Is Reason dying?

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altron
Posts: 261
Joined: 16 Mar 2015

03 Feb 2020

I know, I know! The subject seems like clickbait. But with the poor, almost scummy Reason 11 update move, the image change of Phead's, and the new CEO, the update of Reason becoming a VST plugin, and the recent lack of new REs I'm seriously concerned where this is going.

I've just upgraded to Reason 11 the day before yesterday after contemplating for a long time if the update is worth it. Personally I don't use any other DAW so the use of Reason as a VST plugin is not interesting for me. The Reason host is enough for my music-making purposes.

The new sequencer improvements are welcome but don't even remotely justify an upgrade price of $130. Neither do the few new FX REs which offer nothing new or special. This should have been an 10.x update but I'm sure reason Studios needed something big-sounding that accompanied their image change. It can't be denied that it feels like this is the case!

So the update isn't really worth it for me but I like to stay up-to-date with reason nevertheless even if it's costing a bit. but that's only me. Still, I feel that Reason Studios seem to move further away from Reason as a standalone DAW and instead focus on it just being a VST plugin. With that it would lose all the aspects for which I started using Reason in the first place (stability and consistency mainly).
Trap is where music goes to die.

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plaamook
Posts: 2592
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: Bajo del mar...

03 Feb 2020

They'll alway be propellerheads to me. Even when I email em. Fuck all that reason studio rubbish. Like they're trying to grow up and act like adults. Really? Now?!

And yeah, R11 is weak. I've got it, there are improvements, I too won't use it as a rack plugin, etc but remember... the past few versions have seen substatial point updates. Substantial enough to have the people that haunt this place weeping in the streets like it's the second coming. And just before that, everyone was convinced it was all going south.

I worry about this from time to time. Nothing lasts forever. And like you I only use reason for composition so if they go tits up I kinda go tits up with em. Not sure I can be bothered to reinvent it all at this stage. I got a few albums out, legs up in stirrups ready to deliver another one in April, I can live with that, etc. Or maybe I could face moving to PT. Dunno.
But really, just enjoy the Reason ride is my opinion.

Unless you do this shit full time for money. Then maybe get into a more reliable platform ;)

More of a concern is what I'm going to do when my macbook dies. Got a late 2012 non-retina 13" that's jacked up to the eye balls with everything I could get in there. 2TB ssd, 16Gb RAM, fastes processor you could get in that model. And of course a magsafe adaptor...
Things purring like a kitten but still, nothing lasts forever.
The current breed of MBPs are so shit and way WAAAAY too expensive. I just hope my little buddy lasts through the current Apple Age Of Darkness.
Perpetual Reason 12 Beta Tester :reason:

You can check out my music here.
https://m.soundcloud.com/ericholmofficial
Or here.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73uZZ ... 8jqUubzsQg

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xboix
Posts: 281
Joined: 22 Oct 2019

04 Feb 2020

I think it's too early to say whether it is dying. For me it all hinges on the various point releases I'm expecting over the next year or two. I love the VST plugin but I can't deny that the other changes in R11 were somewhat underwhelming and that would point to R11 being rushed to market.

So maybe we'll get some big improvements in R11.5 or something.

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Loque
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Posts: 11163
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

04 Feb 2020

Ppl saying since years its dying and they do this repeatly and they and i are still msking music with it. For me, Cubase is dead since 20 years πŸ˜‚
Reason12, Win10

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altron
Posts: 261
Joined: 16 Mar 2015

04 Feb 2020

Loque wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
Ppl saying since years its dying and they do this repeatly and they and i are still msking music with it. For me, Cubase is dead since 20 years πŸ˜‚
Sure! I could also start using Cubase on an Atari ST again. It's not usably dead, but I'm talking about 'commercially dead'.

Reason 11's upgrade should have been about Reason presenting itself as a great competition towards other DAWs but instead it presents itself as an underdog to other DAWs (by becoming a VST). In my opinion Reason has always been a great competition to other DAWs. But many non-Reason users would disagree.
Trap is where music goes to die.

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platzangst
Posts: 728
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

04 Feb 2020

altron wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
It's not usably dead, but I'm talking about 'commercially dead'.
It's been "commercially dead" since the release of version 1. I mean, it was many versions along before we even got audio recording, and even then the audio started in a different program entirely. It's only in the last few versions that it's had VST support, and it was not that many versions before that when it got any 3rd-party plug-in ability at all. And all along there's kind of been two camps of doomsayers, the one that says that Reason has changed too much away from its original functions (and original userbase), and the one that says that what Reason really needs to do is become the next Ableton or whatever the "pros" are using these days.

Granted, Reason has changed, and in some ways it's done what I never expected it to do. But to be blunt I'm not really sure if there's any value at all in these repeated handwringing topics that appear from time to time worrying about if Reason is gonna die. Either it'll struggle along as an alternative to every other DAW or it'll die and the company will go under, and frankly I don't see how hashing this out repeatedly on the forums is going to change whatever the outcome will be, let alone change it for the better. Everyone and their pet moose has some idea for what Reason "must" do to survive, a lot of them are contradictory, and Reason has classically done things by its own unique impulses that get torn apart by the "fans".

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Loque
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Posts: 11163
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

04 Feb 2020

altron wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
Loque wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
Ppl saying since years its dying and they do this repeatly and they and i are still msking music with it. For me, Cubase is dead since 20 years πŸ˜‚
Sure! I could also start using Cubase on an Atari ST again. It's not usably dead, but I'm talking about 'commercially dead'.

Reason 11's upgrade should have been about Reason presenting itself as a great competition towards other DAWs but instead it presents itself as an underdog to other DAWs (by becoming a VST). In my opinion Reason has always been a great competition to other DAWs. But many non-Reason users would disagree.
If i could use some of Abletons stuff in Reason, i would considere to buy it. It was a smart move from RS IMO and fits their philosophy.
Reason12, Win10

howtobecalm
Posts: 78
Joined: 03 Feb 2020

04 Feb 2020

i really hope not but any daw could die couldnt it , cakewalk did has any daw reallt died ?? or do they just get re designed or re purchased , tell me some daws that have actually died and not merged or name changed or become something else im interested πŸ™‚

howtobecalm
Posts: 78
Joined: 03 Feb 2020

04 Feb 2020

because im sure someone could re take it on in some form if it did and with a fan base they probably would

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Re8et
Competition Winner
Posts: 1509
Joined: 14 Nov 2016

04 Feb 2020

A good move would be to introduce RSN CLIPS - as a third mode for the Sequencer section*
*I do not use scenes very often, for me it could go altogether, merged into the "new" clip style sequencer

One Midi Note clip container, with various play modes, including randomizer, stochastic, legato, mono-poly. Just to make it better than others.
One Midi CC container
One Pure audio container

That's'it. How much for the upgrade?

Edit: I forgot to say, better means better than Bitwig and Ableton clips.... :PUF_figure:

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reddust
Posts: 677
Joined: 07 May 2018

04 Feb 2020

I have already bought Ableton Live and will surely go back to use it as my main DAW, but I'll keep an eye on Reason and see what comes next. Depending on that R11 update could be my last so I can use my REs inside Ableton Live, or if Reason takes back a good direction and envelopes its sequencer and features as a DAW in the right direction I would come back to Reason.

But Reason as a VST so I can only use REs inside of another DAW isn't for me enough to keep updating Reason anymore. The stuff REs bring can be well covered by VST instruments and other DAW's features that really care about getting better regularly.
Last edited by reddust on 04 Feb 2020, edited 1 time in total.

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Re8et
Competition Winner
Posts: 1509
Joined: 14 Nov 2016

04 Feb 2020

Loque wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020

If i could use some of Abletons stuff in Reason, i would considere to buy it. It was a smart move from RS IMO and fits their philosophy.
RSn could do better than Ableton with its own clips - imagine if you could use players as clips also. I think that would be huge.

User avatar
Heigen5
Posts: 1503
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Location: Finland / Suomi

04 Feb 2020

I don't understand the logic behind Reason dying off. One should not see Reason as what was added in the last update, but as what has been added form Reason 1 to Reason 11. The rack VST was a huge thing for the lots. So for lots of the people, it was a game-changer update. Probably us who use Reason as standalone get more love already in the next update.

estuary
Posts: 112
Joined: 09 Apr 2018
Location: tokyo

04 Feb 2020

I had lot of complaints and issues especially around the period of Reason 10 and latest update Reason 11 but I don't think that Reason is dying.
I hope for the best !

howtobecalm
Posts: 78
Joined: 03 Feb 2020

04 Feb 2020

so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

04 Feb 2020

howtobecalm wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead
Bars and Pipes for the Amiga? Lol

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

04 Feb 2020

Turtle beach Samplevision for IBM Pc? πŸ˜‚

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

04 Feb 2020

I didn't think I would be able to make music anymore after Music 2000 for the PlayStation 1 didn't get an update.

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reddust
Posts: 677
Joined: 07 May 2018

04 Feb 2020

howtobecalm wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead
I thought Saw Studio was dead, turns out it isn't, but still looking the same as it did back in the 90s, this DAW doesn't age :lol:

http://www.sawstudio.com/products_sawstudio.htm

Edit: I think Saw is indeed dead, just tried to click on purchase to see its price and the link was dead, so Saw might be some kind of zombie DAW?
Last edited by reddust on 04 Feb 2020, edited 1 time in total.

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Loque
Moderator
Posts: 11163
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

04 Feb 2020

howtobecalm wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead
They had a DAW? :shock: :lol:

It had "track freeze"...in 2015...
Reason12, Win10

User avatar
reddust
Posts: 677
Joined: 07 May 2018

04 Feb 2020

reddust wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
howtobecalm wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead
I thought Saw Studio was dead, turns out it isn't, but still looking the same as it did back in the 90s, this DAW doesn't age :lol:

http://www.sawstudio.com/products_sawstudio.htm

Edit: I think Saw is indeed dead, just tried to click on purchase to see its price and the link was dead, so Saw might be some kind of zombie DAW?
Wait, no, it's still alive indeed, just got the wrong link

http://www.rmllabs.com/MainSite/sawstudio.html

and yes, still looking like we're back in the 90's, nice retro touch

howtobecalm
Posts: 78
Joined: 03 Feb 2020

04 Feb 2020

Loque wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
howtobecalm wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead
They had a DAW? :shock: :lol:

It had "track freeze"...in 2015...
yeah i tried it briefly was a bit rubbish i know a couple of people that used it proper though , if a daw of reasons or abletons or fl studios popularity went down im sure some company would take it on , just please not apple

User avatar
xboix
Posts: 281
Joined: 22 Oct 2019

04 Feb 2020

howtobecalm wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead
Emagic - makers of Logic. Bought by Apple who promptly dropped support for the Windows version and rebranded Logic as their own. So the DAW did not die, just the company and the Windows side of it.

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

04 Feb 2020

reddust wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
reddust wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020


I thought Saw Studio was dead, turns out it isn't, but still looking the same as it did back in the 90s, this DAW doesn't age :lol:

http://www.sawstudio.com/products_sawstudio.htm

Edit: I think Saw is indeed dead, just tried to click on purchase to see its price and the link was dead, so Saw might be some kind of zombie DAW?
Wait, no, it's still alive indeed, just got the wrong link

http://www.rmllabs.com/MainSite/sawstudio.html

and yes, still looking like we're back in the 90's, nice retro touch
they’re charging $700 for it... 😳 you’d have to
1-live in a cave, with
2-internet that only points to that specific website and
3-a lot of money
to consider buying that as your DAW. it’s a very niche market. πŸ˜‚
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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Loque
Moderator
Posts: 11163
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

04 Feb 2020

reddust wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
howtobecalm wrote: ↑
04 Feb 2020
so could anyone chime in and actually say what audio companies have died ? or have they just been taken over , i can think of synapse orion , actually synapse still going of course but there daw is dead
I thought Saw Studio was dead, turns out it isn't, but still looking the same as it did back in the 90s, this DAW doesn't age :lol:

http://www.sawstudio.com/products_sawstudio.htm

Edit: I think Saw is indeed dead, just tried to click on purchase to see its price and the link was dead, so Saw might be some kind of zombie DAW?
THAT hurt my eyes :exclamation:
Reason12, Win10

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