Reason Rack Plugin - saving and loading presets between different DAWs

[enCiphered]

How can I save a preset with the Reason Rack plugin?
All I can see is the disc button for saving presets for individual instruments and effects.
But I want to save the global Rack content as a preset and load it in a different DAW.

[antic604]

How can I save a preset with the Reason Rack plugin?
All I can see is the disc button for saving presets for individual instruments and effects.
But I want to save the global Rack content as a preset and load it in a different DAW.

The same like you save presets for any other native device in your DAW, which you didn't mentioned what it is (unsurprisingly...). You want to save Reason Rack plugin's state.

But also you can use Combinator to group all the instruments & effects within the Rack and save Combinator preset.

[enCiphered]

Hello antic604, thanks for your reply.
I want to exchange presets within Cubase and Live as an example. Of course I could save the Reason Rack as vst.preset in Cubase, but this won´t open in Live.
Could you please tell me how can I use this Combinator? Where can I find it? I´ve never used the Reason Rack before.

[enCiphered]

The same like you save presets for any other native device in your DAW, which you didn't mentioned what it is (unsurprisingly...). You want to save Reason Rack plugin's state.

But this is exactly the issue. ANY other plugin has the option to save a preset so I could use it in a different DAW. But Reason Rack plugin doesn´t seem to have this option. At least I can´t find it.
Like I said, I can only save presets for individual devices

[antic604]

Hello antic604, thanks for your reply.
I want to exchange presets within Cubase and Live as an example. Of course I could save the Reason Rack as vst.preset in Cubase, but this won´t open in Live.
Could you please tell me how can I use this Combinator? Where can I find it? I´ve never used the Reason Rack before.

You initially haven't mentioned which DAW you use AND that you want to move preset between 2 of them. That would make this conversation much shorter, if you did...

So indeed Combinator is your only option. It's like a Rack in Live, where you put & connect several devices inside and then save as single patch. It's in Reason Rack plugin's utilities cathegory. Here's a video I quickly googled for you:

[enCiphered]

You initially haven't mentioned which DAW you use AND that you want to move preset between 2 of them. That would make this conversation much shorter, if you did...

Wait a second..

How can I save a preset with the Reason Rack plugin?
All I can see is the disc button for saving presets for individual instruments and effects.
But I want to save the global Rack content as a preset and load it in a different DAW.

I´m using several, different DAWs. This is why I didn´t mention Cubase but I clearly wrote what I want to do.

Nevermind, thanks for your help and explanation with Combinator. That would mean I have to first re-build the whole setup as Combinator patch.
If you ask me, this is a major bug that you can´t save and load global presets with the Reason Rack plugin.

I´ll send them a ticket.

[antic604]

Wait a second..

You're right, sorry!

I´ll send them a ticket.

You do that, but it's not a bug - it works as designed & intended. Consider if Live was a VST, for example. You wouldn't have a Live VST patch called "Wavetable + Echo + Reverb". You'd have to load a Instrument Rack patch of that name into the Live VST. Here it's the same - you have to load Combinator patch.

[quincy]

I just saw this and I was curious myself about saving/loading rack presets and I just got Reason 11 Suite myself.

I make a quick rack in Reason VST (in Bitwig) and when I right-clicked on the VST device in the bottom bar of Bitwig I was able to select "Save VST3 preset" and then I saved that file with a normal filesystem dialog. I then closed Bitwig and opened Ableton Live 10 Intro. I then dragged that file straight from explorer into a Live 10 track and it opened Reason 11 rack VST and loaded the preset.

It seems to me that the VST3 preset is DAW-independent and it should work with any DAW. I don't use any other DAWs so I cannot verify this but I feel fairly certain that there is not a "special" format between Bitwig and Live, it's just a standard preset format. I guess the loading/saving of these VST3 files will be different in each DAW.

I just tried in Reaper as well (downloaded the demo, 64bit OSX) and I was also able to load the preset. I couldn't drop it from the file browser, but I loaded Reason Rack VST and then I was able to open the preset file and it loaded without any problems. It sounds like this is an issue with the specific VST3 preset handling in Cubase (the process of loading and saving) or perhaps a bug.

[enCiphered]

I just saw this and I was curious myself about saving/loading rack presets and I just got Reason 11 Suite myself.

I make a quick rack in Reason VST (in Bitwig) and when I right-clicked on the VST device in the bottom bar of Bitwig I was able to select "Save VST3 preset" and then I saved that file with a normal filesystem dialog. I then closed Bitwig and opened Ableton Live 10 Intro. I then dragged that file straight from explorer into a Live 10 track and it opened Reason 11 rack VST and loaded the preset.

It seems to me that the VST3 preset is DAW-independent and it should work with any DAW. I don't use any other DAWs so I cannot verify this but I feel fairly certain that there is not a "special" format between Bitwig and Live, it's just a standard preset format. I guess the loading/saving of these VST3 files will be different in each DAW.

I just tried in Reaper as well (downloaded the demo, 64bit OSX) and I was also able to load the preset. I couldn't drop it from the file browser, but I loaded Reason Rack VST and then I was able to open the preset file and it loaded without any problems. It sounds like this is an issue with the specific VST3 preset handling in Cubase (the process of loading and saving) or perhaps a bug.

Wow, that´s amazing! Thanks for the info @quincy!
I will definitely try that in Cubase and report

[enCiphered]

Wait a second..

You're right, sorry!

I´ll send them a ticket.

You do that, but it's not a bug - it works as designed & intended. Consider if Live was a VST, for example. You wouldn't have a Live VST patch called "Wavetable + Echo + Reverb". You'd have to load a Instrument Rack patch of that name into the Live VST. Here it's the same - you have to load Combinator patch.

No problem my friend! Thanks for your precious help
And the tip with Combinator!
I´m very new to Reason and for me, the Rack just opened a big new door of creativity which I want to share between all DAW´s I´m working with.

[quincy]

Wow, that´s amazing! Thanks for the info @quincy!
I will definitely try that in Cubase and report

You're welcome. I'm trying to make an effort to learn all these "workflow" things with the software I use. I think I've just been lazy in the past by not reading the manuals or taking the time and when you start learning this stuff properly with the workflow and keyboard shortcuts etc it makes all the difference.

I'm enjoying exploring the rack as well and I think the ability to load it into another DAW (I use Bitwig mostly) and take advantage of all the stuff that isn't so good in Reason is really helpful. Bitwig has amazing modulation/automation features and it's very easy bounce/slice/mess with audio so I get the best of both worlds. That said, I'm going to try using Reason standalone and see how I get on. With the player devices I can use a pattern-based workflow (like step sequencing) and stay away from the piano roll which I hate so it might actually work for me.

The point is - it's worth taking some time to really learn how these tools work. I've also downloaded the PDF manuals for all the additional REs that I own so I can learn what they do properly and not just browse presets!

[enCiphered]

Ok, I made some test presets in Cubase, saved them but they won´t open in Live 10, for whatever reason.
Drag & drop is not working and when I try to open the preset from within the Rack browser, Reason Rack can´t read the preset file.

[zvenx]

Yeah I indeed believe vst3 presets saved by the DAW are exclusive for that DAW.
I was/am with you, took me a bit of thinking ot realise you couldn't save a preset with Reason Rack in any traditional way. I wouldn't call it a bug per se, but clearly a Feature Request can't hurt, although I imagine they did this by design for whatever reason.
Fortunately create a Combi and saving that Combi as a more traditional preset was simple enough to do.
my two cents.
rsp

[quincy]

Ok, I made some test presets in Cubase, saved them but they won´t open in Live 10, for whatever reason.
Drag & drop is not working and when I try to open the preset from within the Rack browser, Reason Rack can´t read the preset file.

I think there’s a misunderstanding here. The vst3 preset is not a rack preset file, it’s a preset file that could be for ANY vst3 plugin. Think of it as a file that refers to the plugin that you’re using AND all the settings within it. In this case, its a preset file that says “save the state for reason rack vst3 and all its settings”. You’re not loading the preset into the reason rack, you’re loading it into the DAW track.

The preset I saved was able to be opened in Bitwig, Ableton and Reaper. It’s not DAW specific. When you drag and drop into Ableton make sure that you’re dropping into an instrument track and that the track highlights before you let go of the mouse button to “drop” the file.

If you can figure out the load/save vst3 preset process for each DAW you use then I think you’ll be fine. I’ll try another demo DAW tomorrow.

[beltrom]

Tried Creating a rack setup with Reason Intro vst (Thor + delay + amp) in Cubase Pro 10.5 and save. Started Studio One Pro 4 loaded that preset, no problem. Made some changes (swapped Thor for Europa f e) and saved under other name. Loaded that preset into Cubase Pro 10.5. Both ways seem to work fine. Nice!