Can Rack Extensions be seen as a long-term investment?

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DoctoralHermit
Posts: 77
Joined: 13 Dec 2017

14 Dec 2017

I'm in the process of dropping a lot of money of Rack Extensions (these Rigs are awesome), but I can't help but wonder: Are they a long-term investment? With all of the network-dependent DRM, I wonder what would happen if, say, in two or five or twenty years, if Propellerhead went under. Would all our Rack Extensions become inaccessible? Are these Extensions a long-term investment?

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Zac
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14 Dec 2017

*cough, troll.. cough*
All software is susceptible to changes that may negate it. I'm sure i dont need to list them. I would say that all plugins are vunerable but so long as the Props keep going I'd rather have an RE over VST. I have REs that still work from developers long since gone.

Try and stay positive. Monetary wise it's a different kettle of fish. REs have no resale value unlike many of their VST equivalents.

For me personally i will be buying the VST over the RE for expensive plugins from now on. I'd prefer to have the RE in terms of functionality and easy maintenance but for me at least i would have sold a lot of my REs over the last year or so if it was possible.

I'll buy VSTs just in case i need to raise some cash again.

sdst
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14 Dec 2017

DoctoralHermit wrote:
14 Dec 2017
Are they a long-term investment?
they look better than vst in long-term, they are guaranteed to always work

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normen
Posts: 3431
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

14 Dec 2017

No, like any software they can NOT be seen as a long-term investment. You always buy software for what it can do for you NOW, not in the future. If you don't get that about software it will end in pain.

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buddard
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14 Dec 2017

sdst wrote:
14 Dec 2017
DoctoralHermit wrote:
14 Dec 2017
Are they a long-term investment?
they look better than vst in long-term, they are guaranteed to always work
Minor correction: REs are guaranteed to work as long as Reason works.

If Reason is discontinued it will probably work for a good while, but will break sooner or later when some big OS update is introduced -- Just look at the recent High Sierra macOS update that broke all older versions of Reason due to the new file system.

You may also run into problems when you want to upgrade your hardware, especially if you've authorized your computer. (It might be worth investing in an Ignition Key if you don't already own one...)

sdst
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14 Dec 2017

buddard wrote:
14 Dec 2017
Minor correction: REs are guaranteed to work as long as Reason works.
that's why for me they look better than vst, if you have 300 REs only need to Reason

buddard wrote:
14 Dec 2017
If Reason is discontinued it will probably work for a good while, but will break sooner or later when some big OS update is introduced --
I'm ready for an apocalypse zombie, I still have windows xp

buddard wrote:
14 Dec 2017
Just look at the recent High Sierra macOS update that broke all older versions of Reason
there are no problems in windows, can Run reason 1

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FlowerSoldier
Posts: 470
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

14 Dec 2017

I'm keeping my mac on El Capitan till the wheels fall off. Those Apple updates are boots.
My machine works, and I intend to keep it that way.

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Faastwalker
Posts: 2281
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: NSW, Australia

14 Dec 2017

As has been said already, hopefully as long as Reason is around RE's should work. If Reason is no longer around? Well, we're all screwed then as RE's don't work with anything else unlike VST's. But even older VST's won't work on newer systems. For example 32-bit VST's don't work in Reason as it's a 64-bit App. Swings & roundabouts. Nothing lasts forever.

Heater
Posts: 893
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14 Dec 2017

sdst wrote:
14 Dec 2017
DoctoralHermit wrote:
14 Dec 2017
Are they a long-term investment?
they look better than vst in long-term, they are guaranteed to always work
How are they guaranteed to always work. I think the opposite is true that at some point you'll see old RE's that won't work on the latest version of Reason. It's just a matter of time.

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normen
Posts: 3431
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

14 Dec 2017

Heater wrote:
14 Dec 2017
How are they guaranteed to always work.
By having developers hand in the REs in a "not-fully-compiled" (i.e. bytecode) version that the Props can re-compile for any (new) platform. In fact the Props could in theory port all REs to iOS or Android without the developers doing anything.

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Dante
Posts: 531
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14 Dec 2017

Are Racks a long term investment ? My Rack mount gear is 10 - 15 years old. I would call that long term. In fact software racks are better, coz a lot of my hardware racks wont work above 48Khz - and I work in 96Khz at the moment.

So from that perspective RE's are a longer term investment than real racks.

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Psuper
Posts: 524
Joined: 29 May 2016

14 Dec 2017

Remember when Waves were king and people spent bazillions on them?

No software is ever an investment. Only your creations are.
Reason needs to DAW.viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7504985

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

14 Dec 2017

Well if you mean will they be affected by bitbridging later on when they are old as shit, then nope.
But yeah anything can happen in regards to support, Remember Sonar fellas?
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

kitekrazy
Posts: 1036
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

16 Dec 2017

I like REs because they will usually work. VSTs are always a gamble in any DAW especially 64 bit. I have so many VSTs and not so many REs. I think having less is easier to do more. I still like the proprietary environment of Reason. I have so many Kontakt libraries that are superior to the NNXT but I still like doing Reason old school. I've gotten to the point I don't even download free vsts. Most of the time when the same VST and RE are on sale I go with the RE.

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tumar
Posts: 385
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

16 Dec 2017

DoctoralHermit wrote:
14 Dec 2017
I'm in the process of dropping a lot of money of Rack Extensions (these Rigs are awesome), but I can't help but wonder: Are they a long-term investment? With all of the network-dependent DRM, I wonder what would happen if, say, in two or five or twenty years, if Propellerhead went under. Would all our Rack Extensions become inaccessible? Are these Extensions a long-term investment?
Of course not. Look at Alchemy, Cakewalk, TC Electronic Powercore, old Logic... No software is investment. It can vanish in no time with it's vendor.

dustmoses
Posts: 197
Joined: 04 Oct 2015

16 Dec 2017

Are you making money on music? If so they are an investment, if not they are not an investment because you can't sell them. They're yours til you die or propellerhead folds, whichever happens first.

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