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Record's interface features an arrange page, a mixer and a rack.

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Record and Reason

If you're familiar with Reason you should find Record extremely simple to use; and if you own both programs, you'll have instant access to all your Reason devices within Record. What's more, you can open your existing Reason sessions in Record, and things will come up exactly as in Reason, with everything routed into a 14:2 mixer device, the stereo outputs of which go into Record's main mixer.

If, however, you buy Record on its own, you'll find that many of its functions are wasted without Reason. For example, the fantastic ReGroove mixer, which enables you to rework MIDI parts, and the excellent CV patching that's ideal for synth heads won't be seeing much action without Reason installed.

Furthermore, Reason Refills offer a route to third-party sample content, but because Record has no sampler as standard, you can't use them if you don't have Reason, and Propellerhead say that there are no plans to offer more content for ID8.

Record is more likely to appeal to Reason users looking to expand their options than it is to new users after a one-stop production system. The good news is that the two are available bundled at a reduced price, with a Reason crossgrade option for Record owners in the pipeline.

Summary

Record's aim is to provide a quick, musical approach to music production. As noted, its feature set doesn't put it in direct competition with big hitters like Logic and Cubase. However, Propellerhead would suggest that it can get you where you want to go with a lot less fuss and, in many respects, this is true, especially if you're not already familiar with typical DAWs.

Unsurprisingly, integration with Reason 4 is seamless to the point where its synths and effects feel like a massive expansion pack, and together the pair make a formidable system.

New software is often tainted by bugs or exaggerated claims, but Record feels very stable and accomplished. The audio engine seems particularly robust and the instant, real-time timestretching is so good that you can rely on it to take care of programmed tempo changes. As with all timestretching, there can be artefacts, and these are material dependent, but the quality of Record's timestretching is a major plus – it's probably the best we've heard.

Overall, Record is at its best when used alongside Reason 4 and many Reason users will consider the discounted crossgrade essential. If you're buying from scratch, you'll have to weigh up its easy workflow against the greater flexibility you would get in a traditional DAW such as Cubase.

This is a tough call and based very much on what sort of work you're doing. Even so, Record is an excellent package and especially impressive considering it's at version 1.

Listen to a mix being created in Record: