Specifications

REASON HARDWARE INTERFACE
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Introduction
The Hardware Interface is where you connect Reason with the “outside world”.
This is where MIDI is received, and where audio signals are routed to ReWire
channels or to the physical outputs of your audio hardware. The Hardware Inter-
face is always present at the top of the rack, and cannot be deleted. This chap-
ter is meant to serve as a panel reference, describing the various sections of the
device. How to set up your MIDI interface and audio hardware is described in
the Getting Started book and in “About Audio on Computers”.
The Hardware interface is divided into two sections: MIDI In Device and Audio
Out.
MIDI In Device
Reason’s Hardware Interface can accommodate up to 64 channels of MIDI, di-
vided into 4 buses, each with 16 MIDI channels. There are two basic ways you
can route incoming MIDI to Reason devices, which is set in the Preferences -
MIDI and Advanced MIDI dialogs:
D Via the Sequencer.
If you choose this option, the selected track’s destination device automati-
cally receives incoming MIDI data. This means that you only have to send
MIDI over the same port and channel as the sequencer is set to use (in the
MIDI Preferences), to access any audio device in Reason. This is the easiest
way of routing MIDI if you are using the built in sequencer. There are no set-
tings you need to make in the Hardware Interface if you use the Sequencer
input.
D By using the MIDI “External Control” inputs.
This is set in the Advanced MIDI Preferences. You can select up to four
buses (if your MIDI interface supports it), each with 16 MIDI channels. If this
mode is used, you use the pop-up menu for each MIDI channel in the MIDI In
device to select the destination device you would like to route the MIDI to. If
you want to send MIDI to Reason over several channels simultaneously, you
have to use the external control inputs.
Using External MIDI Control
For each MIDI channel, the MIDI In Device contains the following items:
D The Device Pop-Up menu is used to select which device the channel
should send MIDI to.
Only existing devices are available on the menu.
D The Name field displays the name of the device connected to the
channel.
This is blank if no device is selected.
D A note on indicator shows if MIDI is received on this channel.
Bus Select Buttons
These four buttons labeled A, B, C and D are used to select which of the four
buses is currently displayed in the MIDI In device. If you have a multiple port in-
terface you can use up to four buses (or ports), each with 16 MIDI channels. The
Bus Select buttons determine which of the buses is currently in view in the MIDI
In device.