Ninjadog wrote: ↑14 Jun 2020
It's been a long while since fired up Reason, I was very active with it from 1.0 and upgraded with each new version till 3.0. Did not feel a need to upgrade till around 7.0. The jump from 3 to 7 just wrecked my workflow as everything was different, plus the laptop I had back in 2010 was pretty crappy and couldn't handle too much. Long story short I built a new computer recently and I threw Reason 7 on to get back into producing. I'm sure it's even a stretch for the guys on 11 to remember what 7 was like but among my many questions is is the 14:2 mixer even used anymore? All the instruments just get their little "Mix" mixer thing and from there virtual wires to the Master Section? (As provided by the default new song) Virtual wires??? I kinda cant get over that lol.
Guess I got a bunch of manual reading to do.
Oh wow, this takes me back!
I had the EXACT same feeling when I switched to Record + Reason from Reason 4, I didn't really "get" the SSL Mixer and I didn't want to change my workflow - so I stuck to just using the 14:2 mixer in the rack as I had been doing years prior. For what it's worth, there's not really a whole lot stopping you from doing that. You just need to have a Mix Channel for the 14:2 mixer (unless you want to just hook it right up to the master out manually - nothing stopping you from doing that, either) and hook everything up to the 14:2 as you had been doing before. That way you can pretty much just get rid of the Mix Channel devices if they pop up and ignore the SSL mixer for the most part.
Buuuuut... I'd suggest learning from my previous stubbornness and not doing that. It takes a bit of getting used to if you're in the old mindset of doing it all in the rack, but it is absolutely worth persevering to make the most out of the additional functionality of the SSL mixer. Also, it's a nice way to de-clutter your rack - no more cables floating all over the damn place to the same one or two 14:2s, no more hooking 14:2s up to each other to use more than 14 channels - everything goes to a separate view, and you can flip back and forth between them as and when you need to. I use the filter section on the SSL mixer all the time, and being able to see your entire mix at-a-glance is great. It also gives you the option of using the dynamics/EQ section as and when you need to, but again... nothing stopping you from ignoring them entirely if you don't want to.
The 14:2 still gets use in the rack here in Combinators, but outside of that I don't tend to use it a whole lot any more.
It's a big change to get used to, and it's super interesting to see you going through the exact same thing I went through back with Record 1! My stubbornness lasted right up until about Reason 6 or so when I fully committed to the SSL mixer, and I would never go back now. Good luck, and be prepared for F5/F6/F7 to become your most used keyboard shortcuts