Soundwise

Ditto! I always use a high quality tube preamp before my AI. It has a fixed gain ratio about 4/1, which always provides superior clean tone, enhanced with vacuum tube harmonics. The impact isn't noticeable unless you A/B the recorded signal, DI vs this preamp.

PA heavy hitters get better discount. That's why some people see $29, while others get $49.

You can do this in ReValver and Bias Amp. So, there's nothing revolutionary. But the ability to use Kemper profiles is the main reason why I purchased the TH-U upgrade.

TH3 is alright. It has some usable sounds, but it's not my number one for anything, be it clean, crunch or lead tones. TH-U is not a game changer either. Changing preamp/poweramp tubes feel more like switching between different IRs. Hard to explain, but even though it sounds different and, to a certain degree, reminiscent of the modeled amplifier, it still doesn't feel right. But I think with the right set if RIG profiles and IRs TH-U should sound and feel very close to the real gear.

Maybe I should demo it first. Not really impressed with the tones so far. Shimmering reverb is just OK, Rig Player... well, maybe it'll grow on me with some great online profiles, but the provided profiles are nothing to write home about. I get better tones with AT4 and RV4, which also allows to use profiled amps/pedals/rigs, and tweak schematics when needed.

Bought the upgrade without even demoing it first. I'm sure it's worth the invested money. Downloading the demo now. It's so sloooowww...

I suggest you try the ToneBoosters Reverb 4. It sounds awesome! Recently I've been going through all reverbs plugins installed on my system (20+), and was blown away by the quality of this plugin.

Back in the 90s it was amazing that even relatively cheap keyboards could do an entire arrangement on the fly. You just had to pick a song part and play some chords. After almost 30 years we are finally getting closer to similar functionality in virtual instruments. Yes, they do sound better, more realistic and have more articulations. But honestly, any serious production of live oriented music (rock, pop, jazz, country, etc) still sounds best with the real players playing their real instruments. So, although all such tools are very welcome, I hope they will be priced reasonably. Can't see myself paying for a virtual instrument the same amount of cash as for a real bass. And obviously all small studios will avoid releasing tracks with auto-accompanying instruments in order to avoid sounding just like everybody else.

That's easy! Just insert this plugin across all tracks you want to mix with it. Then assign each track to a subgroup, e.g., Kick and Snare to Drums group (Chris like to call them buckets), guitar tracks to Guitar group or buckets, etc. Then you'll be able to open any instance of the plugin and mix from there the way Chris does with his console.

Isn't it what ProChannel is all about? I chose Sonar for this functionality. Obviously CLA plugins sounds somewhat different, but I prefer the workflow of the ProChannel. It's so genius! BTW, did anyone notice that Chris is talking to me?

Thanks, guys! Still no Levels license after two days. Guess, we need to contact the support.

I only see Grow serial in my account and no LEVELS license is available to me nor via Focusrite neither in the MTM user area. Anyone got the Levels license?

I thinks I'm spoiled with the REAPER's way of doing this. They've also implemented similar logic to the Mute buttons. Grouping controls is great for something that's just set and leave. It would be even better to use hotkeys and modifier key(s) plus mouse click for that. So adding adding these functions to the keyboard shortcuts list and applying the similar logic to the Mute buttons is my FR. Could work like this: Hold [Ctrl + Shift + A] and click select tracks to add them to A group, Hold [Ctrl + Shift + B] and click select tracks to add them to B group, etc Clicking on a control assigned to A group with the [Ctrl + Shift + B] combination automatically reassigns that control to B group, etc. Also there is a Solo selected tracks command WITH an assignable hotkey in the Track View, but it does not work in the Console View.

Great ideas! I particularly like #4 but fail to see how is this different from clicking on an effect in the FX bin.

I use CbB to make music, test gear and virtual plugins, make demos. I use REAPER to learn songs, following them by ear and to practice before the rehearsals/live playing. I also have SO4, Samp X3, Cubase 8LE but almost never use 'em due to uncomfortable workflow and some things that bug me in a bad way (including software bugs).

I must admit, I wasn't clear about it. Wrote the original post in a hurry and forgot about the exciting functionality. Thanks Jesse! Thank you for your question! Well, currently it is possible to quickly switch between tracks or buses in the Solo Exclusive mode. I need to be able to click solo button holding some modifier keys, like Ctrl+Alt. And the most important part is to be able to Solo Exclusively any set of tracks, not organized in folders or grouped. The logic behind it would be: 1. Enable SE mode but pressing the corresponding button on the Control Pane 2. Enable SE mode for the tracks that need to stay soloed. 3. Select the first track for the AB-ing and use modifier key to add other tracks to the temporary SE group. 4. To reset the selection (to dismiss the temporary group) choose any tracks without holding the key modifier and start adding desired tracks to it. The same or similar behaviour for the Mute Exclusive functionality would be great too! When and why would this be useful: 1. You have double tracked parts you need to audition in pairs (trios, quartets) and compare against other parts also double- or multi-tracked. 2. You are using sets of loops in your arrangement and need figure which set works best for your forthcoming masterpiece. 3. a) You have layered sounds and need to find the perfect combo (using Solo Exclusive quick grouping) or b) You need to quickly exclude (mute) one or more layers to see if it benefits your track. Layers could be back vocals, synth pads, orchestral instruments, drum samples, guitar multi-tracking using different pickups, amps or instruments, etc.

+1 for the Deals forum. How about adding some navigation goodies like menu with the recent post, post popular post, recently visited threads, etc?

I hope there will be the studio section with all the usual suspects. Looking forward to it.

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CbB needs a refined Solo exclusive function. AB-ing tracks, busses settings is a common practice. Currently Solo Exclusive function in CbB lets users to switch between a selected track and a group of other tracks. There is no way to solo or mute any track/buss exclusively and then choose another track/buss and solo or mute it exclusively instead of the preciously selected track or buss. I hope it won't take too much time or effort to implement this functionality into our beloved CbB.