deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup
Moderator
I've recently purchased Pro Tools 11 to work on some outsourced mixes for a client out of nothing but convenience for the project. I haven't used Pro Tools since my upgrade to OSX 10.9(Mavericks) left my M-Box 2 and copy of Pro Tools LE8 inactive. I've noticed the disappearance of a few limitations, a new plug in format(with all the same old plugs, lol)and a few new things brought to the table(dynamic plugs, gain faders on audio clips, ect). I have an old template I used to start tracks with channels already routed for grouping to make mixing easier with a few specific plugs set in place already(Dyn3 Expander on each track for gating vocals, Time adjuster on a chorus aux for a "doubling effect", all vocals routed through a 7 Band EQ then Bomb Factory LA2A), Sends for Reverb and Dynamic Delay(Air), and 7BandEQ and Maxim(to slightly boost while recording) on the Master track. The Maxim is later utilized and pushed harder or replaced by Waves L3 Ultramaximizer when a song is finished - can't use the L3 beforehand because anything recorded live will suffer from delays and latency). None of these set up tools are pre adjusted, just put in place because they more than likely will be used to some extent. I originally thought "man, I get my old tools back", but slowly learned they weren't all they were boasted to be over all these years.
Since the demise of my M-Box on OSX, I've put alot of time and dedication into getting the best mixes out of Reason. I've invested in for the most part what many would consider K-Mart versions of plug ins i utilized in Pro Tools(Cakewalk's ver of the LA2A, some off brand Neve 1073 EQ, Softube Saturation knob, McDSP EQs and Comps). More than anything, I've learned to use the channel strip within reason(won't pretend it's comparable to the SSL9000k it resembles, but comparable to the channel strip I missed since jumping to Mac found in Cakewalk SONAR). And have learned most of my purchased REs don't get much use in comparison to what I already had(LA2A get's overused, but that's about it). I love the idea of creating with tools rather than succumbing to their functions. Example, "The Echo" is a Reason "plug in" that emulates a vintage tape delay like the RE-201 Space Echo(pretty sure it's a rip off from the look of the interface), within it is everything from a ducking tool to recreate Air's "Dynamic Delay" to stereo time control to recreated "Time Adjuster Long-Short, Stereo Delay Long-Short, stuff like Blue Oil Can Echo and Bomb factory's Tel Ray Delay and Mooger Delay all within one plug depending how you tweak it. The RV7000 is just like any other Convolution reverb, but when forced to rely on it for ALL your reverb needs, you find so many new and innovative techniques to bring out it's best in every mix. Something I never had to do in other DAWs because of all the options that come factory stock for reverb solutions. I'll be here all day, but long story short. I've had a month or so of Pro Tools sessions with clients and started comparing them to stuff I was doing in Reason. Surpisingly, the stuff I've been doing in Reason is warmer, less sterile, sounds so much more traditional and fuller than my mixes done in Pro Tools that sound like just about anything commercially released. Irony is, all I'm using for "mastering"(respect the quotes) aka boosting loudness and maintaing dynamics are the tools included in Reason(MClass EQ, Maximizer, and Comp Bus on the "SSL").
To paraphrase, what I'm saying here is, I can get a better mix out of Reason 7's reportedly inferior tools than most commercially released top 40 records have as bold of a statement as that may be.
In all fairness, I don't like using it to mix/master songs that aren't created within the program to begin with as much as I do in Pro Tools, but the creative process from start to finish outperforms Pro Tools by a landslide(all my opinion).
I then went on to compare mixes with stuff I did in SONAR from PC(that's now dated in all fairness, so it was taken with a grain of salt). Realized even my dated Sonar mixes had a little more humanity to them than my Pro Tools mixes around the same time. Both my newer PT and Reason mixes put them to shame though.
I remember a time when other guys on this forum(DaNoc comes to mind)said the same thing and I called B.S. But I've since changed my tune. Not sure what I originally paid for Reason, but I'm pretty sure it was waaayyyyy less than the $400 it costed to upgrade from LE8 to PT11 willing to bet with upgrades over the years I've paid around that overall. Once you incorporate the accompanying plugs(L3 alone costed me $450 back in 2004), I have to say this is the best valued program on the market.
I've been able to tweak every function of Reason to work in the same fashion as other DAWs I respected the functions from(you can route channels like in PT, create a combination Drum Machine/Step Sequencer similar to what you find in FL, comp/layer recordings like any other DAW, edit timing within audio files like warping in Ableton and similar to some of melodynes functions, and once learning my way around, I can do most of these with more ease.
All opinionated statements from one person's experience, not to be taken as facts, just felt the need to give my input on the single most amazing music creating software I've ever used...and it took me years to get to a place where I can say that. But that's what I love about it. I've never sat in front of any tool and understood it's worth in days, weeks, even months. I have to know every in and out before deciding these things. But I've personally done my best mixes ever at this point(including stuff done in bigger studios, not just my home)within Reason. Good job, Propellerheads.
Since the demise of my M-Box on OSX, I've put alot of time and dedication into getting the best mixes out of Reason. I've invested in for the most part what many would consider K-Mart versions of plug ins i utilized in Pro Tools(Cakewalk's ver of the LA2A, some off brand Neve 1073 EQ, Softube Saturation knob, McDSP EQs and Comps). More than anything, I've learned to use the channel strip within reason(won't pretend it's comparable to the SSL9000k it resembles, but comparable to the channel strip I missed since jumping to Mac found in Cakewalk SONAR). And have learned most of my purchased REs don't get much use in comparison to what I already had(LA2A get's overused, but that's about it). I love the idea of creating with tools rather than succumbing to their functions. Example, "The Echo" is a Reason "plug in" that emulates a vintage tape delay like the RE-201 Space Echo(pretty sure it's a rip off from the look of the interface), within it is everything from a ducking tool to recreate Air's "Dynamic Delay" to stereo time control to recreated "Time Adjuster Long-Short, Stereo Delay Long-Short, stuff like Blue Oil Can Echo and Bomb factory's Tel Ray Delay and Mooger Delay all within one plug depending how you tweak it. The RV7000 is just like any other Convolution reverb, but when forced to rely on it for ALL your reverb needs, you find so many new and innovative techniques to bring out it's best in every mix. Something I never had to do in other DAWs because of all the options that come factory stock for reverb solutions. I'll be here all day, but long story short. I've had a month or so of Pro Tools sessions with clients and started comparing them to stuff I was doing in Reason. Surpisingly, the stuff I've been doing in Reason is warmer, less sterile, sounds so much more traditional and fuller than my mixes done in Pro Tools that sound like just about anything commercially released. Irony is, all I'm using for "mastering"(respect the quotes) aka boosting loudness and maintaing dynamics are the tools included in Reason(MClass EQ, Maximizer, and Comp Bus on the "SSL").
To paraphrase, what I'm saying here is, I can get a better mix out of Reason 7's reportedly inferior tools than most commercially released top 40 records have as bold of a statement as that may be.
In all fairness, I don't like using it to mix/master songs that aren't created within the program to begin with as much as I do in Pro Tools, but the creative process from start to finish outperforms Pro Tools by a landslide(all my opinion).
I then went on to compare mixes with stuff I did in SONAR from PC(that's now dated in all fairness, so it was taken with a grain of salt). Realized even my dated Sonar mixes had a little more humanity to them than my Pro Tools mixes around the same time. Both my newer PT and Reason mixes put them to shame though.
I remember a time when other guys on this forum(DaNoc comes to mind)said the same thing and I called B.S. But I've since changed my tune. Not sure what I originally paid for Reason, but I'm pretty sure it was waaayyyyy less than the $400 it costed to upgrade from LE8 to PT11 willing to bet with upgrades over the years I've paid around that overall. Once you incorporate the accompanying plugs(L3 alone costed me $450 back in 2004), I have to say this is the best valued program on the market.
I've been able to tweak every function of Reason to work in the same fashion as other DAWs I respected the functions from(you can route channels like in PT, create a combination Drum Machine/Step Sequencer similar to what you find in FL, comp/layer recordings like any other DAW, edit timing within audio files like warping in Ableton and similar to some of melodynes functions, and once learning my way around, I can do most of these with more ease.
All opinionated statements from one person's experience, not to be taken as facts, just felt the need to give my input on the single most amazing music creating software I've ever used...and it took me years to get to a place where I can say that. But that's what I love about it. I've never sat in front of any tool and understood it's worth in days, weeks, even months. I have to know every in and out before deciding these things. But I've personally done my best mixes ever at this point(including stuff done in bigger studios, not just my home)within Reason. Good job, Propellerheads.