Reason 12.5.3 Released — Audio resets on patch change, Master section automation bug fix

[popnapp]

But I feel a differently about the R12 release, because of these recurring reports on bugs, crashes and other problems. I would have hoped it would stop at this point. This is not normal for Reason standards. So something has definetely changed with this latest release.

Thanks for your cool reply! I already was afraid to have been too much crtitizising on your posting.

I agree: The R12 update was a lot more shaky than usual. (I skipped 11 and 8, but was very happy with 6.5, 7, 9 and 10).
In my trial period I had big perfomance problems, that only resolved after I doubled my PC memory to 16GB. And yes, there were some more bugs after that. From my personal experience as a programer I can imagine it was mainly two things: the hires graphics engine modification (must have been a huge task) and the use of VST. I mean, if you rewrite half of your program and include (sometimes unstable) third party VST programs, don't be surprised if the stability gets hurt.

But the rants now about that with every update there are new bugs, I think that's really exaggerated. At least from my positive point of view it looks as if new bugs are rare and it's always a good idea to update. I bet, 12.5.3 is more stable than any other 12 version before. That's the nature of the game, if played by good programers like those at Reason Studios.

Basically I feel upgrading is a gamble.

Yeah, true. But not upgrading is a gamble too. You might miss out on a better version and improvements. So, let's face it: life is uncertain and only one thing's for sure: my next song will be the best I've ever done!

[TritoneAddiction]

But I feel a differently about the R12 release, because of these recurring reports on bugs, crashes and other problems. I would have hoped it would stop at this point. This is not normal for Reason standards. So something has definetely changed with this latest release.

Thanks for your cool reply! I already was afraid to have been too much crtitizising on your posting.

I agree: The R12 update was a lot more shaky than usual. (I skipped 11 and 8, but was very happy with 6.5, 7, 9 and 10).
In my trial period I had big perfomance problems, that only resolved after I doubled my PC memory to 16GB. And yes, there were some more bugs after that. From my personal experience as a programer I can imagine it was mainly two things: the hires graphics engine modification (must have been a huge task) and the use of VST. I mean, if you rewrite half of your program and include (sometimes unstable) third party VST programs, don't be surprised if the stability gets hurt.

But the rants now about that with every update there are new bugs, I think that's really exaggerated. At least from my positive point of view it looks as if new bugs are rare and it's always a good idea to update. I bet, 12.5.3 is more stable than any other 12 version before. That's the nature of the game, if played by good programers like those at Reason Studios.

Basically I feel upgrading is a gamble.

Yeah, true. But not upgrading is a gamble too. You might miss out on a better version and improvements. So, let's face it: life is uncertain and only one thing's for sure: my next song will be the best I've ever done!

I think I'll wait and see til R13 gets released. There isn't much in R12 I want anyway. It's basically Mimic. I'd like to have that one. If they released Mimic seperately I'd buy it. For me it's not so much a money thing. I can waste a few extra bucks if I really want something. It's more that I want a smooth experience free from unnecessary issues.

Like you said R12 seems to have been a huge rewrite for the RS developers. Hopefully by the time R13 is released all the trickiest developer stuff is sorted out. I'm really hoping things will get smoother in coming releases. Still, I won't be upgrading straight away. I did that with R11 and got screwed badly with crippling bugs. The first two weeks Reason was basically unusable and I absolutely hated that experience. So if I'm being a bit overly cautious that's why. I've been RS guinea pig once. Never again. I'll wait and see peoples responses before I ugrade.

I think upgrading now is a bigger risk for me personally compared to some other people, since I'm not tech savvy AT ALL. So if I run into any technical issues with the upgrade I'm potentially in for a particularly bad time.

[TritoneAddiction]

Yes you're probably right. I guess I preferred it the old way then. Longer release cycles but more stable software.

To be fair, it's simply that none of the beta testers experienced the bug, probably because none of the beta testers automate the master fader. I don't. 12.5.2 works perfectly fine for me They could've ran the beta for months and months and I would've never automated the master fader.

I highly recommend to anybody here who is eager to update as soon as an update is available, who is enthusiastic enough about a piece of software to be a member of a forum about that software, to join the beta. We all have different computers and workflows. You can have the beta channel and the stable channel installed with no issues. I always have. I prefer to test because I want Reason to run the best it can for me.

Also, you can always wait to update. If you prefer longer release cycles, then you can create that space yourself Or join the beta and get a head start on discovering things that might affect your workflow. I prefer the more rapid updates and am very happy to have the device filters.

Yeah that's nice suggestion to be a beta tester. I am indeed interested in what's happening in the Reason world regarding new upgrades and rack extensions. It's just that I'm more of a let-me-know-when-the-product-is-ready type of guy. I just want to the tools to work so I can get on with creating music. But I'm not really interested in spending my time on testing unfinished software. But I know other people will gladly do that in order to get to try out the latest stuff and be up to date.

[joeyluck]

Why does it seem like the people who complain more about any bugs are the people not even on R12? R11 is better than R12 all around. At this point I would suggest the decision for upgrading to be based on features. We've also seen performance improvements and it performs better for me than R11.

There will always be bugs and fixes, like we had with R11 and versions before it. Whatever you are imagining being different at this point is in your head, especially if you aren't using it. Try it out through R+ or download it and run it in demo mode.

[avasopht]

If you're in a session with artists and other music professionals, you can't be mid session having to look on Reason Talk to see if there's a workaround for your whole operation being shut down.

They have a beta release channel. They have Test Pilots (and some of those pilots are insanely fast at catching, like, 99% of bugs ).

If every release went to an "insiders" preview channel first, every single bug would have been forgiven .. because it's a preview.

Meanwhile the stable release branch remains safe and stable to update to each time.

Alternatively continue with an unstable release branch but offer a "safe& stable" branch for those who don't want to risk a buggy release.

Maybe this is only temporary while they're learning a new workflow. Maybe there's pressure from upstairs to just release as is because they've read about agile development and it worked for Facebook

[joeyluck]

The beta channel is open and ongoing. It hasn't stopped. That channel you speak of that runs alongside the stable channel already exists. It is a really great group of users and fun forum to be a part of.

Nothing feels rushed to me. When the existing testers aren't experiencing issues for a few weeks, then that seems good to me. 12.5.2 had a thumbs up from me and I could still use it now without issues.

[hamsterfactor]

I'm hearing more instances of unwanted noise while flipping thru patches now. Louder, too. Rotor is a good example.

This can't only be happening to me.

I'm not experiencing that here. Do you have an example of what you're hearing? Is this just flipping through Rotor patches? Or is it flipping from other devices to and from Rotor? What is your audio device and audio settings?

I'm enclosing a link to a video, but it's kinda hard to hear, since I don't have a directional mic.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u6rupkg4lzpuv ... 1.mov?dl=0

Yes, just flipping thru the patches. It's not as bad as last night, where I was also experiencing it with some of AudioThing's VSTs.

My audio device – listed as DAC – is just my Nubert speakers.

[crimsonwarlock]

Meanwhile the stable release branch remains safe and stable to update to each time.

However, stable does not mean “bug free”

[pongasoft]

I personally just wished that patches, especially hot fixes like this one, was not a 1.6GB download...

[avasopht]

Meanwhile the stable release branch remains safe and stable to update to each time.

However, stable does not mean “bug free”

Oh of course not, but not with a master fader bug

[joeyluck]

I'm not experiencing that here. Do you have an example of what you're hearing? Is this just flipping through Rotor patches? Or is it flipping from other devices to and from Rotor? What is your audio device and audio settings?

I'm enclosing a link to a video, but it's kinda hard to hear, since I don't have a directional mic.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u6rupkg4lzpuv ... 1.mov?dl=0

Yes, just flipping thru the patches. It's not as bad as last night, where I was also experiencing it with some of AudioThing's VSTs.

My audio device – listed as DAC – is just my Nubert speakers.

Yeah I'm not hearing anything terrible here. Maybe a bit of a click when switching between a Rotor device and a Combinator patch? I'd have to install a previous version of Reason to compare, but overall what I'm experiencing is better.

When you're talking about AudioThing VSTs, are you talking about Reason VST proxy device patches or patches flipped inside AudioThing plugins themselves? I don't think this would address the latter.

[selig]

If you're in a session with artists and other music professionals, you can't be mid session having to look on Reason Talk to see if there's a workaround for your whole operation being shut down.

I hear you, but want to add my personal experience. I’ve never once considered using Reason in a session with artists and professional musicians, as there are far better solutions (feature wise) for that type of work with just about any other solution. Second, even when using other ‘standard’ solutions such as Pro Tools I’ve encountered far more bugs than any version of Reason including Reason 12, and still managed to get to the end of the day successfully.

I’ve also seen and experienced session ending events when using tape machines, such as snapping the master tape in two and other extreme physical damage impossible to recover from. Or sometimes you punch in with the wrong tracks record enabled (with no ‘undo’), or the mic craps out mid take, or an interface suddenly decides to output full scale white noise into the phones because it lost sync, and many more ‘exciting’ mid session events.

It happens, you deal with it best you can, and you move on. Professionals tend to understand these things in my experience, as I’ve seen it happen to everyone from the interns to the top engineers. As long as it’s not happening to you every day, you will still find work in your local market!

[avasopht]

I hear you, but want to add my personal experience. I’ve never once considered using Reason in a session with artists and professional musicians, as there are far better solutions (feature wise) for that type of work with just about any other solution. Second, even when using other ‘standard’ solutions such as Pro Tools I’ve encountered far more bugs than any version of Reason including Reason 12, and still managed to get to the end of the day successfully.

I’ve also seen and experienced session ending events when using tape machines, such as snapping the master tape in two and other extreme physical damage impossible to recover from. Or sometimes you punch in with the wrong tracks record enabled (with no ‘undo’), or the mic craps out mid take, or an interface suddenly decides to output full scale white noise into the phones because it lost sync, and many more ‘exciting’ mid session events.

It happens, you deal with it best you can, and you move on. Professionals tend to understand these things in my experience, as I’ve seen it happen to everyone from the interns to the top engineers. As long as it’s not happening to you every day, you will still find work in your local market!

No, you're right.

It's just been so long since instability has been an issue for me to worry about (personally). I've always been pretty intolerant of crashes, instability, or crippling workflows when there is an alternative or some way to better manage or work around it.

And I tend to be able to just go with Reason/Record. There was a year when I recorded in Logic, but despite the missing recording features I've been content recording in Reason for nearly 10 years now.

I've tried to transition to Studio One for recording and even got a Faderport (I was really serious about it). I'll see how that goes, but I've still been using Reason for recording since I got the Faderport 18 months ago (which may have been inspired a little by R12 ).

[DJMaytag]

2 big updates in 8 days. The team is working hard!

[hamsterfactor]

I'm enclosing a link to a video, but it's kinda hard to hear, since I don't have a directional mic.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u6rupkg4lzpuv ... 1.mov?dl=0

Yes, just flipping thru the patches. It's not as bad as last night, where I was also experiencing it with some of AudioThing's VSTs.

My audio device – listed as DAC – is just my Nubert speakers.

Yeah I'm not hearing anything terrible here. Maybe a bit of a click when switching between a Rotor device and a Combinator patch? I'd have to install a previous version of Reason to compare, but overall what I'm experiencing is better.

When you're talking about AudioThing VSTs, are you talking about Reason VST proxy device patches or patches flipped inside AudioThing plugins themselves? I don't think this would address the latter.

Yeah, just flipping thru the patches inside the AudioThing plugins.

[Steedus]

This update completely killed Reason for me. Didn’t have time to trouble shoot but after install it had some message about scratch disc and now the icon for reason has a ? Superimposed over it on Mac. Hmmm. Will look into it eventually.

[WOO]

I personally just wished that patches, especially hot fixes like this one, was not a 1.6GB download...

Couldn't agree more. I have to wait until 2025- 2026 until they are finally going to be putting in fiber in my area. I'm lucky if I get over 1 megabits per second of download speed. For large updates, I get it started and then do something else for a few hours, keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have a power outage, which btw are getting to be weekly occurrences in my area of the u.s. First world country with 3rd world infrastructure.

[Last Alternative]

I’d like to know why only 1 VST can be open at a time. Was this fixed in the update? Because often you’re using at least 2 plugins such as watching a meter graphic plugin while compressing, for example.

[Loque]

I’d like to know why only 1 VST can be open at a time. Was this fixed in the update? Because often you’re using at least 2 plugins such as watching a meter graphic plugin while compressing, for example.

Never noticed this. Just pin the VST to keep it open then open another one.

[Last Alternative]

Oh ok I’ll try to figure it out.

[wereMole88]

Finally my reason seems to have upgraded to 12.5. Did give a couple of errors on installing - something about a 'meter.phat' file it couldn't overwrite?

Also I've accidentally clicked deinstall on a rack extension, cv player tap, and for the love of god I'm not getting it reinstalled.

Everything in R12 appears to work fine but the installing is so messy.

[Last Alternative]

I updated and all the sudden audio is fine but the video is freezing up when I click into the midi track to draw notes. Happened quite a few times already. Anyone else?

[miscend]

I'm kinda glad that I've stuck with R11 for this long. Reason 5 through to 11 were all rock solid with no show stopper bugs.

Reason used to have just a handful of coders. These days the company has grown so much it seems like there's too many cooks in the kitchen and they're struggling to get on top of the problems.

[Last Alternative]

Reason crashed and closed on me when I loaded a Serum bass preset. That’s new……

[jjpscott01]

This latest version of Reason has been rock solid for me on Windows 10 and 11. As a matter of fact im having less performance issues than I did when I was on version 11 at this point. I know the initial release was pretty bumpy (By reason's standards) but im finally at a place where the stability is what I expect from these guys.