Propellerheads' Reason is, far-and-away, the most comprehensive, well-done, stable piece of audio software I've ever even come close to laying my hands on in my entire music-making career (YEARS.)

I just wanted to update my review since a few changes have happened behind the scenes since version 2.5 was released. First and formost is the release of Digidesign's Pro Tools v6.1. Digidesign and Propellerheads have teamed-up and integrated ReWire routing technology into Pro Tools, effectively making Reason the most in-depth, robust software synth PLUGIN ever. Period. The integration is literally flawless. So all complaints that Reason doesn't have any ability to input audio are 100% null and void at this point. You simply go into your Pro Tools track, select "Reason" as a real-time plugin within the mix window, and the .app boots up automatically in the background. You needn't do a thing except create music.

The second bonus I'd like to mention is the fact that the Q3 plug-in bundles that come along with all Pro Tools LE packages (ie. the MBox, the 001, the 002R, and the 002) now come BUNDLED WITH REASON FOR FREE! Really. Yes, you read that correctly. All versions of Pro Tools now come with both Reason and Ableton Live as part of the bundle. Unbelieveable.

All that being saod, Reason has quickly become the de facto standard in software-oriented synthesizers. It is a staple of comparison that will most likely not be matched within the near future. And now with Pro Tools, Live and Reason all bundled together in a package, anyone with access to a computer has the ability to make any type of professional recording and hang with the best of them.

Kudos to Propellertheads, and all they've done. This is a company that everyone should feel great about supporting. If they keep the bar up at where they've already raised it to, we are in for some more fairly revolutionary music creation products in our near future.