Reviews of Reason 5
These were the old reviews for Reason 5. Now, they were pretty good, but they all pale in comparison with the spectacular reviews and comments given for Reason 6!
1. The people at ReasonFreaks, as can be expected, are all praises for Reason 5.0, giving it a total of 8.5/10 stars. It’s all about the new features which top the previous version. They point out the power to manipulate your drums through the Kong Drum Designer, which is sure to keep you entertained for a very long time. Dr. Octo Rex’s 8 separate loops is a great way to save CPU usage and the simplicity of making a decent track with just one player alone and the 8 separate loop slots. Neptune Pitch adjuster is just “brilliant”, and great quality or a program that’s just in version 1.5, that is, Record. Finally, the Blocks feature makes the arranging of sections even more hassle-free, and allows you to keep on top of everything going on within a track. They suggest checking out Youtube.com for the exciting ways in which this program is being used.
2. The reviewers of Soundonsound.com give their final verdict of Reason 5.0 as “impressive.” Especially given all the new features of Reason 5.0 such as the Dr. OctoRex, Kong Drums, Block arragning, Neptune pitch adjuster, and more. SoundonSound.com also noticed the new but worthwhile addition in Reason 5.0 to generate MIDI input directly from the QWERTY keyboard. I remember using a VST for that once, when I had no access to a MIDI keyboard! So it’s a very nice touch!
3. The guys at Pcpro.co.uk think that for those on a finite budget and who want to produce good quality electronic music, it’s really hard to find any fault in Reason 5.0. It’s unfortunate that as of now Reason and Record haven’t turned into a single-stand alone version of Reason, but hopefully that will change in the future.
4. According to FutureMusic.com the updates of Reason 5.0 are not only substantial but significant, which keeps up with the trend of improvement that users have come to expect from the past four versions. Both Reason and Record have very noteworthy enchancements and although they would wish that these products be merged into one, there seems to be serious problems with the backend technology which would require the guys at Propellerheads to rewrite the program from the ground up. Nevertheless, they’re making both Reason and Record the best programs they could possibly be. Hopefully soon they will finally allow VST plug-in capacity into Reason. Reason 6.0 anyone?
5. MusicRadar.com gives Reason 5.0 a complete five stars. The pros include its being rock-solid and CPU friendly, stunning sequencing features, the awesomeness of the Kong drum device, a more streamlined interface, and on-board sampling (something which it didn’t have before). The cons include still no changes to the single-column rack which doesn’t take advantage of wide monitor screens, or multiple screens, and the inability to configure custom shortcut keys, but that’s just about it. In the end it feels much more complete than its predecessors, and is still one of the best in the business.
6. Residentadvisor.net gives Reason 5.0 an overall rating of 5/5. After spending a few weeks with reason there conclusion is that there’s a lot to recommend it than just an upgrade for current users. You can easily use ReWire to take advantage of its powerful synthesis tools while remaining in your preferred music environment like Ableton Live or Apple Logic. The Blocks feature is also a great addition to the arranging environment, since many dance music producers do think in terms of chunks as opposed to a strict timeline approach.