Reason 6.5 - Any new workflow features, or just RE?

[Robert Randolph]

One other feature in 6.5

You will have to have internet on the computer you want Reason to be installed on. No challenge response or serial options. and as far as I know you cannot back up the rack extensions you buy. but they will store them online for you.

this bugs the shit out of me because I "like" to have a offline computer. But it will be cool for most people.. especially for those who use laptops for everything.

I really hope they eventually make a full version of reason for the ipad. I have not got one yet.. but plan on it in the future. especially with the docking options from alesis and so on. would be real nice to get rid of my loud and bulky PC....

I think you may be confused?

Currently you can choose between the internet authorization or a dongle. Internet auth requires a connection while you use reason, but the dongle does not. All new reason purchases come with a dongle, and upgraders can buy one.

This is not new in reason 6.5

we will not be able to buy any rack extensions without a computer connected to the internet. the computer you instal it on must be Online. the products will instal into reason but be "stored" online.

I saw in an interview that license for RE can be stored on the dongle, so you only need to be online to purchase them. I don't think this has changed. They will work without an active connection.

It's really no different than the hundreds of vst/au/rtas plugins that can only be bought online as it is, many of which require an internet connection for authorization.

[memyselfandus]

From the Prop.forum

Posts #5 and #9
https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/sho ... ost1021152

Originally Posted by..
Questions about 1 click rack extension install.
How about if your studio/production computer is not connected to the internet in any way? How would we get them onto our studio/production computer without the internet?

"Sorry, but you won't. You will need internet to use Rack Extensions, for sure."


"Rack Extensions can be licensed to your Ignition Key, sure.

But the actual download and installation of an R.E. will require internet connection on the target computer, as does "trying" an R.E. from the store.
Using R.E.s with a totally offline PC won't work.

While I can to some extent understand the wish to have a "clean" computer, internet connection is more or less a part of the computer system today. The operating systems themselves seem designed for it, and we certainly design for it when we create software. (As do other developers - I think you'll see more and more applications make use of "the cloud" for example).

This will not change, I think."

LudvigC

[Funk Dracula]

I haven't used Reason since version 3; the news of RE racks got me interested so I downloaded version 6 to try it out in demo mode and see were Propellerhead's have taken it. Felt like hanging' with an old friend... sort of.

I totally agree with the fact that this program is not well thought out window wise. It's a nightmare on a laptop; I can't imagine it even being remotely useable for those without two finger swipe capability to scroll all over the place. The best solution I came up with all around to deal with this graphical clusterf*ck was to detach the rack, mixer and sequencer windows and toggle through them with command + ~ and learn the key command shortcuts. The mixer window is downright HILARIOUS. I know Propellerhead's likes to simulate hardware graphically in the Reason experience; but this is just....

I remember this program being much easier to use on a laptop. If they added a few more shortcuts to either make elements appear or disappear it would help workflow a lot. I can't comment on the Record workflow side of things, but I'd almost say every last negative thing concerning workflow on the sequencer/softsynth side is 90% graphical. I'm sure it's fine if you have the worlds most ginormous monitor and can leave everything fully displayed.


In the rack it would be pretty neat to have a command that temporally ties devices plugged into each other into one view. So if you had a rack a mile long, and alllll the way at the bottom was a subtractor who's LFO is plugged into the feedback of an echo alllll the way towards the top, you could flip the view to see both these devices next to each other in the rack to tweak both without having to scroll. Or even something like a modifier and clicking on devices to select them, and then hitting an option to only see those devices. Make sense?

I think a big plus for workflow in the edit window would be the ability to hide or unhide the parameter automation lanes instead of having to mouse over and resize or drag it all the way down to give your piano roll the screen space it needs. Didn't there used to be a button for that??? I can't remember... but pretty sure there was. I like it now; arrange window great, love the blocks... Command + E piano roll/edit window... now just give us one more command to toggle on or off the parameter lanes. Done. Also a key command to change grid/snap resolution would be great. Props gave us the command S to toggle snap on/off so we don't have to mouse up there, take it one tiny step further and let us go up/down the snap resolution with out the mousing.

And the mixer is obvious. Dudes, just put a little triangle on all the separate sections of the mixer to collapse them. I laughed when I first saw this mixer, searched the PDF's cause I thought there's NO WAY this could be the way it was intended. It's so long, they should have just put the routing matrix at the very top to really make the SSL "authentic" looking while they were at it. So much screen real estate it takes why not at that point? It could of even served a real purpose like routing to the Rewire outs or your interface ins/outs. (EDIT; MY BAD, YOU CAN HIDE ELEMENTS OF THE MIXER, SEE POST BELOW.)

It all comes down to the massive amount of scrolling and window resizing that is needed to work in Reason. It's like trying to watch an IMAX movie through a pinhole cut in a piece of paper.

Just about every DAW has this about nailed down... the only time you should be scrolling is left to right in a mixer with a massive track count, or in an arrange/edit window zoomed in. In Reason it's left to right, up and down, and constant window resizing for about every last action your working on. Workflow killa'.

-B

[Crackbaby]

Im not 100% i fully understood, but you can hide mixer elements by clicking somewhere on the right. You could only show faders and eq for instance if you wanted.

I think props really could try and make the GUI as slim as possible.

[liquidsound]

The cable madness that can be created in long racks as Funk pointed out could be alleviate by switching to a graphical layout like synthedit/reactor/tassman/m4L etc. view at the choice of the user when needed.
Now you can use an horizontal system for the rack so you can group things in parallel rather then just vertical and deep but stil for laptop users is no way practical and time consuming.
Orion has a large mixer but the way is done is very useful on a lap top as well.

[damoog]

polar has just been announced here on the home page(and the props site)...its gonna be £55/$69 which is a fair price if its gonna kick ass...im waiting patiently but am i right on thinking it will be the end of the month for 6.5

[pc999]

polar has just been announced here on the home page(and the props site)...its gonna be £55/$69 which is a fair price if its gonna kick ass...im waiting patiently but am i right on thinking it will be the end of the month for 6.5

Seems expensive, for such a small thing.

[ghettosynth]

polar has just been announced here on the home page(and the props site)...its gonna be £55/$69 which is a fair price if its gonna kick ass...im waiting patiently but am i right on thinking it will be the end of the month for 6.5

Seems expensive, for such a small thing.

Polar != Pulsar. Polar is a fairly comprehensive pitch shifting plugin. I'm not necessarily defending their pricing, just clearing up "potential" confusion. If you knew this already, my apologies in advance.

[memyselfandus]

From the Prop.forum

Posts #5 and #9
https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/sho ... ost1021152

Originally Posted by..
Questions about 1 click rack extension install.
How about if your studio/production computer is not connected to the internet in any way? How would we get them onto our studio/production computer without the internet?

"Sorry, but you won't. You will need internet to use Rack Extensions, for sure."


"Rack Extensions can be licensed to your Ignition Key, sure.

But the actual download and installation of an R.E. will require internet connection on the target computer, as does "trying" an R.E. from the store.
Using R.E.s with a totally offline PC won't work.

While I can to some extent understand the wish to have a "clean" computer, internet connection is more or less a part of the computer system today. The operating systems themselves seem designed for it, and we certainly design for it when we create software. (As do other developers - I think you'll see more and more applications make use of "the cloud" for example).

This will not change, I think."

LudvigC

However.. I heard from someone today that this is false and we will be able to buy the RE's for a offline computer.

[mellotronaut]

polar has just been announced here on the home page(and the props site)...its gonna be £55/$69 which is a fair price if its gonna kick ass...im waiting patiently but am i right on thinking it will be the end of the month for 6.5

Seems expensive, for such a small thing.

if RE effects are in this price range i won't be able to buy much and i won't buy anything that doesn't have anything to offer i can't get already with the stuff, i have.

the probs are a funny camp. one effects' plug in for more than half the price of a Reason upgrade (except 5 to 6).

[ghettosynth]

polar has just been announced here on the home page(and the props site)...its gonna be £55/$69 which is a fair price if its gonna kick ass...im waiting patiently but am i right on thinking it will be the end of the month for 6.5

Seems expensive, for such a small thing.

if RE effects are in this price range i won't be able to buy much and i won't buy anything that doesn't have anything to offer i can't get already with the stuff, i have.

Technically then, you probably don't need anything, amiright? I mean, we can pretty much make any sort of music that we want with reason already, why buy anything else?

the probs are a funny camp. one effects' plug in for more than half the price of a Reason upgrade (except 5 to 6).

What you can be sure of is that there will be competition. So even Props will have to respond to this in their own market. Now, that doesn't mean that they're going to lower their prices necessarily, but, I suspect that, like the apple/android markets, you will see a wide variety of prices and quality and some downward pressure on prices.

That said, it's probably not reasonable to expect Apple like app pricing overall and I doubt that's a good strategy for anyone entering that market.

[memyselfandus]

I think it will be a free upgrade for Reason 6 owners?

[ghettosynth]

I think it will be a free upgrade for Reason 6 owners?

That would make a lot of sense given that the entire purpose of RE is to sell complementary products.

[bmrzycki]

What you can be sure of is that there will be competition. So even Props will have to respond to this in their own market.

Well, I had a conversation with someone developing REs the other day and the person told me Props was providing a lot of pressure to tell the person to price his/her plugins higher. It's entirely possible Props is pushing this on other devs as well. Which, if true, is unfortunate.

[ghettosynth]

What you can be sure of is that there will be competition. So even Props will have to respond to this in their own market.

Well, I had a conversation with someone developing REs the other day and the person told me Props was providing a lot of pressure to tell the person to price his/her plugins higher. It's entirely possible Props is pushing this on other devs as well. Which, if true, is unfortunate.

I agree with Props on this. The Apple/Android markets are not better for their cheap prices. The downward pressure on pricing correlates with low app quality.

What you want is a good selection of plugins that perform the intended tasks well. What you don't want is a market saturated with low quality half-ass attempts to make a quick buck (I'm looking at you iPad).

It is well known that in both the apple and android markets that certain trends have evolved from early decisions. This is why we have so many $1, $5 and $10 apps. The size of the props market will be MUCH smaller than apple/android, so this simply will not work for any dev trying to make a living selling synths/effects. For most larger devs the Props market will complement the larger VST market of course, so it won't be their sole source of income, but, it's still important to avoid the spiraling death dive to price=marginal cost.