How to Find Your Plugins in Reason

Oct 08, 2024

If you are trying to load your Waves plugins in Reason but you cannot find them, follow these instructions in order to make the plugins available.

Please note: In Reason 12.6 and higher, Waves plugins are only supported in the VST3 format on Apple Silicon processors. If you are using Reason 12.6 or higher on a Mac running a Apple Silicon processor and have a song using Waves plugins in the VST format, you will need to load them in the VST3 format. Follow the How to Load Reason Songs with Waves VST3 Plugins article.

Step #1 – Verify plugin software is installed

Check whether the relevant plugin file/s are correctly installed on your computer.

Go to:

Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\Plug-Ins V16, (or whichever version is installed on your device, V15-V9)
Mac: Macintosh HD > Applications > Waves > Plug-Ins V16, (or whichever version is installed on your device, V15-V9)

The relevant plugin file will be named after the plugin, in this format: [PluginName].bundle. For example, the plugin file for Reel ADT will be named Reel ADT.bundle.

If the plugins you are looking for are not there, install the plugins by following the instructions in this link.

  • For V13-V9 plugins to show up in your DAW, their license must be activated. If you installed V14 (or above) plugins or Waves Creative Access, you can skip this step.

    Check whether the relevant plugin or bundle license/s are activated on your computer or USB Flash Drive:

    1. Launch Waves Central via Applications > Waves Central.
    2. Log into Waves Central using your Waves account information.
    3. Select the Licenses page.
    4. Select the Connected Devices tab. Use the arrow on the right to expand the list.
    5. Check if the missing plugin/s license are activated on this connected device.

    If the plugins are not activated, check if they appear in the Not Activated tab. If that’s the case, select the license/s and click ‘Activate’.

    If the plugin licenses are not found in the Not Activated tab, check if they appear in a device in the Disconnected Devices tab. If that's the case, refer to this article.

Step #3 – Rescan for Plugins

Windows

  1. In Reason, go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab.
  2. Under Folders > VST Plugin Folders, make sure that the following paths are listed and check-marked (if not, add them):
    • C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins
    • C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
  3. Quit Reason.
  4. Press the [Win key]+R, type %LocalAppData% and press Enter.
  5. Go to Propellerhead Software > Reason.
  6. Drag _PluginDatabase.dat, _PluginDatabase_v2.dat and _PluginCache.dat (if available) to your desktop.
  7. Launch Reason. It will perform a complete plugin re-scan (will take longer than usual).

If your plugins are now available in Reason and everything is working properly, you can delete the _PluginDatabase.dat, PluginDatabase_v2.dat and _PluginCache.dat files from your desktop.

Mac

  1. In Reason go to Reason > Preferences > Folders tab.
  2. Under VST Plugin Folders, make sure that the following paths are listed and check-marked (if not, add them):
    • Macintosh HD > Library > Audio > Plugins > VST
    • Macintosh HD > Library > Audio > Plugins > VST3
  3. Quit Reason.
  4. In Finder click on the Go menu, hold down the [Alt/Option] key and click on Library.
  5. Go to Application Support > Propellerhead Software > Reason > Caches.
  6. Drag _PluginDatabase.dat, _PluginDatabase_v2.dat, __PluginDatabase_v3-arm64.dat and _PluginCache.dat (whichever is available) to your desktop
  7. Launch Reason. It will perform a complete plugin re-scan (will take longer than usual).

If your plugins are now available in Reason and everything is working properly, you can delete the _PluginDatabase.dat, _PluginDatabase_v2.dat, __PluginDatabase_v3-arm64.dat and _PluginCache.dat files from your desktop.

If your plugins load in Demo mode (with periodic mutes), refer to this article.

None of the above worked? Contact Technical Support.