Reason Studios CEO interview

[Tiny Montgomery]

But you can use Re's in the RRP?

I know and I do, but while I'm using another DAW I might as well buy VST's / AU's especially while RS wont offer any sales on it's devices - the only device I don't own from RS is BLG and the last offer was for R12 customers only and that just doesn't work for me as I'm not prepared to spend £199 to become a perpetual beta tester.

Being able to use quirky RE' instruments, FX & players and Combinators that do not have VST equivalents is one of the best things about the RRP. It was a no brainer for me to take the 129 R12 upgrade and get all that and what's to come and I hardly ever use the Reason DAW.

[jjpscott01]

I was very happy to hear him say they really want to focus on the Reason software itself and making it better. That was a good read.

[selig]

I found this to be the funniest bit so far.

We know that if people use Reason as plugin, they’ll eventually want to use it as a DAW too…

Yea, "eventually" being the key word, just like 'eventually' the DAW will get some attention.
Or possibly, folks will try the DAW and conclude it lacks key features they rely on in their DAW…

[Heater]

I found this to be the funniest bit so far.

Yea, "eventually" being the key word, just like 'eventually' the DAW will get some attention.
Or possibly, folks will try the DAW and conclude it lacks key features they rely on in their DAW…

He's delusional. I would imagine most folks who use the plug in aren't using Reason as their main DAW.

[Caelo]

If it's gonna be out in March, they have literally 3 days haha!

Indeed, that's what I meant.... they have to pull a fast one, not their greatest competence so far

My guess is that the interview was done before the latest changes to their roadmap.

The original release was planned for March, but the release was pushed to April. The interview was published in February, so they just pushed the release to make some finishing touches. The new release in April was also called out by Niklas on Twitter after Reason Studio relinked the article today.

Niklas message from twitter (@niklas_a): "Thank you Sam for taking the time to talk with me! (And to correct myself, the new effect comes out in April not March)"

[orthodox]

Yea, "eventually" being the key word, just like 'eventually' the DAW will get some attention.
Or possibly, folks will try the DAW and conclude it lacks key features they rely on in their DAW…

He's delusional. I would imagine most folks who use the plug in aren't using Reason as their main DAW.

Why? I imagine, if I started with Ableton or Cakewalk which I'm using now, I'd readily switch to the Reason sequencer. It's more convenient for me. The mixer is another matter, I prefer Cakewalk.

[Kilsane]

ditto for me, although having Bitwig, Fl and Live, the Reason sequencer is the one that I find the most pleasant in everyday life.
For FL studio, which has one of the "most complete" sequencers, it is also a labyrinth of menus and submenus.

[selig]

Why? I imagine, if I started with Ableton or Cakewalk which I'm using now, I'd readily switch to the Reason sequencer. It's more convenient for me. The mixer is another matter, I prefer Cakewalk.

Can you say more about why you prefer Cakewalks mixer over Reasons?
Other than some missing automation modes and oddities such as direct outs always muting the main out, pre fader sends being muted by the channel mutes, and a lack of solo isolate (ALL things available on the physical SSL), it works great for me. OK, would also love to see Peak + VU on all channel faders and peak hold displays as well. But otherwise I love working in the Reason "SSL" mixer - however, it could be because I got my start fairly early on the SSL way back in the mid 1980s, so I'm obviously biased towards working that way.

[Billy+]

Theses quite a few laughable answers in there :-

People have also been talking about your first price increase for Reason in 20 years – from $129 to $199 for a version update, and $399 to $499 for the full version. What was the thought process behind that?

No-one likes price increases, but I think we had the wrong price-tag for the value we delivered. You get 59 devices with Reason 12 – Mimic alone is a $100 product. So if you look at what our competitors charge, $499 is a steal. Show me a plugin bundle with 59 devices for $499. Again, I understand that people don’t like price increases, but we were underselling Reason at the previous price and that’s why we made the change.

Given the choice Mimic would not be on my list of RE's to buy and I definitely wouldn't be paying £100 for it, I don't think I would buy it for 50% off - I would much rather have brought R12 upgrade for £100 and left Mimic on the shelf but now it's included nobody is going to determine what it's "worth"

Then we have this

It typically goes two years between most of your numbered Reason updates. Will you that interval continue?

Yes, I think it will. But we aren’t thinking about Reason 13 yet, as there’s enough work to do with Reason 12. We’re offering a significant number of free updates, of which M1 and VST3 support will be a part.

Is that the plan or an actual promise?

I was a long time customer but as things stand I'm waiting for Apple Silicon support so it's native RRP in a better standalone DAW and it's going to take a whole lot more "features" before I start spending money in the shop

[QVprod]

I found this to be the funniest bit so far.

– As you alluded to earlier, Reason’s longtime customer base is quite large. In what ways have you tried to acquire new users without alienating old ones?

.....

The other part of growing our userbase concerns our product. Some people have used Reason for 10 – 20 years and want to see specific features added, but we also have to consider the nineteen year old who wants to use Reason as a plugin in FL Studio. So there’s a balance we have to strike between how much we invest in attracting new users versus keeping things exciting for long-time users. I think we’ve done a good job with that given the small size of our team. We know that if people use Reason as plugin, they’ll eventually want to use it as a DAW too, so developing a plugin is the best thing we’ve done in a long time. Once that happened, we saw Reason receive a lot more user engagement.

that's why so many of us long term users has decided within the last year to spend money on a different DAW.

I agree that RRP has helped with that move, but it's a move away from the RE eco system and until the standalone DAW gets these "features" how on earth does Reason Standalone entice people away from Logic Live Cubase Studio one...........

Well, because more features doesn't necessarily = better workflow. I still use Reason DAW despite having Studio One more often than not. I choose Machine over Studio One as well. Same reasons why people will ask for Reason to add a session view instead of just using Ableton I suppose.

[Billy+]

Well, because more features doesn't necessarily = better workflow. I still use Reason DAW despite having Studio One more often than not. I choose Machine over Studio One as well. Same reasons why people will ask for Reason to add a session view instead of just using Ableton I suppose.

Listen I totally agree with that sentiment "more features doesn't = better workflow" shit reaper instantly comes to mind (they give that away and I still don't use it )

But now I've seen the light I'm not spending £200 every 2 years in the hope I get something of value to me.

R11 is working fine (even with the bugs) and RRP in Live 11 is usable and with any luck at some point I will be able to use RRP in Logic running native but honestly if the current plan is rinse and repeat with the occasional squeeze I'm shopping elsewhere

[Creativemind]

If it's gonna be out in March, they have literally 3 days haha!

Indeed, that's what I meant.... they have to pull a fast one, not their greatest competence so far

My guess is that the interview was done before the latest changes to their roadmap.

Oh yes, you're probably right.

[QVprod]

Well, because more features doesn't necessarily = better workflow. I still use Reason DAW despite having Studio One more often than not. I choose Machine over Studio One as well. Same reasons why people will ask for Reason to add a session view instead of just using Ableton I suppose.

Listen I totally agree with that sentiment "more features doesn't = better workflow" shit reaper instantly comes to mind (they give that away and I still don't use it )

But now I've seen the light I'm not spending £200 every 2 years in the hope I get something of value to me.

Believe it or not, this applies to pretty much all software, not just Reason. I'm still on Studio One 4 because version 5 didn't offer much I needed. Heck, Waves tries to get you to pay for an update plan for plugins they don't update. I skipped Reason 8 for the same reason.

[orthodox]

Can you say more about why you prefer Cakewalks mixer over Reasons?

For a number of features:

• Mix scenes, switchable variants of mix settings
• Option for hiding mix channels/busses and saving/loading of visibility presets
• Sends go to regular channel/bus strips
• Peak/RMS/Peak+RMS meter modes, peak hold
• A better EQ (multiple bell and filter modes) and visual analyzer
• Built-in tube console and tape emulators on each channel
• Customizable insert fx plugin controls on a channel strip (6 knobs, 6 buttons, 2 faders), the thing we lost with the new combinator
• Presets of channel settings
• Dark skin

Other than some missing automation modes and oddities such as direct outs always muting the main out, pre fader sends being muted by the channel mutes, and a lack of solo isolate (ALL things available on the physical SSL), it works great for me. OK, would also love to see Peak + VU on all channel faders and peak hold displays as well. But otherwise I love working in the Reason "SSL" mixer - however, it could be because I got my start fairly early on the SSL way back in the mid 1980s, so I'm obviously biased towards working that way.

I still use Reasons mixer up to the point the track is ready for "serious" mixing, then I export channel stems and go to Cakewalk. If I should decide to re-export a stem later, it doesn't take long.

[Billy+]

Believe it or not, this applies to pretty much all software, not just Reason. I'm still on Studio One 4 because version 5 didn't offer much I needed. Heck, Waves tries to get you to pay for an update plan for plugins they don't update. I skipped Reason 8 for the same reason.

I've kinda resigned myself to R12 being the one I skip -

no biggie it will give me time to learn Live and if I get my hands on one of the mac studios I will almost certainly be buying a copy of Logic by which point R12 should be native so I might give the subscription a try again as it will be a cheap way to fully test it.

I'm definitely glad I didn't jump into the upgrade and a new M1 mini given the delay of M1 support especially now there's a new Mac Studio coming on stream. (Silver lining )

[selig]

Can you say more about why you prefer Cakewalks mixer over Reasons?

For a number of features:

• Mix scenes, switchable variants of mix settings
• Option for hiding mix channels/busses and saving/loading of visibility presets
• Sends go to regular channel/bus strips
• Peak/RMS/Peak+RMS meter modes, peak hold
• A better EQ (multiple bell and filter modes) and visual analyzer
• Built-in tube console and tape emulators on each channel
• Customizable insert fx plugin controls on a channel strip (6 knobs, 6 buttons, 2 faders), the thing we lost with the new combinator
• Presets of channel settings
• Dark skin

Other than some missing automation modes and oddities such as direct outs always muting the main out, pre fader sends being muted by the channel mutes, and a lack of solo isolate (ALL things available on the physical SSL), it works great for me. OK, would also love to see Peak + VU on all channel faders and peak hold displays as well. But otherwise I love working in the Reason "SSL" mixer - however, it could be because I got my start fairly early on the SSL way back in the mid 1980s, so I'm obviously biased towards working that way.

I still use Reasons mixer up to the point the track is ready for "serious" mixing, then I export channel stems and go to Cakewalk. If I should decide to re-export a stem later, it doesn't take long.

Some great features there, indeed. I gotta say, and this probably contradicts what I've lived most of my life, but I still get the same quality work done in Reason as I ever did in Pro Tools. I just have to work a different way, which while not totally desirable it IS doable. Things just take longer, that's all. So even for serious work I can do a lot with Reason, but a big part of that may be I've been mixing for 40 years now so I don't have the 'learning to mix' part to deal with (read: I don't need curve matching EQs or AI mastering etc). Meaning, I'm probably the exception to the rule…
"Better EQ" is a personal thing - I still feel the SSL EQ is one of the all time best channel EQs ever built, and by channel EQ I mean the EQ that works for more than 50% of your work if not more. I guess it also depends on the quality of the tracks you receive to work with, as I don't need surgical EQ much when working with samples/synths, or with well recorded audio tracks. It's mainly when I find myself in 'turd polishing' mode I need something more intense, or when doing more creative things (which is why I built the ColoringEQ).

[crimsonwarlock]

So even for serious work I can do a lot with Reason, but a big part of that may be I've been mixing for 40 years now so I don't have the 'learning to mix' part to deal with (read: I don't need curve matching EQs or AI mastering etc). Meaning, I'm probably the exception to the rule…

Nope, you're not alone in this

[integerpoet]

I've been mixing for 40 years now so I don't have the 'learning to mix' part to deal with (read: I don't need curve matching EQs or AI mastering etc).

Hey! I am in this picture and I don't like it.

Seriously, though, 40 years ago curve-matching EQs weren't a thing, were they? So maybe it's not a need so much as a time-saver, like a lot of plug-ins which could have have been Combinators instead.