bloatware since there is no option to store factory or RE sounds on a separate drive without attempting the make link process which I don't want to deal with.
I can move FL data to a different folder. I found out Live's indexing when you add folders can exceed the over 4GB.

All of my Steinberg stuff is on a separate drive.

Then there is Reaper which uses very little space. It takes time to learn. It's a different breed. How many DAW users only want an upgraded engine instead of all of the filler. Cakewalk use to tempt us with 3rd party addons to buy an upgrade.

Then if you hoarded VSTs and added REs, Reason is overwhelming with choices. For some life was simple and creative with Reason 4.

Reason 13 browser - can't figure out why they did that. It seems like it was change for change sake.

The reality is people don't switch DAWs.

[chimp_spanner]

"The reality is people don't switch DAWs."

I dunno about that! I know a lot of producers who switch or alternate between Cubase and Logic, Live and FL. Sometimes they'll fall out of love with one, post angrily about it and then come back to it two or three years later. Personally I'm trying to make a home in one DAW (Logic) but keeping other options open to me when I need to make use of the workflow they have. Variaudio in Cubase, for instance, is just so vastly superior to Logic's Flex Time. Hell I even prefer Reason's audio editing if I'm totally honest! Likewise, Player integration, CV patching between instruments and automation in Reason is just impossible to match so there might be times where it makes sense to work there for a particular style, or just to start the idea.

Of course whether someone would switch entirely from one of the more 'industry standard' DAWs to Reason is another matter. I did (Cubase since the 90s, then Reason for like 8, 9 years). But I may be the anomaly haha. For anyone who works at high speed/volume (library composers) then I think it's a hard sell to abandon workflow/QoL features they're used to for Reason. But it's a highly attractive proposition as a plugin, or like I said an alternative space to play around in. Bounce out, finish up elsewhere.

Agree on the content location issue though. In the end I went for an 8TB M3 Max so I don't even change install locations anymore. It all just goes on the laptop. But if space were at a premium it'd be kinda annoying! I don't even know how to do links on MacOS.

[Aosta]

I was a Reason only fanboi for years, was against the ecosystem being opened up to VSTs and would only use REs up until 6 months ago when I finally got tired of waiting for features for years. I bit the bullet and got hold of an Ableton Lite licence and upgraded to Standard. I warmed to using VSTs and got my Reason fix through the RRP but now I am finding myself using that less and less.
I hardly open Reason now and rarely use the RRP because of the clunkiness of it in Ableton. I'm still not a huge fan of the aesthetics of Ableton but I'm adjusting and my money goes to VSTs rather than REs these days. I have a feeling I'm not the only one slowly walking away.

[TritoneAddiction]

Personally I have no plans to switch DAW. I like Reason. But it's been quite a while now that I upgraded or spent any money on Reason products. It's mainly because I have a hard time with the "release first, fix bugs later" approach that's become more and more prevalent. I did plan on upgrading to R13, but the new browser stuff didn't speak to me at all. And even worse was the decision to remove favorite list function for devices, which of course has been mentioned a million times already.

Having said that I haven't spent money on any other DAW or VST either. All my DAW related purchases has completely stagnated. But R11 together with all the REs I've gathered over the years is still plenty to play with. I'm pretty content with what I have. Of course that's not good for RS business.

[jjpscott01]

I'm guilty of having switched DAW's several times over the years and every time I spend time with other DAW's I find myself coming back to Reason. There is something about it that just clicks with the way I like to work. Its so much fun, rock solid, and I just seem to make the most music when im using Reason compared to other DAW's.

[chimp_spanner]

I was a Reason only fanboi for years, was against the ecosystem being opened up to VSTs and would only use REs up until 6 months ago when I finally got tired of waiting for features for years. I bit the bullet and got hold of an Ableton Lite licence and upgraded to Standard. I warmed to using VSTs and got my Reason fix through the RRP but now I am finding myself using that less and less.
I hardly open Reason now and rarely use the RRP because of the clunkiness of it in Ableton. I'm still not a huge fan of the aesthetics of Ableton but I'm adjusting and my money goes to VSTs rather than REs these days. I have a feeling I'm not the only one slowly walking away.

Yeah I got Ableton Suite, for the same reasons. I actually found a lot of crossover in the way they worked. Like they both have effects "racks", except Live's is horizontal and per track. Which is quite nice. They both have "combinators" (although I prefer Reason's). I loved the included sounds and effects, but the actual devices themselves never really clicked with me. Nothing has any character. And some of them are so hard to make out with rubbish 40 year old vision. Maybe I'll re-visit it with the interface scale cranked up to 200%.

Used RRP in it a lot though! In fact that was a great combo for me for a while. Live's sequencer with Reason's instruments and effects. Where do you feel the clunkiness lies for you?

Anyway since then I tried going over to Cubase instead, and now I'm on Logic. Which is ALMOST my dream combo, except for an automation bug that crept in with Logic 11, meaning I can no longer automate RRP When that's fixed I'll be in heaven. I still very much enjoy opening Reason DAW up though. I dunno, just something about it. Feels like getting a bunch of hardware out to play with and have fun. I could still work on a project to completion there, or if I felt hamstrung by its limitations or missing features, I'd just bounce out to Logic. Still prefer Reason's automation to literally anything else out there. I feel like I say it every 10 minutes lol

[madmacman]

Which is ALMOST my dream combo, except for an automation bug that crept in with Logic 11, meaning I can no longer automate RRP When that's fixed I'll be in heaven.

I saw your statement over there at KvR. Still not fixed in 11.1?

[chimp_spanner]

Which is ALMOST my dream combo, except for an automation bug that crept in with Logic 11, meaning I can no longer automate RRP When that's fixed I'll be in heaven.

I saw your statement over there at KvR. Still not fixed in 11.1?

Sadly not, but it's on RS's radar and they're aware of it so just gotta play the waiting game!

[Tweak]

For me the state of play here is best characterised by the provided support for MIDI controllers and keyboards. I can cope with application features lacking, and there are many things I'd love to have available: VSTs in RRP for example, but they're not deal breakers. Having built in support for new controller keyboards however really is. I know I can spend days writing my own Remote configuration, but I really shouldn't have to, not when the competitors seem to get this when these bits of hardware are released.