When comparing Reason vs MOTU Digital Performer, the Slant community recommends MOTU Digital Performer for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs? ” MOTU Digital Performer is ranked 6th while Reason is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose MOTU Digital Performer is:
You can change themes and waveform and meter colors.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Modular enviroment
Synths, effects, and utilities can be modularly wired via audio and CV.
Pro Easy to learn
Reason may look intimidating at first, but it is just as easy to learn as any DAW, if not more so, yet has incredible depth once you delve deeper, with some options that are just not possible in other DAWs.
Pro Now supports VST
As of version 9.5, Reason now supports VSTs.
Pro Stable
Very stable and fluid. Rarely crashes.
Pro Built-in Audio Pitch Editor
Reason's Audio Pitch Editor easily can hold its own to Melodyne Essentials. Makes editing vocals and other monophonic sound very easy.
Pro Easy and intuitive while being feature rich
You can go really deep into creating sound and routing. Find possibilities you cant do with any other DAW.
Pro Supports MIDI out
MIDI out is a new addition in Reason, allowing feedback to MIDI devices.
Pro Multi FX presets
The multi fx are very nice. Great for transitions and complete sound management.
Pro Mimics true hardware through a skeuomorphic GUI/UX
Reason's rack and mixer visually emulate real studio hardware through a skeuomorphic GUI/UX, allowing you to route audio cables and CV very intuitively. Hit "tab" on your computer keyboard, and you can see the rear of the rack, making routing very easy to understand.
Pro Massive free video tutorials content
Professionally produced tutorial videos often released by Propellerhead that show you how to use the software. Reason also has a thriving user base that offers video tutorials showing you how to do almost anything you need.
Pro Great for live peformances
Pro Ssl mixer
One of the best if not the best mixer on any daw.
Pro Great set of tools
Pro Offers an easy way to quantize and slice audio
Reason makes it easy to stretch audio or slice it up for glitchy sound effects. When audio is loaded, it is analyzed so slice markers can be placed at the beginning and end of each note. Slice markers appear when the audio sample is double clicked.
Pro Block mode
Is great for more ideas and creativity.
Pro Vst3 Rack
Can work with reason Rack in any Daw
Pro Loop, convert and overdub on the fly
Pro Amazing automation arrangement
Using clips makes it very easy to automate precisely.
Pro Stock samplers
Has one of the best and creative samplers among the DAWs and in the market. Like Mimic.
Pro Powerful devices included
Great set of instruments and players and samplers included out of the box.
Pro Fast and smart search engine
Pro Work with multiple projects support
You can open and work multiple projects at the same time
Pro Multiple screen support
Can display reason windows onn multiple screens
Pro Great built in instruments and effects
Mulitple high quality built in synthesisers, drum loops, samplers and effects with plenty of pre-built patches to explore plus the ability to create your own unique sounds.
Pro Can convert audio to REX files
REX files record effects and slices on top of the original file, and will play audio at the tempo of a project. REX files provide many uses and are a great addition to Reason.
Pro Customizable UI
You can change themes and waveform and meter colors.
Pro 64 bit compatibility
Digital Performer 8 does away with low RAM limits by including 64 bit compatibility.
Pro Stable DAW
Pro Easy to learn
Easy to learn with the included videos on the websites.
Pro Comprehensive MIDI and audio editors
Pro Multiple sequences
You can have multiple sequences for variant ideas.
Pro MIDI friendly
Pro Unlimited tracks
Pro Easy to use
All clear and easy, yet a powerful DAW.
Pro VST3 Support
Pro Easy to install
Pro Pitch correction
Correct audio like in Melodyne.
Pro Support for 32- and 64-bit floating point sound files
Pro Advanced film scoring capabilities
Equipped with tools and film scoring features.
Pro Nano Sampler 2.0
Great Sampler for more audio editing.
Pro MPE Support
MIDI Polyphonic Expression. Good For recording multi-channel output from an MPE controller.
Pro Beat Detection Engine 2.0
Pro ZTX PRO technology
Speeding up or transposing audio material of any kind.
Pro DP training webinars
You can become a DP expert software user.
Pro Live Performance Mode
Good for live performance.
Cons
Con No Dolby Atmos / surround
Con Added Subscription
They've added Subscription. And some Re racks are only subscription based.
Con No ARA (audio communication e.g. with Melodyne / VocAlign)
Con Expensive Re expansions
Con GUI not for everyone and complicated
Con Mix only by ear
You can not type in a value in the mixer.
Con A very backward sequencer
Lacking some features.
Con Very outdated workflow
They haven't optimized their workflow in a long time.
Con No MPE and MIDI2.0
As of Reason12, MPE and MIDI2.0 are not supported.
Con Confusing GUI for Noob
Con Closed source
Con Clunky a bit
Con A bit expensive
Costs $500 for both box and download version.
Con Not so great support
Con Substandard audio stretching
DP 8 supports audio stretching, but the quality often doesn't remain after the sound has been modified.