Reason Studios Reason 12
Now in both DAW and plugin realms, Reason gains a sampler and refreshed Combinator. Si Truss investigates
Reason gained a new lease of life with version 11. Having slipped behind its competitors over the years, due largely to its long reluctance to accommodate third-party plugins, the 2019 update spun the rack-focused DAW on its head by allowing it to run both standalone and as a plugin. This meant that lapsed users, who may still have held a soft spot for Reason despite defecting to other DAWs, could reconnect with its hardwareinspired devices without having to fully upend their workflow. It was a smart decision on the part of Reason Studios (formerly Propellerhead), making Reason feel more relevant than it had in a decade.
Two years later, version 12 is here. Understandably, it’s far less of paradigm-shift as updates go, focused on new and revamped devices rather than any fundamental changes to the design of the DAW. The most significant new Rack device is the Mimic Creative
Sampler. This is a well-equipped, multi-functional sampler with modes including pitched playback, loop slicing, and Multi-Slot and Multi-Pitch, which specialise in eight-part drum kits and multisample patches respectively. Mimic features multiple timestretch modes, including granular and formantfocused Vocal capabilities. Each sound – or multi slot – also has access to effects, a filter and amp, plus LFOs and envelopes for modulation. Adding samples is a simple case of drag-and-drop, and Mimic features automatic root note detection – although in my tests this proved rather hit-and-miss when used with anything other than clean and simple tones. As a whole it doesn’t do a lot that we haven’t seen before from samplers in rival DAWs, but it’s nicely designed and fills a notable hole in Reason’s toolset.
The other major update comes to Reason’s Combinator, which is used to house and save multi-device patches. The updated device allows users to combine and store any assortment of Reason Rack devices and – in DAW mode – third-party VSTs. Instruments can be arranged to create layers, keyboard splits, velocity zones and have their parameters assigned to top-level macro controls. So far, so standard, but Combinator sets itself apart with a highly customisable interface that allows users to create their own custom UI. This includes adding and arranging an assortment of hardware-style controls, resizing the device panel and even importing a custom image for use as the interface backdrop. It’s a really nice update in all, one that adds a sense of real excitement to designing and customising your own instrument and effect patches.
On the visual front, Reason 12 also benefits from updated graphics. While this doesn’t really add value, the devices were beginning to look a little ‘low-res’ and, with its iconic hardware-style design, if any DAW deserves HD visuals it’s Reason. There’s also a sizeably expanded sound bank and some tweaks to the browser – although this latter element still feels a little dated compared to other DAWs.
Is it worth the £130 update price? For those that use Reason as a primary DAW, Mimic is a must-have, although if you use Reason mainly as a plugin there’s a good chance your existing DAW has a similarly tooled sampler. The Combinator update is fantastic, particularly for building Rack tools for plugin-mode, although it’s debatable if it’s worth the update price alone. That aside, for the Reason-curious or lapsed users there’s probably never been a better time to take Reason for a spin.