Reason vs. Acid

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fishmed
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I haven't used Acid 3.0 which is supposed to have midi capabilites, but I presume that it is still mainly a tool for arranging audio loops into musical compositions. Reason on the other hand is a collection of sound modules (synthesizer, drum machine , sampler) for playing back midi compositions. To compare Reason with Acid 2.0 would be a case of apples and oranges, since each program does something entirely different. Hope this helps.
 
A nd Os

Yea, I'd definitely say apples and oranges here. I've just played around with Reason. It's amazingly cool from a interface standpoint, but I found it to be more dance music oriented a tool than anything, though I'm sure that it could be made to do whatever you need. The basics of Reason were easy, but the sequencing functions were more time than I had to invest. It is very, very cool, though, truly a technological marvel.

ACID, because it is based around the concept of looped beats is also an obvious dance music tool, but because it also has the ability to record (maybe Reason can do this too?), is a great tool for me to use to get down ideas fast. It is also very easy to use and supports DX effects. Don't think Reason does that. ACID was first to market in being able to change tempo without changing pitch and vice versa. Now, SONAR does this too, so I find I'm using ACID less than I did, but it is still much easier to use for getting alot of different loops together. SONAR will probably develop their looping tools and catch up.

Don't know if Reason is available as a demo, but ACID is.

-Niels
 
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It is definitely comparing apple and oranges. :)

There should be a demo of both at their respective websites.

It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish, but you will probably enjoy Acid 3.0.

but a bit boring ultimately, as you're using other people's loops and arranging them into tracks.
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That is NOT true. :( You can use your OWN samples. :) That should keep you good and busy creating tracks. :D

peace...

spin
 
Ah well, that does make a difference. I've only got Acid Music, the stripped down version, as I said. I'm sure there's a lot more you can do with the full version.

I've edited the offending passage in my previous post so it isn't lying about misinforming anyone.
 
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i'm pretty sure that you can use orginal loops in any version of acid. acid pro definitely allows you to record tracks and is handy at chopping them up into loops that you can sequence as you choose.

acid is an audio sequencer, whereas reason is a midi sequencer. ...to simplify ......reason is a glorified fruity loops....with good ASIO drivers and a modern computer you can play reason in real time with a midi keyboard....i don't think anything can touch reason for hardcore midi sequencing.....

the best thing would be able to use acid and reason together...or try SONAR..........

i truly believe that sonar will work on my pc one day.

:)
 
J., can you explain what you mean when you describe Reason as a midi sequencer and, by implication, Fruity Loops as well. I'm confused because I use Fruity Loops but don't know anything about midi and as far as I know don't use it. I just use the mouse. Doing this I can make complete tracks in Fruity Loops - except for vocals - using the drums and the synths supplied. I believe you can do this and more in Reason without using midi. Am I right?
 
Atwork
if you play the synth/drum sequensers in Reason/FL via a keyboard you are using midi, and yes, you puzzle the notes in manually with your mouse in Reason too.
I think Reason v/ Acid is clear to everyone now, so I won't comment on that, but just tell you what I think is veeery cool about Reason - the Rewire 2 thing. I'm using Nuendo, in the Nuendo mixer I can open ( I guess it's ) 96 channel strips for Reason and mix/effect them in Nuendo. You can't record anyt outboard gear into Reason, but you can in Nuendo, Cuebase, Logic etc - Perfect ( to me it is anyway :D )
it's pretty hard on your cpu though - everything has to have a price right
bizz
 
Thanks Bizarre,

so if you just use the mouse you're not using midi. I thought it might be important to clarify this point as describing Reason or Fruity Loops as a midi sequencer might put some people off using them.
 
Re: A nd Os

Thank you everyone for your input. I use Sonar as my main recording software, so buying Acid would seem a bit redundent; therefore, I am going to get Reason. It has tools I feel would useful for song writing, as I am not much of a song writer and need all the help I can get. There are two ways I plan to use Reason:

1) Create the foundation of a song in Reason and export it to a stereo wav file, then import that file into Sonar and add guitars, vocals, etc.

2) Use Sonar to controll Reason via MIDI as if it were just another sound mudule.

Reqs said:
ACID was first to market in being able to change tempo without changing pitch and vice versa. Now, SONAR does this too, so I find I'm using ACID less than I did, but it is still much easier to use for getting alot of different loops together. SONAR will probably develop their looping tools and catch up.

-Niels
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Can I actually use Acid loops in Sonar?
 
Yep

SONAR has pretty good help files about using ACID loops, so I'll let you look that up yourself. You should be able to do #1 no problem, don't know about #2.

-Niels
 
I know that you can control functions in Reason via MIDI. I would send just "musical note" information if I were to use #2. I would probably use a second PC and conect them together through the MIDI ports. I just have to get a better sound card for the second PC.
 
Hi, Fishmed - good to see you around again. :)

"1) Create the foundation of a song in Reason and export it to a stereo wav file, then import that file into Sonar and add guitars, vocals, etc."

Yeah, I'm doing this using Fruity Loops and Cool Edit. Although I suspect that Reason and Sonar are the upper class version. :D


But I don't understand this bit: "2) Use Sonar to controll Reason via MIDI as if it were just another sound mudule"

I understand the surface of what you're saying, but I don't understand what that would enable you to do in terms of making music. Is it just a way of integrating two programs into one?
 
Well

It almost sounds to me like you are making this harder than it has to be. Have you used Reason? What do you want to do with it? If you are determined to use Reason, I guess you could do the two PC thing, but I would look hard at soft synths before I tried that. These are available in progs like SONAR (which I use), Cubase, Logic. There are soft synths and effects for these programs that equal or exceed those that you'll find in Reason.

If you still want to do what you are talking about you can use Hubi's loopback midi port s/w to do it without the need for a second PC. Do a Google search for that s/w, it's free, I think.
 
I plan to use soft synths once I upgrade my OS.

Option 1 would more or less require me to start the project from within Reason before using Sonar.

Option 2 could be used as secondary instrument after the project had been started in Sonar. Since I have the second PC to use already, I thought I might want to break up the processing power between the two machines. I get enough drop outs from Sonar as it stands... (I hope Windows XP will cure that problem.)
 
What are your machines' specs? I got a big improvement in stability from Win2K, although I do still get crashes that require reboots using SONAR .
 
don't know a lot about acid, but i know that Reason has quickly become my new favorite program. it is versatile and very easy to use...one poster said it was tailored to dance music and i would have to agree with that. i wish i could jam more plugins in there, but i only ever use the basics anyways so they suffice for my needs.

here's a cut i made entirely in Reason:


i'm also a huge fan of fruity loops and i've used it for years. Reason is everything i ever wished fruity loops would do...now if they would just merge the companies and combine the step sequencing style of f-loops w/ the MIDI versatility of Reason, then it would be all over... :)
 
Reqs said:
What are your machines' specs? I got a big improvement in stability from Win2K, although I do still get crashes that require reboots using SONAR .
Click to expand...

Here is the current specs of my machines.

PC-1's specs:
- Win 98
- PIII 800 133MHz
- 256 MB RAM
- SCSI HD
- - (1) 4 Gig: Main HD for OS and applications
- - (1) 9 Gig 5400 RPM: Storage
- - (2) 4 Gig 10000 RPM: Working Drives

PC-2's spec:
- Win 98
- PIII 450 100MHz
- 192 MB RAM
- EIDE HD
- - (1) 4 Gig
- - (1) 2 Gig

My upgrade plans (over time) are:
- Install Win XP on both machines.
- Upgrade PC-1 to (2) PIII 1Ghz+ and 1.5 GB mem.
- Move the old motherboard, processor, and mem. From PC-1 to PC-2
- Replace the HD on the PC-2 with a 30 Gig drive.
 
Hmmm

Well, I'm running SONAR with multiple DX instruments and effects just fine with fairly low latency (10ms) on the synths, which is fine for playing them, but not for input monitoring of guitar. I've got a 2-year old PIII 550 with 256MB RAM (PC100), a 13 GB HD for OS and apps, and an 8GB HD for wave data. And this is not a dedicated box, it's the family computer. I use an SBLive Value for this, but I do run the WDM drivers on Win2000. I'd definitely upgrade to 2K or XP. You didn't mention your sound card, and I understand that there are issues with some sound card drivers under XP, but I'm sure they'll be resolved. And don't put the cart before the horse: you definitely don't need to do all that HW replacement anytime soon, unless you are going to need to run tons of synths and effects at the same time.

Bottom line: try the Reason demo before you buy it. Is your music pretty much beat-oriented? If you're not making dance music, Reason may not be your thing. The soft synth options under XP/2K may be more up your alley.

-Niels
 
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