Decisions Decisions !
With Reason 3 coming out, I know that 2.5 could be had with probably a good discount. I have ST 2 LE (with the 1st esoundz group buy) and like ST but I'm wondering if I'll use/need all the sounds that come with the upgrade.
I've listened to a couple of Sonic Refills, and like the M tron stuff.
So I'm tempted to get Reason and just pick up the refill(s) I'd like.
How does the quality generally compare between ST sounds and Refill sounds?
I know they are basically different programs.
And as I'm a member,will esounds be selling Reason soon?
Thanks for your time.
Reason or ST 2 ??
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- KVRian
- 1327 posts since 8 Nov, 2003 from DC
If you're referring to the SR libraries, they are of uniform quality. Therefore, it is the respective pros and cons of each program relative to your neeeds that you should be looking at.
Asked as an either/or, I would say "yes". What I mean is that I use both and they each have their own place in my system. Look at what you want and nned to do and see what is appropriate
With Reason you get a very stable standalone app, with a sequencer good enough that you can create quality instrumental music in any genre.(I think that due to its popularity in the electronica scene, Reason is unfairly seen as a "dance" product)Any of the SR refills are of typical SR quality and a huge improvement over the factory soundset. As a rewire instrument with your regular host, Reason gives you the excellent NNXT sampler, ReDrum drum machine and Malstrom synth, all of which get you great sounds, are easy to use and light on the cpu. I am looking forward to the combinator module in Reason 3. It will allow a lot of the advantages of ST2's combi mode, but with some more routing flexibility and access to different sysnthesis types, eg VA(Subtractor) and graintable (Malstrom). The Sonic ReFills are an amazing value in terms of quality for price, and make it easy to customize your soundset.
On the other hand, ST2 is a true workhorse synth. The sounds, both IK and SR are very high quality and useable right out of the box. The ability in the full engine to get at all the parameters makes a big difference relative to LE, even if all you want to do is assign your own effects setups in multis and combis. and the ability to set up your own child presets as elements in your multis and combis is also important. I like the ST2 effects a little better than the Reason effects except for reverb (Reason's R7000 is a gem) and the brilliant Scream distortion module is a bit more flexible than ST2's distortions. Of course ST2 has effects from Amplitube and is better at crunchy guitar type overdrive sounds. I will wait and see how Reason 3's MClass dynamics and eq hold up to ST2's T-Racks derived effects.
ST2 is a much deeper synth than NNXT with Stretch and TS-PS to warp the samples and seperate effects for each layer in a combi. Some of that will be overcome by combinator, and with the presence of Malstrom and the other modules so in a way Reason as a whole is a deeper synth than ST2. There are a lot of cool things you can do in Reason that require a lot of effort to set up the routing for, but ST2 is far superior as a plug and play device with easy access to the most important power-user elements at the same time.
As I said, I don't see this as a strict either or. Get Reason if all it has to offer, cumulitively, is something you want and need. If not don't but you can have and use both to advantage. If you do opt for Reason ST2 will still be of great use to you, but if all you need is a workstation-type sample playback synth, ST2 is the ticket and you probably don't need the rest of what you get with Reason.
If what you want is total customization, a hybrid approach might be to buy Reason and then there is a deal with esoundz currently where if you but I think 2 Expansion Tanks you can get the ST2 engine for $99. Then pick and choose expansion tanks and ReFills to suppliment what you have with SS1. The Engine deal also applies to SS2, which is possibly a better deal in terms of volume. Having SS1, if you get SS2 you won't really need the box set ReFill, but can pick out what you want from the mellotron, the vocals, the ethnic stuff, etc. In any case, Reason or not I strongly advise you to get SS2 with the engine, so you can get all the sounds under one roof. The $199 upgrade is too good a deal for any SS1 user to let go.
There are a lot of other scenarios and permutations. Assess your needs and see what is best for you. It depends on what you're trying to do musically and how much you want to spend. Any way you slice it, you win.
Asked as an either/or, I would say "yes". What I mean is that I use both and they each have their own place in my system. Look at what you want and nned to do and see what is appropriate
With Reason you get a very stable standalone app, with a sequencer good enough that you can create quality instrumental music in any genre.(I think that due to its popularity in the electronica scene, Reason is unfairly seen as a "dance" product)Any of the SR refills are of typical SR quality and a huge improvement over the factory soundset. As a rewire instrument with your regular host, Reason gives you the excellent NNXT sampler, ReDrum drum machine and Malstrom synth, all of which get you great sounds, are easy to use and light on the cpu. I am looking forward to the combinator module in Reason 3. It will allow a lot of the advantages of ST2's combi mode, but with some more routing flexibility and access to different sysnthesis types, eg VA(Subtractor) and graintable (Malstrom). The Sonic ReFills are an amazing value in terms of quality for price, and make it easy to customize your soundset.
On the other hand, ST2 is a true workhorse synth. The sounds, both IK and SR are very high quality and useable right out of the box. The ability in the full engine to get at all the parameters makes a big difference relative to LE, even if all you want to do is assign your own effects setups in multis and combis. and the ability to set up your own child presets as elements in your multis and combis is also important. I like the ST2 effects a little better than the Reason effects except for reverb (Reason's R7000 is a gem) and the brilliant Scream distortion module is a bit more flexible than ST2's distortions. Of course ST2 has effects from Amplitube and is better at crunchy guitar type overdrive sounds. I will wait and see how Reason 3's MClass dynamics and eq hold up to ST2's T-Racks derived effects.
ST2 is a much deeper synth than NNXT with Stretch and TS-PS to warp the samples and seperate effects for each layer in a combi. Some of that will be overcome by combinator, and with the presence of Malstrom and the other modules so in a way Reason as a whole is a deeper synth than ST2. There are a lot of cool things you can do in Reason that require a lot of effort to set up the routing for, but ST2 is far superior as a plug and play device with easy access to the most important power-user elements at the same time.
As I said, I don't see this as a strict either or. Get Reason if all it has to offer, cumulitively, is something you want and need. If not don't but you can have and use both to advantage. If you do opt for Reason ST2 will still be of great use to you, but if all you need is a workstation-type sample playback synth, ST2 is the ticket and you probably don't need the rest of what you get with Reason.
If what you want is total customization, a hybrid approach might be to buy Reason and then there is a deal with esoundz currently where if you but I think 2 Expansion Tanks you can get the ST2 engine for $99. Then pick and choose expansion tanks and ReFills to suppliment what you have with SS1. The Engine deal also applies to SS2, which is possibly a better deal in terms of volume. Having SS1, if you get SS2 you won't really need the box set ReFill, but can pick out what you want from the mellotron, the vocals, the ethnic stuff, etc. In any case, Reason or not I strongly advise you to get SS2 with the engine, so you can get all the sounds under one roof. The $199 upgrade is too good a deal for any SS1 user to let go.
There are a lot of other scenarios and permutations. Assess your needs and see what is best for you. It depends on what you're trying to do musically and how much you want to spend. Any way you slice it, you win.