marcL

As long as they (Waves) urge this ugly shell plugin and have installation only with their manager I am even not interested in such a nice freebie! 😆 It's a pity!

1 hour ago, fossile said:

you could set the stereo buss to mono then drop -3db. the merging of stereo into a single mono is typically +3db (just the nature of db math...). i recently "re-discovered" this as i was doing some mono checks and accidentally exported as mono. then importing into Ozone the waveform was higher than expected (doubled effectively) and was purely mono... lol.

Yes, but the problem is that I wanted to export CLIPS, no tracks or busses. And if I use the export dialog it increases the volume by +3dB. If I drag the clip(s) to a folder, then it works as expected, but that way I cannot give the desired names and manual name changes on a couple of clips is very inconvenient.

Something similar happens in the export dialog, if you try to export a mono clip with Channel Format "Split Mono" (2022.11 build 021). It results in a message saying:

"An internal error occurred while processing the mixdown. The operation was unsuccessful."

Some may wonder why I use "Split Mono" for a mono clip. But the reason I tried to use this, was that there is a +3 dB volume increase if I use channel format "Mono" only. Someone of the bakers said once that the cause is that the clip export runs thru a stereo bus (double mono).

EDIT: Strange, I just tried with Sonar (23.10 build 014) and there it worked (with the old export dialog)!

3 hours ago, scook said:

Such analysis has been demonstrated faulty

I don't know what should be faulty in the analysis! These are facts!

4 hours ago, Light Grenade said:

Check out The Normalizer by HorNET, it can do auto-normalizing with the grouping function.

Low-cost and fast. I use it all the time. 

I tried this one, too! Sometimes it generates very strange spikes in the beginning of the clips and on certain ess sounds! Unusable IMO!

24 minutes ago, scook said:

For the record, DX and VST3 formats are supported by the Cakewalk Preset Manager.

 

May need to work with support for figure out why the Sonitus presets are not getting picked up.

 

Plugin Alliance is a different matter. Brainworx started out as a developer of UAD plug-ins. Like other UAD plug-in developers, they relied on the UAD environment to supply the plug-in manager. Unlike other UAD plug-in developers, Brainworx, along with quite a few of the other PA lines, elected to release their plug-ins as native plug-ins without an integrated plug-in manager. Practically all native VST2/3 plug-ins have an integrated plug-in manager. That said, some of the VST3 plug-ins sold by PA do automatically work with the Cakewalk Plug-in Manager; such as plug-ins made by Bettermaker, Dear VR and Lindell.

 

This sounds strange to me! AFAIK do all the PA plugins support the usual plugin preset way in CbB as VST2 (listbox on top)! But not their VST3 version! But if I use the VST3 version in Reaper, then there is no problem at all. The presets are selectable in their common place. Thus there is a certain thing missing in CbB for the VST3 presets IMHO!

On 1/20/2023 at 6:21 PM, Jyri T. said:

This is NOT what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about starting a project with a ton of clips that are all over the place when it comes to audio levels.

I want to be able to get all the individual clips easily on a consistent level at the very beginning, before I start editing them and mixing the song (or what ever project I'm working on).

That's what I'm talking about. Individual clips, not track or bus output.

This^, I like it!

I had the same issue. Especially when you do comping it is very important not to be misled by the clips volume difference. Thus before I start comping, I level all clips to the same LUFS value. Also, when you recorded some parts of the song separately, it is helpful if all of them match the same LUFS value. It makes mixing much easier!

I always wondered how people could use the CbB normalize function for this (peak based), because if you have one single spike in the audio, then this clip has a totally other volume, than others!

Today I do it in CbB like this:

1. I use the free HOFA 4U Meter Fader to find out the LUFS value of the clip (within CbB just drag the clip onto the plugin).
2. Then I use "Process > Apply Effect > Gain..." to adjust the value to my desire.

This is not very elegant, but it works. Surely it would be better if there was such a function in CbB, I agree! One thing I want to mention to the HOFA 4U Meter is that if your file is mono, then it shows the LUFS value as double mono (+3dB). But this is easy to consider.

Recently I also use Reaper to achieve this. In Reaper there is a "Batch File/Item Converter" that can apply a LUFS volume adjustment and/or any plugins to a batch of files. Very helpful!

IMHO it is very difficult to decide about synth sounds, 'cos it highly depends what you play with them. At times it also helps to reduce delay and/or reverb of the preset for a certain usage.

Sometimes searching a sound for a specific phrase I think a sound preset is worth nothing! The other day when I use another playing style or octave I am completely convinced 'bout the same sound. But maybe it's just me! 😆

1 minute ago, locrian said:

Many thanks @locrian !! Here in Europe I am teached to ignore all small printed stuff and don't read everything, because I have to click all the time on messages applying to cookie settings! 😄

2 minutes ago, simon said:

I think you can download libraries via your UVI account page ? (I'm too lazy to check!)

I don't get it, 'cos when I click "manage your products" there comes only a page with the portal download! But maybe it's somehow hidden like with Softube.

19 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

One of the few developers that allow 3 iLok activations.   I think I have enough of these free libraries to authorize on 27 machines.

Yes, but I hate that they only support an installation option via their portal! It is such a hassle! 👎

Maybe I will pass on the update because of this. It is also the reason why I would never buy a UVI product. In any case, I've noticed that authorization and installation is more and more a buy or not to buy argument for me!

With regard to UVI I think it is perverse to have online installation only and iLok authorization! IMO this fits absolutely not together.

2 minutes ago, InstrEd said:

As long as they don't Cut The Cheese 😏

And as long as it is Swiss, French or Danish cheese, not Dutch plastic cheese! 😆

I don't understand Arturia's pricing philosophy! V Collection is so cheap compared to the single synths, but if you don't need most of them, it makes no sense to purchase the whole collection.

It is a nice article. On the other hand it is very partial, taking sides with the developers only!

I am only working on Windows. I have plugins that are more than 10 years old and they still run without trouble (on W7/W10)! So why should I pay for Apple development? I agree that in such cases the customers (Apple lovers) should pay for it, but the problem is that usual bug fixes (very few) and the Apple compatibility is mixed.

Concerning software there are other things to think about. If someone creates a product with obvious problems, then why should the customer pay for correction? Also the automotive industry had to do free upgrades if they tampered something.

1 hour ago, Magic Russ said:

It just adds macOS Ventura compatibility and some minor graphical improvements when building instruments.

It's as usual. The last 2 years you could ignore most of the plugin updates when your OS is Windows! 😟

20 hours ago, abacab said:

I install both as the plug-in files are not that big. It's a personal preference as to which ones you see and use in your plug-in browser, unless you are a Cubase user.

VST3 has some potential advantages if the plug-in is correctly coded and the DAW supports them. But I haven't seen any real-world differences yet. It used to be that some developers had issues with coding VST3, and in those cases you were better off sticking with VST2 for stability.

But it's been a while since I had a VST3 related issue...

Some things to consider:

• Legacy or end-of-life products that never released as VST3 will forever be VST2.
• New developers will only be able to release VST3.
• Some hosts (such as Cubase) may cease support for VST2 plug-ins.

To put in my twopenn'orth:

• I prefer to install plugins not having an own preset system (like most PA plugins) as VST2, because in some hosts like CbB it is very inconvenient to use VST3 presets for them!
• Also, there are some hosts that still do not support VST3 (older ones any way).

59 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

1). My understanding is they will rest after the 7 if it doesn't looks like you are a legit human and not abusing the system.  Allowing to authorize to 3 USB sticks at the same time opens the door for misuse.  I wish it was unlimited without intervention but think it is still better than the majority.

The authorization system of most big players is terrible! I don't know how many hours I wasted with such stuff! But I agree that PA is really not the worst one in this area (they authorize all plugins at once, have a simple offline authorization, and if a machine goes belly up, you are not lost)!

Yesterday I wanted to insert a plugin in CbB and immediately the system was hanging. I couldn't do nothing about it, I had to force a close of CbB. Then suddenly an error message of Waves appeared that the USB could not be opened. It seems I hit the wrong plugin (I have only 2 Waves one installed), so I was not aware what was happening. I may have lost an hour of my life! 😄

59 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

Those that fit in your box are the minority, who other than Melda?

There are several small developers that have really quality plugins and a user-friendly authorization (like Toneboosters, Klanghelm, ...)!

Melda: I don't get warm with their plugin interfaces and don't like their installation process (monolith). On the other hand they have a good authorization and update commitment. 

Like this, I do not shed any tears over this farewell! 😆

40 minutes ago, paulo said:

Also, AFAIK they didn't shut down some customer's accounts just because they happen live in a country that it has become fashionable to dislike.

I question if it is positive that a company makes business disregarding all political and etic views! But YMMV!

Another compressor! But I have already more than 60 compressors! 😆

6 hours ago, Fleer said:

You need one more. Arturia Dist Coldfire!

Oh, no, no! Not an additional one! 😆

Frankly, I don't like the Arturia effects, because they are so heavy on cpu and slow to open!

One of the saturation units I like most is Klanghelm SDRR2, it's very powerful. But as I have that many saturation possibilities, I have not yet played enough with all of them!

10 hours ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

English Horn

I really like this instrument, sounds great!

D16 Group (Slate Digital) Repeater Delay only 45$ at JRR shop.

https://www.jrrshop.com/slate-digital-repeater

As I had waited too long for a good PSP 85 or PSP 42 deal, I could not resist for the D16 Repeater, purchased!

1 hour ago, Eusebio Rufian-Zilbermann said:

Look again? (although the old one is more expensive than the new one since it's not on sale)

https://www.pspaudioware.com/products/psp-85

Thanks, interesting! 👍 But if I open the store overview, then it is not present anymore!

The current version runs properly on W7.

But AFAIK BandLab tests it only on W10 and W11.