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That's a tough one. There's so much good stuff to choose from.

In no particular order:

Expanse
Trying it out right now and I love it. It has quicky become my favorite synth in Reason. There's so much good stuff packed into one synth. Very versataile. Great sound and pretty easy to work with even for a non tweaker like me.

Synapse GQ-7 Graphic Equalizer
Best all round EQ in Reason imo. Lots of options with all the filter slopes. Plenty of EQ bands. You also have the option to mess around with Mid/Side processing if you're into that. And lastly I like the GUI.

FRG-4RE Compressor
I use it to make my drums punchier all the time, but that's also all I'm using it for. Sounds great even on high ratio settings.

Carve EQ Ducker
Not the most fun RE but I find it very useful. I use it somewhere at least once on every song. It's perfect when two instruments are fighting to be heard in the same frequency range. Be careful with the settings though, a little goes a long way, too much will ruin your mix.

Softube Saturation Knob
First of all it's free. Couldn't be any simpler to use. Great when you don't want to go full on distortion, but want to keep it subtle. Having said that you can crank it pretty hard too. I use it on drums and bass sounds mostly, but it works on other stuff as well.


Honorable mentions:

RE3Q Six-band Equalizer
Softube TSAR-1 Reverb
RE2A Leveling Amplifier
StringWERK - Studio Strings
Cassette Recorder Audio Processor - No.2

curness wrote:With reason 9 out and I being out of the game for a few years to spend time with my daughter I would be grateful if you can promote your favourite rack extension.

Blamsoft/eXode Expanse

Simply the best synth RE in Reason's rack, right now IMHO. The sound that it is capable of right out of the box is amazing. It's GUI is spot-on. I could go on...

Synapse Audio GQ-7 Graphic Equalizer

I agree that it's one of the best EQ's in Reason. Filter slopes are awesome. Filters are awesome - synth-like! Mid/Side processing. GUI is gorgeous (hello spectral display! No EQ should be without this). Full disclosure: I did the promo video.

Rob Papen Predator

There may be some crossover with Thor and even Expanse, but this beast comes with a whopping +4000 patches! Some really great stuff in there, and it seems to just sit in a mix without very little tweaking.

Softube FET

This comp always has and likely shall always be my favorite comp. Why? because awesome 1176!

Propellerhead Syncronous

It's like Sonic Charge Permut8 "light edition".

Honorable mention:

Propellerhead Polar

An absolute must, especially if you're a guitarist!

curness wrote:With reason 9 out and I being out of the game for a few years to spend time with my daughter I would be grateful if you can promote your favourite rack extension.

first of all i suggest to spend more then "a few years" with your daughter.... like at least 16 :p


ok here we go :

*1 : Korde

it's my favourite arpeggiator/sequencer in the reason environment atm, & it keeps inspiring me (after Reason 9; try 'Scales & Chords driving' korde )

*2 : Predator

still one of my favourite synth RE's; so versatile & HUGE soundbank !

*3 : Echobode

must-have delay RE; & it doesn't clip with Feedback full-open

*4 : Synapse GQ-7

the most surgical & visual EQ in Reason ! great slopes on the filters too & mid/side processing !

*5 : devastor 2

my favourite distortion unit at the moment

1. Etch Red. It's a filter, it's a distortion unit, it's another filter, it's a subtle movement generator, it's a psychedelic noise beast. Heavy on CPU but worth the hit

2. Zero Hybrid Synthesizer. Big deep and versatile, real Swiss army knife of a synth

3. Korg MonoPoly. Classic sounds and outrageous value at $49

4. EVE-MP5 Equalizer. I was going to suggest GQ-7 here coz I love it, but others have plugged it already, and anyway MP5 is the one that's made the biggest difference to my sound and how I work. Wonderful mastering EQ, goes well with Cakewalk RE-2A compressor

5. Shape LFO Editor. All your LFO needs covered, and then some

A Top 5 is hard, I could make it a Top 20 and still be leaving out some good ones. It's worth thinking in terms of developers as well as individual devices - some of them really "get" Reason and the modular environment. Check out anything & everything by Lectric Panda, Jiggery Pokery Sound, Blamsoft and Robotic Bean

curness wrote:Lol Emian - it sure sucks your hobby time when you have a little one to preoccupy you - interesting suggestions and some great research for me - thank you and keep them a coming.

i've been in your situation, i have a 6 year old & a 3 year old

Distributor--Brilliance comes from simplicity. This simple device is so powerful that it should probably be included with Reason. If you have this already, using this on Thor patches will change your life. Paste 8 copies of that Thor patch (making small changes to each copy) into a combinator, triggered by Distributor. Turns a good patch great instantly.

Titus BBD Delay--This is what DDL Delay-Line should be in 2016. Breakouts are my favorite. I use Steerpike for the crazier things.

The MCDsp Compressors--All have different characteristics with even 1-2db gain reduction. 0 latency, and close to 0 cpu, so I never think twice about stacking 3 on 1 sound.

Synapse GQ7--Closest thing to Ableton's EQ8 in reason. I love using it for creative sound design. It uses a little more CPU than I'd like, but thats because my machine is 5 years old.

RP Predator--So many patches. I got a soft spot in my heart for Albino basslines and this is the closest thing to it. All Papen's RE's are solid. I enjoy making patches with them.

Hi all
I can´t mix Instrument with effect or utilities, then my list is:
Instruments.
1.- Synapse Antidote, great sound and very easy to find the sound you are looking for
2.- Predator, a Very big Beast
3.- Parsec, I love it and I use a lot.
4.- Radical Keys. The best electric Piano Plugin I've ever heard (include VST world)
5.- Revival, The best Organ sound
Effects.
1.- Kuassa amps (all)
2.- Etch Red and Polar
3.- All U-he's effects
4.- RE-2A I use a lot
5.- Echobode, a beast that can be used for almost everything

In no order:

Synapse Audio The Legend

Softube FET

Softube Tsar1

The McDsp collection

Primal Audio PMS20

Softube Trident EQ - the black pepper of sound.
Kuassa Kratos2 - like having a band where every player listens to each other and knows how to blend.
Kuassa Vermillion - tube harmonics in a cold digital world.
Sononics Revival - an aggressive, sweet B3 AND a Marshall stack.
Parsec - a real extra step beyond the amazing Thor combinators.

(Honorable Mention: Shape, RE-2A, FET, Cerberus, Faturator, ReQ131, Leveler, Creme)

Without having tried The Legend yet, which might knock one of the other synths out:

Predator - Deep, versatile, big FX section, massive patch library, decent price and CPU-hit = Hard to beat.

eXpanse - Best-sounding synth for Reason so far, if you can afford it money- and CPU-wise

Echobode - You really get 2 for 1 here, modulation and delay both sounding niiiice.

REQ-131 - I find it the easiest EQ to carve out problem frequencies on. I wouldn't want to be without MP5 or Trident either, but they are more for sweetening and not as essential as this

DR-1 Reverb - Just perfect lush synth reverb

No room for a compressor, hmm. Guess the stock M-class will do in a pinch

Here are mine

1) Flower Audio Loudness Meter - I tend to mix too loud
2) TMA Commentators - very handy to stick notes into the rack
3) Aftermath Audio CV8x4 CV Generator - useful to extend the limited numbers of knobs on a combinator
4) Rotor - I love the Leslie sound on guitars
5) Parsec - unique sound and easy to handle

There's also A-List Power Chords ...

In no particular order:

Predator - Just LOVE it!!!
.
.
.
.

Damn, forget it, its impossible to choose!

curness wrote:With reason 9 out and I being out of the game for a few years to spend time with my daughter I would be grateful if you can promote your favourite rack extension.

As a relatively new dad myself (I have a 17 month old boy) music making has definitely taken a back seat but that's okay! Priorities change and I commend you for spending time with your daughter rather than not paying attention to her while you're hunched over in front of a computer screen. To answer your question it really depends on the kind of music you like but here are my current top five:

1) Air Raid Audio Relapse Multiband Delay - capable of producing crazy sounds
2) Lectric Panda PSQ-1684 - if you are remotely interested in music made with modular synths this should be a cornerstone or pillar of any modular setup in Reason
3) Peff Buffre Beat Repeater - so much more than a simple beat repeater, also capable of crazy sound mangling
4) Parsec - wonderful sounds can be coaxed out of this, really good for ambient, atmospheric, sci-fi, new age sounds
5) Propellerhead Pulsar Dual LFO - this wiggles its way into almost all of my tracks, easy to use dual LFO

jfrichards wrote:Softube Trident EQ - the black pepper of sound.

lol I love this description. Somehow, that makes soo much sense!

Impossible list for me, too many good synths and fx..
Synths: Revival, Vecto, The Legend, Expanse and Antidote.. And JPS Harmonic but that makes 6 :')
FX: Synchronous, MP5, PMS20, Mace Compressor, and DR-1

Expanse
The Legend
Zero
SubBoomBass
Ozone limiter

These are my favorites in no particular order, they add to the sound pallette available in Reason for me.

I also like Antidote, Red 70, Viking, Predator and ABL3 and so on... but the ones I listed are my favorites at the moment.

The MCDSP Compressors, Devastor and the Synapse EQ are handy too

1. Decimort2
2. Chip64
3. Zero
4. Buffre
5. Propulsion/Eve-Mp5/Hydronexius/Gclip depending on the day and how i feel

Also very important is the izotope maximizer.

I am loving my trial of Expanse, so it might land a spot for me soon, just not enough experience yet

1 syncronous
2 volt sl-1
3 d filter
4 ubiq p
5 bitspeak

I like em cause i like em.

Effects in no order

RE3Q - Air!
RE-2A - Glue!
Resampler Bitcrusher, just great for so many things
C1-L1 Compressor - 70% of the time it's "fender bass" pre-set works all of the time on bass
Etch Red - I love how uniquely it transforms things, plus I find it easy to experiment with

In no particular order :

eXpanse - rich and smooth sounding with a ton of options. My new everyday synth.
etch red - etch can sound so beautiful and its layout and modulation matrix is powerful yet easy to understand
audiomatic - I love the tape setting and the vinyl setting. Good to give some warmth to the sound
vermilion - I use this for mostly one preset, the vintage combo. I use it with my e-guitar, i use it with synthesizers, I use it with the nnxt... Perfect at creating that 60's vibe
pulsar - Awesome LFO with many options. Use it everywhere where basic automation wont give good results.

The Legend, Expanse, Zero, JPS Harmonic Synth., Antidote

1. A-List Drummer bundel
just amazing sounding and easy to operate I use it now instead of Reason Drums Refill just wish they had made them with 4 tams so I could fully use it with my electric drum kit.

2. Softube Classic Chanel
I use it on almost all tracks and it make everything sound amazing

3. Softube amps
I make mainly guitar oriented music and bout go the amps are just amazing

4. Kuassa Kratos 2
just amazing maximizer Tried several other but this is the one for me

5 RDS multiband compressor
Just love it

there are at least 20 others that could be in this top 5

everything Kuassa
Flower Audio Loudness meter
Natural selection Pedal Board
everything Synapse
everything Selig
Stringwerk
ProjectSAM
many of the Red Rock Sound

-antidote
-Synchronous
-ladder multimode filter
-pms 20
-zero

Synchronous - It can spice up any situation with minimal effort. Looks cool in the rack too.
Vecto - Very different from other RE synths. I just like the sound.
FET - Degrades audio quality less than other compressors when driven hard (in my experience).
TSAR - Very clean reverb.
Polar - I like the colour. Also the pitch and lock delay buffer features are great for certain types of sound design.