RadioactiveBeats
New member
I've been frustrated with fl studio for 5 minutes and i'm planing on switching to reason before the install is complete could you guys give me the pros and cons of reason 5
Reason vs FL studio
- Thread starter RadioactiveBeats
- Start date
bandcoach
Zukatoku - Mod Scientist
Most everything you know from FL is there in Reason, you just don't have to look so hard to find it.
You have individual machines assigned to their own tracks.
You can use pattern based creation or song based creation.
You are not tied to having to have an instrument appear in a pattern to have it show up on a track.
In fact you can add instruments to the song where patterns are playing back so that you can add flavour and variety during each iteration of a pattern.
Unless you have already got Reason 5, get Reason 6 and experience a world of difference with the SSL mixer, fx and instruments and the ability to record audio clips directly into the program: no sampler or other devices in the way.
{Rant on}
Have to say that of the nine sequencers and Daws I have used (Pro24/Notator Logic on the Atari ST, Cubase VST2 on the mac, Cubase VST32Score 5.2.1/Cubase5.5.3/Reason4-6 on the PC, Audacity on the Mac and the PC, PD on the PC) FL is my least favourite.
I find it is infuriantingly obtuse in how it has structured itself - it is as though they have had so many good ideas that nobody has stopped and tried to make it coherent - things that should be easy to find aren't and things that should be hidden from beginners are right up front creating problems becuase you get distracted by the bright shiny possibilities before you have a grasp of what you can do musically and creatively - using an artificial intelligence to create your riffs and your harmonies and your percussion is not composing or making beats - it is choosing results from an algorithm that will produce the same results for everyone given the same input parameters.
{Rant off}
You have individual machines assigned to their own tracks.
You can use pattern based creation or song based creation.
You are not tied to having to have an instrument appear in a pattern to have it show up on a track.
In fact you can add instruments to the song where patterns are playing back so that you can add flavour and variety during each iteration of a pattern.
Unless you have already got Reason 5, get Reason 6 and experience a world of difference with the SSL mixer, fx and instruments and the ability to record audio clips directly into the program: no sampler or other devices in the way.
{Rant on}
Have to say that of the nine sequencers and Daws I have used (Pro24/Notator Logic on the Atari ST, Cubase VST2 on the mac, Cubase VST32Score 5.2.1/Cubase5.5.3/Reason4-6 on the PC, Audacity on the Mac and the PC, PD on the PC) FL is my least favourite.
I find it is infuriantingly obtuse in how it has structured itself - it is as though they have had so many good ideas that nobody has stopped and tried to make it coherent - things that should be easy to find aren't and things that should be hidden from beginners are right up front creating problems becuase you get distracted by the bright shiny possibilities before you have a grasp of what you can do musically and creatively - using an artificial intelligence to create your riffs and your harmonies and your percussion is not composing or making beats - it is choosing results from an algorithm that will produce the same results for everyone given the same input parameters.
{Rant off}
L. A. Stone
New member
Yeah, I guess I pretty much co-sign that assessment of FL Studio. I used to like it. I spent years using it but as it grew to become a "DAW", it became more and more messy. One day, I realized that I didn't know how to use it anymore. They seemed to have found the wackiest ways of implementing features and hiding them. It's a very powerful piece of software but just too crazy.
Regarding Reason, it doesn't have nearly the power of FL Studio. Not much else to say about it. It never attempted to keep up with everything that was going on with digital audio and Propellerheads seem to be just trying to keep people interested nowadays. In the early years we were all fascinated by the fake hardware look and the cool jiggly wires in back, but eventually I guess people decided that they needed real features rather than gimmicks. The best part about Reason is that it was rock solid stable. Better than any other audio software. I hear a lot of complaints since the latest update that this is no longer the case.
Regarding Reason, it doesn't have nearly the power of FL Studio. Not much else to say about it. It never attempted to keep up with everything that was going on with digital audio and Propellerheads seem to be just trying to keep people interested nowadays. In the early years we were all fascinated by the fake hardware look and the cool jiggly wires in back, but eventually I guess people decided that they needed real features rather than gimmicks. The best part about Reason is that it was rock solid stable. Better than any other audio software. I hear a lot of complaints since the latest update that this is no longer the case.
bandcoach
Zukatoku - Mod Scientist
Wow, I've never had an issue with 6, not even in the beta version (yes, I was testing it long before it came out).
Whilst Reason may not necessarily have the power of FLStudio, there is no hunting to find anything - if you can't find it by looking at the menues then looking at the manual will point you directly to it. This is not the case so far in my experience of FLStudio, whose manual is woefully missing and help is more about front end stuff than actually anything useful - I may change my tune on that one once I start digging deeper, but I have to say that using drum machine interface from the get-go is a little abstruse and the lack of any kind of notation features (even just basic note entry) is frustrating - it slows me down to the point where I go to other programs and create the material and then reimport it into FLStudio - I'm collaborating with someone who prefers to use FLStudio so that is my reason for having it and using it, frustrations and all.
Whilst Reason may not necessarily have the power of FLStudio, there is no hunting to find anything - if you can't find it by looking at the menues then looking at the manual will point you directly to it. This is not the case so far in my experience of FLStudio, whose manual is woefully missing and help is more about front end stuff than actually anything useful - I may change my tune on that one once I start digging deeper, but I have to say that using drum machine interface from the get-go is a little abstruse and the lack of any kind of notation features (even just basic note entry) is frustrating - it slows me down to the point where I go to other programs and create the material and then reimport it into FLStudio - I'm collaborating with someone who prefers to use FLStudio so that is my reason for having it and using it, frustrations and all.
D
DBawls
Guest
these are questions you can answer yourself by simple experience.....sounds like you are leaning more toward Reason...so go for it bro....you might as well use both of them together.....those two programs were never intended to fight with eachother.....so use what you use and make some hot shit
krushing
Moderator
Wait, 5 minutes?
Xabiton
Cupcake God
That's what happens when you don't actually buy the software lol. When he gets mad that Reason doesn't allow for plug ins he will just pirate something else and never really get good at making music because he's so worried about the tools lol
jlgrimes11
New member
Reason 6 is the new Reason version now.
Here are the pros and cons. I will seem very harsh on the cons but I will also tell you that I use Reason probably more than any other product that I own (and I OWN a good amount, Sonar, Live, FL Studio, Reaper), so you are mainly hearing my passion for where I want the software to go. I just use Reason so much that I know many of its weak spots (and also because I used a lot of other stuff, so the missing stuff stands out like a sore thumb).
Pros
Minimal CPU use (Making beats and using monster VSTs and having to freeze every other track can be a workflow drainer at times).
Very, Very few crashes. (By the time Reason is out, it is usually Rock solid. I make beats in Reason without the fear of Reason going haywire and closing having lost my work).
Great Extensive Factory Sounds (Reason has an enormous amont of presets which has much of the sounds you need. and if you don't the next Pro is).
Easy and cheap to expand (the most expensive refills are only a couple of hundred dollars (many are free). And adding a refill is an easy task. The greatest thing is when upgrading to a new PC all you have to do is install Reason, copy refills and wave files).
Sequencer geared towards a person who plays keyboards (Reason's sequencer is very "mpc like", just find sound and play in what you want. Never have a problem with bad timing (a problem sometimes in other DAWs)
Easy to collaborate with other users (if they are on the same version). This is harder to do on other DAWs (or more time consuming and having to bounce each file to wave in case other person don't have your plug-ins).
Closed environment forces you to learn what each device does vs. buying new VST and makes it easier to master software.
Closed environment encourage a lot of users to share patches. I don't know any other DAW where users share as many patches as Reason users.
SSL mixer is pretty good and has nice filters for mixing.
Best Usb controller support I have seen with any other company (although it is getting a bit dated.), but with Reason you can just plug-in your controller (most of them) and Reason pretty much recognizes it and automatically have each knob mapped to important parameters.
Cons
Piano Roll and Step Sequencer doesn't come close to Fruityloops. (yes it has Redrum and Matrix, but Fruityloops step sequencer is more powerful and fully featured. Reason's Piano Roll is the worst piano roll I have used in ANY DAW.) It is so bad if I were to grade it I would give it an "F". There are people who love Reason's piano roll but I guess that is because it is the only one they ever used or it is the only one they ever took time to learn (it is VERY easy to learn. A little TOO easy because it lacks many common functions such as paintbrush, note mute, note split, poor zooming functionality, poor snap to grid settings and ability to change them on the fly). If you don't rely on piano roll much though, it isn't too much of an issue, and Redrum isn't that bad but it just isn't as fully feature as FL's
No VSTs (Not a big deal breaker since Reason has so many synth sounds and effects in house, but if you are really into detailed mixing you will miss out on some "common/standard" effects in most DAWs such as Deessers, Multiband
Compressors, Spectrum Analyzers, Convolution Reverbs. There are workarounds to all of these but it is not quite the same as you would get in a DAW). Not a huge issue for me though but it is for some.
No midi out (Not a big deal breaker if you don't own any hardware, but if you do you will still need another DAW to complement Reason if you want to use your stuff. Or record it in live without midi "if you have the skills". Not a huge issue for me.
Many of Reason's devices have the "use your ears only" approach. Most compressors have poor gain reduction meters in Reason (with the exception of the Mclass compressor). No spectrum analyzer, no gain reduction meters on the combinator compressor presets. This is a moderate issue for me when I am mixing vocals but not much of an issue when making beats since I like to mix using my ears in that case, but if I had to work on somebody else's mix or if I had a very busy project this is a problem.
Not really for mixing huge audio projects (over 24 tracks). It is not that Reason won't be able to handle the load (it most likely will), it just doesn't have many standard DAW functions such as grouping and good track management and even the arrange view doesn't seem that well designed for this. Not having this IMO is unacceptable.
Piss Poor audio/sample editing. Sample editor is a joke (you can only view timeline in milliseconds not in samples. No good tools for refining waveform selections (not being able to type in samples are go in and modify selection), No Recycle built-in for auto chop. And to top it off Reason don't support the ability of opening samples/clips in 3rd party audio editor to edit (must be done offline). No Mp3 support. Reason gets an F here as well.
Poor drag and drop support. You can only drag/drop audio clips and not samples, a huge workflow killer in certain situations.
Rack concept can be cumbersome at times. What do you want to do if you want to change the order of an effects chain, you have to manually go behind the rack and rewire the cables. Things like this is easier in other DAWs.
Only 8 send/returns in the SSL mixer. Most other DAWs this is unlimited.
No buss concept (other than manually create one using remix mixer and this has certain drawbacks one of which is the time it takes to create one).
Slower update cycle (it seems). Reason usually goes a couple of years without major updates so what you have is what you have to deal with. And some updates don't always address many of your requests but this can be common in other DAWs as well.
To summarize, Reason is great for making beats, the only bad spot might be lack of cool step sequencing functions FL has. Reason isn't that great for audio however (other than the timestretch. It is amazing). I would not want to mix a 32 track project in Reason. I would use Reaper instead.
Last edited:
CrunkNationEnt
All Killa, No Filla!
L. A. Stone
New member
Yeah, that was a realistic review of Reason. I always felt as strongly about the lack of sophistication of the piano roll myself, but then he pointed out that it's sort of good for keyboard players. In that case, the poor piano roll would be less of an issue. I'm not a keyboardist so I wrestled with the piano roll. But I would say that the last version has finally seen some improvements. For like 10 years it didn't even have a simple piano roll preview.
I would also add, as I always do that NN-XT is not a good enough sampler for a closed system. Anyone looking to do acoustic and real instruments as close as possible to the real thing would need to use something other than Reason. If it's going to be a closed system, then I think there needs a sampler up in there that can go toe to toe with the likes of Kontakt.
Synths are well covered in Reason.
I hate the refill concept for the single reason that it's a one way ticket for whatever you put into it. Not even the person who packed the refill can unpack it.
I would also add, as I always do that NN-XT is not a good enough sampler for a closed system. Anyone looking to do acoustic and real instruments as close as possible to the real thing would need to use something other than Reason. If it's going to be a closed system, then I think there needs a sampler up in there that can go toe to toe with the likes of Kontakt.
Synths are well covered in Reason.
I hate the refill concept for the single reason that it's a one way ticket for whatever you put into it. Not even the person who packed the refill can unpack it.
This might be the most well-spoken rant I've ever read on a forum lol.
D
DBawls
Guest
for me i find FL far more useful than Reason.....if all you have is a mouse and your computer keyboard you can still make something pretty good.....not that you cant do the same thing in Reason it juz seems alot easier to work w/ Reason when you have a MIDI controller than it does w/o and for FL it seems easier to use w/ or w/o a MIDI controller....i also like the fact that i have full VST support w/ FL...VST really allows me to expand on the DAW but reason is cool too....Reason seems to handle MIDI controlled key response a lil better than FL
---------- Post added at 02:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:10 AM ----------
i dont care what anybody tells me...ive made some very creative and hot shit on FL and this whole debate all boils down to preference because everything is good
---------- Post added at 02:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:10 AM ----------
i dont care what anybody tells me...ive made some very creative and hot shit on FL and this whole debate all boils down to preference because everything is good
Totally untrue... because its clearcut Presonus Studio One is the best DAW. :-D