Propellerhead has announced Reason 7, a major upgrade of its digital audio workstation software. Several significant features have been added, such as MIDI out support, allowing users to connect external MIDI devices. In terms of editing the software now supports automatic slicing into single notes or hits, and exporting those slices to Reason's samplers, the Kong Drum Designer, or the Dr. Octo Rex Loop Player.

Mixing has been improved by bringing some functions into the Reason rack, and adding new bus channels and the Spectrum EQ. The latter is a spectrum analyzer with an EQ overlay. A new effects unit is the Audiomatic Retro Transformer, which can be applied to any channel or group and adds a "future-retro" sound to audio.

Reason 7 has also gained a larger soundbank, and support for a wider range of import formats, include MP3, AAC, and WMA. The software doesn't yet have a release date; Propellerhead says, however, that anyone who has bought Reason 6.5 after March 1st will be eligible for a free upgrade.

by MacNN Staff