ReasonTalk.com

I've reached out to Softube to ask them about any potential RE release for their fantastic Harmonics and Tape VSTs. The product manager told me that they don't support the RE format anymore and that no new plug-ins will be added to the format.

Softube REs are among the best imo among few others like Lab:One, McDSP etc... so Softube's message is making me wonder about the future of REs overall. For them to completely stop selling REs means that it hasn't been profitable for them or at least not as much as selling their good old VSTs.

With all my respect to all RE developers' hard work, if REs were to stay consistent from now on then quality and GUI experience should be among their top priorities. Too many cheap REs are making the RE format degrade in its reputation.

Again, sad to see Softube go. Purchased literally all their REs and they're fantastic

Oh well. Their customer service was crap and their REs were some of the most expensive in the shop so...oh well. Goodbye Softube. Safe journey. Or am I being controversial?

MrFigg wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

Oh well. Their customer service was crap and their REs were some of the most expensive in the shop so...oh well. Goodbye Softube. Safe journey. Or am I being controversial?

Haha I dunno man, expensive true but also quality. They also had that free (well, I bought it and they made it free right after smh ) saturation knob. Overall they look great in the rack and sound great. The GUI is HQ

why should well-known manufacturers continue to make RE? Reason support VST. I think that not much will come from such companies.
The RE format is in the future more for the many one man companies.

owlymane wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

With all my respect to all RE developers' hard work, if REs were to stay consistent from now on then quality and GUI experience should be among their top priorities. Too many cheap REs are making the RE format degrade in its reputation.

well there are also lots of bad or crap VST but that not stopping companies from making more

I once contacted Softube to fix a bug in their most expensive RE and the customer support guy was such an arrogant "§/$/!%§@ that i only have just one finger located somewhere in the middle of my hand for them till now.

I later had contact again with another guy, which was much friendlier...But still... They do not need RE and i do not need Softube - simple as that...Did not bought anything from them till then and never ever will buy anything from them again.

Miguel da Wu wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

why should well-known manufacturers continue to make RE? Reason support VST. I think that not much will come from such companies.
The RE format is in the future more for the many one man companies.

Simply bc REs look better in the Rack than VSTs and can be cable routed. Also, if only freelancers were to make REs then there really isn't any strong selling point for REs except "supporting" freelancers and, to be honest, much love to all freelance devs but I want to buy quality not pity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - This is why I insisted that if REs want to stand out from VSTs they MUST bring quality to the table. Otherwise not only me but everybody will start wondering why purchase an RE when we can find a much higher VST quality alternative.

The more I talk about REs nowadays that less it makes sense. It's like an apple accessory that's only compatible with apple products, only the difference is apple sells quality products..

gullum wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

owlymane wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

With all my respect to all RE developers' hard work, if REs were to stay consistent from now on then quality and GUI experience should be among their top priorities. Too many cheap REs are making the RE format degrade in its reputation.

well there are also lots of bad or crap VST but that not stopping companies from making more

Sure, but there are so many VSTs that if you fall into the crap category you can easily find better alternatives. Not so much the case for REs

Loque wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

I once contacted Softube to fix a bug in their most expensive RE and the customer support guy was such an arrogant "§/$/!%§@ that i only have just one finger located somewhere in the middle of my hand for them till now.

I later had contact again with another guy, which was much friendlier...But still... They do not need RE and i do not need Softube - simple as that...Did not bought anything from them till then and never ever will buy anything from them again.

Sorry to hear that bad xp that really sucks :/ It's definitely hair-pulling when you spend your hard working pay off to stumble upon an arrogant MF...that definitely sucks

Another one bites the dust.

Not surprising given Reason's downwards trajectory. Guess the numbers just aren't there anymore.

I doubt I'll buy another RE now.

Knob, FET, Tsar, and Spring get used a lot around here. Never needed customer service so I can't say nothing about that.

owlymane wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

Miguel da Wu wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

why should well-known manufacturers continue to make RE? Reason support VST. I think that not much will come from such companies.
The RE format is in the future more for the many one man companies.

Simply bc REs look better in the Rack than VSTs and can be cable routed. Also, if only freelancers were to make REs then there really isn't any strong selling point for REs except "supporting" freelancers and, to be honest, much love to all freelance devs but I want to buy quality not pity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - This is why I insisted that if REs want to stand out from VSTs they MUST bring quality to the table. Otherwise not only me but everybody will start wondering why purchase an RE when we can find a much higher VST quality alternative.

The more I talk about REs nowadays that less it makes sense. It's like an apple accessory that's only compatible with apple products, only the difference is apple sells quality products..

I would argue that a good half of the Shop comes from one-man operations, that the quality is top notch, rivalling equivalent VSTs, and that the back of the devices often make them even better.

WongoTheSane wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

owlymane wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

Simply bc REs look better in the Rack than VSTs and can be cable routed. Also, if only freelancers were to make REs then there really isn't any strong selling point for REs except "supporting" freelancers and, to be honest, much love to all freelance devs but I want to buy quality not pity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - This is why I insisted that if REs want to stand out from VSTs they MUST bring quality to the table. Otherwise not only me but everybody will start wondering why purchase an RE when we can find a much higher VST quality alternative.

The more I talk about REs nowadays that less it makes sense. It's like an apple accessory that's only compatible with apple products, only the difference is apple sells quality products..

I would argue that a good half of the Shop comes from one-man operations, that the quality is top notch, rivalling equivalent VSTs, and that the back of the devices often make them even better.

Of course! As I said all my respect for the hard work and effort for the great products that have shined in the store! No arguing about that. More about hoping that quality products fills Softube's leave from now on.

owlymane wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

Miguel da Wu wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

why should well-known manufacturers continue to make RE? Reason support VST. I think that not much will come from such companies.
The RE format is in the future more for the many one man companies.

Simply bc REs look better in the Rack than VSTs and can be cable routed. Also, if only freelancers were to make REs then there really isn't any strong selling point for REs except "supporting" freelancers and, to be honest, much love to all freelance devs but I want to buy quality not pity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - This is why I insisted that if REs want to stand out from VSTs they MUST bring quality to the table. Otherwise not only me but everybody will start wondering why purchase an RE when we can find a much higher VST quality alternative.

The more I talk about REs nowadays that less it makes sense. It's like an apple accessory that's only compatible with apple products, only the difference is apple sells quality products..

I agree. I want quality too. For products and support. If i look at the last releases of Softube, i just scratch my head and think "what the...what overpriced crap is this?"

And if i look on some RE, i just think "wow, i never saw this as a VST".

In the end, we have a lot of crap and also a lot overpriced crap in VST world and also very good high quality stuff. Same in RE world. I pick what fits my needs, has quality i expect and prices i agree to pay. And yes, i prefer and use stock, RE, excellent VSTs and than "average" VSTs in exactly this order.

Loque wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

And yes, i prefer and use stock, RE, excellent VSTs and than "average" VSTs in exactly this order.

+10000

It's a really simple business decision. Do you put extra resources into creating and supporting an RE just to reach those Reason users who refuse to use the VST version? I think that's a pretty small pool of people and is only going to shrink as more manufacturer follow suit. Reason simply is not mainstream enough to justify the effort.

And unless they make REs scalable most VSTs are actually more usable in Reason because they tend to be bigger and easier to read on modern hi-res displays, and many of them now support several sizes.

Softube won't be making more REs? Talk about the least surprising news of yesterday. I hope you're not sitting there highly anticipating the next Korg RE.

Facts man. Like you said Reason has not been mainstream and developed enough for that business decision. It's still an ambitious idea hope the obstacles don't discourage them

hurricane wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

Softube won't be making more REs? Talk about the least surprising news of yesterday. I hope you're not sitting there highly anticipating the next Korg RE.

I've been out of the loop Korg is making a new RE that's great!

As a Reason user I have to say that I do prefer VST over RE because of their portability. What happens the day you decide to move to another DAW or maybe just use a second DAW for some concrete purposes? If you need to use the same instruments VST is for most users the better choice as you use them in your second DAW as well instead of having to export your stuff as audio or have the two DAWs running parallel as master/slave...

About Softube, I only was interested in their FET Compressor but I think I'll pass and get some alternative. I still can't see why some of their products are so pricey. I mean they're good but not three times as good as to justify three times more money.

reddust wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

As a Reason user I have to say that I do prefer VST over RE because of their portability. What happens the day you decide to move to another DAW or maybe just use a second DAW for some concrete purposes? If you need to use the same instruments VST is for most users the better choice as you use them in your second DAW as well instead of having to export your stuff as audio or have the two DAWs running parallel as master/slave...

About Softube, I only was interested in their FET Compressor but I think I'll pass and get some alternative. I still can't see why some of their products are so pricey. I mean they're good but not three times as good as to justify three times more money.

Definitely agree about VST flexibility and RE's restrictions. Flexibility and efficiency should be their top priority for the next decade otherwise the game is really over for them.

About the pricing, yes it's expensive, even over-priced. But I think it has to do with the economy of scale. Less REs are produced vs. VSTs with fewer demand, which makes them pricier.

Music is supposed to connect not isolate. This needs to be implemented in Reason's vision and they need to give their hands and open up more to the other DAWs. It would only bring benefits especially for the consumer.

MrFigg wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

Oh well. Their customer service was crap and their REs were some of the most expensive in the shop so...oh well. Goodbye Softube. Safe journey. Or am I being controversial?

I have some of their REs and a lot of their VSTs, and asked them that since they were no longer updating the REs, was there a way to get a discount for the VST version. A lot of devs have done this. Softube doesn't. I have found their customer service to be among the worst, and that is saying something. I will never buy another one of their products. I am saving my money for companies that treat their loyal customers better.

I'm very much an inexperienced amateur, but I've always found their stuff to be way over-hyped (and over-priced). I tried their spring reverb and couldn't get a good feel from it, likewise their tube delay just doesn't behave like I would expect. It's either not prominent enough, or it's self-oscillating itself so much it's almost indecent.

The AMP RE is usable though nothing amazing (though I'm glad to have at least *something* native after Props removed the Line 6 amps), but the Bass Amp (for me) is just terrible. It's a great way to kill all the sweet gluey low end from your bass sound and replace it with a bunch of boxy mids.

I really like the FET compressor and the Tube Delay RE's but it is what it is folks. I'm okay with developers abandoning the RE format and I consider myself a realist. Why should they invest their time and resources on Rack Extensions when it is totally unnecessary. Somebody mentioned aesthetics and supporting a freelance market but that doesn't make sense from a business perspective.

PS Plugin Alliance is the way to go for your mixing needs plus more.

reasonsuser88 wrote: ↑

08 Aug 2019

I really like the FET compressor and the Tube Delay RE's but it is what it is folks. I'm okay with developers abandoning the RE format and I consider myself a realist. Why should they invest their time and resources on Rack Extensions when it is totally unnecessary. Somebody mentioned aesthetics and supporting a freelance market but that doesn't make sense from a business perspective.

PS Plugin Alliance is the way to go for your mixing needs plus more.

I expect, that building a RE automatically enables VST and other platform support for free. So this may not be the problem.

I guess some companies just won't got bound to the PH eco system...

And Plugin Alliance is an example for overpriced VSTs IMO. A lot of their stuff is around 350 bucks where i would pay max 50 or even less which are than their sale prices, which are the "normal" prices IMO.