Reason 13 arrived earlier this year, and after spending three weeks digging into it and running it through trials, I’m left with a mix of nostalgia, delight, and a tiny bit of frustration.
If you’ve been around the Reason ecosystem for a while – or like me, flirted with it on and off – you know what to expect: a DAW that doesn’t quite behave like your typical sequencer, but delivers some sonic experiences that are hard to match elsewhere.
Reason 13 isn’t a reinvention over it’s predecessor, its OG with new shoes. It’s not trying to be Ableton or Cubase or Reaper. And that’s both its charm and its frustration.
Hot on the heels of my preview review for the excellent Osmium Distortion Matrix, (Read the full review here when you’re finished: www.musicnation.co.nz/reason-studios-osmium-distortion-matrix) I was very keen to check out more with the new Reason 13. But before we dive too deep, let’s start with the parts that really made me sit up and take notice.
First Impressions
I was genuinely excited to fire up Reason 13. I’ve loved Reason ever since Reason 9, and even upgraded to Reason 11 Studio Suite at one point, mostly for the VST Rack FX, but admittedly didn’t use it as much as I should have. This time around, the combination of the Reason Companion hub and the sheer wealth of Sound Pack content made me feel like a kid again.
You configure the installation of the core DAW and devices from the Reason Companion, which is excellent. It’s not a community hub or anything interesting like that, but you get some decent tutorials and can easily browse, audition, and download content seamlessly, and the weekly Sound Packs are genuinely fun to explore.
Most of the content is focused on electronic music design, but the beauty is that these are essentially Combinator patches – fully interactive and designed with creativity in mind, not bloating your drive with gigabytes of raw samples.
I found a few real gems in the latest Scandi Noir and Mushroom Forest packs. Even if you don’t use them all the time, they’re great for experimenting and inspiration.
And then there’s that unmistakable “Reason sound” the second you play a synth. It’s immediate – wide, full, and somehow alive in a way that reminds me of my hardware devices. I can’t quite articulate it, but it’s similar to that feeling when you play a classic synth over its software emulation. There’s more depth, more presence. Reason devices, from Thor to Europa, feel next-level compared to a lot of modern soft synths.
The Interface and Workflow
Reason 13 is a complex and deep DAW that requires a good degree of mastery to truely get the most out of. It’s really a giant synth plugin, perhaps the most complicated one you could imagine. And while I won’t go over every minute detail, there are some sound out features worth covering for those unfamiliar with the platform.
The new dark interface is, for my money, a big win. In demos it looked almost harsh, a bit too contrasty. But live, it’s easy on the eyes and elegant. I do miss the old cool blue Reason had, but let’s be honest – black is the new blue.
That said, the sequencer hasn’t evolved much since v11. The MIDI editor still can’t be detached, and the note blocks are tiny, which makes detailed editing a pain.
The long stay Combinator is one of the outstanding features of Reason 13, a clever and simple container wrapper for subgrouping effects, players and instruments – all with easy to program macro performance controls. A great way to reduce the clutter in the Rack, but also create sharable preset chains, custom instrument designs and more easily manageable mix channels.
Of course, Reasons mighty SSL-inspired built-in mixing console is pure old school delight. These days mixing consoles in DAWs tend to be fairly bland and uncreative utility pages, its amazing to have a full working and real-world correct desk with all the bells and whistles you would expect on any studio hardware console. The only DAW coming close to this level of immersion is Harrison Console’s MixBus, now ironically owned by SSL.
The patch browser, which should be your friend, still feels like a labyrinth, especially if you want to sift through thousands of presets. You can find gems, but it takes patience. That being said, it is a marked upgrade from the old Reason 11 browser, which used to be a real bear.
The new CC lane editing screen is another area that feels stuck in the past. Only one lane can be open at a time, and there’s no way to keybind or quickly switch between lanes like velocity, mod wheel, or expression. It’s a lot of clicking for something that should be fluid.
And if you’re juggling large projects, the lack of track management tools makes projects feel very clunky. Anything over 20 or 30 tracks and you’ll be lost. As a composer for theatre, my usual 500-600 track projects are a complete no-go for Reason.
But, and this is important, almost every complaint I have can be instantly neutralised with one simple fact: you can just run the Reason Rack inside another DAW.
And that’s really the heart of it. I hate to say it, but the Reason Rack is, for me, more powerful and inspiring than the core DAW itself. It slots into Cubase, Reaper, Logic – wherever, without a hiccup, and you still get the full Reason experience while leveraging the strengths of your main host.
Which leads to the obvious question: why use the sequencer at all? Reason’s real strength is the Rack. The sequencer? A nice extra, but not essential.
Reason Rack and Sound Design
The aforementioned Reason Rack is still one of my favourite features of any DAW, in Reason itself or otherwise. This modular environment allows you to stack synths, effects, and processors in ways other DAWs simply don’t. And unlike some plug-in bundles, you get everything integrated, no strange routing hacks required.
The rack is where Reason 13 really shines for me. The devices all sound incredible, whether it’s Europa, Grain, or Thor. They’re rich, wide, and responsive, more alive than many modern virtual instruments. Combined with the weekly Sound Packs and interactive Combinators, there’s endless potential for sound design. You can get a unique pad, a drum generator, or even an entirely new effects chain up and running in minutes. It’s a playground for creativity, and for that reason alone, I find myself coming back again and again.
Speaking of synths, the sheer mountain of included instruments, effects, and utility devices is impressive. Immediate standouts for me include the excellent Complex-1 modular synth, Friktion Modelled Strings, and the new Objekt physical-modelling synth. They look gorgeous, sound even better, and feel practically limitless once you start turning knobs.
The older devices still hold their own, too. I still reach for the humble ID8 piano for a surprising amount of writing – it’s punchy, clean, and sits beautifully in a mix. Reason Drum Kits are easily on par with offerings from Toontrack and Slate Digital. Thor and Europa are ever-reliable workhorses, but I’ll be honest: I’m a SubTractor lifer. It’s still my go-to.
Reason’s “virtual studio” concept is a dream for anyone who grew up in hardware studios. For younger producers without that background, it may look confusing or overly literal. But having cut my teeth in analogue studios throughout the 80s and 90s, the physical patching, the signal flow, the what happens if I try this experimentation – all of it feels like home.
I was initially sceptical about the Sound Packs feature, but after downloading a handful, consider me converted. They’re not massive sample libraries – they’re themed Combinator presets, small loop sets, and short sample phrases. But they’re surprisingly usable and easy to mould into your own projects, even for more traditional composition work.
The Reason Companion app makes browsing, installing, and uninstalling packs painless. And because most packs are preset-based rather than gigabytes of samples, you can freely experiment. Grab one, tweak it, see if it sparks an idea. If not? Delete it or just leave it installed for another day, it’s hardly taking up space.
One of Reason 13’s biggest strengths is the sheer amount of content on offer. With over 30,000 sounds and presets, Reason is firmly in Omnisphere 3 territory – at a significantly lower cost. When you add up the included high-end effects, instruments, and utilities, I honestly struggle to think of anything you must buy outside the Reason ecosystem.
Its only real shortcoming is the complete lack of internal MIDI routing, which leaves multitimbral instruments like Falcon and Kontakt out in the cold. Yes, running the Reason Rack inside another DAW fixes this – but for dedicated Reason-only users, that excuse is starting to wear thin.
Performance
One thing that hasn’t changed over the years: Reason 13 can still be a performance hog. On my system, some of the included demos struggle to run smoothly. Combine that with the lack of internal MIDI routing for external instruments like Kontakt, and it’s easy to see why some producers feel boxed in. Larger projects, heavy racks, and complex CC editing can all push the sequencer toward its limits.
Yes, running the Reason Rack inside a more efficient DAW eliminates almost all of these issues – but that’s cold comfort for users who genuinely love working inside the full Reason environment.
On the positive side, the GUI itself is snappy and responsive. Even on larger mixes, I didn’t encounter any noticeable lag or glitching from the DAW, the graphics-heavy Rack, or the gorgeous SSL-style mixer.
Reason 13 can now be scaled to match your display resolution, but unfortunately you still can’t set independent zoom levels for undocked windows. So if, like me, you work with dual monitors, you’re locked into the same scaling across everything. I’d much prefer a zoomed-in Rack on one screen and a zoomed-out sequencer on the other – but that’s not possible yet.
Pros and Cons – A Quick Look
Pros:
- Classic Reason sound – wide, full, rich.
- Reason devices remain top-tier; synths feel alive.
- Reason Companion hub and Sound Packs provide constant inspiration without bloating drives.
- Reason Rack integration in other DAWs is flawless.
- Dark interface is easy on the eyes and stylish.
- It’s not cheap, but it’s outstanding value for money considering the content.
Cons:
- Sequencer feels largely unchanged since v11.
- MIDI editor limitations and one-lane CC editing can be frustrating.
- Patch browser remains difficult to navigate.
- Performance hits with complex projects.
- Limited internal MIDI routing for external instruments.
- No track management for larger projects.
Conclusion
Reason 13 is simultaneously an old friend and a curious companion. Its strength has always been the Reason Rack and the unique sound of its devices, and that hasn’t changed.
Reason 13 is brilliant in so many ways, but severally let down by its antiquated sequencer, to the point that most people will look at you sideways for suggesting you would prefer to use it over simply running the Rack in another DAW.
So will I be dumping my main DAW Reaper for Reason 13? No, theres just too much compromise for me as a theatre/film composer. I will, however, definatly be injecting the Reason Rack into my future projects as much as possible within Reaper, it’s integration is incredibly well done, effectivly giving you the worlds most overpowered and fully-featured synth plugin.
If you’re a producer who values sonic quality, interactive sound design, and a playful, modular approach to music-making, Reason 13 is still worth a serious look. The weekly Sound Packs and Reason Companion make it feel alive and evolving, not just a static tool.
Personally, I still love it. I love the aesthetics, the cool 90’s design vibe and the pristine sound quality. I find myself going down rabbit holes in Combinators, experimenting with effects chains, and rediscovering the joy of sound design that feels immediate and musical. Reason 13 isn’t perfect, but it’s a DAW that reminds you why you fell in love with it in the first place.
Please visit Reason Studios’ website for full details on purchasing outright or the month Reason+ subscription service: www.reasonstudios.com
