What are your top five devices at the moment?

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EnochLight
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07 Apr 2022

Awesome thread idea!

My picks...

Reason devices:
  • Mimic (I love the simplicity)
  • Complex-1 (bleeps and bloops! Really wish RS would have made a Complex-2 or kept adding on to this thing)
  • Syncronous (it will always be in virtually every one of my projects)
  • Grain (as far as a grainular sampling/synth, it gets the job done)
  • The Echo (I always loved the Roland tape delay it was inspired by)
VST:
  • Sonic Charge Microtonic (my all-time favorite drum machine)
  • DS Thorn (it's just lovely)
  • Synapse Audio Dune 3 (my goto)
  • iZotope Neutron 9 Advanced (it's an unrivaled smart channel strip)
  • iZotope Ozone 9 Advanced (it's an unrivaled mastering suite - and still an industry staple)
Hardware:
  • Akai MPC Live II (my preferred workstation away from my PC)
  • Akai Force (my studio center brains that controls all of my hardware)
  • Dreadbox Typhon (my favorite mono-synth, though I am having an issue with USB loopback noise which is making me rage)
  • Korg Minilogue XD (just a brilliant analog polysynth with incredible onboard effects)
  • Roland MX-1 performance mixer, which I simultaneously love and hate (you have to have one to understand) :lol:
Runners up:
  • Hardware: Korg Volca Drum (it's like a hardware version of Microtonic, almost)!
  • Hardware: Roland System 8 (because I get an authentic Juno 106 and Jupiter 8 emulation on top of an already awesome synth)
  • Software: Ableton Live 11 Suite (I picked it up due to issues I had with Reason 12 at launch, and I am starting to really enjoy its workflow)
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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Iapetus 9
Posts: 199
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

07 Apr 2022

Reason/RE's-

PSQ-1684
Complex-01
The Legend
Oberon
Thor

VST's-

Korg ARP
Korg MS20
Psychic Modulation Phonec 2
VCV RAck
Synapse Audio Dune 3
38L > 51D every time.

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adfielding
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08 Apr 2022

Reason / Rack Extensions:
- Thor (still my favourite workhorse synth in Reason, Europa is close but if I had to pick... Thor all the way)
- VK-2 (super quick to dial in a sound that just sounds right, love the character of the filter & drive)
- DR-1 (there's just something about it!)
- Vermillion / Creme / Cerberus / EVE-MP5 (can I just stick all of Kuassa's REs here?)
- Beat Map (always fun, always inspiring, would stick most generative players here if I could but this is my #1)

Special RE mention: the Selig REs. Selig Gain and Selig De-Esser in particular are Reason favourites of mine. Also The Echo because it's awesome.

VSTs:
- Kontakt (this feels like a huge cheat when you have a varied selection of libraries)
- Omnisphere (again, feels like a cheat because this covers an absurd amount of ground)
- Fabfilter Pro Q-3 (and the rest of the Fabfilter gang, in all fairness! Pro Q-3 gets the most use from me, though)
- Valhalla Delay (my favourite delay, bar none - it has a depth to it that works for me)
- Sonsig Rev-A (big fan of the sound and immediacy of this)

Special VST mention: Generate. I'd include it in the list because I absolutely love it, but overall I'd have to go with Omnisphere for sheer diversity and utility. Generate is an amazing character synth, and I use it super regularly... but if I had to pick only five VSTs, I'd have to very begrudgingly set it aside. But I wouldn't be happy about it. Also... LX 480 Essentials because I got it free with the Rev-A and it's pretty darn good!

Hardware (excluding monitors & controllers I guess?):
- Virus TI 2 Desktop (my main workhorse synth nowadays, it's hard to get a bad sound out of it and it's absurdly versatile)
- Lyra-8 (there's nothing quite like it, it often feels like it has a bit of a life of its own)
- Analog Heat (yes I mainly use it for Clean Boosting mixes, sue me)
- Polyend Tracker (always a joy to use, a great example of limitation breeding creativity)

splitpen
Posts: 141
Joined: 22 Mar 2017

08 Apr 2022

Besides the basics for routing (audio splitter and mixers)
Reason Studios channel EQ
Reason Studios - The Echo
Valhalla - Supermassive. (TIP, place a Kong routed through the shapers before a reverb to control the first transient hitting the reverb)
Cableguys - Shaperbox
Adam Szabo - Viper
Latest track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjzYHe3D8f8
Reasonstudios 11 Roland Quadcapture | AMD Ryzen 5900x|Elektron Analog Heat Mk2|Diy 3 way SB Acoustics/Scanspeak studiomonitors | AKG K702 | Key­sta­tion 61 MK3 |BCR2000 |X-Touch Ext | MP Midi

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Creativemind
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Location: Stoke-On-Trent, England, UK

08 Apr 2022

1) Microwave
2) Kettle
3) Mobile Phone
4) Food Processor
5) Electric Spice / Nut / Coffee Bean Grinder
:reason:

Reason Studio's 11.3 / Cockos Reaper 6.82 / Cakewalk By Bandlab / Orion 8.6
http://soundcloud.com/creativemind75/iv ... soul-mix-3

Chi-Individual
Posts: 386
Joined: 09 Apr 2020

08 Apr 2022

These are usually in every project

Drum Sequencer
DR-1 Reverb
Processed Pianos (All built in fx makes it a game changer as an insert)
Redrum
Monotone

Hon Mentions:
Algoritm
Grain
Lectric Panda LPM
Synapse RE-160 Comp
Scenic (like Proc Pianos, All built in fx makes it a game changer as an insert)

MattLeschuck
Posts: 125
Joined: 05 Oct 2018

08 Apr 2022

1. DS Thorn - Combination of the best sounding and easiest to use synth. There is no other synth i get faster, more creative results from. It can go from super clean and modern to analog, dirty and lo fi sounding.

2. Parawave Rapid - The layer system, the granular and the effects are all superb. This is one of those synths that can do anything you want.

3. Europa - Though similar to Thorn in ways, its the one Reason synth that i really like and find easy to use. The effects are its weakest link, but it makes up for it with arguable the best MSEGs.

4. Snapheap / Multipass - For me this is the most fun and easy to use effects rack. These are my primary mixing tools these days.

5. Replika XT - The best / cleanest delay I've used. I prefer this to Echoboy and Valhalla which i both own. There is something magic in Replika. It just sounds so defined.

Honorable Mentions:

Dune 3 - Use to be a go to before i got Rapid. I just find Rapid more inspiring and fun to use. Similar in the 8 layer system, but Rapid allows for separate FX and bussing per layer. The FX and overall sound in Dune is fantastic.

Trackspacer - I use multiple instances of this in every session. Such a great tool for quickly carving out space. I much prefer this to using a standard dynamic EQ.

Neutron 3 Exciter - A great tool for bringing out presence / sheen on a track. I often use this as oppose to high shelf eq boosts.

These days is all about having fun and being efficient. Hence a lot of my selection above.
Last edited by MattLeschuck on 08 Apr 2022, edited 1 time in total.

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nooomy
Posts: 543
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

08 Apr 2022

Nice thread start!

1. Umpf retro
2. Drum seq player
3. Echo
4. Tsar-1
5. Audiomatic Retro Transformer - The tape setting

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crimsonwarlock
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09 Apr 2022

1. Saw-1 Discovery RE
2. PolySix RE
3. Zoetrope RE
4. Fat50 RE
5. Umpf Retro
-------
Analog tape ⇒ ESQ1 sequencer board ⇒ Atari/Steinberg Pro24 ⇒ Atari/Cubase ⇒ Cakewalk Sonar ⇒ Orion Pro/Platinum ⇒ Reaper ⇒ Reason DAW.

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arnigretar
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09 Apr 2022

now last three months are

PSQ-1684
Subtractor
Redrum
Thor
EDS06s
https://futuregrapher.bandcamp.com/

Reason 12, Ableton Live 10 Suite, Roland Cloud, Arturia V9, Korg Legacy 3, Soundtoys 5, Waves Mercury, Sonic Charge Bundle, N.I.: Massive, Reaktor 6, FM8. + a lot of Hardware. Windows 7/10.

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deigm
Posts: 242
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Location: Australia

09 Apr 2022

lowtom wrote:
05 Apr 2021
1. Combinator - it all starts in this one, all of my sequences are build in Combinator and saved as a patch.
2. Microtonic - all my drums are synthesised in this machine.
3. Sequences - I record most of my sequences in this one.
4. Thor - all in one, the god of synths.
5. The Legend - recently my go to bass source.
A search for 'microtonic' on the reason shop returns no results. What is this device you speak of?

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MrFigg
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09 Apr 2022

deigm wrote:
09 Apr 2022
lowtom wrote:
05 Apr 2021
1. Combinator - it all starts in this one, all of my sequences are build in Combinator and saved as a patch.
2. Microtonic - all my drums are synthesised in this machine.
3. Sequences - I record most of my sequences in this one.
4. Thor - all in one, the god of synths.
5. The Legend - recently my go to bass source.
A search for 'microtonic' on the reason shop returns no results. What is this device you speak of?
It’s a VST by Sonic Charge. Not in the Shop. Go to their website.
🗲 2ॐ ᛉ

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deigm
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Location: Australia

09 Apr 2022

MrFigg wrote:
09 Apr 2022
deigm wrote:
09 Apr 2022


A search for 'microtonic' on the reason shop returns no results. What is this device you speak of?
It’s a VST by Sonic Charge. Not in the Shop. Go to their website.
Thanks Figg! Don't know why I assumed it was an RE :oops:

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killhamster
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Location: Portland, OR
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09 Apr 2022

not counting a stack of mastering tools that's in my default template:

Bassline Generator - I love this thing, it's so useful
Synapse Antidote - super easy to dial in trance sounds and neat arps
Dr. OctoRex - i have gigs and gigs of breakbeat rex loops so this one's essential
Sweeper - it's pretty versatile and fulfills three different needs
The Echo - easy to dial in the delays i want in a hurry, i only really use one other delay aside from this one

Przemyslaw
Posts: 81
Joined: 05 Jan 2018

09 Apr 2022

Great thread !
In use at the moment:

Stock/Re Instruments
- Kong/Dr Rex - great for start groove
- Beatmaker Eden - electro pop edm drums
- ReSpire - beast synth, still fresh and good sounding
- Friction - mega... pads :))
- Synapse The Legend - use it for analog bass mostly

Stock/Re Effects
- Synchronous - simple pump effect
- Chenille BBD Chorus Ensemble - best chorus I've used and nice reverb :)
- The Echo - simply great and very usable
- Selig DeEsser - when U want delete Ssss instead of compress it
- DC-9 Overdrive by Blamsoft - great classic stompbox

VST Instruments
- Kontakt - pianos, keys, brasses, symphonic, basses, creatives
- Play by EastWest - another great container
- Neo-Soul Keys - simply best keys
- SynthMaster - suitable in every style of music
- SWAM Saxophones - best saxes around

VST Effects
- bx SSL 9000 J - first ssl style channel strip I finally feel
- TSAR 1 - best reverb for acoustic (and not only) tracks
- SSL Vocalstrip 2 - simple and great vocalstrip
- SPL Iron - fantastic mastering compressor
- Ozone Maximizer - clean and dynamic maximizer

Honorable Metions:
Mimic - simple and effective for chopping and creeative effect on vocal tracks
Europa - thanks to MattLeschuck for free Europa Chill Nights - I am discovering again
Synapse Antidote - every time it suprises me how soft and full of life it is
bx Oberhausen - massive sound
Valhalla Supermassive - free and fantastic reverb
LX 480 - classy Lexicon style reverb
and many Plugin Alliance stuff, just to mention elyssia mpressor and alpha, Lindell, FET and opto compressors, AMEK, SSL, SPL, Bettermaker plus amps.

Kuranes2021
Posts: 60
Joined: 08 Jan 2021

09 Apr 2022

EnochLight wrote:
07 Apr 2022


Hardware:


[*]Korg Minilogue XD (just a brilliant analog polysynth with incredible onboard effects)[/List]
The Minilogue XD is truly awesome, I bought it some weeks ago. The real magic happened when I sequenced it with the Microfreak ( per MIDI connection) and simultaneously activated minilogue's arppegiator. The cherry on top is letting microfreak also simultaneously sequence a reason player (via usb) connected to a reason synth.

That way, you can control 2 analog synths and one reason synth with only one sequence, producing different melody lines/chords.

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w1pl0c
Posts: 177
Joined: 10 Oct 2017

09 Apr 2022

Kong, Volt SL1, External Midi Instrument, Combinator, AutoTheory

Bonus: Dual Arp, Mimic, Dr OctoRex

GEran21
Posts: 5
Joined: 19 Jun 2022

25 Jun 2022

My top five devices at the moment is next

1 Minilogue Xd
2 Virus Ti
3 Novation Peak
4 Roland V-Synth
5 Roland MC-101

I like use synthesizers with old effects processor as like Digitech, Lexicon, Alesis and more.

Korg Minilogue XD + Digitech Studio S100
MOD EDIT

YOUTUBE>>

INSTAGRAM>>
:thumbup: Synthesizers, Effect Processors, VSTi & VST >> https://progressiveaxleradio.com <<

Jac459
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Location: Singapore
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25 Jun 2022

EnochLight wrote:
07 Apr 2022
[*]iZotope Neutron 9 Advanced (it's an unrivaled smart channel strip)
So you don't use reason as a DAW I guess because it is not working with it correct ?

On my side:

-KONG: Unescapable, just a beat powerhouse...
-GRAIN: Just discovered its power and I am addicted already
-ANTIDOTE: The master of the master
-Obsession: Smoothest analog sound ever, to me sounding even better than legend, vk2 or subtractor.
-Zero: Bought it late because the interface is so much worst than Algoritm (that I love) but Oh My ! These sounds !

VST/Stand-alone:
iZotope Ozone 9.

Runner-up:
All reason REs, the quality is ALWAYS there... All Synapse and Blamsoft. You can't go wrong buying from them. REspire... below average implementation but sound is top !
Bitwig and RRP fanboy...

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moofi
Posts: 1024
Joined: 19 Jan 2015
Location: hear

27 Jun 2022

So not much making music I see ;-) :-D
Creativemind wrote:
08 Apr 2022
1) Microwave
2) Kettle
3) Mobile Phone
4) Food Processor
5) Electric Spice / Nut / Coffee Bean Grinder

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Creativemind
Posts: 4875
Joined: 17 Jan 2015
Location: Stoke-On-Trent, England, UK

28 Jun 2022

moofi wrote:
27 Jun 2022
So not much making music I see ;-) :-D
Creativemind wrote:
08 Apr 2022
1) Microwave
2) Kettle
3) Mobile Phone
4) Food Processor
5) Electric Spice / Nut / Coffee Bean Grinder
The microwave has bleeps lol!
:reason:

Reason Studio's 11.3 / Cockos Reaper 6.82 / Cakewalk By Bandlab / Orion 8.6
http://soundcloud.com/creativemind75/iv ... soul-mix-3

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moofi
Posts: 1024
Joined: 19 Jan 2015
Location: hear

28 Jun 2022

:-D
Creativemind wrote:
28 Jun 2022
moofi wrote:
27 Jun 2022
So not much making music I see ;-) :-D

The microwave has bleeps lol!

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crimsonwarlock
Posts: 2255
Joined: 06 Nov 2021
Location: Close to the Edge

29 Jun 2022

Creativemind wrote:
08 Apr 2022
1) Microwave
2) Kettle
3) Mobile Phone
4) Food Processor
5) Electric Spice / Nut / Coffee Bean Grinder
Creativemind wrote:
28 Jun 2022
The microwave has bleeps lol!

The kettle has a whistle, The mobile phone has ringtones, food processor has a hum and the grinder has a rattle........ I see a song contest coming :puf_bigsmile:
-------
Analog tape ⇒ ESQ1 sequencer board ⇒ Atari/Steinberg Pro24 ⇒ Atari/Cubase ⇒ Cakewalk Sonar ⇒ Orion Pro/Platinum ⇒ Reaper ⇒ Reason DAW.

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Creativemind
Posts: 4875
Joined: 17 Jan 2015
Location: Stoke-On-Trent, England, UK

29 Jun 2022

crimsonwarlock wrote:
29 Jun 2022
Creativemind wrote:
08 Apr 2022
1) Microwave
2) Kettle
3) Mobile Phone
4) Food Processor
5) Electric Spice / Nut / Coffee Bean Grinder
Creativemind wrote:
28 Jun 2022
The microwave has bleeps lol!

The kettle has a whistle, The mobile phone has ringtones, food processor has a hum and the grinder has a rattle........ I see a song contest coming :puf_bigsmile:
And I could just record the food processor and add a drum beat = Dubstep lol!
:reason:

Reason Studio's 11.3 / Cockos Reaper 6.82 / Cakewalk By Bandlab / Orion 8.6
http://soundcloud.com/creativemind75/iv ... soul-mix-3

rorystorm
Posts: 777
Joined: 06 Jul 2019

29 Jun 2022

Did a techno track a while ago with a reversed recording of my coffee grinder for the riser. It was great.

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