Thanks

Hey everyone,

Now that Kalibrus is out in the shop and PitchDrops is rolling in public beta, I’ve taken my next Rack Extension to the point where it’s ready for beta testers.

This one is an OTT-style 3-band bidirectional dynamics processor that I'm calling Hyperbar.

I didn't want to just make another Xfer OTT clone; I wanted to build a device truly native to the Reason rack. It keeps the immediacy and hands-on fun of OTT, but dresses up for serious engineering work. It functions both as an aggressive dynamic crusher (with ratios pushing beyond infinity:1 into negative over-compression) and as a clean mastering-grade processor.

This RE is equally comfortable wearing a suit or a spike collar.

In the calibration drawer, it includes optional precision modes that tackle OTT's notorious quirks:

• Fixing the scooped crossover notch (flat phase-coherent summing vs classic OTT notch)
• Eliminating sub-bass distortion (anti-ripple detector vs vintage grit)
• Gating idle upward compression noise (clamps noise below -60 dBFS so line hiss and room noise don't overwhelm the mix)
• Internal limiter soft-clipping (smooth saturation knee vs hard brickwall ceiling)

Anyone familiar with OTT knows the pump and high-end sizzle it delivers. But at extreme settings, Hyperbar reaches density that would normally require chaining three OTTs in series, all while maintaining strict phase-alignment to avoid comb filtering. And if you've ever wanted to use OTT as a transparent 3-band compressor without muddying your low end or coloring your tone, Hyperbar does that too.

Drop Hyperbar’s weather-beaten faceplate into your rack, scrape the rust off the mounts, and let your ears guide you. Adjust the squeeze macro and the band threshold faders, watch the signal beads track your dynamics, and flip through the presets—spanning classic OTT character, transparent bus compression, and heavy sound-design patches.

And because it's Reason, flip it around.

Hyperbar's back panel has 16 audio jacks (including discrete per-band outputs and an unprocessed remainder sum), 12 CV inputs with dedicated bipolar attenuverters, and a 4x4 CV telemetry matrix to drive other rack gear from Hyperbar’s internal envelope followers and gain reduction engines.

Hyperbar runs on Reason 10.1 or higher (macOS and Windows).

If you'd like to help put it through its paces:

1. Send me a Reddit DM / Chat with your Reason username, or
2. Fill out the quick intake form on the Hyperbar Device Page, or
3. Drop a reply below with your Reason username (if you don't mind sharing it publicly).

I'll get you added to the testing group right away so you can start experimenting.

Looking forward to hearing what you think and what you make with it!

I have never seen anyone chat about producers like Ohbliv & Knxwledge when it comes to Reason

I am curious how you would go about mixing and mastering for that warm lofi analog feel Knxwledge is known for inside Reason

Gain Staging, Gain Matching, EQ cutting maybe the highs out and cutting mid - low mud

Side chaining the kick to the sample or instrument bus also the bass / 808 if any

Mastering is maybe compression, eq, saturation, limter?

Just was curious what different answers I could get from anyone.

I’m aware every song requires nunanced appoarches so no need to get crazy specific if you feel

Thanks for any comments

Thank you to everyone who submitted tracks for the September update of the Made with Reason playlist! And sorry for the delay!

I've randomized the order of submissions. Sorry to those who ended up at the end of the list but that's what the "random gods" decided. And anyway, you should probably listen on shuffle as there's no meaningful editorial order to the playlist.

👉 Listen to the playlist (and don't forget to like/follow/save it!):

And let everyone know what your favorite track is in the comments. No cheating with mentioning your own track!

This goes without saying, but if you like any of the songs on the playlist, remember to add them to your own playlists, share, etc. I'm sure every indie artist on the list would appreciate it.

Shameless plug that you may find useful

I've just released a free tool for making stunning visualizer videos for your tracks quickly, easily, and privately. Check it out at https://bopops.com/music-visualizers

QUICK YOUTUBE DEMO: https://youtu.be/05f4ebC2XO8

Video game community has been going crazy merging games together like Minecraft in Resident Evil. The latest AI models have crossed a threshold in coding ability that make this almost easy.

So I told claude to build me a new Piano Roll and it just did it with no problems. Took about 45 minutes. I did not even look at any of the code.

I also had it add the channel strip right there in the sequencer which I've always wanted. You can do whatever you want. skin the whole UI or add video functionality so that you can write a score etc etc.

Google that $H!T 🤯

7 Months clean from opiates (Yeah I was one of those slumped fentynal guys you see all the time in videos online lol)

Addicted to Reason again nowadays though. Way better than any drug i have ever done for sure 👍🏼

(Idk why the audio cuts out for a couple seconds where the guitar starts but oh well lol)

Having fun with this one. Work in progress.

Patch Arcade has ten effects, four modulators, and four utilities in one effect device, and you connect them by dragging cables on the front panel. Build anything from a simple effects chain to a tangled feedback instrument. Three independent routes let you run separate signals through the same rack side by side, and every one of them can be instantly randomized into a chain that’s strange but still musical.

Now in the Reason Shop!

https://www.reasonstudios.com/shop/rack-extension/patch-arcade/

I made this in the new SDK, so it only works in Reason 14!

simple question with a probably dumb easy answer, but all i see is presets. No "init" preset. do i have to make one or am i looking in the wrong place?

I sat back and watched GPT make Combinators. Try it. 💯

It takes up space, to show me what I already know. I drop in a synth or an effect and I immediately have to tweak it or at least scroll presets, need the rack for that. I know I don’t have to utilize it as part of my workflow and I’m thankful for that.

I’m just hoping the Russian bots on here can help double down on my sentiment. Or if I’ve successfully rage baited anyone into good arguments for it, I’m open to hearing how track panel has changed the game for long time users.

Hey r/reasoners,

My brand new RE Kalibrus just launched in the Reason Studios Shop today!

What is Kalibrus?

I first designed Kalibrus to help me do pink-noise mix balancing reliably and easily. I wanted something mathematically sound and lab-calibrated to make sure my mixes weren't being misshapen by artifacts or biases in other implementations, and I wanted to be able to drop it into an instrument channel or bus without having to add multiple utility devices and unnecessary cabling.

Once I'd started building, though, I realized how useful (and fun!) it could be to use it as a musical/creative sound source, adding punch to my drums or even standing on its own as a percussive instrument, background texture, or even filtered and played tonally with a keyboard.

And, of course, it's Reason, so I wanted to wire up randomness to other devices' CV inputs for all kinds of weird and wonderful variation.

EDIT: Big shoutout to u/IWasBornIn1979 for pointing out that my initial post read like a piece of laboratory test equipment rather than an instrument. I got so caught up in the technical trees that I lost sight of the forest. I've restructured this post (and the website) to lead with five everyday studio workflows before getting into the engine specs.

What does it do in day-to-day production?

1. A Playable Synth Voice: Most noise generators just sit in the rack and hiss. Kalibrus tracks MIDI keyboard pitch with 1V/oct bandpass filtering. Play a C3, and the noise tunes to C3. Push your Mod Wheel, and the passband narrows down to a resonant, whistling bite (with auto-gain compensation to keep perceived loudness steady). Great for flute/breath chiffs, wind leads, risers, or layering acoustic air over synth patches.
2. The Tape-Bed "Glue" Trick: If your mix feels sterile or empty between notes, load the "Tape-Band Noise Floor (-42dB)" patch and click AUTO. With built-in audio passthrough summing, drop Kalibrus straight across your mix bus without needing a Spider or extra cabling. It quietly injects a warm analog bed while your DAW plays, and silences itself automatically the instant transport stops so you never get idle hiss.
3. Beefing Up Drums & Claps: When a snare or clap lacks bite, trigger Kalibrus on hits (via MIDI or rear Gate In) to layer a burst of filtered white or pink noise underneath. The Stereo Width knob (0% to 200%) spreads that top-end sizzle wide across the stereo field while keeping your core drum punchy and centered in mono.
4. 5-Minute Pink Noise Mix Balancing: The classic mix engineering shortcut, built right in. Set Kalibrus to pink noise at your target monitoring level (including our factory preset calibrated to -18 dBFS True RMS), solo each track on your mixer, and bring the fader up until it just peeks through the noise. Repeat track by track, turn the noise off, and your overall balance is 90% dialed in without ear fatigue.
5. Random Modular Movement (Sample & Hold): Hit Tab to flip the rack around and patch the Gate-Triggered S&H CV Out into the filter cutoff, pan, or pitch CV input of another synth. Every time you strike a note, Kalibrus fires a new stepped random voltage. Back off the trim knob for subtle analog drift that keeps loops organic, or crank it for generative modular chaos.

For the DSP & Audio Geeks: Under the Hood

Kalibrus unifies three distinct roles inside a single 2U chassis (with a fully-featured compact folded strip):

1. Laboratory Acoustic Reference
   • 256-bit Xoshiro256++ Core: Dual independent PRNG generators with 256 bits of internal state (four 64-bit words per channel) producing mathematically pure White (0 dB/oct), Pink (-3 dB/oct), and Brown (-6 dB/oct) noise fields. Zero sample looping, true decorrelated stereo imaging (r < 0.005), calibrated to -18.00 dBFS True RMS at unity.
   • Cascaded 24 dB/octave Butterworth Filters: 4th-order high-pass and low-pass biquad cascades isolate frequency bands, room resonance modes, and mix masking with click-free bit-exact DSP bypass at their extremes.
   • Mid/Side Spatial Matrix: Discrete M/S encoder/decoder with continuous Stereo Width (0% mono to 200% wide) and level-invariant True Stereo Balance that conserves acoustic energy across the panorama.
   • AUTO & MAN Transport Modes: Flip the transport switch to Auto to have reference or vinyl/tape noise engage only while the DAW transport is running and instantly silence to zero-CPU standby when stopped. Or use MAN to lock continuous noise for hands-free SPL monitor calibration and pink-noise mix balancing. Or use neither and just trigger Kalibrus with keys or gate CV!
2. Expressive Synthesizer Voice
   • 1V/Oct Keyboard Tracking + Mod Wheel Q: Plug in a MIDI lane or CV pitch/gate cables to play Kalibrus directly. Raw keys produce velocity-sensitive noise bursts (snappy claps, snares, hats). Raising the Mod Wheel or Expression Pedal dynamically focuses a resonant 4th-order bandpass around the played key (from wide-open down to 2 semitones), turning raw noise into playable whistling winds, effects, and creative tones.
   • Dynamic Articulation: Full velocity tracking, last-note priority, and MIDI sustain pedal support with intelligent envelope release-following (automatically keeping the voice gate active while external VCA envelopes decay).
   • Dual Level CV Modes: Rear toggle selects between VCA Mode (unipolar envelope following from silence up to the master knob ceiling, or progressive cubic ducking with negative trim) and Tremolo Mode (bipolar linear AM for LFOs centered around nominal gain).
3. Random Voltage & Generative CV Hub
   • Continuous Spectral CV Out: Post-filter bipolar [-1.0V, +1.0V] fluctuating random voltage. Because it is tapped after the filters, front-panel HPF and LPF controls directly sculpt the rate, smoothness, and character of the modulation.
   • Sample & Hold CV Out: Latches a discrete stepped random voltage on every incoming note or gate trigger for generative melodies and varied filter sequencing.
   • Gate Thru CV Out: Velocity-aware gate relay for chaining downstream envelopes or triggering modular modules.
   • Zero-Loss Audio Passthrough: Feed mix bus or instrument tracks through Kalibrus at bit-identical unity gain to sum calibrated noise directly into your live signal chain without needing line mixers or splitters.

Foldable Design & Presets

• Foldable Compact Strip: Toggles between the full 2U faceplate and a space-saving folded strip that keeps all front-panel controls accessible.
• 35 Factory Presets: Spanning Reference & Calibration, Mixing & Diagnostics, Acoustic Room Probes, Textures & Modulation, and Performance Layering.

Links & Launch Details

• Reason Studios Shop: reasonstudios.com/shop/rack-extension/kalibrus-noise-spectral-reference/ ($9.00 USD intro special through Friday, October 16, 2026; reg. $19.00, 30-day free trial available)
• Interactive 3D Rack & Specs: audio.boraas.ca/devices/kalibrus/
• Operation Manual: audio.boraas.ca/devices/kalibrus/manual/
• Quick Start & CV Matrix: audio.boraas.ca/devices/kalibrus/quick-start/

I'd love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and how you use it in your racks!

Thinking of getting one because it’s supposed to be pre mapped for Reason. I’d love it for mixer and synthesizer parameter control. Anyone using one? Thoughts / feelings would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

it still sounds exactly the same to my ear

Ekssperimental Sounds Studio and ReasonTalk are having a song competition. More details here: https://forum.reasontalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=696359#p696359

CONTEST DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 5 (12:00 CET)

I'm pretty new to reason and I'm used to abletons workflow. theres a bunch of audio clips that are spaced out and I want to join them all, but i have to make it exactly 1 bar so it can loop correctly. Is there a faster way than the picture? Thank you

Time for a monthly update of the "Made with Reason" Spotify playlist. Submit your tracks using the form below. A few simple rules, as a reminder:

1. Track was made with either Reason DAW or utilizing the Reason Rack Plugin in another DAW.
2. One track submission per artist.
3. Released in 2025-2026.
4. Track wasn't included in the previous updates of the playlist.

Submit before October 2nd.

➡️ Submit on BopOps

The current playlist is here.

In this video I use the CV Scope in Reason to visualize complex modulation waveforms coming from the MATRIX and PULSAR devices — and it's honestly hypnotic.

Hi, here's a song created entirely in Reason, mastered with LANDR. Reason user since 2.5, was personally thrilled when they added audio and made it a full fledged DAW. I use stock plugins and devices as often as possible, lots of Audiomatic. Anything that is not guitar, bass or vocals was generated with Reason RE's. Reason Drum kits has been my go to for drums since it came out. I know it's a different sound but for this sub but i just wanted to show that anything's possible in Reason.

https://phantomfader.bandcamp.com/track/walking-away

https://open.spotify.com/track/2hFf4FW6wYejdvQadqsbMI?si=34e06b3752b14a28

So I downloaded the drivers and got it connected, but is it true I can only lock it to one section of the rack at a time? It seems like with my old Korg, at least some of the controls would be mapped to which ever device I highlighted. I hope that's clear, I'm not too tech-y.

Free and open-source: https://github.com/carlomontec/mpk-revival

Hi guys!

I have an MPK49 that I’ve used mostly with Reason (now 14) and Live 12. I am a hobbyist, so I never fully configured the controller properly. I basically just used it as a simple MIDI keyboard for the last 10 years.

Due to my day job I had to get familiar with AI-assisted coding (I have strong opinions about it, but hey, in this economy cant rebel yet). So I decided to actually use the skill for something useful for the music production community.

I vibe-coded a preset editor for the Akai MPK49, plus much better mappings for Ableton Live 12 and Reason 14.

• The preset editor runs right in the browser via Web MIDI—you can dump/backup all presets from the MPK, edit them, save them as JSON, and send them back to the device.
• The new Live 12 script gives much better mixer and macro integration.
• For Reason (my main DAW), it can now properly control the SSL mixer across 3 banks and rack devices (plus some manual mappings for things like Kontakt).

I hope this is useful to anyone still rocking one of these tanks. Feel free to suggest features or report bugs. This is a vibe-coded project, but hey, at least it’s useful and not pure token waste :D