Is FL Studio Better Than Reason 5?

There always seems to be a debate between these 2 applications … which one is better than the other and what not. It's quite sad actually, you'll see forum post 46 pages deep debating. Most of the time the people doing the debating can't even make good music... What so good is their opinions?.... exactly.. So what I'm going to do here is clear the air (hopefully) and give you facts on FL & Reason

Reason Doesn't Support Plugins

That's right Reason doesn't support 3^rd part plugins. Most FL Studio users will claim that Fl is better because it can... hmm.. Let's think about what most of the plugins are..

Sampletank – Workstation like plugin.. contains instruments...synths etc

Battery 3- Drum machine, comes with a nice drum library you can import Rex and most audio formats

Nexus 2 – Similar to Sampletank

Hypersonic 2 – Similar to Sampletank

OK, I didn't list every plugin, you can find more and conduct your own research. These plugins are basically just interfaces that contain extra sounds that you can use IE: Pianos,Strings, Synths,Drums,Pads etc the whole shabang.... So its more sounds that you can use... If that's the issue pick up some high quality “Refills” it's the same difference!

• Plugins- Have more sounds

• Refills – Have More sounds

Problem solved!.. Oh wait... here is the most favored comeback “the sounds in the plugins are higher quality than the refills” OK that means you have bad sounding refills. I say this because the stock sounds that are in “Reason” as the SAME stock sounds that are in “Sampletank”. They (Propellerheads) just didn't add the delays and reverb etc. There is a producer over at vsavagellc.com that is a sound designer for NATIVE INSTRUMENTS and you know what he sound designs with?... REASON...

It's funny I've seen producer who made south music claim FL is better simply because they had access to a plugin that had a certain brass or synth that wanted. They were to ignorant to know that the same sound could be made from any stock sound you just need to apply the settings IE: reverb, delay, compression or even laying up the instrument making your own patch.. anyway lets move on

Fl Studio Is Easier

False! Everyone learns differently and people are use to different things. I found Reason a lot easier to use because it's set up a like a REAL studio. So for those that have used real studio equipment they are going to get the hang of Reason a lot faster than Fl Studio and vice versa. It really all comes down to the person in the end. Some people don't like having to do more than install the program and start making music. They want everything in front of them ready to go. They don't want to have to buy additional things to make the application they already spent money on work to its fullest potential...

Reason Doesn't Bog Your Computer

True/False... It all depends on what kind of machine you have as well as how many units you have in your rack. For the most part Reason is easy on your machine. If you have 2 Mixers, 5 Drum Machines, 5 Loop Players, 10 combinators and each unit has its own eq and compressor.. that's fine. On the other hand if you have 20 different loop players all hooked up in a combinator set as a run patch and 10 mixers, synth units blah etc

that could boggle your machine down some again its really all on the machine. If your making simple music like... Hip hop, Trance, Dnb or any kind of music where you're not using more than 20 tracks you'll be fine.

Now with Fl it can be a different story because the FL Studio has system requirements and then each Plugin you load has system requirements. So I mean you can load up a plugin like Sampletank use 7 instruments, Albino and Battery 3 and you could have your system at 70% heh...So lets convert that over to Reason just for fun.. that's Drum Machine, 7 instruments and a synth unit.. using 6% if that.

More Industry Producers Use FL...

False... now there are some huge hits on the radio that have been produced in FL that's awesome but most of these hits are simple tracks (south) that all sound a like. Now this has nothing to do with the application because the producer can make whatever they wish FL is just a tool for us to use but if you do your research you'll notice that projects that are much bigger than hiphop are being created using reason.. I'm talking sound designing, Film scoring etc. We can stay in the small world of hiphop though. More experienced/seasoned producers are using Reason. 3-4 of Dre's staff producers use Reason.. check the propellerheads site A lot of these producers that people are drooling over that use FL studio made 1-2 tracks and no one has ever heard from them again.... This has nothing to do with the software I'm throwing it out there because some silly FL kid will say “well I hear more producers on the radio using fl than anything else so it must be better” I figured I'd show give you both sides of the spectrum.

So Why Do Most Producers Online Use FL?

I'm going to be honest I with you, it's because FL Studio is easier to download..oh *STING!* Fl studio is at most 250megs, Reason is over a 1gig which file is easier to pull down? I'm not saying that ever FL user has pirated their version of FL but I mean just look at the demographics.

Most of the online producers are from ages 15 and up. People that are 15-19 most of them don't have the money for it. OK granted FL is cheaper than Reason but look at it this way. Fl studio doesn't have good stock sounds unlike Reason. So you install FL you see it is lame drums, the synths that it comes with are just OK so after a month or a week you're going to want new sounds. You might hear someones tracks on soundclick or hiphop forums and you contact them asking them that they use. They are going to give you a list of plugins they use. Lets keep it simple lets say someone says “ I use Albino, Nexus 2 and Sampletank 2”

• Sampletank 2 $100-500 depending on what package you get
• Nexus 2 $200 ($2,000 if want to include the library of sounds)
• Albino 3 $180
• Fl Studio $45-$300 depending on which package you get

So after spending that $200.00 on FL Studio (Producer Edition) do you really think this kid has another $500 to invest in plugins with? Or better yet you think his parents are going to throw that money down? Here is the honest answer to both questions.. MOST WILL NOT. Heck most kids don't have the 200.00 spend on FL alone.

So my point is this stuff is easy to download now I wills ay there are a bunch of free plugins out there that sound amazing but once someone hears something they like 9ie a track) and the producer of that track tells them what plugin they used they will want THAT PLUGIN and 9 times out of 10 its going to be something that's wasn't free. So the beat maker or producer that is inquiring wont even bother trying to find good free ones.

It's even funnier when you see 16 year old kid tells people (on forums or in real person)... “I use Fl for beats and I mix in Sonar and Cubase.. sometimes I mix in Acid” “Nope not making any money from music just yet but I will soon”

Wtf? Why does he have 3 DAWS? Do you know how much Sonar..Cubase and ACID costs? Anyway I'm getting off subject a little.

So Is FL Better Than Reason Or Is Reason > FL?

Neither... there both allow you to make the same genre(s) of music. Same quality same everything its all up to the user and his or her skills. Think of it like this.. If you were in Dre's studio using his gear and his engineers would you be making tracks just as good as Dre?... Probably not but if Dre was using your setup guess what.. His tracks would still knock because it's not what you use its how you use it.

Which Software Is The Best Bang For The Buck?

Between Reason and Fl Studio it's going to be Reason hands down and here is why. Reason comes with everything you need for making and mixing your music. They give you the Samplers,drum machines, Synth units, fx units and gigs of sounds (stock sounds).

There isn't a sound out there that can't create within Reason. When I listen to hardware,plugins or even songs on the radio and I hear a good sound I know exactly where to go in reason to either get the sound or make the sound. This is because I know basic synthesis and I'm smart enough to learn what the little knobs do on each unit.

With Fl Studio... this is not possible see if you heard a nice rich bass one a track then tried to create that in Fl you would come to realize that FL STOCK does not have this capability so you are going to have to go out and invest in some sounds. This could cost you 2-5 times more than what you spent on the FL Studio. You'll survive with a few soundfonts but in the end you are going to be forced to buy plugins that or let your creative ability and music suffer. That's one thing I love about Propellerheads they kept the producer in mind when creating Reason making it so that you can create any sound from their stock sounds.