To be frank, I really disagree.

Back in the early days there was this wonderful guy, if slightly a bit strange, called Doru Malaia. He made refills for Reason, using sounds from all sorts of soft-synths and other sources. People lapped them up, because at the time, Subtractor was not highly regarded - in fact, Subtractor still isn't regarded too well by most people. It's a stock synth, not particularly special. NNXT wasn't around at the time, and many non-Reason users disparaged the NN19 as "just an Akai clone" and Reason didn't have the M-Class effects then either.

But people still loved the software. It was totally about the environment. Totally about the way you could easily chain CV and Audio signals together, and make some crazy sounds very easily. In fact, version 1.0 was regarded as a toy - the users loved it, everyone else thought it sounded whack. Version 2.0 improved it somewhat, and the users were totally thrilled - but most other people didn't really respect it.

It wasn't until Reason 3.0 that the naysayers started to pay attention. Because tracks were coming out that were made in Reason almost entirely, and they sounded really good. The Prodigy had an interview where they claimed they did all of their latest album at the time, in Reason, which pushed Reason further into the consciousness of music makers.

I look at it like this: the best thing about reason is the rack environment. The way you can easily control a parameter on one unit, with a source coming from another unit... it's amazing. There is nothing else that does it as quickly and as easy as Reason does. And that is why Reason is well regarded. The high quality instruments and effects came later - much later.

Interesting points and excellent post. But to be more clear, by instruments/effects I am basically talking about the Rack as a single entity. Sorry if that wasn't so clear. As a long term user I have always seen the rack as the big focus, as a huge workstation replacement if you like (I'm a keyboard guy). Actually we are possibly saying much the same thing

By environment/platform/whatever I mean the lacklustre sequencer (sure, Blocks improved it a little, but still proved a whole lot less inspiring that Ableton's session view, for example), the new mixer in a separate third window, and the general ethos of keeping Reason closed off from the rest of the studio, such as no MIDI out or standard plugin support. Those are ideas that the Props still push, but which really haven't influenced others or taken off as successful ideas, which is why there are so many other successful alternatives. Not a single company has sought to follow the "lead" or example that Propellerhead gave, and there are compelling reasons for that.

Most musicians want to work in an environment that is fast and easy - hence the success of ACID when it came out, and subsequently Tracktion, Ableton and most recently Studio One. Also of course Pro Tools. And programmes such as Cubase, Sonar and Logic have all sought to achieve that elegant single window interface with all the main ingredients. When some have failed they have been seen as clunky and dated - just as Reason is actually seen by many (but don't tell the Props that!).

What I mean is that the consensus in music software design has for some time moved towards accepting the benefits of sometimes emulating hardware instrument and effect devices - as pioneered by Propellerhead more than anyone - but while making the overall programme environment software-centric, with a single window and ease of use paramount. Look at the software that has come along in the last five years, such as REAPER, S1 and Bitwig, and you see this trend growing from strength to strength - because it is widely recognised that this is what musicians generally want!

And unlike some here, I would far rather have a floating VST interface that I can see in conjunction with the sequencer/mixer, rather than have my screen divided into two or three separate (largely space wasting) sections, or completely separate windows viewed apart. It is in these ways that I think Reason in its latest form is a disappointment though ...

But the Rack... that will never disappoint. It is an inspiring a amazing working environment. Which is the main point I wanted to make (and I think we agree) - so it would be preferable in my view to see the full effort going into the rack and the rest of the programme abandoned or optional. The full Rack as a VST or Rewire client (without the bloat of the rest of Reason and it's CPU hit) would be preferable to me.

but, heck, I guess there are some who genuinely want their sequencer to be in multiple windows and follow an old fashioned hardware paradigm to the last letter, because Reason still has its circle of devotees (plus those that bought it because of the marketing hype I guess) so that's all good. It's a free world after all, haha!

Regarding the subtractor, I heard many songs back in the days with leads sounding so good that I still regard it as one of the best trance synths on the market. So the subtractor has some really great powers, thought it is long time since I heard anyone using it for what it is worth.

@eXode - interesting to hear an alternate opinion (i.e. positive) about subtractor. The combinator certainly helps matters, but I do think that the first developer to bring out an RE version of Dune/Synth Squad/Sylenth/Vaz etc will make a killing on the RE store.

I really like the Subtractor, though I sometimes wish that they would have upgraded/expanded upon it (i.e addition of Thor-like modmatrix, hi q "analog" waveforms, stereo, unison, and oversampling but still compatible with old patches).

The Subtractor has more curved envelopes than Thor, thus it's more "snappy" and in my ears, more musical. It's absolutely awesome for bass and lead, and the way the filter works in "linked" mode is just great for psy type leads or bass (i.e. filter 1 set to hp or bp linked to filter 2).

I rather would have in its original version; together with the old half-rack effects who made it much more oldskool sounding than the new digitalsounding competitors. The subtractor can recreate the sounds of Korg PolySix, Roland JX-8P and Roland TB303 better than any of the other synths in Reason, and better than many of the VSTs on the market.

I didn't mean that the original sound of the Subtractor we all know and love would change because of those additions. I don't see them likely to happen anyway, just my own wishes.

Yes, I agree on it's sound, I like it a lot too, a very "Japanese" sound. I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that the Subtractor filters are based on either Juno or Jupiter so that could explain it. Some characteristics I have noticed is that the filter doesn't seem to have the associated volume drop when increasing the resonance, something that most (4-pole) filter suffers from by design (those who don't have a gain compensation added). This is one of the Reasons it's extra suitable for i.e. bass sounds.

The Subtractor together with the half-rack Chorus is a great combination for getting a nice stereo sound (mono -> stereo routing). Still works today (for me).

Since you're talking about the Subtractor (same question for the NNXT). If I want to use for instance the Etch Red from FXPansion instead of the internal filters, am I be able to trigger its filter envelopes from the Sub/NNXT? There's no gate out from these devices is it? I know that i can use Matrix to trigger both, but I would want to trigger them from the main sequencer.

Since you're talking about the Subtractor (same question for the NNXT). If I want to use for instance the Etch Red from FXPansion instead of the internal filters, am I be able to trigger its filter envelopes from the Sub/NNXT? There's no gate out from these devices is it? I know that i can use Matrix to trigger both, but I would want to trigger them from the main sequencer.

To be clear, I wasn't slating the Subtractor. I think it's more than usable, and sounds decent. But the general vibe in the non-Reason users camp was that it was poor, I distinctly remember debates about it around v1.0 to v2.0.

Please note that CV and audio in reason is one voice only, i.e. Etch's filter affects all the voices on the Subtractor at the same time, thus it isn't very appropiate for polyphonic sounds.