NickGeorge
New member
There really isn't much of a difference, it depends on the quality of your mixdown ...
Xils lab, dcam, op x. AalatoI can't think of any VA synth that Thor cannot keep up with in terms of sound. Anything you have in mind in particular?
The Reason "sound" is one thing to discuss, but another thing is the quality of Reason effects. Why can't Reason Equalizers boost or cut the way you'd become satisfied. I have used VST equalizers and they got me a feeling that I did it right. Why don't the Reason compressors do anything like the Reaper's xcomp?
And why does the Reason music sound so shit quality wise on the car stereos?
in my opinion... if you do not know the functions of eq, reverb, compression, flanger, chorus, etc... Reason can sound dull... when using VSTs most presets have eq, reverb, compression, flanger, chorus, etc applied on the patch already... therefore there is a learning curve when using Reason... and most do not want to take time to learn how to use these efx or not into building patches/sounds from scratch... this is where Rack Extension comes into the picture... with more RE synths this problem of "dull" sounds in Reason will go away for those who are not into building patches or do not have an understanding of eq, reverb, compression, flanger, chorus, etc....
in other... what "you" put into Reason is what "you" get out of Reason...
You've done a good job pointing out the reason why DAWs tend to have a "fingerprint":
Most amateur music-makers (the majority of indie music on the Internet) TEND to do whatever the DAW makes EASIEST to do. They follow the path of least resistance.
Examples:
That cool Malstrom preset doesn't come with any reverb? It's going to be dry all the way through the mixing stage!
That Subtractor sound is in mono panned dead center? It's going to stay panned straight down the center.
To me, many songs made in Reason have a "dark" tonality to them. Even when you initialize the patch, Thor has a lowpass filter actively cutting out some of the highs. I find that a lot of the synth presets might have "bite" and "presence" around 1-5k but are lacking a lot of the "air" around 8k+. It's reminiscent of the way songs were mixed from the late 90s to the early 2000s -- a little "warmer" sounding than modern mixes.
The better the producer, the harder it is to hear a sonic "fingerprint". When you're first starting out, the DAW is your master and you have to ask it what you're allowed to do. Over time, you become its master and you command the results you expect from it.
-Ki
Salem Beats