Specifications

AUDIO BASICS
46
About Audio Levels
When playing back in Reason, you should keep an eye on the Audio Out Clip-
ping indicator on the transport panel. If this lights up, the audio level is too high,
resulting in clipping (digital distortion).
D To remedy this, lower the master level on the mixer (or other device)
that is connected to the Hardware Interface, until Audio Out Clip-
ping doesn’t light up on playback.
You could also use the MClass Maximizer to ensure that clipping never oc-
curs - this is described in the Operation Manual pdf.
! Note that it doesn’t matter if the level meters on the individual de-
vices (effects, mixer channels, etc) “hit the red”. Clipping can only
occur in the Hardware Interface.
The technical reason for this is that internally, Reason uses high resolution float-
ing point processing, which ensures high audio quality and virtually limitless
headroom. In the Audio Hardware device, the floating point audio is converted to
the resolution used by the audio hardware, and that’s where clipping may occur.
If you are using multiple outputs
If you are using audio hardware with more than two outputs, you may have differ-
ent devices connected to different outputs in the Hardware Interface. If the Au-
dio Out Clipping indicator lights up, you should play back the section again
while checking the Hardware Interface. Each output socket has a level meter - if
the red meter segment lights up, the output is clipping. Lower the output level of
the device connected to the clipping output, until no clipping occurs.
Clipping on the stereo outputs.
If you are using ReWire
If you are streaming audio to another application using the ReWire protocol,
clipping can not happen in Reason. This is because the conversion from floating
point audio happens in the other audio application. See the Operation Manual
pdf for more information about ReWire.
Master Tune
By default, Reason plays back a “middle A” at 440 Hz, which is the standard
tuning in most instruments. However, if you are playing Reason together with
other instruments, you may want to adjust the tuning:
1. Pull down the Edit menu (or Reason menu, under Mac OS X) and
select Preferences...
2. Use the pop-up menu at the top of the Preferences dialog to select
the Audio page.
3. Adjust the global tuning with the Master Tune control.
If you like, you can adjust this during playback. Note that this affects the tun-
ing of all sound sources in Reason, including the drum machine and loop
player.
The indicator will stay lit for a short
moment, to make it easier to spot.