Stream Deck + plugin for Reason

Your Stream Deck + follows the device you select in Reason

Click a Thor and the deck becomes Thor, with its oscillators, filters and envelopes on the dials and keys. Click a Kong and the deck switches again. Values go both ways, so the touch strip shows where each knob actually is.

Get Reason Remote, $20 Try Lite free

27 Reason devices in the full version, 8 in Lite. Both on the Elgato Marketplace.

Works with

Stream Deck + only It needs the four dials and the touch strip
Windows 10 or later Not on Mac yet. Mac status
Reason 12 or later Or Reason Recon
About 20 minutes of setup Once, with one installer command. Setup guide

Two Stream Deck + units: the SubTractor page, then the Thor page after you select Thor in Reason

Supported devices

27 Reason devices so far

Each one has its own pages, built from that device's Remote parameters. The 8 marked Lite are also in the free edition.

Effects aren't covered yet, and neither are a few instruments such as PX7 and Scenic. Selecting one shows the hub. To ask for a device, post in Discussions.

What it does

A control surface that knows what you selected

No profile switching and no button presses. Reason tells the deck which device has focus, and the deck changes to match.

Follows your selection

Select a device in Reason and the deck shows that device's pages. There is no profile to switch to by hand.

Live values, both ways

Turn a dial and Reason moves. Move a control in Reason and the touch strip follows.

Built per instrument

Each device gets pages, groups and dials built from its real Remote parameters, not a generic MIDI map. Every one lands on Volume, Patch, Pitch and Mod.

Transport and tracks

The Document page carries play, record, loop, undo, click, tempo and track navigation.

A mixer that stays put

The Master page is locked to Reason's Master Section, so it mixes 16 channels while an instrument stays selected.

A piano under your fingers

Play the selected track from the keys or the strip, in notes or chords, without reaching for a keyboard.

Touch strip readouts for Thor, SubTractor, Friktion and Europa landing pages

Dials

Every value on the strip

Each dial shows its parameter name and current value, in the instrument's own colours.
A dial can carry up to four parameters. Tap one on the strip to choose it.
Landing dials have more banks behind them. Press and turn to reach them.
The strip updates when you change the value in Reason with the mouse, too.

How the dials work →

Clip coming: the touch strip updating when a knob moves in Reason.

Piano

Play the track you just dialled in

Seven keys play C to B for as long as you hold them. The eighth switches them to chords.
Twelve chromatic keys on the touch strip.
Octave, velocity, gate length and chord type on the dials.
Press dial 3 to swap in the instrument's dials, and change patches or tweak the sound while you play.
Auto-follow waits while the piano is showing, so selecting a track doesn't pull the piano away.

The piano page →

Clip coming: keys and chords, about 60–90 seconds.

Combinator

Every Combinator, labelled your way

All 32 rotaries on the dials and all 32 buttons on the pads.
The deck shows only the controls the patch uses, and follows as you browse.
Name, hide and colour the controls with a layout file. It survives plugin updates.
Patches in your User Library and packs get a layout built from the patch file.

The Combinator page → · Layouts →

Clip coming: a Combinator patch, with only the rotaries and buttons that patch uses.

Compared with doing it yourself

Why not just use free macros?

You can build Reason controls on a Stream Deck yourself, with free plugins such as SuperMacro or a MIDI plugin, mapped through one of Reason's generic MIDI surfaces. Plenty of people do. Here is what is different.

	Your own macros and MIDI mapping	Reason Remote
Changing pages	You switch profiles yourself when you move to another device.	Reason tells the deck which device is selected, and the deck switches.
Values on the strip	Set up per control, if your MIDI plugin reads values back.	Every dial shows its parameter name and current value, both ways, including after a patch change.
What's on the pages	The controls you map by hand, one device at a time.	Pages, sections and folders built from each device's real Remote parameters.
More than four controls	Another page or another profile.	Dial banks: press and turn a dial to reach the next set.
Cost	Free, plus your time.	Free for 8 devices with Lite, $20 for all 27.

If you only need a handful of fixed controls on one synth, the do-it-yourself route works and costs nothing. Reason Remote is for moving between devices all session without stopping to switch.

Two editions

Start free, upgrade when you're ready

Both use the same Reason setup, so moving from Lite to the full version means installing one Stream Deck plugin and nothing else.

Reason Remote Lite

Free

8 devices: Europa, Kong, ID8 and Monotone (all of Reason Free), plus SubTractor, Redrum, Radical Keys and the Combinator
Document page, Master mixer and Piano, the same as in the full version
Select any other device and the deck shows what the full version adds

Get Lite on the Elgato Marketplace

Reason Remote

Full version

$20

Everything in Lite, plus 19 more devices, including Thor, Friktion, Grain, Humana and the Umpfs
One purchase, and updates arrive through the Stream Deck app

Get Reason Remote, $20

Moving from Lite to the full version

Uninstall Lite in the Stream Deck app: right-click the plugin, then Uninstall.
Install Reason Remote from the Elgato Marketplace and accept its profiles.

The Reason codec, the loopMIDI ports and the Reason surfaces stay as they are, because both editions use the same ones. Don't run both at once. If you edited Lite's profiles, export them first: the full version installs its own, laid out differently. Lite vs full version in detail

Setup

About 20 minutes, once

The plugin needs a Reason Remote codec and four virtual MIDI ports. On Windows, one installer command handles nearly all of it.

Install the plugin

From the Elgato Marketplace. Accept the prompt to install its profiles.

Run the installer

One PowerShell 7 command. It installs the codec, loopMIDI and the ports, and registers the surfaces in Reason.

Restart Reason and lock Master

Quit Reason fully, restart it, and lock the Master surface to the Master Section.

Select a device

Click a SubTractor in the rack. The deck switches to it.

Step-by-step setup guide →

What you need

Elgato Stream Deck +The pages are built for its keys, dials and touch strip
Windows 10 or laterStream Deck software 6.9 or newer
Reason 12 or laterOr Reason Recon
PowerShell 7 and loopMIDIBoth free. The installer can download loopMIDI for you

Questions

Before you buy

Does it work on a Mac?

Not yet. The plugin is Windows-only for now. The Reason codec and surfaces install on a Mac, but the deck won't switch pages when you select a device, which is the point of it.

Which Stream Deck do I need?

The Stream Deck +. The pages are built for its eight keys, four dials and touch strip, so the other Stream Deck models won't work.

Which version of Reason?

Reason 12 or later, or Reason Recon. On Reason 13 and later the installer also registers the two surfaces in Reason for you. On Reason 12 you add them by hand in Preferences, and the setup guide shows how.

Does it work with Reason+ and with a perpetual licence?

Yes, both. It talks to Reason through Reason's own Remote protocol, which is the same either way. The deck follows the devices you have in your Reason.

How long does setup take?

About 20 minutes, once. You install the plugin from the Elgato Marketplace, run one PowerShell 7 command that installs the codec, loopMIDI and the four ports, restart Reason, and lock the Master surface (the lock is saved per song, so save it in your default song to do it once). The setup guide walks through each step.

Do I need loopMIDI?

Yes. loopMIDI is free and makes the virtual MIDI ports the deck and Reason talk over. The installer offers to download it for you.

Do I need another Stream Deck plugin?

No. The dials, touch strip, mixer and piano are all part of Reason Remote, in both editions. Earlier versions needed a separate MIDI plugin for the dials. That's gone.

Can I get a refund?

Both editions are sold through the Elgato Marketplace, so Elgato's Marketplace refund policy applies: requests go in within 14 days of purchase. If something isn't working, open an issue first so it can be fixed. The policy doesn't cover buying for a setup it doesn't support, so if you're not sure, try Lite first: it uses the same setup.

Is it made by Reason Studios or Elgato?

No. Reason Remote is made by Automate Pros and isn't affiliated with, or endorsed by, Reason Studios AB or Elgato.

User guide