my opinion:
sampler is ‘meeeh’. NNXT was more than enough…
HD Gui is great improvement!
improved combinator… meeeeh…
i was activeliy following changes… aaand not impressed at all for a new major version… I hope that they implement Redux somehow! then i will be satisfied 
Are you excited? 
I am mostly using the rack plugin, but I’m not excited for Reason 12. HiDPI would be nice, but I can manage without.
Some of the stretching algorithms in the new sampler seems very cool for sound design. But these points alone cannot justify the cost for me upgrading.
Looking forward to see what Reason 13 brings 
I will stay with my Reason 11 suite and wait for 13. New features like Mimic are not important for me. Renoise sampler and its modulation possibilities are better. Reason is my big love but I don´t like current Reasonstudios approach focused mainly on bussines side and Rack extensions. Currently, there are some about 8 beat making instruments in Suite. They don´t hear their fans so much. Additionaly I still don´t understand why they removed Rewire. Reason Rack is very good solution but Rewire was very useful too, mainly for us - trackers. It was a very nice solution to combine both worlds, tracker and sequencer, with all their beauties.
Redux is nice but Renoise as a VST plugin will be more useful for me. Mainly I miss MIDI out in Redux that will help to use it as a tracker/player for another Reason device. That is why I am thinking about to create a new Rack extension - simple Tracker player
i see two solutions
but, hey, i love Reason as source of instruments… specially in Renoise!
2 is not solution for me. I use ASIO4ALL driver. AFAIK ASIO limits to just one audio output and cannot use Reason and Renoise at the same time.
BTW I found a solution but it is little bit CPU hungry and takes additional 20% CPU. FL studio demo supports Rewire and can work as a VST. So it can be loaded in Reason as VST and can control Renoise with Rewire!
midi driver is not related to audio… (correct me if i’m wrong)
Yes, it is not but if we want to use MIDI loopback and both apps at the same time (without Rewire or Jack support) we cannot use ASIO driver.
i understand that asio has exclusive rights to audio device, but let me quote:
Then i’ve misunderstood that you want only midi from Renoise, and not audio
I see. I think you cannot run Renoise just like MIDI controller without an audio output. Redux is the great plugin for anybody who loves samples. With MIDI out can offer more possibilites.
Back to Reason, most wanted features for me are below:
(PS. FlexASIO is similar to Asio4all but without exclusive control. Not sure if it can do multiple instances simultaneously though.)
i’ve used it and it works like a native video player, it’s very responsive.
disclaimer: not using windows, jack is my weapon of choice…
i always brag about it but i cannot resist:
Sequencing RRP(Reason Rack Plugin) in Renoise, and routing channels from Renoise to Mixbus32c for ultimate experience
I have tested FlexAsio but with ASIO4ALL I get better and more crispier sound. Aditionally, FlexAsio is not kernel based and use PortAudio library, it means not so efficient as a result.
new homepage
Reason Studios is very good at marketing and how it promotes new features. Their tutorial and intro videos are one of the bests.
When I see it I feel like buying it. No no, but have to say that the new combinator possibilities are awesome… 
BTW Redux teaser and Renoise tutorials are in the range of bests too.
Waiting for VST3 support. Otherwise, I might crossgrade to Bitwig Studio 4.
Edit: I found out that Renoise has 2 piano roll add-ons. Maybe I don’t need anything else.
Wow! Reason still exists?!
Haha, someone can ask “trackers still exist?”
Thanks for the news.
I just went to see their video about the new version, confirmed the HD graphics, bought it, and am downloading it now. Why did I buy it immediately after reading your news?
I haven’t updated since 7.x. Why?
I refused to continue squinting at tiny pixelated graphics for the rack, and didn’t want to use workarounds to enlarge things. I’m not even on a high-PPI machine. I am still on an old 27" iMac 12,2. Still, Reason is uncomfortable to look at. I swore I wouldn’t spend money on Reason again until the UI was modernized with larger bitmaps. I told Propellerhead (and I refuse to accept the stupid new company name) that I only wanted ONE thing: HD graphics. I specifically did NOT want a flattened “minimalist” design.
So it looks like they kept the rack design largely the same, only larger and higher-PPI graphics. That’s what I wanted. That’s what I asked for, for YEARS now. So, fair is fair: I paid 'em for the new version.
There’s probably a LOT of new stuff for me in v12, since I haven’t upgraded since v6, so the upgrade price is reasonable (no pun intended).
how does a audio protocoll alter the sound??? how does the output signal sound different? i really don’t get it.
i am using FL Studio Asio, btw.
if you use redux as a vst, doesn’t the daw handle the midi-in/out for redux?
i don’t have redux, don’t need it because i’m using renoise mainly. and now with reason vsti there’s
no need for doing it the other way around.
and yes, too bad they’ve removed rewire from reason. i have 2 project files which are based on renoise+reason rewire stuff. 
TAB should flip the rack in the RRP when it has focus… this doesn’t work in Renoise as far as I can see. It works in Reaper so thinking it could be a Renoise specific issue.