42 thoughts on “Propellerhead Becomes Reason Studios, Announces Reason 11 As Plugin”

1. Insert scalable UI comments below…. Or maybe just continue with whatever else you were doing.
   This is a great update, not the rack plugin but the additional devices.

2. If the Rack plugin is only VST3, then I can’t use it with Renoise :(. Maybe I can use Redux with Reason instead. It’s also a shame that Reason 11 will get rid of Rewire.

   1. I have often wondered, “Who really uses re-wire anymore?” It seems like when they come out with a VST, the whole point of rewire becomes… well.. kind of pointless?

3. The rack plugin thing is a great update for the longevity of the program if they sell it right. For the price of two or three plugins theyre giving you all of that to use. There have not been but minor and brief stability issues all these years. I see it as a win for consumers, not so much Reason users specifically. Id use the function, but Im not sure how much currently.

4. have been wanting this for a while . well done! reason has always been a great sounding synth engine and as a plugin it will shine brighter

5. Though I have upgraded over the years, I still have the original Reason on my old iMac G3 500 DV SE Snow model.

6. OK, as you wish. To me its still utterly useless without a scalable UI, I simply cant see it on my monitor(s). Same with a lot of the NI stuff, lots of legacy code but they will have to tackle it at some point as all the new monitors have HiDPI.

   Rack as a plug in- great idea that people have been requesting for as long as I can remember, although I had assumed it would be available at a much lower price point without the DAW?

   Personably, I don’t t know if this will attract many non-Reason people to Reason, its a lot of stuff, but so many people have the bases covered with their existing DAW and collection of VSTs and FX- time will tell, may be the last roll of the dice.

   1. I completely understand, its a complaint I still have. I purchased a pretty large monitor and it became an issue for like 5 minutes, then i dealt with it and stopped thinking about it. Its one of those gripes only certain people make and I guess im not one of them. Every part of life cant be awesome, you deal with some aspects of it and one of them could be non-Scalable UI in a superb DAW that knocks everything else out of the part compared to others.

   2. Same, until the UI scales, these are worthless on a 4K monitor. I haven’t upgraded in years because of this.

7. Should have been done long time ago. Over it. Bye and thx

8. Can you run multiple instances of each VST/AU or is it limited to a single Instrument and a single Effect rack instance?

9. I’m with Jon about scalability. Even one GUI size larger would really help my workflow in a couple of cases. Manufacturers please take note: with all of the other great leaps ahead, visual strain is needless now. Just asking, danke.
   I loosely wish that I could justify upgrading from Logic! Reason has been edging towards being a fuller DAW and the recent instruments have been serious keepers. $600 is a bit steep up front, but you couldn’t touch all it will do in hardware for 10X that amount. Some people use two or three different DAWs, but if someone is looking for a central workspace, this will make picking one harder in a good way.

   1. There are way cheaper ways to get Reason like getting Reason Intro or checking out different upgrade paths.

   2. You can use reason in logic as an AU now, there’s no need to switch

10. The Scalability thing IS kind of puzzling to me too! It strikes me that a humble product like VCV Rack, (its still beta and mostly free!) with a fraction of the developer resources, has managed to figure out how to scale its zoom feature.

    1. Its out of Beta (still free) at 1.14 – It is amazing- all the MI stuff a direct digital port, is free and the sound quality is top notch. It will also soon be a ‘VST Plug In rack’ so people have a lot of choice. https://vcvrack.com/Rack.html – this is exactly what a scalable GUI should look like!!

11. “Reason 11 Intro: EUR €79 / USD $99
    Reason Rack Plugin included”
    Ha! Did not expect that to be the case. Thought they were going to keep the Reason Rack Plugin feature away from Intro. After all, it kind of defeats the track limit, if you can use these devices as multiple instances in other DAWs (per the VST3/AU formats).
    So it’ll make for yet another modular system to use in DAWs along with NI Reaktor, VCV Rack, Softube Modular, Cherry Audio Voltage Modular, and The Grid in Bitwig Studio 3.

    Sounds like 2019 really is “The Year of the Software Modular”!

12. Bummer, I liked the quirky Propellerhead name.

13. Following the first comment, it is astonishing that the UI still isn’t properly scalable..

    1. The whole program is racks, a ton of them created by third party devs, a bunch of others use standard GUI assets. To scale them all would to make everything look more like FL studio, Ableton and Bitwig. None of those programs have any visual appeal. Maybe im reading things incorrectly but, for example, the kong designer. You’d like to be able to resize that rack? I think of them as VST’s and i dont know of any VST thats just built like this.

       Maybe im missing something but are we just saying scalable UI cause it sounds good or are there any programs that dont look like a bland, lifeless Apple commercial that use this scalable UI. I mean FL studio does look good, but there is a gleaming issue with the whole scalable UI theory, all the stuff you want to see, plugins, instruments, aern’t scalable, and if they are, you don’t really care that much. I mean, SimSynth? 3OSC?

       1. There are tons of scalable UI that don’t look bland. Many programmes are simply unusable without scalability for those of us with high res monitors. The problem with reason & many other older plugins that don’t have this feature (waves,NI) it’s not an easy task to implement versus VCV that was built with that sort of interface in mind.

          1. “Built with that sort of interface in mind” versus refactoring your entire interface and all of its moving parts to be scalable. Its a giant bite to take and hopefully they will take it someday. But taking into consideration what the program looks like now and what it would need to look like to be scalable and still possibly look cool, i just don’t see it being worth the effort or the cost for them.

             I don’t think then releasing Reason 12 with Scalable UI as a grab for many non-users to jump on board. “Looks good on Big Monitors” has absolutely no selling power.

       2. Are you confusing “scalability” with “non-skeumorphic”? Arturia’s synths are scalable, as are FabFilter’s plugins. Those are just two off the top of my head that have visual interest and scale.

          1. Dam, didn’t know it had a word but yes, skeumorphic. But I’m starting to understand what the underlying issue is with most people and Reason. But honestly, if it keeps you from working, thats unfortunate. I watched a guy create a beat on an old Commodore. I think we’ve become accustomed to things that make it harder to accept others. I’ve watched videos with folks still rocking FL studio 4 when the upgrades are free forever. (they probably pirated but thats neither here nor there).

             I’ve gone away from DAW’s as far as programming and just use them for tracking and mixing. Nothing to do with the screen cause if id was on a desert island with only reason and a screen the size of an ipad mini, id still be rocking.

       3. Look, Bottom line, No matter what my resolution is or the size of my monitor, If an interface has a bunch of knobs and controls to twiddle, I want to be able to see … (and god forbid manipulate!) them at a comfortable size… so I don’t have to a) squint to read the labels and b) require pin point accuracy of my mouse pointer to turn an knob or slide a slider!) If an instrument is a pain in the arse to use … I don’t really care what it looks likes … so much as How easy is it to play? You can slam Apple all you want.. but damn! It works! It looks good and it FEELS good to use. What’s wrong with that?

          1. This is exactly right.

14. this version 11 is with the intension to sell to those who already has another DAW. But for those Die-hard Reason fans who only got Reason may not be very interested in the upgrade.

    Guys, keep your Reason 10, this is the most stable version which support VST and the last.

15. I can’t see any info anywhere but will it have multiple outs as a plugin or just stereo? Seems to me that restricting it to stereo would be a step back from using Rewire.

    1. If it works like Kontakt, etc.. I would assume there should be multiple out capability to your DAW.

       1. I´m afraid it is one instance, one stereo, one midi in. No multitimbral no multi output/input.

          1. What!!!?? All those instruments locked into one track? Thats ridiculous.

          2. I just had a reply directly from Reason: it WILL have multiple outputs. Phew!

          3. It’s severely limited if we can only have one instance of the VST. I won’t be paying for the upgrade if that is the case.

             1. Im more concerned that it will have multi outs on one instance than the ability to run several instances – so its a weight off my mind.

16. but will I be able to open up a reason song file into this rack VST?

17. I really wish this was in AAX format

    1. The product manager (Mattias) said that AAX is being investigated. It will not be there at launch but might be in the future.

18. I have to respect that my 2005 Reason 3 license is still good for the upgrade pricing. That’s some solid customer support.

19. Okay, I back up on my scalability comment a bit. It really is asking a lot to make some GUIs bigger because they’re already crammed to the gills like a Eurorack cabinet. The answer is clear: two screens that are 2 x 3 feet each so you can see it all at once. Until you go mental.

    Databroth is right, I could drop Reason into Logic, but I’ve built the rig I really need. I couldn’t do justice to it, so diminishing returns would kick in pretty quickly. I’ve tried various synth things from different angles and for me, having a semi-grab-&-go relationship with just Logic works best. Not that some near-boffin couldn’t make use of both. Reason’s last couple of new synths are yuge & fearsome.

20. I wonder now if reason can be a vst instance how it could compete with native instruments environment… Kind of similar actually.

21. Just bought version 10 not long ago at all. Seems sad that need to pay more to have this small added upgrade

22. Reason upgrade pricing is quite unfair, I have Reason 10 at the moment and I have to pay $129 to get the VST functionality and someone who has Reason 1, 2 or 3 can get the full upgrade for the same price??