Do I Need a Interface to Run Reason on my Macbook Pro?

[JKIEYZ]

I just got a new 17" Macbook Pro today fully loaded (I finally gave in lol!)and Im loading up Reason 4, Record and Recycle and was wondering if anyone is using there MB Pro without a external interface and just use the internal sound card for the MB Pro.Whats the quality like?

I dont plan on recording vocals or instruments for now so dont have need for a audio input this is just for my production setup.

Anybody with any advice on this please post!

 

[thedreampolice]

get a line 6 interface, so if you go to record you can get all the POD models.

 

[JKIEYZ]

get a line 6 interface, so if you go to record you can get all the POD models.

I was looking at the digidesign mbox micro 2 so I can drop everything into pro tools 8 when Im done. Whats the quality on the line 6 joints like

 

[thedreampolice]

That may be a good idea, it just depends on if you want PT or not. The line6 stuff is good, I like the Apogee better. I think it would be nice to be able to record audio just in case.

 

[JKIEYZ]

That may be a good idea, it just depends on if you want PT or not. The line6 stuff is good, I like the Apogee better. I think it would be nice to be able to record audio just in case.

It would be cool though to get all of the line 6 pods amps I checked out there website and they sound pretty good.I was wondering could the pod packs be purchased seperate without having to purchase a line6 interface,if that were the case I would just buy the expansion mods and cop the mbox joint

 

[thedreampolice]

No I think you must have the interface. There may be a way to get the POD farm plugin to unlock them but I have not had good luck with that.

 

[JKIEYZ]

No I think you must have the interface. There may be a way to get the POD farm plugin to unlock them but I have not had good luck with that.

Having two interfaces just doesn't make sense for me PT is a must because of who Im sending sessions to and thats were my rough mixes are down but then other hand having those line 6 pods could be a creative way to add some cool effects to my reason patches so I know i have to weigh the options.How could I have both?

 

[thedreampolice]

ya I would just get the Mbox then.

 

[JKIEYZ]

ya I would just get the Mbox then.

If I didnt go with the Mbox then I would just get a line 6 joint and use Bias Peak Pro for audio editing with some of my VST plugs and then dump the stems back and just do my rough mixes in Record.Touch choice though

 

[Doc Vigilanti]

I would at least get the MBox mini if you are going to go the Pro Tools route. The micro is geared more for people that travel a lot and want to mix while on the plane.

It also doesn't make much sense to get record if you have no way to record anything into it. I know you can use a USB mic or the mic jack in the Mac Book, but personally I would get something that gives me more options.

 

[JKIEYZ]

I would at least get the MBox mini if you are going to go the Pro Tools route. The micro is geared more for people that travel a lot and want to mix while on the plane.

It also doesn't make much sense to get record if you have no way to record anything into it. I know you can use a USB mic or the mic jack in the Mac Book, but personally I would get something that gives me more options.

One of the main reasons I purchased record was because of the sound quality and full mixer features and using it in combination with the reason side is the best combo.I plan on recording guitar tracks so thats why Im considering the line 6 option because it integrates with record so well.Im really impressed with the record mixer and its quality its miles of head of the reason stand alone sound.

 

[Doc Vigilanti]

Record already comes with Line 6 Guitar and Bass POD. At least it did when I beta tested it. You are right the mixer sounds really good. I just don't understand why you would want to get an external POD when a version of the software is already integrated into Record. There isn't any extra functionality added with a POD interface with Record, to the best of my knowledge.(Other than the amp Sims on the POD Interface itself.)

Then if you decide to run Pro Tools, buying the Micro just doesn't seem like it would be a good decision considering the Micro and the Mini are about the same price and with the Mini you can record vocals or DI a guitar or bass straight into Pro Tools and Record. Whereas the Micro gives you a headphone out, and that is it.

If you are just running Record and Reason Standalone for right now then the Mac Book sound card is fine because it is all In the Box, there isn't any conversion going on. Plug your head phones in or some external speakers and away you go no problems. In fact that is what I'm going to do when I fix this old laptop up. I'm going to put Reason on that and I'll just plug a 25 Key midi controller into the USB port and Headphones into the computer and sit there and make beats all day when I'm not at home.

The thing about Record is that you can get the MBox Mini and just use that as an interface to record a Guitar or Bass or Vocals into Record, and then when It gets time to send your songs off to the Mixer you just Rewire Reason Record into Pro Tools set up an Instrument track and Audio track bus the output of the Instrument Track to the audio track and hit record, don't forget to set your tempo in Pro Tools. Do a save as in Pro Tools, then delete your instrument tracks in the session and send them off to the Mixer.

Now that is if you decide to go the Pro Tools route because as you have already mentioned you can go the other route and just stem your tracks out and send them to the Mixer that way too. That is up to you, but if you decide to go the Pro Tools route I would at the very least get the Mini. The Micro is made more for people that travel a lot and they like to get work done while traveling, the thing is they already have another Pro Tools interface at their main place.

 

[JKIEYZ]

Record already comes with Line 6 Guitar and Bass POD. At least it did when I beta tested it. You are right the mixer sounds really good. I just don't understand why you would want to get an external POD when a version of the software is already integrated into Record. There isn't any extra functionality added with a POD interface with Record, to the best of my knowledge.(Other than the amp Sims on the POD Interface itself.)

Then if you decide to run Pro Tools, buying the Micro just doesn't seem like it would be a good decision considering the Micro and the Mini are about the same price and with the Mini you can record vocals or DI a guitar or bass straight into Pro Tools and Record. Whereas the Micro gives you a headphone out, and that is it.

If you are just running Record and Reason Standalone for right now then the Mac Book sound card is fine because it is all In the Box, there isn't any conversion going on. Plug your head phones in or some external speakers and away you go no problems. In fact that is what I'm going to do when I fix this old laptop up. I'm going to put Reason on that and I'll just plug a 25 Key midi controller into the USB port and Headphones into the computer and sit there and make beats all day when I'm not at home.

The thing about Record is that you can get the MBox Mini and just use that as an interface to record a Guitar or Bass or Vocals into Record, and then when It gets time to send your songs off to the Mixer you just Rewire Reason Record into Pro Tools set up an Instrument track and Audio track bus the output of the Instrument Track to the audio track and hit record, don't forget to set your tempo in Pro Tools. Do a save as in Pro Tools, then delete your instrument tracks in the session and send them off to the Mixer.

Now that is if you decide to go the Pro Tools route because as you have already mentioned you can go the other route and just stem your tracks out and send them to the Mixer that way too. That is up to you, but if you decide to go the Pro Tools route I would at the very least get the Mini. The Micro is made more for people that travel a lot and they like to get work done while traveling, the thing is they already have another Pro Tools interface at their main place.

I was thinking about the line 6 pod because I went to there website and saw they had some different amp & effect patches that will load in record if you have a line 6 pod, some of them sounded really cool and could be a easy way to add some more effects to different instruments besides guitars.Pro Tools is a great option but I did a rough mix last night and sent it to an engineer and he loved the rough mix and that was bounced stems straight from Record so he suggested I stick with it and just send the stems and get Bias Peak Pro 6 if i want to add any other effects and dump it back into Record.If I dont go with the line 6 and stick with the Record no Pro Tools I may look into the Apogee joints because they sound excellent to me.

Ive been looking at controller to and narrowed it down to the Novation SL MkII,Axiom Pro or Korg Padkontrol and Nanopads.

Go advice on the protools info but Im starting master record to get a really great sound so Im staying there.

 

[Doc Vigilanti]

I was thinking about the line 6 pod because I went to there website and saw they had some different amp & effect patches that will load in record if you have a line 6 pod, some of them sounded really cool and could be a easy way to add some more effects to different instruments besides guitars.Pro Tools is a great option but I did a rough mix last night and sent it to an engineer and he loved the rough mix and that was bounced stems straight from Record so he suggested I stick with it and just send the stems and get Bias Peak Pro 6 if i want to add any other effects and dump it back into Record.If I dont go with the line 6 and stick with the Record no Pro Tools I may look into the Apogee joints because they sound excellent to me.

Ive been looking at controller to and narrowed it down to the Novation SL MkII,Axiom Pro or Korg Padkontrol and Nanopads.

Go advice on the protools info but Im starting master record to get a really great sound so Im staying there.

Cool, yea I would definitely stick with what works for you and if your engineer likes it then stick with it. I use Pro Tools because that is what I have been using for 5 years now and it really is limited as far as track counts and the like. So if you ever do decide to get into the Pro Tools game I would wait to see what they offer after Pro Tools 8, because there are rumors floating around that some huge things are on the horizon for them.

I'm in no way telling you that you need to buy Pro Tools because you don't and there are other options out there. As I said though use what works for you because at the end of the day it really is all about the music not what you use to make it.

 

[thedreampolice]

" don't understand why you would want to get an external POD when a version of the software is already integrated into Record. There isn't any extra functionality added with a POD interface with Record, to the best of my knowledge.(Other than the amp Sims on the POD Interface itself.)"

Actually Doc the only way to unlock all the POD presents/amps/effects in record is to use a Line6 interface. So it actually adds a lot of functionality to Record.

 

[Doc Vigilanti]

" don't understand why you would want to get an external POD when a version of the software is already integrated into Record. There isn't any extra functionality added with a POD interface with Record, to the best of my knowledge.(Other than the amp Sims on the POD Interface itself.)"

Actually Doc the only way to unlock all the POD presents/amps/effects in record is to use a Line6 interface. So it actually adds a lot of functionality to Record.

Interesting, I just did a quick search and getting the POD Farm software with iLok authorization will unlock them all too. So you don't need the interface. http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/09/30/line-6-pod-devices-propellerhead-record/

So that is an option too for JKIEYZ. But he still needs an interface to record his guitar in to Record. I like the Apogee route he was talking about, and then if he wants to use another DAW he can just get Logic. That seems like the best route, unless Pro Tools comes out with some completely killer within the next year.

That is interesting about Record though I couldn't find anything on the Propellerheads site that mentioned anything about it. I guess we learn something new everyday.

 

[thedreampolice]

If you read earlier in the thread I said

"No I think you must have the interface. There may be a way to get the POD farm plugin to unlock them but I have not had good luck with that."

I just can not get that to work well.

 

[Doc Vigilanti]

I remember you saying something about needing the interface to have more POD functionality. My thinking is, which of course is going to be different from other people, is that Record is still in it's first version, they will improve upon it in later versions, and I would go as far to say that Reason and Record will eventually be merged into one product.

I just don't see the sense in buying a pod interface to interface into record when you can rewire record into a DAW and use the POD plug-in in the DAW, and get a way better interface for the cost. Just seems a little backwards, to me at least. Before dropping the cash for a POD I would look at other interfaces and get more bang for the buck.

I'm sure in the next version of Record the Line 6 plug-in will work as designed. Or maybe Propellerhead will release an update to fix it. They do have a good thing going with Record, but there are still some kinks to work out seeing how it is a first version.

 

[thedreampolice]

" I would go as far to say that Reason and Record will eventually be merged into one product"

No it wont

"I'm sure in the next version of Record the Line 6 plug-in will work as designed. "

It does work as designed now. They designed in a way that when using it with a line 6 interface it opens up more functionality. Rewire is a pain in the butt, if you are a record user why not just get an interface that makes full use of everything.

Not trying to be rude Doc but I actually talk to the top people at both Propellerheads and Line 6 every couple of months.

 

[elementsrtyte]

dude you don't need an interface at all if your just makin beats in reason. The midi delay is pretty small,if thats what you're worried about. i think its around 10ms with just the inbuilt stock card. its pretty legit. i have the 15" pro. I have a m-audio interface which lets me get into m-powered protools and is probably the cheapets route. the mini is retarded. please don't get it. there's no point in spending that much on a one input interface when you can get a pretty decent m-audio one with decent inbuilt octane preamps for a fration of the price.