Propellerhead Announces Reason 6 – Here’s What’s New!

Remember when Propellerhead Record was introduced? A lot of people said that what they really wanted was a version of Reason that could record…..

It looks like the developers have been listening, because they’ve just announced Propellerhead Reason 6 – and it’s exactly what many were asking for. Reason 6 adds all the features from Record.

Here’s what they have to say about Reason 6:

Version 6 adds audio recording and editing into Reason, along with Propellerhead’s acclaimed mixing console with masterfully modeled EQ and dynamics on every channel, multiple parallel racks, all the effects you know and love plus new ones to fall in love with, and much more of what you’ve always wanted in Reason.

Propellerhead says Reason 6 will be available Sept 30th. But you don’t have to wait until then to find out what is new – we’ve got the details below.

Check out the info and then let us know what you think about Propellerhead Reason 6!

Mix in studio grade quality

Mix in studio-grade quality – The mixing desk adds a big studio signal chain to all your sound sources. Every audio and instruments track has its own channel strip with built-in EQ, dynamics and advanced routing. A “radio ready” master bus compressor is also available.

Pulverizer

Pulveriser – Pulveriser brings together crunchy compression, dirty distortion, a multimode filter and flexible modulation in a single sound-crunching effect that you can use to crush, mangle, and destroy your sounds, apply careful parallel compression to bring out the details of a sample or recording or use the envelope follower when recording live instruments for responsive, expressive filter effects.

Propellerhead Reason 6 The Echo

The Echo – The Echo is an advanced stereo echo bringing together the brilliance of modern delays with the organic sounds of analog circuitry and old-school tape machines. The Echo is equal parts pristine stereo delay, sound sculpturing toolbox, and playable performance effect.

Propellerhead Reason 6 Alligator

Alligator Triple Filtered Gate – Alligator is a three channel pattern-based gate effect that is designed to turn bland pads into rhythmic textures, radically twist your loops, and ‘tweak boring beats into blockrocking breaks’. With its three parallel filters, distortion, phaser and delay, Alligator can add rhythm and accents to a flat synth sound, change the feel of a percussion loop, or be a powerful remixing tool. Add it as an insert effect on a single track to change the rhythmic feel of the sound or apply it to the whole mix for a breakdown section to completely reshape your song.

Neptune

Neptune Pitch Correction – New in the Reason rack is the Neptune pitch correction and voice synth device. Neptune offers standard pitch correction effects – or you can play new harmonies on your MIDI keyboard for instant backing vocals.

Propellerhead Reason 6 recording


Audio Recording – Audio recording has been one of the top feature requests for Reason.

Now you can capture your ideas with a minimum of mouse clicks and menu actions – directly in Reason. Version 6 introduces unlimited hard disk tracks and rock solid audio recording in Reason.

The large Recording Meter overlay lets you tune your guitar and set the levels from across the room.

In addition, Reason 6 adds non-destructive time stretch, so you can actually record first and pick your tempo later. And with audio transpose, you can even record first and change the key later. Change the tempo of your song, and the audio follows right along. Non-destructively change the pitch with a mouse click.

Propellerhead Reason 6 comp editor

Reason 6 also features an easy-to-use comp editor.

Building the ultimate vocal track is as simple as selecting the parts that work and muting the ones that don’t. Exit the comp editor and listen to the results; a perfect take containing only the good parts.

Line 6 guitar and bass amps

Line 6 guitar and bass amps – another interesting addition is virtual guitar and bass PODs from amp and cab simulation experts Line 6.

Other features:

  • Expert exporting – Want to move your song over to your DAW? In one single click, Reason will export your separate mixer channels as individual audio stems, with or without effects. Need just the effects? No problem.
  • More sounds – The included Factory Sound Bank has been expanded with thousands of new patches and loops for Reason’s instruments, and hundreds of patches for the new Pulveriser, The Echo and Alligator effects.
  • Workflow enhancements & technology advancements
  • 64-bit support
  • Better ReWire handling through individual outs on every channel
  • Reason’s new self-contained song file format
See the Propellerhead site for the latest information on Reason 6.

66 thoughts on “Propellerhead Announces Reason 6 – Here’s What’s New!”

  4. Great – will they still use a dongle for it?

    They should have just done this, and not ever released Record like they did. It just feels schizophrenic and makes them look like they're scrambling for appeasement. Not to mention on how they're going to offer updates to this nightmare of an upgrade path.

  9. Okay, it seems they've streamlined the upgrade path. I'm glad I didn't upgrade to 5. But now I read there WILL be the dongle. Sorry PHeads, I'm not a criminal – don't treat me like one.

  10. It proves that Record, (which was a DAW), was just a money grab. And how's that midi out coming along? They should make their own dongle, that acts as reason cv/midi converter, like some people have done with their Motu units. However, the new effects look good. The filter gate has an almost eurocrack look to it, the delay definitely a tribute to the 201 space echo, and the pulveriser sounds like their take on the sherman filterbank.

  11. The upgrade path if you already have Reason 5/Record is $99. But if I went and bought the same package between today and September, I wouldn't have to pay anything for the upgrade. So you're basically being punished for being a loyal user. I don't think a new potential customer deserves a better deal than the customers you already have.

    1. your wrong, i got reason 6 today for £5, the offer is if you own and have registered reson and record, you can have the full reason 6 for a cost of your choosing as long as its over $1

  12. Presumably you'll have gotten more value out of the product over the last few years than someone purchasing it now would before upgrading.

  13. Or maybe Record wasn't what people really wanted, so they didn't buy it.

    Looks like Propellerhead is actually listening to its customers and giving them what they want this time.

  14. ….and still no “Master” rewire capability? When will the allow midi out options and allow Reason to be a Master in a Rewired enviroment? They invented rewire but can’t get this going? Wtf?!

    1. It's a closed system on purpose and very stable because of it. Midi out is for beginners anyways. They have bigger fish to fry.

      Rewire 64 bit is available now and all developers have had the code for a while and can choose to install it at this point. So if they haven't announced it yet, they are slacking.

  15. That's beside the point, although that's obviously Propellerhead's view on it. The crux of the issue is still what I said, someone with no previous relationship with the company is being extended more favorable treatment than a user who already invested in them. Plus you're assuming I've had Duo for years, rather than the few months I've owned it.

  16. Anyone expecting an iPad/Android version ot this stuff to work on demos on the go, then postproducing it at home ?

  17. The reason I never bought Record was because I didn't want to have to mess with a dongle when I already have Logic on the same computer to record guitars so why bother. If they're going to throw all that stuff into reason for 100 bucks, I'd have to consider it I guess…but it's just annoying to have to mess around with a dongle when all the pirate kiddies will just have a free copy with no dongle hassle. Not to mention all my USB slots are full right now so I'll have to get some more which is a hidden cost of the upgrade, probably add another 10% on. On the other hand after the fiasco with Final Cut Pro X I definitely want to hedge my DAW bets in case Logic X is a turd.

  18. Awesome! The day is getting close when I can use reason for ALL of my production work. I was really impressed with reason 5, and this is another great step forward. Midi sequencing would be nice, but I can live without it for now.

    Those effects look really great. Pulverizer looks really sweet, the Scream distortion on the tape setting is 1 of my all time favorite effects, that looks like it is going to be really sweet.

    For me, the 1 thing they really need to add is some kind of glitch/stutter/buffer effect. That's the thing I find myself sorely missing in reason.

  20. I gave up Reason because it was easy for easy stuff, cut impossible for everything else.

    Looks like they’ve finally figured this out. May have to give it a try!

  21. No, but it keeps the riff raff out!

    Ever seen a Record pirated copy? Nope. Reason? Yes.

    After this? Nope. Your money holds it's value, it's not a bad way of thinking.

  22. Actually false, you got what you paid for. Upgrade is optional, no one is twisting your arm.

    All that good stuff for $99, you can't even get a decent VST synth for that, unless it's on sale, no brainer or some crazy $13 name your own price gimmick.

    64 bit alone is probably worth the upgrade. Now it comes with an SSL 9000k mixer? And all the new features and devices? You have to value the upgrade against what you would spend for each individual VST. You're talking $$$

    Glass half full, half empty…

  25. How many copies of pirated Record have you seen? None.
    The dongle works, period.

    Get a usb hub for less then $10 and have 8+ more ports.

    Only pirates have a real argument, don't help them make their case.

    1. i have reason 5 and record 1.5 but i went onto main propellerhead site today and they let me pay what i wanted for reason 6, i got it for £5, i loaded it up and it sounds bettere and tougher than reason record combo, its worth the upgrade, offer to pay what you want ends in 3 weeks so hurry up or miss out.

  30. That leaves Fruityloops, protools and ableton that are still 32 bit? Maybe a couple of lesser known ones.

    Probably take Avid months to a year to upgrade.

    Ableton maybe months to a year, depending on how hard they are working out bugs vs upgrading.

    And Fruityloops has no chance since Delphi 64 is still in early stages of beta and it would take years to recode and recompile their frankenstein third party mashup.

  32. Not true. Reason lacks many features that are standard on everything else. Advanced midi editing tricks, sampling, chopping, decent sounding sideband compression, VST support, warping, batch .WAV import nnxt… I could go on forever.

    Same with the sound engine. It's like 10 years old, and doesn't compete with newer workstations or plugins like it used to.

    You can be a "power user" and still find it impossible to do many simple tasks in reason (because that functionality doesn't exist).

    Your comment was uninformed.

  33. Advanced midi? Like what?

    Sampling, you're kidding right?

    Chopping? Seriously?

    Sideband compression? You mean sidechain right? That doesn't have a sound, it's a method of ducking.

    VSTs? Rewire.

    Warping? It has the best time warping on the market. You sure you know this software?

    Batch import? How are you going to batch the settings? key mapping, etc?

    Please go on forever, let me hear at least one real problem.

    Sound engine are you kidding? It's now 64 bit and has an SSL 9000k mixer. You aren't really up on facts are you?

    10 years old sound engine sounds more like Fruityloops.

    Reason is as good as it's user. Just because you don't know it's depths doesn't mean it can't be done. People have been making music on Reason before you even considered dabbling in it.

    Your comment was interesting.

  34. I've been using a Record key since it's came out, not a single issue. And I feel like I got my money's worth because no pirate is enjoying what I paid for. ARRRrrrrr matey!

  37. Does not come with an SSL mixer. SSL does not endorse reason's attempt to model their consoles. Also, it sounds nothing like a real SSL. I use a AWS console daily and I can tell you from actual experience that the "SSL" thing is pure gimmick. The eqs, bus compressor, etc are even similar to a real SSL.

  38. I guess I'm not following… 2:04 just has info about the tape delay effect.

    When you say midi sequencing, I assume you mean record and edit midi in Reason. Are you talking about midi out?

  42. It was more in response to the original poster "For me, the 1 thing they really need to add is some kind of glitch/stutter/buffer effect. That's the thing I find myself sorely missing in reason."

  45. I hate Record because of its dongle (or internet login requirement.)

    As far as I can tell, they're adding the dongle/internet login to Reason now. 🙁

  49. I will eventually get your app. I still enjoy my wavestation and a couple of old modules. I was following your dev. on the Reason User forum a while back. I am glad this is still alive.

    Is it now perfect at version 1.0? Anyway thank you for your cool app.

  50. Yes and it is a good thing. Now every youtube video by some pirate dude showing off his "skills" will be based on Cubase SX3 and Reason 5… 🙂

    The Props tried very hard not to include a dongle for many years, but reality hits very hard when you have a company with hardworking employees with family to feed.

  51. Cubase 5 got cracked though, that's why I was skeptical about how secure the dongle really is. Looks like Cubase 6 is holding up for now.

  52. Hmm…they finally came to their senses on Record. There was NO WAY it could survive in the marketplace as a standalone purchase because, being locked out to plugins, you pretty much NEEDED Reason to be able to really do anything with it.

    Record was simply TOO limited to appeal to a large enough group of people! I predicted this would eventually happen to Record. I mean, you can go to Best Buy and get a $60.00 Magix program that can record audio AND accept plugins! Why would ANYONE pay $250.00 for a program that can ONLY record audio? There's freeware that can do that!… $250.00 for an extremely limited product? If you were new to music production, and had NO OTHER software, would you go for Propellerheads Record?

    I sold ALL of my Propellerhead stuff just a month before this news came out and I'm glad I did! I liked the sound and I liked playing around in Props stuff but…it was just TOO frustrating to use when doing meaningful work. ReWire is the most cursed, unstable, fiddly, step intensive, annoyance of a protocol I've ever used! It NEEDS to go away! I have at least one production where some of the sounds in Reason were the best for that track. It sounded great. I just hated having to open up two projects, doing so in a certain order, shutting my host down in a certain way blah, blah, blah….

    So, I sold ALL of my props stuff and bought some dedicated plugins to replace the Reason sounds I lost. So…much easier to work with!…They come up, in the right place when I launch ONE project. So…much better for my creative work flow!

    At least they've finally added audio to a MUSIC MAKING program at VERSION 6, in 2011? Bravo! Perhaps they'll add plugin support by version 10 and finally give us a well rounded, user friendly, fully actualized DAW?

    If Propellerhead wanted to increase sales, they should do this. Sell two versions of Reason. One that includes all the Record stuff. The other version of Reason should be sold as a plugin itself! Many of us ONLY use Reason as a sound module. How great would it be to be able to launch Reason AS A PLUGIN in your DAW and use its sounds they way you would any other vst workstation?

    But…the idiosyncratic nature of this company make its decisions so odd, I wont hold my breath for something so commonsensical coming to be any time soon. Until Propellerheads stops acting like they're from another planet, I won't even consider any of their stuff again. Unique is one thing, downright annoying weirdness is another.

  56. ok… I used : abelton, cubase with a load full of vst plugins, tried logic, and i am using reason since version 2. All the points in this forum talking against reason are personal view and i accept them. Or at least i can realte to them a little bit. But u should think of one thing: the more you use , the more you rock the hell out of this software. If you are used t.o vst’s, use it, but every plug in that i used can be redone in reason with minimal effort. You just have to know how. Reason is a powerful compangnion when it comes to produce music. The biggest mistake PH made was to release reason 5 /record instead of skipping this product and go direct to version 6….
    Check out the list of producers that use reason for there songs: a lot of number one hits were produced with reason. The product counts not the software that built it! Ok… I would not master my songs only in record or reason, but to produce good music (in every style and genre) its top of the tops in the big pool full of music software.

    Don’t underestimate reason…. It does things that logic or cubase has never heard of!

    WORDX

  57. Reason 6 being basically Reason+Record means it will get cracked, dongle or not. It is a major Reason release (unlike Record) and I just can’t see the hacker’s community not taking on the challenge.

  59. Cmon, MIDI OUT!!!!! I have about 2 dozen vintage synths that I sequence with SONAR 8.5 only because Record/Reason won’t send MIDI out!?!?!?? The virtual synths are nice, but are not exactly perfect. Besides, there is no Propellerhead synth that is dedicated to FM synthesis like my 1987 Yamaha DX7II, or my 1986, Korg DS-8. What about the Oberheim OB8 or OBXa? Please propellerhead, allow us the option of sequencing our “real world” synths with the awesome “virtual synths” you have created! For now, I have to rewire Reason through SONAR which works, but really taxes the computer.

  60. You mean to tell me they still don’t have vst support? I’m a reason user I thought for sure that this version would have it. I mean you can do everything in reason but having certain plug-ins would help the work flow. What is there problem?

  61. If some of you would like to learn more about how to use Reason, check out our online courses at http://www.reasoncourses.com – they cover everything from beginners to advanced users and up to Reason 6. You can study in your own time, from wherever you are. Enjoy!

  62. Until Reason supports MIDI OUT, I will stay off the boat. Judging by the current rate of new-feature-implementation, this will probably happen in Reason 10+, unless PH get their heads out of their arses and endorse the fact that not everyone can afford having a dedicated DAW for outboard MIDI sequencing. It is my impression that Reason was always meant to be a stand alone music production environment, and it’s getting there. But now that you can record audio, why hold out on such a basic, important feature like MIDI Out? Lots of people have hardware they want to use in their music as well.

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