John Maar

Fortunately for me, I bought a new license after my v4/v5 license expired when v6 was released. And when was that? Like 4 years ago? My current license is for v6/v7. If v7 is around as long as v6 has been, I'll have gotten about 8 years out of the last $60 I paid them. That's a true bargain for such a solid, complete DAW.

This is exactly the reason I stopped using Reaper and went back to Studio One after Sonar Platinum went splat. I was wasting WAY too much time playing with the UI, trying to get it where the look of it didn't bother me. If the themes were professionally created and curated against the default Reaper theme, I would be happy to pay for one that worked for me, knowing that it was complete and supported and that if there was an issue with it, it would be corrected. If you read the comments on the popular themes, one common thread is that something/some feature is missing vis-a-vis the default theme. If you don't need that missing feature, no problem. If you do, you're almost always SOL. What do I dislike most about Reaper (and I do like and respect it) is: 1) the menus, and 2) the window that plugin UIs open in. That said, Reaper is awfully good at a lot of tasks, and no other DAW has Kenny Gioia.

They also typically work best with the specific EZX or SDX drum kit they were created with, that is, they use specific kit pieces defined in a specific drum map.

Two 't's in Bennett, Bapu. 😉

One of my favorite concerts ever. He was in his late '60s or early '70s. The show was in a theater by O'Hare airport in Chicago. Fantastic acoustics. Tony was singing along with his combo. Short intermission. Tony and the combo returned, and as they started playing, the curtain behind them went up, revealing a full big band. Wowzers, that was great! Short intermission. Tony, the combo and the big band returned. As they started playing, the curtain behind the big band went up, revealing a full choir! Blown the "f" away! Superior live experience. Damn, but he was great. RIP, Tony. You will never be forgotten.

I just noticed the release of v7 of Captain Plugins Epic. The v7.0.0 installer was code signed on 27 June 2023. The update is free if you have v6, $39 if you're still on Captain Plugins v5. The VST versions load and run no problem, but I'm getting a blank GUI with the VST3 versions, so beware. I'll send a message to their support. To download the update, you'll need your original v6 email with the download link, or use the Download link in the web page footer. I did not have to reauthorize v7. Captain Plugins Epic EDIT: I am getting a blank VST3 GUI in Gig Performer. The VST version loads fine. In Studio One, the default only shows the VST3 version in the browser. The GUI opened OK, but I had to reauthorize it. Odd goings on. I think I'll clear the plugin list in Gig Performer and do a full rescan and see what happens. So my guess is that you'll have to reauthorize in Cakewalk. Can someone confirm?

That is a useful video. Thanks for sharing.

Minor update to Scaler 2. Fixes include eliminating a crash when changing the sample rate with Scaler active. Log in to your account on Plugin Boutique to update.

Saves you about $27 (more than 10% less) if buying a perpetual Pro X license directly from Antares 50% Summer Sale.

Also the Kontakt Factory Library 2 to v1.2.0.

MSaturator may be the rebranded old MLimiter, but it's not the same UI. MLimiter actually did have a limiting function. With the addition of MLimiterX (not part of the free bundle), I can see the business sense behind the move.

The only time I upload images is if a site like Facepalm requires it. I've been using a free account on IMGUR.COM, copying files I want to post somewhere to it, and using the URL imgur provides. Works great for .jpg, .png and .gif files. It may handle other file types as well.

It looks like all versions of BBCSO.

Ah. Well, I hope they actually change PA's go-to-market philosophy and get rid of their top management. They were/are snakes.

It never occurred to me that MLimiter might have been deprecated. I have no idea when it got dropped from the installer. My version has a 2015 time stamp. Recently, I picked up Tokyo Dawn Lab's TDR Limiter 6 GE and had started using that, and the stock limiter in Studio One isn't bad, either. I finally held my nose and uninstalled all of my Waves plugins and wrote off the cost. I don't miss those maximizers a bit. And I don't miss Waves a bit either. Being Waves-free didn't feel quite a good as giving up smoking, but it still felt pretty good. 😄

NI drops Absynth 5 and adds Plugin Alliance? Talk about going backward. I've never upgraded my Komplete v9 Ultimate license, just Kontakt and Guitar Rig individually. Plugin Alliance really screw over the devs of the plugins and apps they sell. They will never get another dime of my money. I wonder how long it's going to take NI to realize that they just made a deal with the devil.

Thanks. I had about 10 folders with a .vst3 ending the folder name in my Common Files/VST3 folder. Renamed them all. We'll see if that blows anything up.

They also updated the entry level Discover edition. I just updated that. Thanks for the heads-up.

MLimiter, part of the FreeFXBundle (which I upgraded to the Pro version), works great for me. I don't need or want the extra saturation features of MLimiterX. I've got plenty of other good tools for that. So, I'll pass on this offer.

Holy cwapola. I had NO idea that those old downloads were retained. On my internal 1 GB SSD system drive. Freed up over 100 GB. Merci beaucoup, y'all!

That's why I'm watching the YT video on the new Morley stomps for AT5 as it's installing. The slowest part is the unpacking of the 2.8 GB distro file (.pak).

No one posted a link to it, so... GForce M-Tron Pro IV

[off topic] I love it here. But France is France. Mind-numbing bureaucracy and fabulous breads, pastries and cheeses. It took the Gironde Préfecture in Bordeaux 11 months to deliver my carte de séjour after my titre de séjour was approved. I've been here almost two years, and only now was I able to apply for the social security system (and then a carte Vitale; another 6-7 months total). That cost me another $2,000 for a traveler's health insurance policy for my titre de séjour renewal. And the excellent boulangeries, patisseries and fromageries cost me 5 cm. on the waistline and required new pants. But I live in the cœur du centre-ville, less than 300 meters from the beach. I bought a new Clio 17 months ago, and it doesn't have 4 000 km on it yet. And my dogs LOVE it, too. The average age here in Arcachon is 70 (except for July and August, when the population goes from 20 000 to 100 000), and almost everyone has a dog. My guys have lots of friends they see/sniff every day. Are you currently in S.A. or Barbados? [/off topic]

Hi, Nigel. I hate it when upgrades default to some new feature and make it non-intuitive to return to the previous version's look and feel. The standalone version takes some time to load. I need to spend more time with the options to see if there's a setting to disable rescanning the libraries on startup (I'm assuming that's the issue). Not sure why the standalone version isn't opening for you, but maybe after doing the following, it will. To get the v6 UI back, and get access to your non-player libraries, open Kontakt in a VST host (Studio One, Cakewalk, Gig Performer, etc). Then click on the gear icon (1), select the "Loading" tab, and then set the "Non-Player Content Base Path" to the correct folder. Then click on the right-most icon (2) once to toggle away from the v7 browser and back to the v6 UI. Then click on the "Files" tab (3) to display the base path you selected, with all of the instrument folders shown in the panel below it. Then try opening the standalone again. Concerning Komplete v14, I bought v9 Ultimate way back. I paid for the Kontakt upgrades from v5 to v6, and v6 to v7, and the Guitar Rig upgrade from v5 to v6. I am perfectly happy with the other VIs from Komplete v9, none of which have seen major upgrades that I'm interested in. And all of the new content in v14 is of little to no interest to me. I've never felt compelled to upgrade Komplete, just the bits and pieces I use. And v14 no longer includes Absynth 5, which is criminal IMO, so I purchased the Absynth 5 dev's new Plasmonic synth (at Rhizomatic). I'll include the dev's statement below.