What you look @ as weakness I look at as a plus. I don't have to purchase additional VSTs to get the job done. You mentioned you "looked" at Thor. Until you actually work with it like I have for the last 3 months during beta testing, I don't think you can truthfully say Reaktor is a better synth. You've worked with 2.5 when 3.04 is far more advanced. You mentioned the ability to record vocals. Most people including yourself from what I've read, don't uses FL to record vocals. Most people use a seperate Rewired program for that. I use Cubase, Pro Tools or Acid Pro 6.
Da IllFellaz argument was that it cost less so you can purchase additional gear. Add up all the "extras" you've listed and tell me what the final cost is? I've worked with alot of the things you listed and unless you got a bootleg hookup those "extras" can add up real quick.
I'm cool with Reason never being able to record vocals and the fact that you can't use VSTs with it. I don't need the VSTs because I get everything I need in one box minus vocal recording. Everytime a new Reason drops I just upgrade and never have to get additional "extras". We can go round and round on this subject but the bottom line is until FL comes stock with anything similar to Reason is not on Reasons level. VSTs=Modules in Reason....VSTs=effects processors in Reason....Reaktor=Thor. I get these things standard and without limits in Reason, with FL you don't.
And last but not least....again....nobody leaves Reason for FL....but plenty leave FL for Reason. That speaks for itself!
p.s. here's some prices on the "extras" you typed about
kontakt $299
Reaktor $125
Lounge Lizard $249
T-RackS $319.95
SSL4000 $749.95
FL XXL $349
That's over 2G's right? DAMN! So much for cost effectiveness!
If you were to go out and buy either one today, this is what you would get for your money:
Reason3 costs $399 at Musicians Friend.
FL Studio 7 XXL is $366 directly from Image Line and boxed it's $339 at Musicians Friend. If I want to, I can add WASP to it for another $29,
Reason has two synths, a drum machine, 3 sample playback units, the combinator (think Roland performance patches or Korg's Combi patches), and fx.
FL Studio XXL has 10 synths, 5 sample playback units, two drum synths, FL Layer (think Combinator with far less control), and fx. It also comes with the Buzz Generator adapter, which allows you to use FREE plugins from the old Buzz tracker (which I used to use and have an assload of plugins for it), The Edison sample editor (no equivalent in Reason), Love Philter (no equivalent in Reason), Parametric EQ2 (no equivalent in Reason), AND most importantly it FULLY supports multi-core processors, turning it inot a fully multi-threaded application.
Compare them side by side:
Subtractor vs Sim Synth Live - Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Subtractor has two osc's, Sim Synth has 3, Subtractor has two filters, Simsynth has one, each has unique modulation capabilities. There's no clear winner here.
Subtractor vs 3OSC - 3OSC snaps into the FL Sampler when launched and uses it's filters and modulation for sound creation. No clear winner, but Subtractor is far easier to program.
Maelstrom vs - Granulizer - like the 3OSC, this is a snapin for the FL Sampler. Maelstrom wins hands down simply by being far easier to program for. Granulizer is simply not worth the effort
ReDrum vs FPC - The clear winner here is FPC. The FPC allows multiple samples to be used on each pad, making drum parts more realistic when different sounds are used according to velocity ranges. a cymbal can have one sound when played soft, and another when played hard. The FPC is equipped with two banks of 16 pads, making for a maximum of 128 samples loaded at any given time. Redrum is limited to 10 sounds total.
NN-XT vs Directwave - This one is tough and, like Subtractor vs Simsynth Live, there's no clear winner. There's no real reason to use NN-19 anymore with NN-XT being as good as it is. Both NNXT and DirectWave have excellent features and are on par with real hardware samplers when it comes to sound manipulation. Directwave DOES have a very clear advantage though: It will read AKAI AKP (S5/6K,Z4,Z8), Battery 1, ESX24, Kontakt 1, Recycle, and Soudfont
PROGRAMS. It doesn't just read the samples themselves, but can read the patch data as well meaning that filtered sample loop you whipped up at your boy's crib on his Akai Z4 will sound pretty much the same when you pull it into DirectWave or your boy that uses Logic's ESX24 to manipulate samples can send them right to you un altered. Reason requires an additional utility to do Akai conversion (free d/l), but still cannot import several of the other formats (it will read Recycle and Soundfonts though).
Dr Rex vs FL Sampler - Another tough call... Honestly, there's no real difference between these two other than interface layout. On that alone, Dr Rex gets the nod.
Combinator vs FL Layer - Combinator simply destroys FL Layer due to it's flexibility.
Sytrus vs ??? - Reason has no FM synth.
DX10 vs ??? - Reason has no FM synth.
Beep Map vs ??? - Reason has nothing equivalent
Dashboard vs ??? - FL allows you to create control panels for external equipment, there's no equivalent in Reason.
Wave Traveler vs ??? - FL Allows you to use samples to simulate scratching (rather accurately if done properly). There's no equivalent to this in Reason
Edison vs ??? - Reason does have a sample editor.
Mixers - Reason's mixer allows for 4 sends and has a very basic 2 band shelving EQ. FL Studio's Mixer also has 4 sends, but each of those sends can handle up to 8 fx stacked on top of one another, plus it has a 3 band quasi-parametric EQ section. The FL Mixer also allows each channel to have up to 8 insert fx, which is offset by Reason's ability to chain fx, pre-mixer, to any synth or sampler.
Sequencer - Both have pattern based and linear sequencing. Nothing to see here.
As far as FX go, FL Studio does have some rather interesting stuff but the only real comparison goes between the FL Reeverb 2 and RV7000. I, personally, give the RV7000 the edge here, but that's only because I haven't spent enough time using Reeverb2. I always use TC Native Reverb for that purpose.
FL does have a few unique FX units. One is the Fruity LSD which gives you access to the GM/XG soundset on your sound card (if it even has those sounds) and use them in FL Studio. This gives you a whole new set of sound sources if you're using a card like an Audigy or some other budget card.
Another is the Fruity Squeeze plugin. It's a bit reducer and can give your samples that old-school crunch like an SP1200/S950/MPC60.
Now... Getting to VST's. If you're trying to be serious about your music, then you have a true DAW application alongside FL or Reason. This means ProTools, Cubase, Sonar, Logic, DP, or something like that. If you have one, chances are you've already purchased or pirated fx plugins for it. If they're DXi or VST format, you can pull 'em into FL Studio and use them in exactly the same way you would with your DAW. So that T-RackS or Waves Diamond bundle you bought/pirated isn't necessarily for FL, but you have the advantage of harnessing the power of those plugins as well as the stuff that ships with FL.
So... To recap, the $339 you pay for FL gets you more for your money than you do with buying Reason.
HOW YOU USE EITHER IS TOTALLY UP TO YOU!!!!
You can make great tracks or shitty tracks with either one.
oh... did I mention that if you buy it directly from ImageLine for $366, you get FREE UPDATES FOR LIFE??? That means that the guy that bought FL back at version 1 is still getting updates for free. I bought in at FL 4 and haven't paid for a single update since. Meanwhile, I bought Reason 1 and had to pay for each update since then.
