Reason CEO quits at RS

[apoclypse]

I am not saying that Europa is the perfect synth but it is just as good as other older vst's.

Sound and look is also very subjective so one person might like a synth while the next person might hate it

That could be the case but we are in an era of Massive X, Serum 1/2, Pigments, Vital, Phaseplant etc. If Reason Studios wanted to make a standalone VST succeed they needed to bring their A game, not just in-terms of interface but sound as well. There is a lot of really good competition out there, on top of competing with DAWs that already have really good synths included. If they wanted to grab people's attention they need something different, that sounds phenomenal, and is modern looking. That's just the market we are in nowadays.

When Europa was released as a now discontinued VST back in 2018 there was no Massive X etc., so I'm not really sure what this discussion is about...

But there was Serum, Pigments came out the same year Europa did. OG Massive existed and already had a lot of the stuff Europa had (with arguably a better interface). Ableton added Wavetable in 2018. I was making a point that compared to its contemporaries it was a fairly weak VST release. The interface looked antiquated even then. The sound was nothing to write home about, and there were already plenty of Wavetable synths out there. There was no way they were going to compete directly with Serum, Pigments, OG Massive, and the like.

They should have went with Parsec imo. That's at least fairly novel.

[jens]

But there was Serum, Pigments came out the same year Europa did. OG Massive existed and already had a lot of the stuff Europa had (with arguably a better interface). Ableton added Wavetable in 2018. I was making a point that compared to its contemporaries it was a fairly weak VST release. The interface looked antiquated even then. The sound was nothing to write home about, and there were already plenty of Wavetable synths out there. There was no way they were going to compete directly with Serum, Pigments, OG Massive, and the like.

I disagree. I remember that when Reason 10 came out with Grains and Europa I found them to be the best looking synth interfaces I had ever seen. I found them absolutely stunning. And they're still really good.

Europe also was considered to be extremely powerful and versatile and still is today - but if you compare it to wavetable synths, you're bound to be disappointed by it as you're kind of missing the point, since as at heart it's actually a spectral synthesizer with the added advantage of offering wavetable-style access to the spectral waveforms. It sounds completely different to wavetable-synthesis though since going through the table directly morphs spectral recreations of the waveform instead of interpolating between single-cycle sample-playback. Europa can do things no real wavetable synth can do, however the waveform recreation will always have that weird kind of FFT-like sound.

[LaLivre]

I never got familiar with Europa synthesizer. I don't like that you have to start from scratch again in every slot and the sound is to sharp and snappy in my opinion.

But now it seems some new Rack Extension (another device nobody asked for) is coming:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1157053976302608

[jrwaltb]

What is interesting is that they just did something which I think could make them relevant again: They released/updated Recycle for free. Still the best way to slice and rex still sounds the best when time stretching specific types of drums. (even better than Ableton) In other words I think they still could be huge again with the right direction.. They are no where near the state of NI which hopefully the do a documentary one day which will reveal the Muppet who ran them into the ground.

[BlackOctopusSteve]

Fascinating

[xmstkvr]

I never got familiar with Europa synthesizer. I don't like that you have to start from scratch again in every slot and the sound is to sharp and snappy in my opinion.

But now it seems some new Rack Extension (another device nobody asked for) is coming:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1157053976302608

Osmium. Creative distortion FX. Published in their help file:

https://docs.reasondev.io/plusre/osmium ... ion-matrix

Osmium Distortion Matrix is a creative distortion effect. It’s designed to be quick for common tasks, like adding some warmth or grit to any sound, but also offer deep sound design options for advanced destruction and creative coloration. With several effect modules, multi-band processing, and free routing—it’s a sound processing playground.
#
Some typical use cases for Osmium
•
Add warmth and presence to any sound.
Try Saturation with some subtle EQ or compression and tweak to taste.
•
Add characterful distortion to an instrument.
Try Overdrive, a Cabinet or Resonator, and experiment with other effect modules to shape your sound.
•
Add punch to a mix or an entire drum kit.
Try multi-band processing with various Saturation and Dynamics modules for detailed control.
•
Add movement, modulation, and mayhem to anything.
Try harsh distortions like Wavefolder and Overdrive followed by a modulated filter or other effects.
•
Re-create a pedal chain to put before an amp simulator.
Try different distortion modules in series and effects like Noise Gate, Pitch Shifter, and Feedback to spice up your guitar or bass playing.
•
Sound like you!
Find your own sounds through experimentation. Pick and choose your modules and route them however you want. If it sounds good, it IS good!
#


I must admit I was underwhelmed a bit at the idea level, but after reading the manual and types of distortions and modules, it's a welcome addition. Plenty of colors. Pitch shifters, delay, saturators, etc.

I couldn't find how to make it "one band," though. Most of the time, I avoid multiband due to the heavy coloring. Linear phase crossovers cause a lot of delay for live use. Let's see what they've got under the hood next week.

Edit: found this in the manual: If you don’t activate the Low or High Band, the whole (full-frequency) signal is routed to the center (yellow) column of the Effect Slot Matrix.


So yea....looking forward to it.

[hotmitts]

I'm demo-ing Osmium, liking the morphing bit, and the Cabinet and Resonator functions - on whole would have like a really subtle saturation effect