Propellerheads Record

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:57 pm

Hey all. First post in about ten million years.

I'm curious if anyone here is using Propellerheads Record. After years of recording on a PC, I'm finally switching to a new iMac, and will have to lose or re-buy a lot of plugins as a result...so I figured I might as well entertain new DAW options, too. Record appeals to me. I kind of like the idea of its limitations, and the fake SSL console, and actually getting to use Reason with a DAW in a relatively normal way. I figure if I absolutely must use a plugin, I can fly stuff over to Reaper and render it there.

For those of you who don't know me, I generally just record myself and a few friends' bands. My interface is a Yamaha N12, which I supplement with 4 channels of Hamptone pres. Most of my tracks are recorded live with mics; Reason should fully satisfy my softsynth and drum machine needs.

BUT. Does it sound good? How are the compressors and EQ? How's the tape sim? Is it easy to edit?

Hope you guys are all doing good.

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Wed May 18, 2011 2:11 pm

Disclaimer: I am endorsed by Line 6 aka the US distibutor for Propellerhead software.

I have had it for about 3 months (came with my copy of Reason 5) and honestly installed it but never got around to playing with it because I'm too busy. I love Reason 5 though (been using since 1.0) so if you don't need the features offered by Pro Tools it probably isn't bad. Might fire it up tonight and see what I can do though! I know you can download a demo off their site.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Wed May 18, 2011 3:38 pm

I will check out the demo--thanks a lot.

DCrippa · Post by **DCrippa** » Fri May 20, 2011 10:01 am

I've been with Reason since 2.0 and love it (also love their tutorials and information on their site)... this latest addition of adding Record really brings in what I've wanted since 2.0 - the ability to track anything... as for rex loops you still need to get recycle to convert them in to rex files - I just wish that was also included - but hey, you can't blame them for making $, great products.

I've been using PT and Cubase for just as long - and I love tracking, mixing and editing with Pro Tools (though I love delay compensation from Cubase - glad to hear they added it to PT9 finally lol - but not with third party interfaces?! argh!).... Editing with PT is so intuitive and natural to me - maybe I'm just used to it.... but with the advent of PT 9 - it's put me in a bind - as I haven't been able to afford to upgrade to it. It would also mean I would need to rebuild my computer.... So I'm going with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it cus I'm broke" approach Since that is going to take a substantial outlay of cash to do and I can't decide on what interface to replace the 002 with... So, I've put it off till I can afford it and have I've been going over to Record lately instead of PT (using my 002 as the interface). I do miss the ability to use some plugins at any given moment but it's not that big a deal - as you said just open it in another DAW, or rewire it if I have that in mind before starting.

I've also started trying out Reaper too and am very impressed, I'm not used to editing in it yet - bussing stuff was interesting very different approach... but all in all it's pretty awesome (especially their philosophy) I plan on buying it when my trial runs out... I love the fact that there is no dongle - for mixing on the road it's great.

Anyway, I think Record sounds great I start most of my compositions in Reason anyway so it's nice to bring in other elements off the bat (like bass or guitar). There is a certain sound that comes from using all their effects and instruments - but they do a great job - and if you tweak it enough you can get away from that a bit... (just discovered using Neptune last night for pitch correction - pretty cool) and with the routing flexibilities like in Reason - it's very powerful and only limited to your imagination and computer. I hesitate to say I'd solely rely on it because there are some great plugs out there... but since I have other options it's like having the best of all worlds.

I gotta also say Ableton is pretty awesome as well for jammin' and remixing - it has some cool effects out of the box as well... so I mess around with which ever one I feel meets the needs of a project... they each have their strengths... in the end it depends on what you're trying to do. I say use them all if you can.

If you use Reason a lot - it's a no-brainer you'll be happy you got it.

The compressors are great - but for emulations you may want to bring the audio into PT with your favorite plugs via rewire to use your favorite compressor or whatever for color - but in my opinion the compressors are good and do what they're supposed to do and do so pretty transparently and sound beefy (with the exception of the "SSL styled" buss compressor - it seems to color a little)

Tons of eq options available - to use as a tool - if you want color there are ways to do it (Thor has amazing filter options) it but if you want a specific sound of an eq or compressor emulation you may be better off passing it through a plug in via rewire... you could render it and then bring it back into Record standalone... kind of a pita tho...

Editing is easy - you can simply move the edges of the "containers" to where you want the audio to start or end... there's a razor tool... usual zooming options I got used to it pretty quickly. (though one thing that annoys me from previous versions of Reason is that the return key doesn't bring the song back to the beginning - maybe theres a way to program that.

As for the tape sim I love it - I use the Scream tape setting on almost everything... you just have to go easy with it and dial it in to your liking... it's easy to over do.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Fri May 20, 2011 10:48 am

Thanks, that's hugely informative! I think I may be kind of an ideal customer for Record/Reason...I like softsynths but in the realm of effects, increasingly just rely on the bundled effects (EQ, gate, and comps) that come with Reaper. And my "sound" has increasingly become the sound of my instruments and room. The only plugs I would really miss are Audio Damage's Liquid flanger, Voxengo Elephant, and PSP MixSaturator. But it seems as though equivalents are available in Record.

I'm leaning heavily towards it, especially since I've been wanting to try Reason for years.

DCrippa · Post by **DCrippa** » Fri May 20, 2011 11:12 am

I have a feeling you'll really dig it. There's a whole mastering suite of tools included and most of what you listed effects-wise has a comparable technique or tool included. Ones that provide specific color though, you'll have to do in another platform... like I said don't see it as a loss - it's a case of having your cake and eating it too... as you'll still have the option of piping whatever you want out of Reason/Record over to be treated.... just a bit of a change in workflow and kind of a pita... but if you're really married to the plugs you can still find a way to incorporate them and get away from the generic sound... while still using the program... Unless I'm working in PT - I prefer not to work in Reason while rewired (because ProTools becomes the master transport controller)... rather I do so just to export and treat - and then close the session and bring in rendered / treated PT audio back into Reason/Record in stand alone...
If I'm using Reason as an instrument to add to other tracks already in PT - then I'll use it as a rewire slave to protools... but for the most part I like using Record/Reason standalone.

Lots of resources out there... highly recommend the books.
http://www.alfred.com/Products/Reason-5 ... 58613.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Reason-4-Power-Mi ... 1598634771

I really like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Tools-Reaso ... 721&sr=1-1

of course there's:

https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/
and
http://www.thesoundofreason.net/
plus a bunch of other forums...

There's a ton of tutorials - and you tube vids

www.reasontutorials.net

I'm currently going through this one...

http://www.propellerheads.se/substance/ ... pecialist/

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sat May 21, 2011 1:50 pm

All super helpful, thanks so much. Demoed and bought. I'm gonna give both apps a solid year and see where they get me.

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Sat May 21, 2011 3:42 pm

I started messing with Record today. Initial impressions of what I could figure out in an hour. I loaded in some stems for a remix. First thing I noticed is that I can't get it to figure out that I am using the optical ports on my soundcard for I/O (I bypass the soundcard's converters all the way). I emailed Propellerheads so I'm waiting on a response to that. In the meantime I loaded Record in to Pro Tools through ReWire. This of course allows me to monitor as I normally would. Then I noticed that all my tracks were mono. Not sure how to make stereo tracks or groups yet? This is slightly annoying as the stems are stereo bounced L and R noninterleaved tracks, and Pro Tools auto-recognizes these as a pair. So that's a bit of a workflow inconvenience. Next I'm going to try to get my head around the editing workflow...

So far it looks like it could be cool for mixing and the routing possibilities, but initially not seemingly as intuitive as I'd like. Not giving up yet, though. Glad it is not my main DAW, and I'd be more frustrated if I'd paid retail costs for it (which I did not through endorsement).

DCrippa · Post by **DCrippa** » Mon May 23, 2011 6:06 am

I'll have to look tonight - but off hand I'm pretty sure the settings for that should be under edit - preferences - and then go to the audio page in the drop down... or something like that...

stereo audio tracks when imported showed up in a stereo track... maybe bounce them that way if you know you'll use record? dunno - would love to hear what they say and learn your solution to it.

now you've got me wondering if it's possible to just link faders in record... then you'd just have to pan them... and link?

Jarvis · Post by **Jarvis** » Mon May 23, 2011 7:51 am

There's no subgrouping of fader channels in Record at this time, nor real time MIDI out. These are the main drawbacks to my mind. I've used Reason for years and Record for a year, occasionally ReWiring to Digital Performer for those special plug ins and instruments. I be digging it.

DCrippa · Post by **DCrippa** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:02 am

Is there a workaround like creating a mixer and then setting it up like that to the channel... In the rack I wonder if you can route the audio outs of other tracks to the sub mix mixer...

Jarvis · Post by **Jarvis** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:23 am

EditEd4TV (very knowledgable about R/R) has a subgroup workaround. He hangs at Prop User forum.
https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/for ... ay.php?f=6

DCrippa · Post by **DCrippa** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:41 am

Thanks!

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Mon May 23, 2011 8:50 am

I spent a few more hours with it yesterday. Still no resolution on using the ADAT ins or outs on my soundcard (they do not even show up as active I/O within the Record preferences. It does recognize the soundcard, but only the analog I/O). Within Pro Tools for making stems you generally make non-interleaved left and right tracks, and if I import those into Pro Tools it recognizes them as such and puts them on a stereo track. So the files are bounced correctly. I do think that it is somehow possible to make a stereo track, just haven't figured it out. I also find it irritating that the fader values readout is not accurate or repeatable. So say I can drag the fader down to -1.58dB on one track, I can't get that number on the next...i also cannot type the value in. I an however copy the setting from one track to another..,just another strange feature.

Problems aside. I do like working in blocks, because I'm doing a remix then I can build up my chorus, verse, intro...bit by bit. I also like the realtime timestretch. The original song was 140bpm, and once I got the stems loaded in I disabled stretch, them changed the tempo in Record to match that, them selected the audio tracks and right-click bounce them...then I changed the tempo to 156bpm and everything stretched. The quality actually sounded very good there was not much for audible artifacts. I also found the editing to be fairly intuitive for chopping up boys of parts for remixing...especially how you can select all audio and add fades to the front and back to all automatically, and you can make changed to all tracks at once this way.

DCrippa · Post by **DCrippa** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:44 am

huh! It really won't see the digital ins? That's interesting and surprising.... and a huge limitation.

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