What does Studio One 4 do that Reason 10 can't or vice versa?

[Forayer]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get your opinions on differences in capabilities between Studio One 4 and Reason 10.

I like both for various reasons, however, being relatively new to the world of music production I'm interested in hearing the opinions of others who have had experience with both software DAWs as both intrigue me.

My feelings are that Reason inspires more creativity by virtue of the unique rack GUI and cable routing options as well as covering nearly all bases in regards to included instruments, effects, samples, etc. It seems geared more towards the hobbyist and those new to software music production.

Studio One 4 on the other hand feels more barebones, expecting the user to supply their own VSTs, but making up for this with its super clean and intuitive UI, I feel that's it's probably more geared to the professional music producer than the hobbyist.

I'm aware that there are professional musicians using both so they're both highly capable DAWs, but I'm seeking insight into the differences in capabilities/limitations.

Thanks for your time!

[D.K Envelope]

use them both reason rewire in studi one
i have 3 different daws all have their good points and bad points
i use , bitwig, reason , studio one 4

Bitwig= for synth stuff
Reason=for acoustic instruments
Studio one 4 = for mixing and mastering

in my opinion these are the best daw outhere

so i think for beat making you need good instruments
so Reason 10 is your choice

[Forayer]

So Studio One 4 is superior for mixing and mastering? Why is that?

[Deep Purple]

I don't have Studio One, but I have Logic X, Live and Reason.

Logic has more of a standard DAW approach, so I use it for most things; Live is suited to performance (using a Novation LaunchPad in my case); and Reason is much more suited to modular/CV.

I just use whichever one seems the most appropriate at the time

[THE INTRANCER]

So Studio One 4 is superior for mixing and mastering? Why is that?

The mixer (console) is easier to manage whilst being more configurable and accessible in ways that Reason just can't compare with.

Mastering should be pretty obvious, Studio One (Pro) has a dedicated Project Page for that, Reason doesn't.

[reggie1979]

I have both. I love both.

For one thing, it's much easier to use FX and sends. This is difficult to explain unless you've used both but reason it clunky with this. With Studio One you have all the used fx available to see in the console (depending on screen size and project, possible being able to see all the FX)

Like audio editing better, and Studio One has audio quantize. Reason simply doesn't have this. Stretch yes, audio quantize (through bend) no. And iirc, you can't simply quantize/groove a whole project in reason. Sorry if I'm wrong about that but with Studio One you can simply select all, quantize all and even transpose all. It's easy to do and speaking of quantize/groove, it's doable but more cumbersome in Reason.

Vst 3, and yeah, it can be a thing.

Easy peasy FX chains and presets, not so much with Reason. And a much more flexible browser and audition of loops at tempo (sadly lacking in Reason)

I'll remember more later, don't like marathon typing, but reason has terrific things too. Really, I wish some of my RE's were VST I love having both and I'm done chasing DAW's because both are so cool.

[xbitz]

not sure but I think manual tempo mapping is missing from Reason, for ex. in S1 if MIDI keyboars is used it can be recorded and tempo synced quite comfortable don't have to stress yourself with the metronome

https://youtu.be/zBvDNdnPsvE?t=546
from 9:06

and it's working more comfy now using audios (multi-track performance also can be corrected) too with latest updates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tdv8jwVeFk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epPYrGQpkr4
etc.

[keyman_sam]

In reason you cannot arm or record multiple midi tracks at once (say channel 1, 2, 3).

[mrj1nx]

They are quite different and come frome pretty different backgrounds. In the long run I think its highly beneficial to favour something more standard like s1 while Reason is more of a frankenstein situation. Reason started as something more like a toy that evolved over time into something more daw like. Just consider that they tried to keep external plugins from the system until they absolutely had to. Reasons stock plugins such as eq etc are lacking in features compared to more pro oriented daws like s1, logic, cubase. Theres still loads of great stuff within Reason though and tons of fun to mess around in.

[v1o]

They are quite different and come frome pretty different backgrounds. In the long run I think its highly beneficial to favour something more standard like s1 while Reason is more of a frankenstein situation. Reason started as something more like a toy that evolved over time into something more daw like. Just consider that they tried to keep external plugins from the system until they absolutely had to. Reasons stock plugins such as eq etc are lacking in features compared to more pro oriented daws like s1, logic, cubase. Theres still loads of great stuff within Reason though and tons of fun to mess around in.

Do you regard a set of wired up hardware sequencers, drum machines and synths as toys? Because that's exactly what Reason started off as in virtual form. There are good reasons why Reason started that way; chiefly that Reason was coded by a guy that originally made hardware synths (he coded the legendary Clavia Nord Lead used on countless hit records in the 90's), so this was his area of experience and the reason why Reason's internal instruments were of professional quality. Secondly because all other DAWs at the time either had no synthesisers or they were rubbish barely useable stuff like Model-E and VB1.

About Reason's stock plugins they are the way they are by design. Reason has a fundamentally different design philosophy to Cubase. And I would never regard Reason as being in a 'frankenstein situation', it's design is far more coherent than most other DAWs on the market with the exception of Live and Bitwig. If you look at the more recent Logic Pro stock plugins they are also much more streamlined in design (compared to the pre Apple acquisition and pre version X stuff). Reason also has a great mixer, one of the best SSL emulations on the market.

[lfm]

not sure but I think manual tempo mapping is missing from Reason, for ex. in S1 if MIDI keyboars is used it can be recorded and tempo synced quite comfortable don't have to stress yourself with the metronome

Perfect, thank you those videos - spot on what I look for.

[mrj1nx]

v1o, Id just agree to disagree on that. I have no doubt the creator is a genius and that everything in it is "by design", that still doesnt mean its better. And I used Reason for years, I know it inside and out. I would not recommend it to someone who want to go "pro" for real but sure if you want to use it as a scratch pad or creative playground/song starter etc.

[rlared]

Reason and Studio One are designed for completely different types of users. They both do a bunch of things that the other can't do. Reason is very quite unique in its approach, whereas Studio One would be more comparable to Cubase or Cakewalk by Bandlab.

All of the DAWs out are light years ahead of the tech that was used decades ago to produce hit records. When people say that one DAW is more "pro" than another, I think it's kind of silly.

[Forayer]

I appreciate the insight, thanks everybody!

[reggie1979]

Though "VST" is a huge add-on for Reason, it hasn't quite updated workflow stuff. After years of not using Studio One, I was blown away by how many significant workflow updates they have done. It's like buttah.