Love this guy's delivery style: laid back but never glib and calmly strips away the pedantic click-bait that spoils so many rants masquerading as reviews these days. I mainly use Reason as a Rack in Studio One but given the paralysis of choice engendered by the overwhelming options available in most DAWS, the limitations imposed by the Reason sequencer might just be the creative unblocker most of us didn't even know we were looking for all these years and thousands of dollars ago

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Limits are important in creativity. Is it how we interact with limits that define us as Artists. Unlimited is actually the complete opposite of creativity. I still find the straightforwardness of the reason Sequencer refreshing for its Spartan clarity.

This is one of the best Reason overviews Ive ever seen. Well done man. I'd love to see more Reason content like this.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Jordan, we will publish more soon 😊

Thanks for this outstanding presentation, Benedict. Despite my ADHD (at 65) you kept my eager attention for the entire 63 minutes, which is nothing short of amazing - clear, concise and with zest of wow. So, I'm ditching my LPX for a tryout period with a Reason+ subscription. Exciting stuff!

I just got Reason 12 after years using Logic. I love it. This is fantastic overview. Will definitely explore Mimic more.

@julianmonterola

5 ай бұрын

thats a downgrade bro

@bluebird1954

3 ай бұрын

@@julianmonterola 💀💀yeah im kinda doing the same thing, i like logic its much better daw but since i only use reason stuff it kinda makes sense to just use reason, audio editing does suck here tho, but i dont deal with it much

Great review! I've been creating with Logic for years, and have just acquired Reason. Looking forward to learning it all!

"My Precious." You are a lovely person. I'm happy to sail the Reason 12 ship with you.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks :)

An hour well spent--good comments!

Really loving the look of Combinator II. Looking forward to your dedicated video on this! And thoroughly enjoyed the review here, you have a great way of explaining things which make them easier to pick up.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Sure Andy, we will publish video about Combinator II soon

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

@brianmac Can you please explain the question, what do you mean?

absolute, hands down, the best presentation of Reason i've seen yet. Reason Studios needs to make him the mascot

One of the best strait forward easy to follow tutorial Videos I have seen. He really has his own style and he speaks strait to the point, great work.

Extremely well presented. More Reason stuff please.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Chris, sure soon we will publish more :)

Fantastic review, thank you for this!!

nice to see someone talking positively about reason. you are so right the community has been toxic. thank you for being an honest dude!

Reason has changed my whole recording experience, I will say I notice some character in the mixer. I'm just getting used to the routing but, I'm committed to it because I love the workflow.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

The SSL-style mixer in reason has no sound of its own. However, the EQs are nicely designed/cloned so if you use them as intended for overall Tone adjust for the mix, the sound you get is lovely. I too found Reason was the first place I truly felt comfortable in DAWland (after hardware, Atari, Vision, Vision DSP, Cakewalk, Energy XT, and various others).

I think Reason is the most user friendly but at it’s hardest ,the routing ,can be daunting.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

I understand - well at least I say I do as I understand why people feel this seeing I felt this the first time I saw a full mixing console and thought that I had to learn every knob individually, AND carry all of that front-of-mind. Big mistake in the old logic. The trick is to focus on the bit that you need right now and get comfy with that. The more you can see the flow in your head the easier it gets. What Reason does is a really good match to real-world (why so many schools use Reason for teaching). The only unusual thing is wiring and the Mix Channel as it shows no wiring to the main SSL Desk. But then you realize that the Mix Channel that you see above Thor is the same thing - or a clone/ghost of the one in the SSL and it all makes sense. :-)

I have 2 screens. The sequencer on one and the I flip between the mixer and rack on the other screen using the f5 and f6 hot keys. Makes a huge improvement in workflow for me. On the sequencer I use the QWERTY short cuts. Workflow is so important. Just jump right in and start creating!

Outstanding dialogue! Subscribed.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome, thank you!

Your presentation and content is absolutely brilliant

Awesome review my man thx .!!

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Any time!

Nice review, yes Reason could use a few things particularly in the sequencer, but like you, I like the simplicity as is. The biggest miss to me is no grouping of tracks. However, I couldn’t agree more that Reason is overall a great DAW. Lots of well thought out and easy to use features and I like that I can see everything. It is loaded with great instruments and effects and you can make very good music with what is only included in Reason. For 400 it is a lot of software. I have spent 400 on single VSTs that do one thing.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Grouping in Reason is simple as assigning to a Bus. That automatically covers most of the reasons that one would make a Group, Bus, VCA etc in other-DAW parlance. There is also the option to make a passing grouping with Shift/Ctrl-Click to select several Mix Channels and bulk edit a few parameters like Fader, Solo/Mute. I definitely agree that saving money with a "cheap" tool that lacks the tools needed seems a very false economy. I was trained to be serious about what I do so once it is clear that I am doing a thing to invest in myself with solid tools - and LEARN them.

@jasonmills6041

2 жыл бұрын

@@higherhz yes, the buses work great for mixing but I would like group editing in the sequencer for editing multi miked instruments and hiding tracks that I am not working on. This is a super handy feature. You can edit multi miked instruments sense they added cross fades to the sequencer but it is still a bit more tedious than it needs to be. Not a deal breaker but I wish they would add this feature. Ableton live just added it with 11. Pro tools has had it for ever.

This was an extremely good You Tubes. I found it entertaining , informative, and you are very well spoken. Thanks for the great review of Reason 12🎉

Excellent overview. And the fact you point the lack of Video Support as a "bad thing" is quite far. It's horrible that Reason still don't care about people who works on advertising music, video-games music or even cinematic works. You say use VST but there's none for professional purposes (they all works with time resolution and none with FRAMES, like, for example in Ableton Live!)

this is from 2 years ago. reason 12 also uses vst 2 and 3. and organizes both brilliantly. reason also has a reason rack vst so you can uses reason its self as a vst in your own DAW. but this disables reasons mixer and arranger as you use your own DAW to do those. (i LOVE the reason mixer. hes not showing it in full at the moment hes shortend it to its basics

Great explaining thanks

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it

Thank you for this excellent review. You are a fantastic presenter.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Glad it was helpful!

@ThomasCorfield

2 жыл бұрын

@@higherhz Once quick question: Is it possible to set up the new combinator to change patches in vsts from its front panel? (35:19) Thanks again!

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

@@ThomasCorfield No because the VST Patch System is separate from the Automation System. Maybe it is doable via some sort of MIDI Loopback but you need to change a Knob (MIDI CC) to a Patch Change command and get that back to the VST. You could try making a Feature Request as I imagine a few people might like a Combi Control > VST Patch but it could get complex as I don't think Patch info has been exposed like Automatable Parameters, at least in the VST 2.4 SDK. Maybe VST3 will see a change but TBH, I don't expect that this will happen as this is a VST thing not a Reason thing.

@ThomasCorfield

2 жыл бұрын

@@higherhz I see. Thanks for the comprehensive reply. I don't mind, though, as Reason's already great fun and has so many features for music making. It's also refreshing to watch such a positive, detailed review, as so many others seem to bag Reason 12 at the moment. They remind me of art critics - with the emphasis on critics. There's so much in Reason to love, so I really appreciate your celebration of a great platform.

Thanks for the calm and measured review. I never hear people address actual audio recording and editing much. I understand the focus on the rack but how well does it do the every recording and editing tasks. ie, what is Reason’s audio workflow versus the other major DAWS?

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

I think people often bypass Audio in reason because other people seem to bypass it. I will not claim to be an expert by any stretch in Recording as I do very little. We did all the guitar recording for my latest record and I have done a few client vocals over the years. Mostly though I Mix & Master other people's recordings so my editing is limited as I prefer things come ready to mix. I also prepare long vocal recordings and the workflow is fast - for me. While some will say Reason has poor Audio features, I don't fully believe this to be true. Audio is typically deceptively simple. The Stretch and Melodyne style tuning is very good. Compiling looks very nice from the few times I have used it. Bottom line tho is that Reason has wisely avoided being Pro Tools (as Pro Tools has avoided being Reason). The only real issue I do face is that huge projects can break. 60-75 16/44 tracks are fine but much more and the project can break and stop working altogether. I have to carry 100-200 Track mixes to Reaper. I don't enjoy the mix as well but it gets done just fine (commonly using Reason Rack VST for effects).

I ♥THIS DAW!! 🎹🎚🎛

Great review ! At the end of the video you speak about the sound.. i heve questions. maby you could help.. when i use my second Daw s1 The sound is louder than in "reason". Although they both show exactly the same volume .. Especially the kick .. It also happens when I export channels to the reason. the sound suddenly gets louder. And the volume goes up for example: if I export a kick from s1 to -8db when I throw it into "reason" will it sound louder and climb to 4-6db? I can not figure out how to solve this..

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

I do know that every DAW will have choices about levels inside its summing. Some even let you adjust those in Preferences. Like my old Emax II let me set an overall headroom that being young dumb and full of (oh just go watch Point Break - the Keanu one) I "fixed" only to find the whole synth clipped with more than one note > back to -6dB headroom thank you ;-) As for your exact situation, I would really need to see & hear as something that you assume to be one way is probably not that way at all. Like maybe one DAW has some compression that the other does not (or is working differently). The method here is to check in tiny detail every step from 909 Sample to Output on both DAWs and make sure you are seeing everything for what it really is and not leaping forward assuming you know because that is what you want - Hard Logic vs Fuzzy Logic. Hard to do but a great lesson to learn. Seeing you say that the meters read the same could one DAW have its levels set lower in the OS (Win/Mac)? TBH tho I think it will be in the way the DAWs are being used.

Thanks for the review. This may be a stupid question but where can you see the midi input indicator? In Logic, I when I press C3 on my control surface, I see the note indicated in the transport.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

there is no MIDI Indicator on the Transport. You can see MIDI Activity in the Device (mostly only synths) which under Reson SDK Rules must have a Note On light. You can also see it on the Track and if focused the Device in the Rack. To see the actual Note name, you'd need a Piano Roll open.

They need to implement midi routing from others vst's like Scaler 2...

What kind of computer are you using? What’s the power if I might be so bold?

instant preview of sounds is a must. Komplete Control got it together.. copy them.. use proxy files for instant preview.. get it together Reason.

Could you post that guitar patch you made with synthesis in this video? Or give a tutorial go how to make? Thanks. I have subscribed.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for asking. Umm, that is a pretty interesting subject and be I have gone at before with limited interest. I tell you what, if there is enough interest generated here, maybe I can be persuaded into making a video on Synthesizing Guitars (and Virtual Amping) without going down the sample + impulse road

Are you able to auto map your controller with the combinator 2? I'm having a hard time with the Behringher BCR2000 mapping to the extra knobs.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Sorry no, I have not looked into mapping for controllers. Normally there needs to be a map built so if Behrigher is still adding updates for the BCR, look then. Otherwise, keep your nose to the ground as I know there are several people like PoohBear out there who commonly release maps for Reson devices for things like Nektar P4/6.

Great review of R12. What's the name of the Limiter RE with the large VU meter(18:34) are you using?

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. That my friend is one special lady (or man): Red Rock C1-L1 Compressor RE. It is a version of the Molot code (think TDR Molot/Molotok shown in my10 Best Free VST vid here). The Molot idea takes a little bit to learn, not because it is particularly hard, it is a character device. Yet it is very capable. This version has settings on the back to change speed and several other things. Just be aware that it is not a brickwall limiter. This and the AdHd Leveling Tool are my go-to compressors (along with M-Class).

@gregaudrey4299

2 жыл бұрын

@@higherhz Great, thanks for sharing.

Awesome explanation. Love the accent.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! 😃

Does Reason 12 have two save formats one being self contained and one not. The one where all the packs and sounds in a self contained file, I heard that it's now the only way to save which make save files huge. Is this true?

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

There is one Project File format. You can choose to Self-Contain Samples so drums etc get saved inside the project. This is what you need to do if sending your Reason Project file to someone else when you have used Kong with a lot of samples that are not in the FSB (stock). Reason files are larger than say Reaper because the Reason Project file contains all the audio. There are two schools of thought on this approach but Reason had project sharing/collaboration as a central ethos from the start. If someone sends me a Reason project to mix and they have bounced any VST to audio (plus contained samples) I get exactly what they were doing. Good stuff so long as you understand that overall the file is larger (all audio is crunched to about 1/3 of full size using a kind of FLAC) which was a real winning thing at the time when data was limited. Now it may create a limit, but one that only presents with very high-track count mixes (like over 80).

EPIC WIN

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks :)

'You got different things that do various...things...read the manual'

I LOVE REASON.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Me too :)

great video, reason is the best!!

@higherhz

Жыл бұрын

It sure is!

I really enjoyed your presentation of Reason. Is there a way to hear the music you played in the video?

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. The track shown inside of the review is "Jericho Befell" from my "Befell" album. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hYGrzM2ej87Zhbw.html

@racorands

2 жыл бұрын

@@higherhz Thanks! After a bit of sleuthing I found your Bandcamp page but, I would have been hard pressed to locate the track. You have a lot of material there! Been doing some listening. Good stuff!

Hi, I have a reason 10, how can I save midi, I don't know when I export a midi file, so everything sounds like a piano. Drums and bass in reason 10 hear a nice bass, drums but when I save it all the soundtrack so only the piano sounds please help thank you.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

MIDI and Audio are completely different things so when you Export MIDI, it is only the notes (like dots on paper). You can import those MIDI Notes back to Reason or over to Reaper etc. You then have to assign the sounds that you want. There was a spec in the '90s called General MIDI where MIDI Files would (kinda) playback the same instrument from one synth to another. Now with DAWs and VST, that just doesn't really make much sense. So Bring in that MIDI File and Reson will do you a courtesy and assign a piano as that is the most workable "allrounder" instrument so you hear the notes/part, but you have the fun of setting up the instruments the YOU want playing that music.

@robertcallash3634

2 жыл бұрын

@@higherhz I just wanted to know if it can be done midi files on Reason and play it in windows media player as it can in Cubase Thanks.

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

@@robertcallash3634 Ok Robert, if I get you right, you want to use Reason to make a MIDI File that will play back using specific GM instruments in WinMedia Player. If so you need to be sure that the MIDI has a Program Change at the start of each Track to tell WinMedia what GM instrument to choose (you will want to know your GM patches - Google that). A quick search for Program Changes in Reason got me this video which shows the method kzread.info/dash/bejne/h4OIyNazn8bUpZs.html

Nice

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks

i AM USING

!!W👀W Reason12 Nice🔥🔥🔥

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊

You should rewiew also free re add on like t 2 phaser, pump shide chain, realpse muliband delay. Otherwise owners of version 12 is not worth 200 euros for cominator 2 and some litle things. But compare version 7.3 upgraded to 12.7 is big tehnology upgrade for me. Since version to best ugreades version 4 version 6, 6.5 was intruduce first time rack extension, version 10 with 6 NEW DEVICES, europa and grain stil good, but my opinion buying every version is not work, for 200 eur u can buy more than 3 new devices. In version 13 i think that parsec2, bvx vocodoer, autotune will be inculded. But version 13 need new subtratctor or new thor. When was 3. Synth was present in reason 4, thor polysonic synth i waa so happy in version 5 was kong drum designer, many producers still use it. So i was buy antidote anlalg synth, parsec aditive synth softube fet compresor, dyna people dynimite. Years ago antidote was 79 usd now is over 140. But tnx reason for tones of new stuff and 5 softube efects. Europa, antidote, and parsec 2 are best reason build in re just for reason instrumwnts. We wait for version 13?

Yes a very good review, I'm a long time reason user, and up until version 12 i would recommend it to other people, but i must say i have huge issues with reason 12, so much so that support got me to run a logging version, I was getting asserts, also issues with knobs not moving in waves / boz digital/ analog obsession plugins. and a very sluggish performance, in fact the same performance as the logging version of 12, so i have rolled back to version 11 until support get back to me with a solution, my pc is not new but it's i7 , 3.30 ghz, 6 core, 32 gb ram, SSd drives, windows 10, audio built PC carillon.

“Mythical, magical, technical betterness …” 😂

@higherhz

2 жыл бұрын

:)

Maschine hardware (maschine software not up to par) + MaschineR + Reason 12 is the dream combo

They should start these Reason 12 reviews by making it clear it is only available for ** Windows 10 ** I assumed as Reason 11 works on Windows 8, that this would too. It doesn't.

Community isn't toxic. Just fed up.

I don't think that's just the reason community - most synth groups and i guess the internet in general is full of this type of talk.

REASON 12 - HOW TO USE VST3s WITH STANDARD FEATURES 2021 > Bluecat Patchwork :)

59:05 but the entire internet is toxic i don't think thats unique to reason, but yeah all the other points are good :)

I sympathize with people loving reason, I started my journey in music production on Reason 3 and now I do that for a living :) Anyways the workflow is so outdated and clunky it's ridiculous, just use it as a plug in inside a proper daw if you like the sound of his instruments and effects.. save your time for making music instead of unnecessary routing and window navigation

@clairefletcher2742

2 жыл бұрын

What do you use now?

Ultimate review my ass. He never talked about the Reason Rack. I know he's using Reason as his daw but he should have at least mentioned that the rack can be used as a plugin in your daw of choice. There is one big issue though that people have gotten on Reason's case about and that is you can't host third party vi's when used as a plugin in say Pro Tools/Logic/Digital Performer. And even staying with the paradigm of Reason as one's daw Reason Studios fell flat with this and half-assed things. Things like not everything in the gui is HD at this point in time. He also never explicitly talked about the ability to use third party vi's and such in standalone. He assumes people know about that and not everyone does. Something else not talked about is you lose the ability to opt-out of sharing usage data and such with corporate. That ability was there in R11 but as of R12 - sayonara.

Reason 12 feels bloated and the way the program handles DSP is concerning for large projects. Personally I'm not happy with the update because most of these features seem like visual improvements that do nothing for making music more efficiently. Reason keeps adding more and more instruments and effects as if thats what we need. Personally I have all of the VST and instruments I need...what I need is simple features like Auto-save, track folders/groups, and improved workflows. Whats worse is Reason Studios doesn't even acknowledge these features that the community has been asking for over the years. There's NOTHING about auto-save or track folders in the Reason 12 road map. So what version will these be a feature?? Or are they just NEVER going to add the features that other DAWS have had for years?? This is why I had to buy Ableton this year.

@HOLLASOUNDS

2 жыл бұрын

I dont like Abalten and cant you just get in the habit of just saving your self? Everytime I do somthing that might effect the sound of My song I save it. I have about 8 saves and then at the end when I'm happy with My sound, I delete the ones I don't need. I have never needed a auto save.

@thebrandonbeatty

2 жыл бұрын

@@HOLLASOUNDS The type of auto save I'm referring to is when the program crashes - There is no way to recover something in Reason. I have never lost a project with ableton. Can't say the same for Reason, even with constant saving.

@HOLLASOUNDS

2 жыл бұрын

@@thebrandonbeatty The answer is to regularly save, takes half a second so not sure what the issue is even if it crashes. If I hear something I like I think "ooow let Me just save that quick". I dont even bother naming, I just click save as "gvhfctyyccyyc" what ever just slap the keys his save name it after. I save everything all the time.

@thebrandonbeatty

2 жыл бұрын

@@HOLLASOUNDS Yeah, I understand and I do regularly save after each change or addition of a plug in/rack extension. The issue is when reason crashes during audio recording which you will lose the recording and take. Versus other programs will write the recordings directly to your disk and even after a crash, the recording survives. This is one of many issues I have had with reason over the 14 year period I have used and invested in it. Also, it now crashes ableton anytime I try to use it as a vst plug in