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Reason 10.3 is out - the big VST performance update!

DS_Joost

One day I'll fly away!
So I didn't see a thread here on this, thought people might want to know that one of Reason's biggest and most documented problems has been fixed: it's inability to perform efficiently with lots of VST plugins. Ever since their introduction to Reason (done in a great and very cool way I might say) VST's have always ran pretty badly inside Reason. This is because of Reason's core architecture and the way it works internally. After this update, it will run on par with other DAWs. From the Propellerhead website:

I'm happy to announce that Reason 10.3, a free update to Reason 10, is now available. Just launch Reason 10 and there'll be an auto-update waiting for you.

Reason 10.3 is the much anticipated "performance update", a big rewrite changing how Reason handles buffer sizes to work how VST plugins expect a host to work. There's now a setting in Reason's audio preference to "Render audio using audio card buffer size setting" that is on by default. But what does that mean in practice?

When making music, your computer can now handle more VST plugins before experiencing issues (like clicking and popping) on buffer sizes higher than 64 samples. Depending on the plugins used, the improvements you'll see can vary a lot. In our testing we've seen improvements from a measly 10% to well over 200% when using a buffer size of 512 samples. You might see even bigger improvements on larger buffer sizes, but of course a larger buffer size has other downsides like latency.

Now that we've had a month of beta testing I can also say for certain that even if you don't use VST plugins, you'll see performance improvements using Rack Extensions and internal devices too. As an example, the Reason 10 demo songs run 10-50% better on our testing machines using a buffer size of 512 samples.

While this is all good news, some things might actually sound different with these rendering changes and that's important to understand. When automating or CV controlling parameters in a VST, it will use the same resolution as the buffer size. This is also true for any feedback connection, for example sending a signal out of a device and then back in to the same device.

In Reason 10.2 and earlier, the buffer size was fixed at 64 samples and thus had almost no noticeable delay. Now, with larger buffer sizes you might hear a difference when controlling a VST parameter or hear a delay when creating a feedback loop. In most cases, you probably won't notice it, but for full compatibility with your older songs you can either bring the buffer size down to 64 samples or untick the new option in the preferences.

With all that said, we're very happy with the improvements in Reason 10.3 and that we can finally share it with you. We've also reset all Reason trials so anyone curious about the improvements can start a 30-day trial. I personally want to say thank you for all the feedback and testing help we've had from the Reason users out there. Now it's time to make more music!

Mattias Häggström Gerdt
Reason Product Manager

If you wanted to jump into Reason, now is the time. It's a very unique program, not very suited for film scoring, but that's not it's purpose and propably will never be. It's the coolest modular instrument environment I have ever come across, and it's infinitely inspiring.

Don't go in expecting Cubase. It is not and will never be a workhorse DAW like that. Instead, go into a modular musical playground. Because that's where it's strenghts lie, and that's why I find it the most inspiring DAW out there, even if it isn't ''the best''. It's just plain fun, and shouldn't making music be fun above everything else?
 
I'm happy this update is finally out! I do lots of Kontakt-heavy productions in it, and 10.3 has made a world of difference for me.

Indeed. The difference is staggering. They really outdid themselves. Now they can hopefully focus on some much needed features for Reason 11 which is expected later this year. I like Propellerhead as a developer. They are sincere and open and are clearly passionate about what they do.
 
IMHO Bitwig does it better, easier and more featured.

Yeah but I don't find Bitwig inspiring in any way, shape or form. That's nothing against it. But for me, the rack view does it. It's colorful, pops out, is inviting. No other program does that. As Hans once said on here ''das auge hort auch mit''.

Sorry Hans, I hope I said it right. I'm not German, I'm from the neighbors...
 
Also props to the guys for the update : I've always loved Reason, and although its never been a massive problem with the VST's, there a few nice ones like Adptiverb, Nectar 3 and Ozone that I'm always cautious of using in a project with rendering the files out. In some ways, I liked the limitations : when your computer freezes, you've got too many tracks :)))
 
About a year ago some people felt that Vienna Ensemble Pro was "unusable" with Reason. I don't know if that was related to VST or not, so I'm curious to see if VEP performance improves with this latest update.
 
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