quote:

Originally posted by stevebutabi I see. Thanks again for the helpful advice. I'll try out a demo of Reason on my current Mac before I purchase Ableton or anything else. It only has 516MB of RAM though... will that cut it?

Yeah, that should be fine. Reason is acutally extremely efficient with computer resources such as CPU and RAM. You shouldn't have a problem.

Also, be sure to look for Reason tutorials on Google, there are tons of them out there to get you started.

Reason has everything you need in one. But you cant add anything extra to Reason.

Ableton has everything that Reason has apart from any synths. You buy these seperately (there are good free ones available as well). Operator could be one but I wouldnt recommend it for a beginner.

So if you buy Ableton and get a couple of synths, then you can do everything that Reason can do. You can then buy more synths and effects over time if you wish.

Some people like a program where they can add extra synths to it. Others prefer Reason for it simple all in one solution.

Like I've said, try both and then decide.

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I'm having a rocking time with the Reason demo! It truly is easy to get started with it. I was really impressed how quickly I was able to lay down a decent sounding track.

I think I'll continue playing with it for a while, then give the Ableton demo a shout. On the Ab. website it says that there is an Operator demo included - I thought it wasn't. I guess I'll see!

Thanks again for the advice, really helpful

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

I think this could be of use to you.

If you want to go really cheap, I would get an Academic copy of Reason, it is half the price of the normal one. When you want to try rewiring into a VST-enabled host, download Reaper from www.reaper.fm. It is free to use, but after 30 days you have to wait a few seconds before it opens up (but it still functions FULLY). It is $40 to buy.
It is still a great piece of software though, I'm on the edge of selling Cubase and using Reaper for everything.

Use your existing computer, don't buy a Mac just yet. Make sure, if you buy a mac, that you do it because of necessity. There isn't as much software out there for macs.

quote:

Originally posted by Eric J In addition, a mixing desk isn't going to do you much good without some hardware to plug into it. SO, if you are operating in a purely software environment, without any external hardware whatsoever, then the mixing desk will do nothing.

Apart from wow the groupies you bring home?

I'd just say that mac isn't a neccessity, for the same $$ as you'd pay for a MBP, you get a monster, quad-core, multiGB ram, terrabyte HD, twin LCD screen pc, which will serve you a bit better when it comes to DAW's, some plugins/vsti are bitches when it comes to consuming resources... Even reason can prove too much even on a decent system with complex tracks (combinators with LOTS of synths and fx's), so an extra gb of ram and a extra proc core definitely can't hurt
Just an opinion, no flaming whatsoever.

Reason is great to start with, just make sure you do the mixing in another app (like audition), beacuse the mixer in reason is crap, export each track one by one solo'd when you'll mix... If you don't believe me, give it a try

The general advice is of course take it easy, don't rush into anything, as you'll find it can prove difficult to transform the tune that's playing in your head into something speakers will play

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quote:

Originally posted by Tarpex beacuse the mixer in reason is crap

?

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quote:

Originally posted by Tarpex Reason is great to start with, just make sure you do the mixing in another app (like audition), beacuse the mixer in reason is crap, export each track one by one solo'd when you'll mix... If you don't believe me, give it a try

Damnit, when will this myth die?
Digital summing is pretty straightforward, especially if it's done in 32-bit floating point like Reason, Cubase, Logic etc.
It's just as simple as 1 + 1. Do you really think propellerheads managed to screw that up? It's all in your head.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty O'Hara Apart from wow the groupies you bring home?

Well, yeah, there IS that...

quote:

Originally posted by Eldritch Damnit, when will this myth die? Digital summing is pretty straightforward, especially if it's done in 32-bit floating point like Reason, Cubase, Logic etc. It's just as simple as 1 + 1. Do you really think propellerheads managed to screw that up? It's all in your head.

Then why the cleary audible difference in sound of the total export / track by track&mixed elsewhere?

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