PavlovsCat

That's great to hear! Nice to have you back.

AI definitely can be very useful in any DAW, especially for cleaning up audio. I would expect in less than a decade from now, AI functionality will be part of every major DAW. The reaction to AI today reminds me a lot of the reaction people had to the Web in the early days (1995 -2000). It was misunderstood, overhyped by some, and written off by many. AI is a tool and it absolutely has great application for audio, as many of us have experienced for years using Izotope and Sonible tools. Looking at the landing page for this DAW, it seems pretty reasonable. Hopefully, more DAWS will be incorporating AI soon. I could imagine a great deal of sound design possibilities for AI for synthesis and samplers. FTR, I'm fresh off of writing an article on AI, so I've recently been immersed in the topic. AI has become commonplace in the medical world and business world -- in the latter, especially for its use in sales, customer support, data analytics, marketing, communications and BI. In the medical world, it's making a huge difference, especially in areas like radiology and making a big difference in developing nations. I bet Fleer could tell us much about how beneficial AI can be in the area of law. Consequently, AI's use in DAWs seems like a pretty obvious and simple application of AI by comparison.

Thanks for sharing. I'd be grateful if you could update your results here or post to a video if you do one after you spend more time (as you've said ia coming), as I was interested in this for voice-over applications. Thanks! Peter.

Have a great trip, Larry! I look forward to hearing about your adventures when you return.

I suppose I should just email Spitfire and beg them to create a library called Abbey Road Quartet. That would be irresistible (for me). With every new Abbey Road release, I keep hoping for it!

I agree with Fleer. I don't own their Piano FZ library, but I own several libraries from Xperimenta Project and every library I have from them is superb.

I only have their Wurli 145B library, but it's top notch and has a gorgeous sound. It's meticulously sampled and the user interface and capabilities of the library are superb. You can easily dial in various characteristics, such as dirt, vibrato and various effects to create your own presets. If I wasn't on a tight budget, I'd buy this. I'll definitely buy more of their libraries in the future.

Yes, I consult to this company, but I'm a user of this stuff and find this advancement of the plugin a fascinating evolution. That walkthrough video gives you a good idea. As far as the concern over file sizes that satya expressed, that is something I would like to explore with the SoundPaint (8Dio) folks. Their roots are serving pros and making very detailed libraries, and that, of course, results in very large file sizes. But my instincts are that there's a fair amount of hobbyists who want "deep sampled" libraries to a certain degree, but not necessarily at the same degree as pros. Even more, when you look at SoundPaint’s mission of bringing high end, deep sampled libraries at a very low price point, it's very likely to attract many hobbyist users on a tight budget who likely can't afford huge file sizes (that is, the storage devices for large libraries, which can quickly add up). For example, a pro composer or a hobbyist perfectionist may insist upon pedal up and pedal down samples for piano libraries, a lot of velocity layers and mic options and is okay with the resulting very large file size -- let's say 25 GB for this example --whereas a hobbyist may not want to sacrifice the large amount of file space that detail requires and be willing to make compromises to keep the file size under 10GB. That's why I think it's a really good idea when SoundPaint offers customers the option of Ultra Deep Sampled libraries versus standard definition (okay, I'm not sure if that's the exact name they use, but that's the idea). I think it would be ideal to offer that for more libraries once they hit a certain file size. I think there's also a psychological factor that comes from the developer radically bringing down prices on deep sampled libraries. It results in hobbyists who've never considered libraries at this quality level and file sizes and may be resistant to larger file sizes -- especially given the price. I think it's worth conducting research to find out how important all of this is to the various customer groups they serve. I'd be very interested in getting people's thoughts on this, so please share your thoughts. I promise to make the SoundPaint folks aware of them.

Nice of the developer to give this away free. It sounds like a Wurli in some respects, but as a massive Wurli fan, it's just okay. I realize the developer doesn't promote this as an authentic Wurli simulation but an analog synth trying to emulate a Wurli, which seems appropriate. But I'm not completely in love with the tone (it's not bad, it just hints at a real Wurli enough to make me want to use a real Wurli sample library instead). The developer has another plugin, I think it's called Reed 200A, that comes a lot closer to the Wurli that I think sounds much better. Of course, it also comes at a price that's significantly higher than free.

It's even less of a temptation for me, because I won't even pretend that I understand how to use any of this stuff! That said, I have licenses for 4 of their plugins! I suppose, sometime in the future, I will attempt to learn how to use them. Any advice on where to start (simplest plugin of theirs to understand and get results)?

Considering that all of those developers sales are at Plugin Boutique, I'm pretty confident that it's a Plugin Boutique promotional theme. But if you're wondering what's the reason/genesis behind the theme (i.e., is it due to an anniversary or invention, etc.), it seems random, just an idea to do a promotion.

I have a few UAD plugins and it seems everything they put out is at a very high standard. I suppose people who've had their hardware and pros have known this first hand for a long time, but I've really only experienced their plugins since they didn't require their hardware and have greatly come down in price on sales. In addition to the Capitol Chambers, I have been considering Sound City. I agree with you and Craig that the Electra88 sounds excellent, but I have so many Rhodes libraries already, that I think the Sound City reverb is more appealing to me. Any opinions on their Sound City reverb (asking you and anyone else who wants to weigh in)?

FTR, I gave it a laugh because I should have known better than to ask my fellow plugin and sample addicts to talk me down. Instead you have me checking out additional plugins! But thanks for the suggestions. I do think everything we're discussing sounds excellent to my ears, but especially Capitol Chambers. I thought Abbey Road Chambers would be the be all, end all for me, but I love CC even more.

The more I listen to Capitol Chambers, the more I think it sounds incredible -- maybe my favorite reverb of all time (based on the demos). Is there any impulse response or other reverb that even comes close to that sound they captured? I'm trying not to spend anymore on this stuff, but that reverb seems like perfection to me. Someone please talk me down! I own probably two dozen reverbs.

Haha! I know Steven, but I couldn't ask him -- too much bias!

I'd love to hear the opinions of experienced mixers who've used this plugin.

Now I have to try it on synths. I only put it on audio for a drum kit and really liked it, but haven't tried it on anything else. From my experience with this and their other freebie, Warmy, I'm quite impressed with this developer.

I tried XTMax out the other day and really like it on drums. I agree with you, Tianzii, this is a very worthwhile freebie I can recommend. That said, I already own so many compressors, I don't think I'll get the paid version. This is enough for me. It does the trick.

I've contemplated buying the Pathfinder Cello. Anyone own one or both of these? I own several of Ben's libraries and really like them, although I find the pattern ones less to my liking. It's good quality, but doesn't really fit the way I work.

The developer has been very nice in my experience. The libraries are okay, not great. They aren't detailed (deep) sampled libraries, ftr. Just a heads up, they're based in Lenningrad, Russia, so a good deal of credit cards and credit services won't work there. Amongst them are Visa, Mastercard. American Express, and PayPal https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/list/these-payment-companies-are-cutting-off-russia

So, the update is updating KONTAKT to run ads for users to visit NI's site for new sample libraries, paid and free. Is there an option to turn that off? I might accept that in a free sampler-- although I wouldn't like it; it's intrusive and annoying in a very spammy way -- but in a paid sampler? That's really unwelcome and I'm sure 90+ percent of users will agree. NI obviously only put in the promos for freebies to attempt to get users to get on board with this. Disappointing.

Happy new year to all. I hope 2024 is your best year yet.

Hahaha! Well, that's purely up to you.

Cool! Nice job, Nick. I like it! I really like your tastes. Creative and interesting.

Bell and Bone is a free jazz trumpet and trombone library from Librewave. This seems to be another quality sample library that works in the free Rhapsody player from a talented sample developer that I've been a customer of for a few years. He has a background of making sample libraries for a number of well known KONTAKT developers and, while I haven't downloaded, installed and used it yet, based on the below video, my past experience with the developer and Guy Michelmore's praise, this is quite a nice library that the developer's giving away free in an effort to bring his business and his sample player greater awareness. This is a YouTuber's walkthrough/review of the free library: https://librewave.com/product/bell-and-bone/