Reason 12 is here

[EnochLight]

Not sure if anyone saw this yet, but for the first time in history - they released a public roadmap "plan" (not "promise" ) but it's looking pretty sweet so far:

https://www.reasonstudios.com/blog/roadmap-for-reason

Under development

Smart browser – October
In Reason 12 we delivered a new fresh and fast browsing experience. In October we plan to ship an update that organizes all your content in a better way and makes finding patches and sounds much easier

Hi-res rest of Reason – October
For Reason 12 the focus was to make the rack hi-res but in October we will ship an update that updates the remaining parts of the sequencer and UI to hi-res too.

More styles for Combinator 2.0 - November
Most of us spend too much time choosing the right button or knob to make our Combinators really pop. They make the Combinator so much more fun, and we want to have an even broader selection. And my personal testing shows that good looking Combinators sound better too..

M1 support – December
Reason will be updated to run natively on the Apple M1 processor.

VST3 support –January
Yes, you read that right! VST3 support is coming to Reason. This is a big project, but we are working to deliver this as soon as possible which is why it’ll take a bit longer than other stuff on the roadmap.

For all the people who claimed RS has "abandoned the standalone DAW", well - looks like you were wrong.

[imrae]

These all seem like things Reason 12 was meant to have at launch. Except maybe the browsing tweaks, which is presumably based on beta feedback.

Still waiting for basic clip looping.

[killmaster]

Not sure if anyone saw this yet, but for the first time in history - they released a public roadmap "plan" (not "promise" ) but it's looking pretty sweet so far:

https://www.reasonstudios.com/blog/roadmap-for-reason

Under development

Smart browser – October
In Reason 12 we delivered a new fresh and fast browsing experience. In October we plan to ship an update that organizes all your content in a better way and makes finding patches and sounds much easier

Hi-res rest of Reason – October
For Reason 12 the focus was to make the rack hi-res but in October we will ship an update that updates the remaining parts of the sequencer and UI to hi-res too.

More styles for Combinator 2.0 - November
Most of us spend too much time choosing the right button or knob to make our Combinators really pop. They make the Combinator so much more fun, and we want to have an even broader selection. And my personal testing shows that good looking Combinators sound better too..

M1 support – December
Reason will be updated to run natively on the Apple M1 processor.

VST3 support –January
Yes, you read that right! VST3 support is coming to Reason. This is a big project, but we are working to deliver this as soon as possible which is why it’ll take a bit longer than other stuff on the roadmap.

For all the people who claimed RS has "abandoned the standalone DAW", well - looks like you were wrong.

o good. I was hoping I was wrong.

[antic604]

I remain cautiously optimistic

[festeringheap]

These all seem like things Reason 12 was meant to have at launch. Except maybe the browsing tweaks, which is presumably based on beta feedback.

Certainly the first two points should have been done for R12 launch. But I don't get it: they said that Reason 12 would have a "vastly improved" browser, but then they need to spend another month or two working on it.

Or do they now mean, when they introduce a feature in a major Reason upgrade, that it'll be there, well, sometime in the life cycle of the R12 timeline?

I kind of expect when a company says that a certain something is a feature of a new version they have introduced, that it works at the initial launch stage. (Maybe I'm wrong, and this is the new way of business?)

And unless Reason Studios is planning to revamp with a new Sequencer GUI: transport, upper header, track header, how long does it take one graphic designer to come up with tiny new transport and upper header icons at all zoom levels? An afternoon? And even if it was a total revamp, it's just graphic elements which shouldn't take a month.

A month to come up with more knobs and buttons? Hopefully they'll push out something like an X/Y pad even! This would be a nice sell to Reason+ Soundpacks, as well. Twisting two knobs one labelled X and the other Y on a Combinator is a pretty lame experience, especially since Garageband in iOS (and mac) and a bunch of synths out there have X/Y morphing capabilities already.

A month for M1 support. I wonder how many people currently own an M1 mac? And if the graphics and such are so improved, could these few people just run under Rozetta for a few months longer while the DAW gets a few workflow improvements?

[EnochLight]

Certainly the first two points should have been done for R12 launch. But I don't get it: they said that Reason 12 would have a "vastly improved" browser, but then they need to spend another month or two working on it.

R12's browser already is vastly improved compared to 11 and earlier - as far as speed is concerned. It now does recursive search, so as you type in text, it pops up instantly (compared to the pre-12 version where it could take literally ages for anything to pop up). I suspect that the "vastly improved" in this case means more features are coming, and if I was a betting man - I'd say metadata tags or similar.

Or do they now mean, when they introduce a feature in a major Reason upgrade, that it'll be there, well, sometime in the life cycle of the R12 timeline?

I kind of expect when a company says that a certain something is a feature of a new version they have introduced, that it works at the initial launch stage. (Maybe I'm wrong, and this is the new way of business?)

I hear ya, and I feel the same.

And unless Reason Studios is planning to revamp with a new Sequencer GUI: transport, upper header, track header, how long does it take one graphic designer to come up with tiny new transport and upper header icons at all zoom levels? An afternoon? And even if it was a total revamp, it's just graphic elements which shouldn't take a month.

Perhaps these items are far more "embedded" than we realize, and it requires more work? Beats me.

A month to come up with more knobs and buttons? Hopefully they'll push out something like an X/Y pad even! This would be a nice sell to Reason+ Soundpacks, as well. Twisting two knobs one labelled X and the other Y on a Combinator is a pretty lame experience, especially since Garageband in iOS (and mac) and a bunch of synths out there have X/Y morphing capabilities already.

I totally agree, and I also hope it includes momentary "pads" (ala Kong) as well as an X/Y pad. And seriously - the 32 switch/32 fader limit is lame. Combi designers are already running out of them and absolutely need more, so I hope they increase that number as well.

A month for M1 support. I wonder how many people currently own an M1 mac? And if the graphics and such are so improved, could these few people just run under Rozetta for a few months longer while the DAW gets a few workflow improvements?

We've gotten some users over at Reasontalk complaining about Rosetta lag/clunkiness with Reason on M1 Macs, so it certainly needs to be native.

[chk071]

For all the people who claimed RS has "abandoned the standalone DAW", well - looks like you were wrong.

It's a contemporary thing to expect everything yesterday. Unfortunately.

Ask the same people to work harder and faster in their job... and you know what reply you can expect.

[antic604]

For all the people who claimed RS has "abandoned the standalone DAW", well - looks like you were wrong.

It's a contemporary thing to expect everything yesterday. Unfortunately.

Ask the same people to work harder and faster in their job... and you know what reply you can expect.

That's a pretty disingenuous take.

You'd be fired from your job if at least you didn't try. Meanwhile people have been leaving Reason because it wasn't developing for years or at the very least took their toys to other DAW, because RS keeps the REs hostage. People have been asking for improved combinator for well over 10 years... That's a bit longer than "yesterday".

[chk071]

Define "it wasn't developing for years". I saw that they released new major versions, even with new features.

I can imagine that there are people who didn't get the features they wanted though. I also didn't feel the need to upgrade to Studio One 5, simply because I couldn't care less about the features introduced.

People shouldn't be so narcissistic. Everyone wants something different from his DAW. You can't please everyone.

E.g., I read "They don't listen to their users" the whole time. Who the hell are "the users"? Who the hell voted the features they added to Studio One 5 to the top? It surely wasn't me, I can give you that.

[EnochLight]

Meanwhile people have been leaving Reason because it wasn't developing for years or at the very least took their toys to other DAW, because RS keeps the REs hostage. People have been asking for improved combinator for well over 10 years... That's a bit longer than "yesterday".

I keep seeing people say this, yet RS have stated repeatedly that 50% of their active users are Reason DAW standalone still. For the record, that doesn't mean 50% left and took Reason to their DAW of choice - because 1. They've stated that they have sold more Reason licenses/subs since R+ than ever (hence, many of those RRP people may be new users), and 2. Most users have multiple DAW anyway.

Throughout both 9, 10, and 11's life we got multiple new features in point updates, so it's not like they've been resting on their laurels the whole time. And now we have an actual roadmap!

[antic604]

I keep seeing people say this, yet RS have stated repeatedly that 50% of their active users are Reason DAW standalone still. For the record, that doesn't mean 50% left and took Reason to their DAW of choice - because 1. They've stated that they have sold more Reason licenses/subs since R+ than ever (hence, many of those RRP people may be new users), and 2. Most users have multiple DAW anyway.

I know. But I wonder what the actual numbers are. Looking at Reasontalk - when I still could... - I could see many long-term users moving to other DAWs + many new faces, indeed.

[antic604]

BTW, pretty great review of Reason 12 (over 1h long, though):

[EnochLight]

BTW, pretty great review of Reason 12 (over 1h long, though):

s://youtu.be/RcciBCKof5E

Skipped through it.. Awww man - he lost me as soon as he 1. compared himself to Charles Darwin (because he ran into someone who was rude to him on the forums) and 2. incorrectly stated that Darwin's Theory of Evolution was "just an opinion" at first. I don't think that Youtuber knows how science works.

Weird that his review - featuring the new zoom - didn't show off the new zoom. He just hovered over the zoom options but then never changed them. But it is refreshing to see such a long piece featuring Reason like that. Well done, overall.

[bharris22]

In the past, Propellerhead touted an improved browser as the main feature of a full point paid-for release. I guess we can be thankful for small favors if they include it here for no extra charge. Here is the summary of Reason 8 from Sound on Sound (https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/pr ... d-reason-8):

"Reason 8 has been marketed with typical Propellerhead self-assurance and a good deal of hype. But compared to what was offered in other whole-point releases (and even some incremental ones, like the groundbreaking 6.5) the new features are rather underwhelming, I think. Ignore the slogans, get down to brass tacks, and what we have is a rejigged browser (which refines rather than redefines how we work), replacement guitar devices, and user interface tweaks. Shouldn’t this have been a ‘point’ release, and provided for free to existing Reason 7 users?"

This is why I (and probably other Reason users) are skeptical . . . .

[EnochLight]

Man - I completely forgot what a massive let down Reason 8 was at launch. It was literally just a redesigned browser (that was still as slow at searching as version 1.0), and we actually lost the Line 6 amps (I don't like the Softube replacements at all). Reason 12 (especially with the posted roadmap) is a breath of fresh air by comparison.