2nd Monitor - advantage?

empirix

Hey all,

I am currently using reason and was considering buying a 2nd 17" tft monitor, i am waying up the pro's and cons of it, i find reason a bit annoying scrolling through all the various on screen hardware and would much prefer not using the scroll option and just have everything spreadout over two screens - is this even possible to do? Anybody have anything similar etc.

All info/recommendations appreciated.

artvandulet

of course.
Use detach sequencer window in the options menu and then drag sequencer over to other monitor.
Now you have rack on one side and sequencer on other. Very handy.

cornbb

Extremely good idea. A second monitor will improve your workflow a lot, e.g. you can have your arrange window on one screen and your mixer/plugins or whatever on the other.

Typically a video card with more than one VGA/DVI output is the only requirement.

artvandulet

...and of course, a second monitor;)

squibs

Started with this config lately. It definitely makes life easier.

frobisher

The first thing I would do would is double check that Reason offers benefits spread over two monitors. It is after all a vertically scrolling peice of software as opposed to a horizontal one. There may of course be other windows you could open but you have to ask if you use them enough to warrant spending €200 on a monitor instead of a new microphone or pre-amp or whatever. I use 2 monitors, one for reason and one for cubase and it's great.

empirix

I actually have got a 2nd monitor fot free today, its a compaq, other is a dell) and doesn;t look as well as two dells side by side but hey its free, which is what counts - happy days! still have to get a dual video card or a switch or something though, hopefully can pick up something cheap

cheers all

frobisher

empirix wrote:

I actually have got a 2nd monitor fot free today, its a compaq, other is a dell) and doesn;t look as well as two dells side by side but hey its free, which is what counts - happy days! still have to get a dual video card or a switch or something though, hopefully can pick up something cheap

cheers all

But will Reason offer benefits with an extra horizontal monitor? Or are you going to go vertical?

empirix

frobisher wrote:

But will Reason offer benefits with an extra horizontal monitor? Or are you going to go vertical?

Hey Frob, what exactly do you mean

artvandulet

Frob, as I said earlier, Reason can detach the sequencer window.
Monitor 1 is your rack and patching. Monitor 2 is your timeline.
So it is very useful!

James Hunt

Sorry about dragging this one up again lads....just another quick question about having two monitors.

Is it possible to have one monitor on portrait (for a Reason rack for example) and the other on landscape (for the Reason sequencer style timeline window)?

My understanding, basic as it most certainly is, is that the screen resolution and layout is set on the machine and the graphics card spits out two examples of that onto the two monitors.....but can the monitors have individual settings giving on portrait and one landscape?

cornbb

My own graphics card (Radeon X300) that would appear to allow this, but I can't speak for all machines - you could ask over in the Graphics forum for an answer from a graphics geek as opposed to an audio geek

frobisher

James Hunt wrote:

Sorry about dragging this one up again lads....just another quick question about having two monitors.

Is it possible to have one monitor on portrait (for a Reason rack for example) and the other on landscape (for the Reason sequencer style timeline window)?

My understanding, basic as it most certainly is, is that the screen resolution and layout is set on the machine and the graphics card spits out two examples of that onto the two monitors.....but can the monitors have individual settings giving on portrait and one landscape?

I not 100% with you. Do you mean can you flip the monitor 90 degrees and the control the graphics card to adapt to this?

One thing you need to ask yourself is if a program window offers greater features being spread longer or wider. Many programs reach a certain size and by spreading them all your doing is creating blank space or spreading the same info over more pixels rather than widening your work area.

The thing about reason is that the vertically scrolling aspect of the program isn't something that you can really benefit from by spreading it out to view in real time. Once it is set the individual virtual rack units can be collapsed and easily scrolled for access. The sequencer window is a different story though as it moves horizontally with the song. So do you really need a screen that can go portrait? There are always things you could spend that extra €200 on!! That said, if you do know you will benefit from it you should get it as improving workflow when it comes to making music on computers is very important in my book.

artvandulet

James,
The simple answer is YES.

When running in dual monitor mode you can set the resolution of each monitor independently of each other - EG: Monitor A set to 1024x1280 (3:4) and monitor B set to 1280x1024 (standard 4:3). If you have wide screen monitors you can set the resolution to those too.

I use reason on dual monitor and find both set to standard XGA (1024x768) works best for me. Do whatever settings work best for you.

Just make sure you have the right graphics card

James Hunt

Great stuff lads, thanks.

It's good to know that it can be done if desired.

I take frobisher's point about the Reason rack unit though. It's something I'll try out myself and try to get the best configuration.

Cheers lads.