What are Rex2 Files?

A Rex2 (.rx2) file is an audio file that has been converted from a WAV file using an application called ‘Recycle’ from Propellerhead Software – the makers of the popular ‘Reason’ DAW.

Rex2 files contain hit points on the transients of a waveform so that ‘Reason’ and other DAW applications (Stylus RMX) can shift the tempo of a loop or even re-sequence the rhythm of a loop without altering the pitch. These hit points have to be manually entered by a human being and are very time consuming to create.

Rex2 files are particularly useful with drum loops and percussion loops where you often wouldn’t want to alter the pitch or key of the original recording.

What is a Reason Refill?

A Reason Refill is very similar to a zip file in that it’s basically a compressed collection of files. In this case it would be a collection of Rex2 files packed into one easily transportable .rfl file that may also contain basic meta information such as the name of the collection, url, copyright data and even a thumbnail image.

Rex2 files have gained popularity over the years as Reason has become more popular. In Reason a Rex2 file would get loaded into the ‘Dr Rex’ loop player module which has some pretty advanced features for manipulating each section of a loop.

What Other DAW application use Rex2 files?

Steinbergs popular ‘Cubase’ DAW has offered support for Rex2 files for many years and some DAW plugins such as ‘Stylus RMX’ by Spectrasonics use modified Rex2 files exclusively for manipulation of drum and percussion loops.

We include the Rex2 file format in all of our products. Some loop labels charge more or only offer one choice of file format but we believe you should be able to get WAV, Rex2 and Apple Loops formats so that you can be up and running with our loops no matter which DAW you choose.