abacab

If you are considering the SampleTank 4 upgrade, and have some old SampleTank 2 libraries sitting around that you want to use with it, you will need a copy of ST3 to import them. This version of ST3 SE should be an option to import those old libraries. ST4 cannot import ST2 libraries directly, but can use them if they have been imported into a version of ST3. I don't think ST3 Custom Shop (free) is available for download anymore, but that would also have been an option. I'm not sure if this giveaway bundle version would count as a retail version of ST3 SE towards the ST4 upgrade pricing. But if you already have any IK retail product with an MSRP value of $99 or higher, you should qualify for upgrade/crossgrade pricing. Here is the IK eligibility check: https://www.ikmultimedia.com/eligibilitycheck/index.php?a=sampletank-4-max

Not recently. https://sonivoxmi.com/products/details/big-bang-cinematic-percussion-2#updates

I don't use the Aria player, but with other multi-timbral players I usually save the "multi" as a preset in the plugin's native format. That remembers all of the initial presets for me! That way I can recall that specific saved "multi" preset again in any host where I might happen use that plugin. That would bypass the issue of a host DAW not resuming plugin states correctly from a saved state. Just open the plugin, recall the "multi" and all set!

Yes it does! (based on what I've listened to so far) Still downloading...

I bought their entire SONiVOX Premier Collection 2 years ago, which includes all of the Orchestral Companion and Film Score libraries. I will admit it was a good bang for the buck at the time. The samples are very good. That bundle is also on sale right now for $49. This is a good price, and in no-brainer territory for sure. But just a word of advice if you buy their stuff, be prepared to use it as is, and don't expect any improvements. If you are good with that, then great! SONiVOX apparently does not respond to feature requests or provide any bug fixes for their existing products. It appears to be virtually unsupported, and they have never come clean about that mod wheel thingy. You can view their support forums that will back this fact up. But otherwise it can be useful.

Here's another good example of an integrated sampler in a DAW. This is a quick video overview of the Multi Sampler included with Tracktion Waveform. It's a general purpose sampler, that can live record from any audio source in the computer, or you can drag and drop your own samples. It has beat detection so you can automatically detect transients in a recording, which allows you to quickly isolate and slice up individual hits and map their samples to different MIDI notes from your controller, or from MIDI clips in your track. Jump to 8:00 to see the beat detection and slicing in action. Parts 1-3 are available in the playlist at this link > 01 Introduction to Waveform Multi Sampler

My ST3 strings seem to have come from Miroslav, but here is what IK says about the new samples in ST4:

Yes please do let us know. I may grab one for my laptop.

Hey @razor7music thanks for the tip! I was wondering how to do that!

I'm just gonna use it for Am and see where that leads to!

I jumped on the bundle a couple of years ago for about $20 more than the current offer. I thought the Orchestral Companion and Film Score instruments would make a good starter package, and it does do that. But I have other orchestral sample libraries now and don't really use the SONiVOX much anymore. The samples are very good, but the player interfaces didn't really click with me. They are all mono-timbral, so you need to insert an instance for every sound. I still have the Singles installed, and there are a few unique sounds in those. Don't even get me started on Twist or Wobble. I will remain silent on them. The TimewARP 2600 is a good emulation of the ARP 2600, but it needs an update, as the interface is quite small and not resizable. There is one cool thing about the Big Bang Cinematic Percussion, in that the included samples are in unlocked wav file format, so you can use them in other instruments. That is a plus because each Big Bang factory percussion preset has different percussion sounds mapped to the keys, so there is no drum map to reference what sound is where. You are better off mapping the sounds yourself in your sampler of choice. There are some excellent percussion samples included! The rest of the sample libraries are locked to their respective plugins. I would say that if you don't have any orchestral stuff yet, and just need a kick start, this is probably a no-brainer deal. But the interfaces are dated and don't seem to be getting much support or any updates, so be prepared to just use it as is. Don't expect them to be responding anytime soon to feature requests or with bug fixes.

Interesting! The download links for the first two USB drivers link back to Behringer, the third one is listed as an "alternative" driver and links to ASIO4ALL.com. The readme notes for the old Begringer driver indicate that it's a Win 7 & Win 8 driver, which in many cases are OK with Win 10. For example I am still running a Win 7 driver for my M-Audio firewire interface on Win 10 without any issues.

Do you have that bundle? If so, what is your opinion?

The only thing that would put me off with that Behringer unit is this feature: "Works with your PC or Mac* computer—no setup or drivers required". In my opinion you should always use custom ASIO mode drivers supplied by the interface manufacturer, using their setup procedure. I am not aware of any reliable low latency audio drivers available by default in Windows audio, except maybe for WASAPI, and that can be hit or miss. If it uses ASIO4ALL, that is just a wrapper for the Windows audio, which can work, but can also be problematic at times. I would keep looking... and I would be skeptical of any audio interface advertised as "plug and play", as even the IK Multimedia iRig Pro lists ASIO4ALL under their Windows specs.

It's a cool emulation, and the sounds great, but it needs updating. The interface is small, and not resizeable. I sent a question to tech support over 2 years ago, and they responded that this product was not supported on Windows 10. Looks like nearly "abandonware" to me!

Their samples are good, but the players are "meh". Not much expression control, except for a few articulation switches for some patches. Not sure how many velocity layers there are. The main gripe I have was their claim of "Keyboard mod wheel swells volume for intense dynamics". That is B.S., and noticeably absent. Useful if you just want to drop in an instrument here or there. But it's not multi-timbral, so you will need multiple instances for more than one part, if you plan to attempt a full orchestration. For this price though, if you don't already have these instrument sounds elsewhere, it's a no-brainer territory. But if you do, better think again about the disk space you will be giving up to use these. They are about 15GB each.

Lesson learned: I bought a cheap Acer laptop (not for music, but as a traveling office) and added some DAW software and plugins for the heck of it. It came with only 4GB of RAM, and I quickly found the limit with that while trying to run virtual instruments on it! I looked into the disassembly process for adding RAM, because there was apparently an empty slot available. Guess what? Acer went cheap and there is no access panel on the bottom of the laptop for the RAM slot. I had upgraded RAM in my older Dell laptop, no problemo! Just popped a couple of screws and the slot was easily accessible. But to access the RAM in this Acer, one would need to remove the keyboard, remove the hard drive, disconnect ribbon cables for the screen, etc., then remove the motherboard, and locate the RAM slots on the underside of the motherboard. No thanks! And I build desktops for fun, but I'm not going to tear down a working laptop. No way, LOL! So lesson learned, if you think you might want more RAM, buy a laptop configured the way you might need it during its lifetime, and don't just assume upgrades are an easy option. At least until you have read the manual. Dell used to make their upmarket units quite serviceable, and provide a decent service manual. But since I haven't bought a Dell recently, don't know if that still applies.

For those that missed W9, here is a quick intro to the new multi-sampler that was added. Note: the multi-sampler is integrated with the DAW, and is not available as a VST plugin. 01 Introduction to Waveform Multi Sampler

Dealio!!!

The current support email and the support ticket form linked above should work. They now direct to the BandLab support team. If you cannot log into your old Cakewalk account or the Command Center, the BandLab support team may be able to help you. Command Center still works, and the old Cakewalk accounts and download files are still available. BandLab owns the servers now, and hasn't shut off any access for previously registered users. However, no new registrations are possible. But downloads and activations are not an issue for registered users.

The DAW upgrade is only $69. The bells and whistles bundle doesn't include any more features for the core DAW. It just adds a pile of all of their ala carte synths into the bundle, such as Biotek 2, MOK Waverazor, and the Retromod collection. Plus the DAW Essentials FX collection. I consider DAW Essentials pretty "meh" myself, as I already have a ton of plugins. I got DAW Essentials tossed in basically for free a while back when I bought Biotek. Biotek is a really a very cool synth, and I did a standalone upgrade to Biotek 2 last year. Very deep synth, a blend of VA, samples, and granular, up to 12 layers with four oscillators each, and eleventy bazillion modulators for some massive sounds! https://www.tracktion.com/products/biotek So all you really need is the base DAW for $69, the bundle is probably redundant with most of the plugins and synths many of us already own. I like the MIDI pattern generators in Waveform, and that is the main reason I got it when it was first released. My recommendation is get the base DAW and maybe wait for 50% deals on any of their synths that you really want. Skip the bundle.

I agree. And you were talking about compression. MS has hidden a setting to compress the OS drive in disk cleanup, and that was the point I was trying to make. It's probably just another Windows setting that you should be aware of if you want to avoid drive compression.

Still downloading ... But from what I have listened to so far, the quality of the new ST4 sounds is outstanding, but you will only get them all with the ST4 Max version. I ordered the ST4 standard version, which leverages the ST3 library for much of the existing sound content (ST3 content is also included in ST4 for those that do not already have it). See the comparison list for the difference in sound sets. There is a decent amount of new content, but not all of it is new. For example none of the new strings or percussion are included in ST4 standard, and for the brass and woodwinds the only new instruments are trumpet, trombone, tenor sax, and baritone sax. You will need to use the ST3 sound content to cover the gaps. IK has included support for ST3 instruments directly in the new program, so there's no need to import those ST3 libraries. You can search by folder as before, or you can search across the entire database. But you do get a new electric Les Paul (sorry the Strat is only in the Max), some nice acoustic and electric pianos, some new basses, plenty of organs, a couple of drum kits, voices, ethnic sounds, etc. Not bad, but for $50 more you can have it all!

The new multi-sampler instrument Tracktion added in W9 is a handy tool to have. You can live sample with it from any audio source on the computer, including Windows audio. Great for quick "what-you-hear" grabs from media players and videos.

It sounds like your issue is mostly with your email. Some websites use IP blacklisting, especially with known spam addresses. Here is a list of IP blacklists where you can put your own IP in and see if it's on any of dozens of known blacklists. https://whatismyipaddress.com/blacklist-check One quick way around this would be to try a free VPN service, where your source IP will then be seen as belonging to your VPN provider's IP range, rather than your ISP. If your email address itself has a problem, you could always register for one of several free webmail services, then re-register at BandLab with that new email.