Is Reason Suite worth it? (Calculator)

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boingy
Posts: 791
Joined: 01 Feb 2019

01 Sep 2019

It's simple math if you want the stuff. If you only want 2 or 3 of the devices you are better off waiting for a sale. Actually, you might be better of waiting for a sale anyway. They are bound to discount the Suite once the initial upgrade euphoria has died down.

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tronam
Posts: 486
Joined: 04 Mar 2015

01 Sep 2019

$891 value for me. I already own a few of these items and there's only 3 or 4 I'd classify as "meh", so I guess the suite makes sense in my case. I find most of their plugins to be of good quality and fun to use.
Music is nothing else but wild sounds civilized into time and tune.

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moneykube
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03 Sep 2019

weird log on for calculator... a pshing deal?
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ab459
Posts: 383
Joined: 28 Dec 2018
Location: Minsk Belarus

08 Sep 2019

I have nothing from Suite (except Drum sequencer), and interested mainly in Parsec and Polar (well and maybe PolyStep Sequencer and Quad Note Generator). The rest is practically unnecessary. So, a bit difficult choise by full price. I think would be significant better at some sale.

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soroc sosta
Posts: 208
Joined: 28 Apr 2015

08 Sep 2019

It is worth it to me as I only have Parsec and the drum sequencer out of this bundle.
(Value for you: 1375 (bundle price: 249))

The kicker for those that own most of the included RE's will be the want and the price of the Scenic RE.

1. It is not included in the $129 upgrade price :(
2. My guess is that it will be sold apart for $99

More tempting than not for the suite upgrade.
Last edited by soroc sosta on 08 Sep 2019, edited 1 time in total.

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moneykube
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08 Sep 2019

got the 6 I want... nope
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Kalm
Posts: 554
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09 Sep 2019

I believe it is if you have less than the $250 value or none of the players. You just have to be willing to upgrade for the players honestly.
Courtesy of The Brew | Watch My Tutorials | Mac Mini Intel i7 Quad-Core | 16 GB RAM | Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB | Reason 11 Suite | Studio One 5 Professional | Presonus Quantum | Komplete Kontrol 49 MK2 | Event Opals | Follow me on Instagram

OverneathTheSkyBridg
Posts: 377
Joined: 15 Jan 2016

09 Sep 2019

For me it seems that the Suite would be totally worth it money wise, so if I do change my mind and decide to upgrade it'll be worth it. As of now I have so much shit that I've bought and never use, and my musical ouput has to drastically increase to justify getting even more shit that I may never use.

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Kalm
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09 Sep 2019

OverneathTheSkyBridg wrote:
09 Sep 2019
For me it seems that the Suite would be totally worth it money wise, so if I do change my mind and decide to upgrade it'll be worth it. As of now I have so much shit that I've bought and never use, and my musical ouput has to drastically increase to justify getting even more shit that I may never use.
The concur-ment
Courtesy of The Brew | Watch My Tutorials | Mac Mini Intel i7 Quad-Core | 16 GB RAM | Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB | Reason 11 Suite | Studio One 5 Professional | Presonus Quantum | Komplete Kontrol 49 MK2 | Event Opals | Follow me on Instagram

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tronam
Posts: 486
Joined: 04 Mar 2015

17 Feb 2020

I think a lot of potential upgraders could still find this thread useful for helping determine whether the Suite is worthwhile to them. I'm still on the fence and it has been helpful. :thumbs_up:
Music is nothing else but wild sounds civilized into time and tune.

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aeox
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17 Feb 2020

$933 value

For me 9 to 11 was an amazing purchase

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Nirude
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18 Feb 2020

This sounds a bit stupid or lame. But one saturday, very late, I had take "a few" beers.
Woke up sunday and I had bought Reason Suite upgrade.
Sh!t happens.
Good thing is that I didnt have much any of the Rack Extensions it is bundled with.
I have installed the Suite and started it once or twice now, just to test what I got with it..
3d man.

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MrFigg
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18 Feb 2020

Nirude wrote:
18 Feb 2020
This sounds a bit stupid or lame. But one saturday, very late, I had take "a few" beers.
Woke up sunday and I had bought Reason Suite upgrade.
Sh!t happens.
Good thing is that I didnt have much any of the Rack Extensions it is bundled with.
I have installed the Suite and started it once or twice now, just to test what I got with it..
Late night internet shopping. Excellent.
That’s what I do when I’m working nights click click click buy buy buy.
🗲 2ॐ ᛉ

Yonatan
Posts: 1556
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

25 Feb 2020

After some months since R11 suite...

Which RE:s in that bundle are gems that feels like go-to stock devices, and which ones have you put on the shelf to gather dust?

Those I have not got in suite:
Scenic, Complex-1, Waves Layer, Umpf Club & Retro, Processed Pianos and Poly Step player.

Anything to say about these?

For clarity, I am pondering on upgrading, but when at it, I hesitate because €100 more and I get these devices also.
I am in 2 edges, as I like to use quick presets and tweak a bit to taste, but otherwise I see value in devices that can be used not only as they are packaged. Do something with scenic other than just textures, or using Processed Pianos effects via the audio in, or using Umpf devices with own samples of chord struck from a guitar or manually record percussion or voice slices. On the other hand, those things are already doable in Kong, Dr. OctoRex and Redrum. Is there anywhere that Umpf shines more brightly? And Scenic seems not that far off from using Grain etc. So the question comes back to "Do I really need these or not". Do they have any benefits I cannot see or have not discovered yet?
PolyStep I am thinking about how to use in other ways to trigger 4 different things in progression. Waves Layers device I have in trial and find it better than expected. Scenic and Complex-1 I do not remember that much.

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MrFigg
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25 Feb 2020

Yonatan wrote:
25 Feb 2020
After some months since R11 suite...

Which RE:s in that bundle are gems that feels like go-to stock devices, and which ones have you put on the shelf to gather dust?

Those I have not got in suite:
Scenic, Complex-1, Waves Layer, Umpf Club & Retro, Processed Pianos and Poly Step player.

Anything to say about these?

For clarity, I am pondering on upgrading, but when at it, I hesitate because €100 more and I get these devices also.
I am in 2 edges, as I like to use quick presets and tweak a bit to taste, but otherwise I see value in devices that can be used not only as they are packaged. Do something with scenic other than just textures, or using Processed Pianos effects via the audio in, or using Umpf devices with own samples of chord struck from a guitar or manually record percussion or voice slices. On the other hand, those things are already doable in Kong, Dr. OctoRex and Redrum. Is there anywhere that Umpf shines more brightly? And Scenic seems not that far off from using Grain etc. So the question comes back to "Do I really need these or not". Do they have any benefits I cannot see or have not discovered yet?
PolyStep I am thinking about how to use in other ways to trigger 4 different things in progression. Waves Layers device I have in trial and find it better than expected. Scenic and Complex-1 I do not remember that much.
The question you should maybe ask is yourself is not "do you need suite?" but instead "do you need Reason 11?". Is there stuff in Reason 11 you need and would use or is it the allure of Suite which has gotten hold of you? If it's the devices in Suite then you're not so much paying €100 extra to get them than paying €249 for them and getting the upgrade thrown in as a bonus.
🗲 2ॐ ᛉ

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TritoneAddiction
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Posts: 4219
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Location: Sweden

25 Feb 2020

Yonatan wrote:
25 Feb 2020
After some months since R11 suite...

Which RE:s in that bundle are gems that feels like go-to stock devices, and which ones have you put on the shelf to gather dust?

Those I have not got in suite:
Scenic, Complex-1, Waves Layer, Umpf Club & Retro, Processed Pianos and Poly Step player.

Anything to say about these?

For clarity, I am pondering on upgrading, but when at it, I hesitate because €100 more and I get these devices also.
I am in 2 edges, as I like to use quick presets and tweak a bit to taste, but otherwise I see value in devices that can be used not only as they are packaged. Do something with scenic other than just textures, or using Processed Pianos effects via the audio in, or using Umpf devices with own samples of chord struck from a guitar or manually record percussion or voice slices. On the other hand, those things are already doable in Kong, Dr. OctoRex and Redrum. Is there anywhere that Umpf shines more brightly? And Scenic seems not that far off from using Grain etc. So the question comes back to "Do I really need these or not". Do they have any benefits I cannot see or have not discovered yet?
PolyStep I am thinking about how to use in other ways to trigger 4 different things in progression. Waves Layers device I have in trial and find it better than expected. Scenic and Complex-1 I do not remember that much.
I don't know if this is to any help. I can only give you my subjective experience after getting the R11 Suite. I'll include what's in the standard upgrade as well.

The ones I've used and liked the most are Scenic, the Umpf devices, Beatmap, Complex-1, Quartet Chorus Ensemble, Reason Electric Bass. I'd put them in that order with Scenic being the one I gravitate to the most.

Maybe Grain can do lots of stuff that Scenic can't but for my way of making music Scenic is much more practical and useful. It really has brought new sounds and influences to my music that my other REs haven't. I find it quick and easy to work with. Grain is probably more suitable for the geeky musician who likes to explore every possible way to tweak things. Well I'm not that guy. I like things simple and to spark my creativity quickly so I can get on with making music. So for me Scenic has been really nice. It's the whole Scenic package together with it's included effects and reverbs that makes it cool.
The Umpf devices are more pleasant to work with than Redrum or Kong imo. Just enough tweakabilty. I prefer them over the old devices. Also I'm just tired of looking at Kong. Visually these are more interesting. Call me shallow but these things matter to me.
Beatmap. Just tried it out. I'm not really a big Player fan usually but this one I found really cool to work with. It's FUN and useful. I'd probably buy it as a RE if it wasn't already included in R11. I saw a comment complaining it looked like a toy. To me that's a compliment. That's how music gear should feel like. FUN!
Complex-1. I hate Complex things so it's not really a favorite of mine. Still it sounds nice and there are some nice presets. I've used it in a couple of tracks.
Quartet Chorus Ensemble. I use this and the Chorus from Synapse. They both offer a different flavor.
Reason Electric Bass. Sounds pretty good. Nice and easy to use.

The "dust collectors" for me is Processed Piano. I just can't find a way to work this piece of crap into my music. Maybe someone else can.
The Layers devices sound kind of lifeless to me. I keep scrolling through the presets but very rarely do I find anything that sparks my interest.

Haven't really given Polar or Rotor a fair chance yet.
Last edited by TritoneAddiction on 25 Feb 2020, edited 1 time in total.

Yonatan
Posts: 1556
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

25 Feb 2020

MrFigg wrote:
25 Feb 2020

The question you should maybe ask is yourself is not "do you need suite?" but instead "do you need Reason 11?". Is there stuff in Reason 11 you need and would use or is it the allure of Suite which has gotten hold of you? If it's the devices in Suite then you're not so much paying €100 extra to get them than paying €249 for them and getting the upgrade thrown in as a bonus.
True true, I have thought that too and that´s why I waited. The Beat Map is what makes me consider it, but it could be had in a basic subscription.

To be totally honest, R11 does not in itself compell me this time. R8 did not impress me, but I ended up with it because the Browser etc, helped the workflow and you could feel it was a new freshness to it, that I just could not go back to R7 after demoing it.

Am having R11 on a demo right now. I love the Beat Map player, but I still cannot justify the upgrade from R10. The Rack Plugin is neat, but I must say I prefer working inside Reason DAW at the moment. At a longer course of time, I do see value in what has been added (up/down octave, automation curve, crossfade, manual vertical zoom, mute midi-notes, draw pencil, chorus and phaser, Master Bus Comp in RE) but nothing of it feels really compelling or crucial for me at the moment, except Beat Map.

And before Beat Map, I did not find the suite enough of a lure to upgrade.
So it is all about the Beat Map that has made me even consider upgrading.
So I guess it is not making it for me yet this upgrade. Waiting for R12 can be like Waiting for Godot. :? But I guess this upgrade just is not for me. I could only justify it if the toys I have not got would be shown to be more useful than I expected them to be.

Yonatan
Posts: 1556
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

25 Feb 2020

TritoneAddiction wrote:
25 Feb 2020
Yonatan wrote:
25 Feb 2020
After some months since R11 suite...

Which RE:s in that bundle are gems that feels like go-to stock devices, and which ones have you put on the shelf to gather dust?

Those I have not got in suite:
Scenic, Complex-1, Waves Layer, Umpf Club & Retro, Processed Pianos and Poly Step player.

Anything to say about these?

For clarity, I am pondering on upgrading, but when at it, I hesitate because €100 more and I get these devices also.
I am in 2 edges, as I like to use quick presets and tweak a bit to taste, but otherwise I see value in devices that can be used not only as they are packaged. Do something with scenic other than just textures, or using Processed Pianos effects via the audio in, or using Umpf devices with own samples of chord struck from a guitar or manually record percussion or voice slices. On the other hand, those things are already doable in Kong, Dr. OctoRex and Redrum. Is there anywhere that Umpf shines more brightly? And Scenic seems not that far off from using Grain etc. So the question comes back to "Do I really need these or not". Do they have any benefits I cannot see or have not discovered yet?
PolyStep I am thinking about how to use in other ways to trigger 4 different things in progression. Waves Layers device I have in trial and find it better than expected. Scenic and Complex-1 I do not remember that much.
I don't know if this is to any help. I can only give you my subjective experience after getting the R11 Suite. I'll include what's in the standard upgrade as well.

The ones I've used and liked the most are Scenic, the Umpf devices, Beatmap, Complex-1, Quartet Chorus Ensemble, Reason Electric Bass. I'd put them in that order with Scenic being the one I gravitate to the most.

Maybe Grain can do lots of stuff that Scenic can't but for my way of making music Scenic is much more practical and useful. It really has brought new sounds and influences to my music that my other REs haven't. I find it quick and easy to work with. Grain is probably more suitable for the geeky musician who likes to explore every possible way to tweak things. Well I'm not that guy. I like things simple and to spark my creativity quickly so I can get on with making music. So for me Scenic has been really nice. It's the whole Scenic package together with it's included effects and reverbs that makes it cool.
The Umpf devices are more pleasant to work with than Redrum or Kong imo. Just enough tweakabilty. I prefer them over the old devices. Also I'm just tired of looking at Kong. Visually these are more interesting. Call me shallow but these things matter to me.
Beatmap. Just tried it out. I'm not really a big Player fan usually but this one I found really cool to work with. It's FUN and useful. I'd probably buy it as a RE if it wasn't already included in R11. I saw a comment complaining it looked like a toy. To me that's a compliment. That's how music gear should feel like. FUN!
Complex-1. I hate Complex things so it's not really a favorite of mine. Still it sounds nice and there are some nice presets. I've used it in a couple of tracks.
Quartet Chorus Ensemble. I use this and the Chorus from Synapse. They both offer a different flavor.
Reason Electric Bass. Sounds pretty good. Nice and easy to use.

The "dust collectors" for me is Processed Piano. I just can't find a way to work this piece of crap into my music. Maybe someone else can.
The Layers devices sound kind of lifeless to me. I keep scrolling through the presets but very rarely do I find anything that sparks my interest.

Haven't really given Polar or Rotor a fair chance yet.
Thanks a lot for your review, it is very helpful to hear this after some use, than all the hype at the beginning. I think we have a bit similar approach, wanting it to be useful. With Complex I found it clean sounding but I don´t think I would do so much of wiring more than maybe tweak the presets. I think Scenic looks interesting. I did not get "Wow" when tried it out at release, but now sample can be loaded and the effects section should be useful.
Processed Pianos I did try briefly (life seems to get between every trial so often only have initial impression). I did not find it enough of doing anything I could not do already with some effects. Did not try to process other audio through it though. Somehow I felt that my refill sounded a bit warmer than this although the same samples have been used. I was interested in the natural sounding pianos and the effect patches as an extra bonus, but as the clean piano did not do it for me, it fell short.
PolyStep seem to take a bit of work to get it the way you want it and I kind of find it just easier to improvise and play chords and melodies straight to the ordinary sequencer. But it might probably grow if giving it a bit of more use. But Beat Map is just pure inspiration to use.
I agree that Umpf gives a bit more freshness and I like the way to edit samples right in the device, very handy indeed.

I´ll probably end up taking a RE subscription and try these out once more to see if it adds up the overall value.

Yonatan
Posts: 1556
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

26 Feb 2020

Changed my mind about Processed Pianos. It has amazing effect and modulation sections. Would guess the samples have been a bit noise washed and thus seem to be a bit too clean (although very very well done cleanup), but if very picky, thus getting that tiny tiny sense of plastic cover that cleaned up samples can get when played all together. But I guess that was a must for the effects to let it do its job in best manner. Pianos naturallity is so much to do with the combined resonance of the tones and the added overtones. But with some boosts and cuts with the very good onboard EQ, a sustain pedal and with a midi keyboard with good touch response, it can sound very lovely as natural piano. What you do not get is that ultra soft velocity at the quietest touch (but not all real pianos has that either), but as is works for basic songs and mixes. A solo perform with this could work, but not if you are super super picky piano player who wants the biggest possible dynamic and xx amounts of velocity layers. But with what this has, I think it is done very well with what it has got. And I am not a pianist, so this does not becomes an issue. You will need quite a lot more gigabytes. I find it on par with or better than some EzKeys.
And in combination with the effects, it really is a worthwhile RE instrument to have in the Rack. It shines when comes to the many added possible sound design. The "audio in" is a blessing. So, good job. It is not an end to all piano competition out there, and it is not as such it should be judged.
I also have Scenic, Umpf Retro, PolyStep on trial. Scenic is a really fine RE. Umpf Retro, not my thing out of the box, but with some tweaking of samples and as a toolbox, I do find value in it as a percussive instrument. Extra plus to be able to record a sample straight into every slot.
I am struggling a bit to get into my sweet spot with the PolyStep yet, will see if I get there and find where it could make sense for me. Will I upgrade to Suite then? Well, as the devices I do not have, grow for me, I am not sure €249 is worth it as yet, if not something crucial gets added to the DAW, as R10 in its core is not far off from R11. So, it is now more how much the Rack Plugin is of critical value. I do find it neat and cool, but I am mostly concerned to work inside the Reason DAW as is now.

DJMaytag
Posts: 723
Joined: 17 Jun 2015
Location: Madison, WI
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29 Feb 2020

$120 for me, so... not gonna happen.

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