Propellerhead today announced Reason Essentials – an entry-level version of the new Reason 6 virtual studio.
Reason Essentials will offer tools to record audio and virtual instrument tracks, arrange them with a flexible sequencer and mix them.
It’s expected to be available Sept 30th, for 299/€279.
Here’s the full Reason 6 vs Reason Essentials comparison…..
Product Comparison Chart
| Feature | Reason | Reason Essentials |
|---|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $449/€405 | $299/€279 |
| Audio recording/tracks | Unlimited Time stretch Transpose (audio clips) |
Unlimited Time stretch |
| Instrument tracks | Unlimited Blocks mode |
Unlimited |
| Mixer | Fully featured mixer Gain Full 4-band EQ 8 Send effects Inserts Master compressor with sidechain input Compressor Gate Lo-pass and hi-passfilter |
Basic mixer Gain Two-band EQ 4 Send effects Inserts Master compressor |
| Mastering tools | MClass Mastering Suite Compressor Limiter EQ Stereo Imager |
MClass Mastering Suite Compressor Limiter EQ Stereo Imager |
| Included instruments | ID-8 Subtractor Redrum NN-XT Combinator Dr. Octo Rex NN-19 Kong Thor Malström |
ID-8 Subtractor Redrum NN-XT Combinator Dr. Octo Rex |
| Included effects | Line 6 guitar amp Line 6 bass amp Chorus/Flanger Delay Scream 4 Distortion RV7000 Reverb Alligator Pulveriser The Echo Neptune Vocoder BV512 Phaser Foldback Distortion Unison Two-Band EQ Compressor/Limiter Envelope Filter RV-7 Reverb |
Line 6 guitar amp Line 6 bass amp Chorus/Flanger Delay Scream 4 Distortion RV7000 Reverb |
| Other devices | Mixer 14:2 Mixer 6:2 Regroove Spider Audio & CV Matrix RPG-8 Arpeggiator |
Mixer 14:2 Mixer 6:2 Regroove Spider Audio & CV Matrix |
| Soundbank | Factory Sound Bank (1.7GB) Orkester Sound Banks (600MB) |
Factory Sound Bank (1GB) |
| Other features | ReWire Compatible with all ReFills |
ReWire |
As much as I like Reason (I even upgraded to Reason 5 in a fit of madness), I am not convinced this is a good value when Logic Express is $165.
I am definitely ready for some serious software price readjustment via the Mac App Store and competition from an army of limited, but ever-improving iOS apps.