Reason high-res beta starts soon!!!

[festeringheap]

Someone on YouTube asked about hi-rez REs. Reason Studios:
The beauty of the RE format is that since day one RE's have been built to support this resolution so that means that they're already all ready for it. Every RE you own will benefit from this graphics update, which is pretty incredible when you think about it compared to other plugin formats actually. (if you ask me!) /ryan

So, then why is Hi-rez Reason taking so long?
Since Reason 6, in 2011, a decade ago, and going forward, every device by created by Propellerhead/ReasonStudios would already be hi-rez ready. The Echo, Pulvreriser, Alligator from Reason 6 2011, are REs.

So, 10 years to do Subtractor, Malstrom, Thor, Redrum, Kong, two samplers skins and the half-racks?

Maybe the hi-rez cables were tying things up.

[jarnold]

There's a lot of cool bars near them so its either beer or working on Reason. They choose beer!

[Tronam]

So, then why is Hi-rez Reason taking so long?
Since Reason 6, in 2011, a decade ago, and going forward, every device by created by Propellerhead/ReasonStudios would already be hi-rez ready. The Echo, Pulvreriser, Alligator from Reason 6 2011, are REs.

So, 10 years to do Subtractor, Malstrom, Thor, Redrum, Kong, two samplers skins and the half-racks?

Maybe the hi-rez cables were tying things up.

They've probably had to put this on the back burner for a while due to memory limitations and general performance issues on mainstream computers at the time. The frame rate when scrolling the mixer or multi-column racks has always been on the low side with HiDPI displays and 4K assets would likely require 4x as much RAM, making it even worse. I'm hoping the final release will be able to utilize the GPU to accelerate it now.

[antic604]

They've probably had to put this on the back burner for a while due to memory limitations and general performance issues on mainstream computers at the time. The frame rate when scrolling the mixer or multi-column racks has always been on the low side with HiDPI displays and 4K assets would likely require 4x as much RAM, making it even worse. I'm hoping the final release will be able to utilize the GPU to accelerate it now.

It's not a 3D game, lol. The GPU power and RAM amounts required to display a DAW on a 4K screen in 60fps are laughable compared to a modern 3D game. An embedded GPU that's on every i5 or i7 CPU from 10 years ago should be more than enough to drive 2x 4K screens.

No. They simply - for some reason - lost the ability for working on the main code of Reason (that's why the focus on new devices & sound content instead of features in recent years) and needed time to hire people and re-learn how all of it works under the hood. It seems they've finally got back on their feet, luckily.

[Tronam]

No. They simply - for some reason - lost the ability for working on the main code of Reason (that's why the focus on new devices & sound content instead of features in recent years) and needed time to hire people and re-learn how all of it works under the hood. It seems they've finally got back on their feet, luckily.

I have no idea how true any of that is and frankly, have never heard it before. All I know is scrolling performance in Reason with lots of onscreen devices has always been poor on HiDPI displays and GPU acceleration has helped immensely with other programs that need to move a lot of graphics assets across the screen, like Adobe Lightroom.

[antic604]

No. They simply - for some reason - lost the ability for working on the main code of Reason (that's why the focus on new devices & sound content instead of features in recent years) and needed time to hire people and re-learn how all of it works under the hood. It seems they've finally got back on their feet, luckily.

I have no idea how true any of that is and frankly, have never heard it before. All I know is scrolling performance with lots of onscreen devices has always been poor on HiDPI displays and GPU acceleration has helped immensely with other programs that need to scroll a lot of graphics assets across the screen, like Adobe Lightroom.

That's because all rendering (calculating & compositing of the final image) in Reason is still performed on CPU that is prioritising audio (as it should), so offloading it to GPU will help a lot. I'm just saying any old GPU will suffice.

[keel]

Well, that video was disappointing. I was expect to see the new hi res in action, but instead I got to see Ryan's supposedly so funny video. Anyway, good to finally see it. However, if there is no yet the hw acceleration, whats the point of the beta anyway.

[antic604]

Well, that video was disappointing. I was expect to see the new hi res in action, but instead I got to see Ryan's supposedly so funny video. Anyway, good to finally see it. However, if there is no yet the hw acceleration, whats the point of the beta anyway.

The problem with this beta is it will be very hard to show it on video, unless you'd decide to purposefuly make the current version my blurry with post-FX, like they did on this video

[EnochLight]

No. They simply - for some reason - lost the ability for working on the main code of Reason .. and needed time to hire people and re-learn how all of it works under the hood. It seems they've finally got back on their feet, luckily.

How would they have "lost the ability for working on the main code of Reason".. when literally one of the founding members of Propellerhead who wrote the "main code"... is still a dev at Reason Studios working on Reason?

No. The scenario you described is highly unlikely. What is likely is that - as always - they have prioritized their development based on limited time, resources, and adding features that would offer the largest return. We've all been using Reason - admittedly begrudgingly - on our 4K+ displays - for the past 10+ years and bitching about the low res for sure, but we've been using it nonetheless. I'd wager the people who left Reason or rarely use it these days didn't drop it just because of its lack of 4K+ assets as a top priority. Props/Reason Studios know very well what the top feature requests are, and I'd wager that supporting 4K+ HD assets wasn't that high on the totem pole, and it truly was a massive endeavor to push things into GPU acceleration territory (that is eventually coming).

*EDIT: I don't doubt that devs come and go, and sure - new devs have a learning curve, but to suggest the ability to work on the main code was lost seems unrealistic.

[antic604]

No. They simply - for some reason - lost the ability for working on the main code of Reason .. and needed time to hire people and re-learn how all of it works under the hood. It seems they've finally got back on their feet, luckily.

How would they have "lost the ability for working on the main code of Reason".. when literally one of the founding members of Propellerhead who wrote the "main code"... is still a dev at Reason Studios working on Reason?

I believe the person you're talking about is the DSP guru, not necessarily responsible for overall application. And it's not unheard of that things like that happen.

Obviously I hope I'm wrong - I'm "chained" to the Reason by EUR 1.5k+ of 1st & 3rd party REs I bought that I can't sell, so I hope they can turn around the ship and actually have it working. But boy do they have a long way ahead of them, still... (see my posts on previous page).

[EnochLight]

Obviously I hope I'm wrong - I'm "chained" to the Reason by EUR 1.5k+ of 1st & 3rd party REs I bought that I can't sell, so I hope they can turn around the ship and actually have it working. But boy do they have a long way ahead of them, still... (see my posts on previous page).

I'm confident we'll see the improvements discussed. BTW, I've got a similar amount invested into the Reason ecosystem, so trust me - I know what you're talking about! Been holding off switching my main studio workstation to 4K panels for this very reason, and I'm itching to do so.

Slightly off topic: I feel like between Reason Studios and Akai, I've got my work cut out for me.

[jarnold]

Reason going high rez is a huge shot in the arm for my ongoing usage of the instruments. However, Reason will have to really work on the DAW side of things to get me to use it. Compared to Ableton/Bitwig it is painful to use. I love it for how quickly I can get the sounds in my head but hate it for how hard it is to get the song down. Maybe the 4K update is the first step, I certainly hope so as it's a fabulous sound sculpting environment.

[antic604]

Slightly off topic: I feel like between Reason Studios and Akai, I've got my work cut out for me.

I'm strongly considering getting the M+
I found good deal locally and NI gives 6 free Expansions for purchases before May 11th
The I'll get Force, MC707 and Deluge and I'll have a perfect, standalong & portable setup

[SLiC]

Obviously I hope I'm wrong - I'm "chained" to the Reason by EUR 1.5k+ of 1st & 3rd party REs I bought that I can't sell

Yup- that why when I used Reason (before I went 4K ) I never bought a single RE and if I get it again I probably still wont! I realise there are a lot of advantages with RE's (one of the main ones being the graphics in the rack rather than a pop up window, so they need to make sure they look good!) but I have so many VSTs that I just don't want to start another ecosystem. At least a VST I can use in everything, and the VST3 format is actually pretty good.

[SLiC]

Slightly off topic: I feel like between Reason Studios and Akai, I've got my work cut out for me.

I'm strongly considering getting the M+
I found good deal locally and NI gives 6 free Expansions for purchases before May 11th
The I'll get Force, MC707 and Deluge and I'll have a perfect, standalong & portable setup

I talked myself out of the M+ even at £800...its just too limited compared to my Mikro MK3 and a laptop...very limited instruments (and not even with a GUI's, just numbers under knobs in many cases) and may too many reports of issues...I am kind of loosing fait in NI generally. So I sticking with my AKAI MPC Live 2 (which will hopefully get the much rumoured 'Force' update soon and have a proper song/arranger mode). I had and sold a Deluge- I just couldn't remember all the stuff you need to remember to use it without a screen! I bought the Polyend Tracker instead...no regrets.