I use both...I started with FL 3.4 or something, and worked my way up to 7XXL... about when I got v5, I started using reason 3.0, now i have reason 4.0..im just gonna voice my opinion, so forgive me if i sound somewhat rude.....
I am tired of people hating on FL, how many times has it been said that commercial producers, i.e. 9th wonder uses fruity loops?
i have to think the people that trashed FL back in the day, b/c I prolly would have never been discouraged enough to try reason.
here is the thing about FL.... it's convenient.... really fucking convenient, so quick you can lay down an idea is amazing, esp. if your cpu isnt up to par.. you would have no problem using fl. When it comes to beat making, it's freakin awesome, and there's no limit to what you can do, per say...HOWEVER, i do somewhat agree with art2701 when he says that basically finalizing a beat should not be done in FL, or FL not solely relied upon to do so.
I don't care if u use FL or reason, if ur good at what u do, it's not going to matter.
The problem with FL is its stock sounds, and some of the mixing effects... they just suck, no if ands or buts about it, but if you have good vsts, and good drum kits, your ready to roll!
using midi with FL does not run a smoothly as reason in my opinion, I usually have to re-edit each note i play, because the hardware buffering in FL carries some latency with it...maybe if i geta core duo, it will change, but i dunno.
I have personally mixed a FEW beats in FL, and they came out pretty damn good, on all speakers, so that's the only part i disagree with art2701 about. but.... i never use FL to finalize my beats, you wanna use a audio editing software like adobe audition or pro tools, cubase, albeton, etc.... I only use FL for samples now anyway
As for reason, it has it's drawbacks, I dont find using recycle along with the nnxt or the rex loop player to make a sampled beat as convenient as it is with FL. Furthermore, if you dont have the cpu power, reason is going to run like crap.. i would suggest at leas 2.8G P4 and 1GB ram...
no you can't use vst's with reason, but if you know what you're doing, you can make any instrument in reason sound better than any vst (maybe expect philharmonik?)
which brings me to the interfaces and sounds....reason has a massive sound library, and you will never get bored, there are so many sounds, you could make beats for like a year (im exaggerating) on the stocks alone!, and better yet, the stocks don't sound horrible... of course, if u got common sense, you still will need to tweak them a lil - you don't want people going "oh - that's a reason sound!"
the interfaces seem intimidating at first, but it really teaches u about hardware interfaces, how they connect, and what you might want to invest in a real studio... and i've been searching music schools for a while...most, if not all have reason courses that are required in order to get ur cert, or degree, so the educational aspect and value that comes with reason takes precedence over anything FL can offer... imho
as far as finalization, i mix completely with reason, but i still do my final mastering in an audio editing program....
as far as BuzzhawgProductions's comment i really have to disagree, imo, what it comes down to is the PRODUCER and not the EQUIPMENT...DEPENDENT upon WHO is using FL to THEIR OWN potential CAN stomp reason. but you find someone of the same caliber using reason to the PRODUCER'S fullest potential/imagination, it can stoomp FL, i dont care how many vsts you use... so it's really up to the producer and their skill set/imagination with either programs... and I used to pack FL with a shitload of vsts, till it started bogging my comp, so reason became more efficient
overall, BOTH programs have it's good and bad points, and I think a skilled producer using either can make the beat sound pro.
how come no one's mentioning SONAR?? I HATE that program.... now that is a cpu killer, and I'm still trying to understand it lol
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