Shop for a new digital audio workstation, and you're bound to come across Reason, the elder statesman of virtual instrument software. Born in the late 1990s out of Propellerhead's Rebirth, one of the first comprehensive virtual synthesizers for PCs, Reason delivers a full-fledged software studio. It displays a virtual representation of rack-mounted instruments, effects boxes, and an analog-style mixer. In version 12, Reason has an aging user interface in an era of brilliantly usable software workstations. But existing fans—or anyone intrigued by a software portrayal of a room stocked with old-school hardware synthesizers and samplers—should take a close look. For everyone else, our Editors' Choice winners for DAWs are Logic Pro for Mac and Avid Pro Tools for PC.
How Much Does Reason 12 Cost?
Reason Studios sells Reason 12 two ways: as a $499 standalone purchase (as before) or as part of Reason+, a new subscription service that bundles access to the full version plus weekly new sound packs for $19.99 per month. The company recommends a Windows 10 or 11 machine or a Mac running macOS 10.13 or later, with 8GB RAM and 26GB of free hard disk space. It also recommends an audio interface with an ASIO driver for PCs (Macs' built-in sound hardware works fine) and some type of MIDI controller.
I tested Reason 12.7.3 on a MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021) laptop with 16GB RAM, a 1TB SSD, and macOS Sonoma 14.2.1, along with a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 second-generation audio interface, PreSonus Eris E8 XT powered studio monitors, and a Nektar GX61 MIDI controller keyboard. The app is a 5.7GB download and requires the Reason Companion, a separate download and install to manage the main app's authorization and available updates.
Since we last tested Reason, Reason Studios has added full M1 and M2 compatibility on Macs, for Reason itself and for the 850-odd Rack Extensions available in the company's online store. Performance seems snappier this time around, although I didn't necessarily find fault the last time.
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Reason now hosts VST3 instrument, effect, and utility plug-ins and lets you choose those (and VST2 plug-ins) from the Device Browser on the left. It supports increased automation capabilities for the extra parameters in the VST3 format. Finally, the program now supports offline authorization, so you can set up a computer off the Internet and use Reason, or even Reason+, without a live connection—something that's become very difficult to do these days because of all the online authorizers in pro audio software. (I still don't miss the dongles, though.)
Reason's User Interface: A Familiar Sight
Reason's interface has matured, but the basic format hasn't changed and would be instantly recognizable to someone who first saw it in 2000. The Browser on the left lets you choose instruments to add to your Rack, which sits on the top right by default. The bottom right usually contains the Sequencer window for adding, recording, and editing tracks. It's still possible to flip the Rack around and virtually re-cable the instruments, a charming if now almost-archaic concept—especially since populating the mixer in Reason is much more automated these days, compared with the Mackie 1202-like, rack-mount original mixer.
The most significant structural change occurred in version 11: You can now load the entire synth rack directly into another DAW as a VST3 plug-in instead of connecting via the aged, clumsy ReWire protocol. This alone still gives Reason a shot in the arm for anyone who wants access to its sound modules and synthesizers but has largely (or entirely) moved to a different sequencer in recent years.
Reason lets you customize the heck out of the UI, including putting the Rack on a second monitor, for example. A widescreen Reason setup across a 34-inch display would be amazing, especially given Reason 12's updated high-res graphics that look less fuzzy on 4K monitors. Blue and Dark themes give the program a more contemporary look, though the mixer and all the dialog boxes remain unaffected, and you have to quit and restart to see each one. More importantly, zooming, scrolling, and navigating a track while editing remains obtuse. It's too heavily mouse-based and disorganized, so it's tricky to find exactly the region you want to work on.
The UI idiom is geared toward sound designers and synthesizer enthusiasts who are thrilled to have a virtual, unlimited, free rack of modules that would have cost-prohibitive amounts of money not many years ago. But that makes it less suited to someone coming over from Reaper or Apple Logic Pro or moving up from GarageBand. I realize some Reason fans may take issue with me calling the UI a con, but I've always found it rather fiddly. I made electronic music in the late 1980s and 1990s when rack-mount modules were omnipresent. I'm glad to get away from that in modern DAWs!
A couple of other small nits: I still think the file management is clunky. I keep my recording projects on an iCloud Drive, and there's no way to call that up when opening projects or navigating the file structure; you have to launch it from the folder and then recall it as a recently opened file. You also must restart the software just to change its color scheme (white, blue, or dark).
Reason Instruments New and Old
Reason 12 added a new instrument: Mimic, a new "creative sampler," as the company bills it. It's essentially a less difficult sampler, as Mimic makes it easy to chop up, trigger, and otherwise manipulate audio material. You can drag and drop audio right into one of eight slots and then play it melodically (with differing pitch), slice it up, turn it into a drum machine with Multi-Slot Mode, or layer it in Multi-Pitch Mode complete with splits and key ranges. This means you can chop up beats or assemble a pitched, contemporary lead vocal much more easily.
Several other instruments remain standouts. Europa, which Reason Studios bills as a "shapeshifting synthesizer," excels at massive synth stabs, aggressive leads, and ethereal, textured pads to which you can apply various filters. You can use any sample as a wavetable and load samples into its Spectral Filter to use as a multiplier when filtering sounds. Grain lets you take samples and use them as the basis for granular synthesis. Both modules are stocked with presets that sit nicely in a mix and continue to evolve and change over time.
The list goes on: Klang delivers a variety of tuned percussion, including a glockenspiel and a wine-glasses instrument. Pangea adds a bevy of plucked, blown, and strummed instruments from around the world. Humana brings useful voice samples to Reason, with multiple choirs and solo singers. Radical Piano blends samples with synthesis in a nod to mid-to-late 1980s early digital instruments. The Synchronous modulator lets you run just about anything through it and modify its delay, reverb, distortion, and other characteristics over time in a way that would be difficult to achieve with straight automation.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Reason remains its inspiring sound set, which spans 29,000 instrument patches, loops, and samples. To understand how good it sounds, skip the two included demo songs and, instead, check out the SoundCloud audio examples on Reason Studios' website. If you're focused on bundled instruments, it's also worth looking at Cubase Pro or Logic Pro, which offer plenty of value in this department. Still, Reason packs a lot into the main package, and if you're ever out of instruments, you can browse the hundreds of available Rack Extensions or add third-party VSTs.
Recording and Mixing in Reason
The flexible Combinator in version 12 lets you change its size, color, background graphics, and control layout, a huge improvement over the (very) old one. It lets you combine multiple Reason devices into self-contained presets, which can look like entirely new modules with custom UIs. And if you don't feel like building your own, Reason 12 includes more than 100 new Combinator patches and updates to more than 1,000 existing ones.
Other effects include a beautiful-sounding Sweeper Modulation effect with built-in phaser, flanger, and filter; a vintage-style, fat Quartet Chorus Ensemble with (naturally) four modes; and the ability to break out the mixer's Master Bus Compressor and Channel Dynamics as rack effects. The sequencer has also been bolstered recently with new curved automation, seamless audio file crossfades, multilane MIDI editing, adaptive snap-to-grid, and the ability to move multiple faders. But Reason still lacks film scoring, notation, and surround-sound facilities, so look at another DAW if you need any of those features.
Although a DAW like PreSonus Studio One or Pro Tools offers more comprehensive audio editing tools, Reason's features work well in this regard. The mixing desk remains flexible and sounds good, thanks to its SSL 9000k analog modeling, sweet-sounding EQ and compression by channel, that console's famous master bus compressor, and send and insert effects. I love the sound of the channel compression, although I would still appreciate more granular metering than the five LED dots, even if that's how a real SSL does it!
If you're more focused on realizing your musical ideas quickly and less so on recording live instruments or producing finished masters, Reason has plenty of built-in tools. And if you're a budding sound designer looking to get under the hood of different synthesizers and samplers, it's tough to go wrong with Reason. The same goes for anyone with an electronic music bent who wants to compose music quickly. But if you're going to record podcasts, you should look at an audio-only-focused app like Audacity or Adobe Audition.
A Favorite for a Reason
It's worth comparing Reason, FL Studio, and Ableton Live before purchasing; all three programs let you create electronic music quickly, albeit with different approaches. If you're looking for a mainstream-style DAW to record a band or score for a film, Reason is less compelling and lacks essential features. But even then, it serves as an excellent bundle of virtual instruments in plug-in form. Our Editors' Choice audio editors remain Logic Pro on the Mac and Avid Pro Tools on the PC (though the latter is also available for the Mac).
Despite its flaws and dated UI, it's tough to knock Reason 12 as an all-in-one recording and mixing tool for electronic or hip-hop music.
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