Reason 13.5 browser is atrocity.

[xmstkvr]

Reason Browser in Reason 13.5 is made by the fools for the fools.

Every time I say to myself, let's give a chance to this crap for X time, I get bitter.

What idiots made this software? You literally can not drag samples to a VST instrument from their own browser.

Redrum is fine, but I wanted to load some kits in Groove Agent SE (shipped with Cubase 15 Pro). Draggin sample to it doesn't work.

So at this point, I am like...ok, perhaps Groove Agent SE is too new or unfinished. I load Groove Agent 5 - I can not drag a sample to the sample slots...

Ok, what the...

Load Halion sampler and tried to load samples...it doesn't work!?! You literally can not do it.

What were these guys thinking when developing this? Of course, sample drag and drop loads fine into their own instruments.

There is always something silly with this amateur software. Just why? In 2026, after so much time, it existed they couldn't make their browser drop samples onto 3rd party.

I can't wait for a Reson genius to drop here and tell me "you are holding it wrong" and advise me to use Windows Explorer to drop samples to Halion (that actually works btw). And no, "run as Administrator" doesn't work.

Of course, I just tried the same action within the Ableton browser, works fine. Reaper fine. FL Studio is fine. When using their own browsers, drag and drop to Halion or Groove Agents works just fine.

[jens]

Yes, I agree - the whole thing is a f**k up of epic proportions. Before there was one browser and it was very capable (not saying it could not have been improved) and now there are two different browsers who are kind of competing with each other (where for doing one thing (adding a device) you are, depending on the circumstances forced to either use one or the other - no kidding) and both are vastly inferior to the old browser. It's a complete and utter travesty.

[Benedict]

The Browser is a thing I just barely use. I can find & use my own samples there but browsers are just not how I work - anywhere. But it does seem to be a conundrum. I think they tried hard for something, but I also think they have lost a guiding force so have become self-referencing and that self is scared. Scared of other DAWs so trying to copy bits of them without understanding if they work in the Reason thing.

I don't use the Browser but I do use the Piano Roll and the new-improved split screen is ever so hipster. But unfortuantely while it has some cleverness, the cleverness ended up being more important in thier minds than whether it really works well for anyone with more than 4 instruments who wants to see several tracks of MIDI at once (a really important feature).

Hopefully, with LANDR, things can settle and a product lead can dig back into what makes Reason Reason, rather than what would make Reason more like Ableist Lied or CubeAss or Funder Uno or... Reason's difference is what made it special, great.

[jens]

The Browser is a thing I just barely use. I can find & use my own samples there but browsers are just not how I work - anywhere. [...]
I don't use the Browser

How do you personally add devices in R13? How do you open device-presets?

[Benedict]

To open a synth/effect I will vary with no great logic between :
- clicking the + where I want the new device to slot in (except for when I want a Utility as oddy that is not an option!!!).
- right-clicking which was the old-scool way and yes it lets me add a Gain (it is a bit of a mess now with several entries saying the same things but delivering different outcomes)
- sometimes I just feel I should use the list of pretty pictures.

Note that I never (as a general rule for anything except tossing together Rex loops for demo videos) launch from a preset, as I just don't use presets. Not even my own. If I want Saturation I add Scream, swap to Tape, pull back the Drive, Raise the Tone & drop the Compression, and Raise the Output. To me that is way faster and more effective than loading someone else's preset, which is nothing like what I want anyway. I know my tools, so presets are like random sauce when you know you want Ranch. You have to scrape the stinky Squid stuff off, which ruins the pie.

[jens]

Hopefully, with LANDR, things can settle and a product lead can dig back into what makes Reason Reason, rather than what would make Reason more like Ableist Lied or CubeAss or Funder Uno or... Reason's difference is what made it special, great.

Yes, I agree with that inasmuch as that I think they should when adding new features/new functionality be extra careful to change as little as possible about how Reason works and looks.

Nigh everything they added/changed in Reason was a crass change and/or for the worse.

What's these weird, ultra-tiny icons on the audiotrack headers? That's just dirt basically - way to tiny to even see what it's supposed to depict. Before R13 the audiotrack-headers had these pretty waveforms which looked classy and made it easy to distinguish audio-tracks from instrument-tracks. why in god's name had to change that for something that is outright just fugly? It really makes less that no sense at all!

[jens]

To open a synth/effect I will vary with no great logic between :
- clicking the + where I want the new device to slot in (except for when I want a Utility as oddy that is not an option!!!).
- right-clicking which was the old-scool way and yes it lets me add a Gain (it is a bit of a mess now with several entries saying the same things but delivering different outcomes)
- sometimes I just feel I should use the list of pretty pictures.

But if you click the + now in the insert-slots and click "add effect" it opens the new f**king browser instead of the regular one (which also means it only offers you to add REs/built-in devices but no VSTs ). Either that or it's that menu-list that has no search function and is mandatorily ordered by manufacturer. Right click works ("find device"), but it's a huge f**king menu that you have to find the right entry in.

Or you can of course just give up and go to the devices browser (ie. the original, now completely castrated) browser directly.

Note that I never (as a general rule for anything except tossing together Rex loops for demo videos) launch from a preset, as I just don't use presets. Not even my own. If I want Saturation I add Scream, swap to Tape, pull back the Drive, Raise the Tone & drop the Compression, and Raise the Output. To me that is way faster and more effective than loading someone else's preset, which is nothing like what I want anyway. I know my tools, so presets are like random sauce when you know you want Ranch. You have to scrape the stinky Squid stuff off, which ruins the pie.

Not every device has a total of just 11 parameters. And especially with (potentially a lot) more complex devices it can mean a lot of time-saving to start from a preset - especially if like me you tend to often use rather similar settings.

Here's something you seem to be unaware of: you can actually save your own ones so you don't have to rely on other people's presets.

[Pepin]

Right click works ("find device"), but it's a huge f**king menu that you have to find the right entry in.

You can also do this, to minimize mousing:
- Press Ctrl-Shift-F
- Start typing the name of the device
- Press the down arrow key to select the device
- Press Enter to instantiate it

It will get instantiated / auto-routed according to whatever is selected in the rack (instrument, insert slot, master section for sends, etc).

For the OP's issue, there is no solution. That's just the way Reason works, and I wouldn't hold your breath hoping for it to change. I would guess it's because samples inside Refills aren't accessible by VSTs (including factory samples), so the feature would be only half functional even if implemented. I'm not defending it, to be clear.

Halion and Groove Agent both have a built-in browser next to the Media Bay iirc, so you shouldn't need to use Windows Explorer.

[SebAV]

Halion and Groove Agent both have a built-in browser next to the Media Bay iirc, so you shouldn't need to use Windows Explorer.

Great ! So I wonder if we have to take seriously that quote from the OP

What idiots made this software?

Thanks to all for sharing your experience with Reason. I’m using RRP inside Live. I’m not a « browser guy » but I much prefer Reason’s browser. In fact, it’s making me enjoying using tags and « advanced search ». And it’s great they have tagged the sound designers’s names.

[xmstkvr]

For the OP's issue, there is no solution. That's just the way Reason works, and I wouldn't hold your breath hoping for it to change. I would guess it's because samples inside Refills aren't accessible by VSTs (including factory samples), so the feature would be only half functional even if implemented. I'm not defending it, to be clear.

Halion and Groove Agent both have a built-in browser next to the Media Bay iirc, so you shouldn't need to use Windows Explorer.

Your guess is wrong. In the picture I posted, I am dragging and dropping samples from my hard drive folder. Note that the exact same samples load fine, and I can drag and drop them to Halion or Groove Agent just fine from literally every single other DAW existing on the planet Earth to this date.

Yes, I know Groove Agent has a browser. So does Halion. So does WaveAlchemy Triaz and so on. There we are going full circle. I knew there was going to be someone like you trying to tell me, "I am holding it wrong". Spare me "I am trying to help" with being "mister obvious".

For crying out loud, I do not intend to remember, to configure or reconfigure, or to use any and every god damn browser shipped with hundreds of instruments.

You wouldn't belive but that's exactly why people use their DAW browser so that they have one they know best and so that they can fly.

Which was my initial point: Reason browser is atrocious. Why? Because I can not use it for the bare minimum of loading SAMPLES FROM MY FOLDER. Not from Refill (who even mentioned that?), while at the same time same action works just fine within 100% other DAWs. For the record, I tried in MuLab, and it works there as well. So my point is valid - these people at Reason Studios are clowns.

I imagine LANDR is going to fire up a lot of people from Reason Studios, and rightfully so. Then they can use AI to build a browser that can drag and drop from a browser to an instrument. You know.

And the saddest part in this epic nonsense would be that in this case, it was a valid personnel drop because for two decades, they couldn't figure out how to code a drag and drop.

[Pepin]

For the OP's issue, there is no solution. That's just the way Reason works, and I wouldn't hold your breath hoping for it to change. I would guess it's because samples inside Refills aren't accessible by VSTs (including factory samples), so the feature would be only half functional even if implemented. I'm not defending it, to be clear.

Halion and Groove Agent both have a built-in browser next to the Media Bay iirc, so you shouldn't need to use Windows Explorer.

Your guess is wrong. In the picture I posted, I am dragging and dropping samples from my hard drive folder. Note that the exact same samples load fine, and I can drag and drop them to Halion or Groove Agent just fine from literally every single other DAW existing on the planet Earth to this date.

You're not reading my post correctly.
I did not claim anywhere that you personally were attempting to load samples from a Refill.

I was speculating on the reason this feature might not be implemented. Namely, it would lead to inconsistent behavior when search results mix "loose" samples and samples embedded in refills and factory libraries. It's essentially the consequence of copy protection decisions made years before VST support was added. Again, just speculation on my part.

I'm not defending it, but there is probably some explanation behind the decision other than sheer incompetence. I'm quite familiar with how other DAWs handle this.

BTW I do not personally use Steinberg VSTs in Reason because they do not play nicely with Reason's onscreen keyboard. Just a warning.

In my experience using Reason and Cubase (among others), Cubase is buggier and crash prone, while Reason lacks a lot of basic features. It's a matter of choosing which imperfect tool to use for the job. That is the only productive course of action.

[jens]

Right click works ("find device"), but it's a huge f**king menu that you have to find the right entry in.

You can also do this, to minimize mousing:
- Press Ctrl-Shift-F

Yes, thanks, I know - it's the shortcut for the menu entry I mentioned (actually the shortcut is named right there in the menu)

- Start typing the name of the device
- Press the down arrow key to select the device
- Press Enter to instantiate it

It will get instantiated / auto-routed according to whatever is selected in the rack (instrument, insert slot, master section for sends, etc).

And thus the rest is identical to clicking the menu-entry.

[Pepin]

And thus the rest is identical to clicking the menu-entry.

True, wasn't sure if you knew it was all controllable via the keyboard. The down arrow shortcut was only added in Reason 13, so some mousing was required in prior versions.

[jens]

And thus the rest is identical to clicking the menu-entry.

True, wasn't sure if you knew it was all controllable via the keyboard. The down arrow shortcut was only added in Reason 13, so some mousing was required in prior versions.

Ah, thanks - tbh I didn't know as I just started using Reason again since LANDR took over and at least Agevik is gone (I'm frankly hoping/waiting for another head to roll) - but personally I usually prefer the favorite-button and the search field anyway...

albeit it's no comparison to what the browser once was before it got so idiotically castrated (for instance you could create your own device categories) - and they even had it improved for R12 .

[sellyoursoul]

A browser seems like the least likely thing that could get screwed up, yet it seems popular these days to wreck browsers. I wonder why that is.