Musikmesse: Reason opens up to 3rd Party support.

ReRacks Extensions is what it's called.

Basically it's a proprietary plug-in format keyed into the existing Rack architecture supporting both instruments and effects.

Devs in on it at initial launch confirmed are;

GForce
KORG
Softube
Sonic Charge
Sugar Bytes
u-he

This show an increasing common trend of yet another music software adopting a proprietary format away from standard plug-in formats like VST/i

The technology will be introduced during Q2 with a free update to all R6 users to R6.5, the new 3rd party devices of course will require further purchases.  Sales will all be made direct from a Propellerhead 'app store' type portal where the sale price will be divided a straight 70/30% between developer and PH respectively.

It looks very much like the idea of providing core functionality and providing extras at additional cost a la carte seems the way it is all going. 

Of course manufacturers adopting this approach will all cite the benefits of specific formats, such as stability, interface commonality as such benefits do exist but I'm pretty sure long term the 'cheap' costs of operating a DAW for the frugal software buyer is going to be a thing of the past as companies all start to be able to 'nickel and dime' their own brand functionality above the entry prices of the initial product.

3rd party developers may even like the Reason format as the copy protection system it employs has been so effective............so far, making the 70/30% split seem like better value than developing and maintianing their own effective 'anti-piracy' solutions.

Anyways I thought it an interesting bit of news to report.

I wonder how long it will take before someone develops a VST wrapper for that.

mumpcake


I wonder how long it will take before someone develops a VST wrapper for that.

Or even an extension that IS a VST wrapper...

There's an old saying out where people have been trading for longer than most;

"You can push the camels to the water... but you can't make 'em drink."

There is a case that some things could be developed here that do take advantage of Reason's unique architecture to provide some well-suited functionality, i.e. plug-ins that you can actually plug-in.

For most DSP solutions that are currently marketed most can be accessed already via Rewire into a capable host such as Sonar.

So I personally can't see myself springing for another Eq/Compression solution it would have to be something that provides some kind of specific functionality that the new format undoubtedly provides within in it's context.

Then again I've always found the base product extremely useful to date even without the 3rd party option.

I tend not to like see anything turn proprietary that can equally be achieved via a widely used and flexible standard that I can adopt in many environments, I do see here though that a few things could be uniquely appealing given the specific environment they will be pitched in.

I have observed already though that many are only too happy to buy several proprietary versions of the same DSP code as they seem for some reason to have more money than there are gizmos to buy, so as with most fomats there are only likely to be a few gems in an endless sea of mediocrity and duplicated functionality.

There's also the idea that people are getting something 'better' when they pay a premuim for it whereas my collection of really good free stuff along with my commercial products prove that this thinking is complete myth.  I think for some though the idea of spending money IS the pleasure that drives a purchase and good luck to them if it makes them happy then I don't see anything wrong with it, heavens if it's what helps drive an otherwise stagnant economy can there be a downside?

Man, I would want to be a plug-in developer these days. 

Between Avid and it's transition from RTAS and TDM to AAX, Cubase which supports only VST, Logic which supports only Audio Unit, and companies like Cakewalk and Propellerheads embracing their own proprietary formats, developers will find themselves w/ a totally fragmented market.

Jonbouy

Rain


Man, I would want to be a plug-in developer these days. 

Between Avid and it's transition from RTAS and TDM to AAX, Cubase which supports only VST, Logic which supports only Audio Unit, and companies like Cakewalk and Propellerheads embracing their own proprietary formats, developers will find themselves w/ a totally fragmented market.

Nah, they'll love it, they can sell the same thing 6 times over now...

Word.