fret_man

When I play rhythm on guitar I often embellish the chords with various hammer-ons and pull-offs. An easy example is playing a standard C chord but hammering the open D->E on the 4th string. I haven't found any strumming VSTs that let me do that. For example, in AmpleSound I can strum using the strum library in one track, and then duplicate the instrument to another track but only play the hammer-ons. I can get close but it still sounds like 2 instruments. I get around this by not using the strummer but manually drawing out all the individual notes. This gives me great flexibility, and it sounds like one instrument but, MAN, it's so time-consuming! Has anyone found a good strumming VST that also has individual legato notes built into the strumming engine?

Yes, I'll get this. AmpleSound's banjo sounds great, maybe a little TOO bright, but I have to muck with the string/fretting position to get the legato played correctly or to force open strings to ring out correctly. I have, but have not yet tried OT's banjo. But I use Indiginus' The Fiddle and The Resonator and they don't require much futzing. Plus, this banjo appears to have more bottom end, so it could be more folksy sounding, not as clinical. A buy for me.

Not seeing it. Could be just for Mac?

First, I apologize for this rather long post! I may be doing some remote collaboration in the near future and my old trustworthy RME UFX doesn't lend itself to portability. I feel a need for a 2nd set of eyes (or more) on what I've decided to get. I embarked on the search for a portable interface with 2 headphone outputs (for collaborative recording). I could get one with 2 headphone outputs or just 2 stereo line outputs and buy 2 headphone amps but 1) all the headphone amps I found were almost as expensive as an interface and 2) they use a wall wart. Since I'm trying to maximize portability, I want to minimize the number of AC-powered boxes. So no headphone amps. MIDI would be nice, but not necessary. MIDI-USB cables are inexpensive and run off USB power, although they will take up another USB port (which should be OK). I will be using Beyerdynamic DT 1770 PRO headphones (250 ohms which is high, but according to these measurements they will reach 90dB SPL with only 10mW). This will be used with a new Win11 laptop with two each of USB3.1 and USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. Each port will supply 5C x 3A = 15W. So, now I reduced the search to interfaces with 2 headphone outputs. I found these that use USB power (along with problems areas I found): NI Komplete Audio 6 ($200, both headphones hear the same mix, doubtful headphone output has enough power) Arturia Minifuse 4 ($220, no meters on inputs, rubberized knobs might get gooey) SSL 2+ ($300, headphone power is just barely OK) UAD Volt 476P ($469, both headphones hear same mix) Arturia AudioFuse Rev2 ($590, both headphones hear same mix during loopback) Antelope Audio Zen Go Synergy Core ($550 + $200 for plugin, measured EIN audibly louder than all of the others) Antelope Audio Zen Q USB Synergy Core ($765+$200 for plugin, measured EIN audibly louder than all of the others) If I don't like those, there are also these that use a wall wart: Focusright Scarlett 8i6 ($300, headphone output not enough power) Presonus Studio 1810c ($420) Audient iD44 MKII ($700, measured EIN audibly louder than most of the others) Focusright Clarett+ 4pre ($700, mic max gain is too low for low sens mics) So, it appears the SSL2+ gives me the best chance of what I want. The Presonus is a good 2nd choice and is much more flexible when controlled by a DAW, but it requires a wall wart. So I'm considering the SSL2+. Now the question is: Do I wait for a sale? Does hardware like this ever go on sale? I think this unit was released less than 2 yrs ago. I can wait until BF. Should I get this now before inflation makes the price go up. It's already gone up from $279 to $299 in the past 1.5 yrs. Thanks for reading this far. Thoughts on any of this?

Well, the update is FREE for previous owners. That's a deal!

Ample Sound has updated Acoustic Guitar to v3.6 with GP7 GP8 supports. New Features: Tab module added support for GP7 and GP8 formats. Optimized UI with improved efficiency, including Strummer, Riffer and Tab modules. Updated parameter system. BPM Sync function added to FX Echo. Improved accessibility support for pop-up windows such as CPC and Preset Manager. Issues Fixed: Fixed timing issue related to BPM sync functions. Fixed a number of bugs in Strummer, Riffer, and the conversion between Strummer pattern and riff Ample Sound users can update for free through the MyAmpleSound: https://www.amplesound.net/en/account.asp

If you get on the Strix Instrument website you can see that the Pripyat pianos are only $19.99 right now.

I stole this headphone summary from one of Julian's videos. It seems the 18i20 3rd generation has mediocre headphone performance. Don't know about Gen2 but Julian mentioned gen3 didn't changed much in this regard, so I'll assume gen2 is also not an excellent headphone driver.

Groove3 has been a tremendous help getting me up to speed with Melodyne. It's a very nice program.

This guy does a great job comparing headphone outputs for a variety of audio interfaces:

Is this better than Melodyne?

Hmmm, but I need a portable interface with 2 headphone outputs.

Sarah is kazooing into the mic to get the sound. I wanna know what that thing is plugged into the "membrane port" of the kazoo.

RX10 is VST3 only, unlike RX9.

I can't even log into my izotope account to check me status. It keeps returning me to "enter your email". No, wait.... There we go! It shows I have the "full trial" version of RX10 Standard. What does "full trial" even mean? It shouldn't be a trial if I bought MPS 5, right?

All of a sudden I'm getting malicous detections in some old Line6 and Log drivers, as well as a few others I haven't yet identified. I sure hope I don't lose connetivity to my POD HD500.

These look fantastic! Except for the rear-facing port. That severely limits where I can place these in my room.

I've had 0 (zero) problems with NA2.

So, I heard back from Waves. Clarity is not yet v14, which is why Mercury V14 never shows as "installed". This is how to get Clarity: Launch Waves Central. Go to the Install Products page and click on All Products. Open the View menu and have only V13 Plugins selected. Look for Clarity Vx and select it. Click Install. OK, but what about Waves Harmony? They sent me a link to update Mercurcy for me. Haven't done that yet so cannot report, but I assume it works. So far, Waves customer service has been spot on.

Thanks, Simon. Just did that but no change. I've sent in this question to Waves and will report back what they say in case someone else has this problem.

I have Waves Mercury fully Wup'd and fully v14. I have the latest Waves Central update (just updated yesterday). When I open my DAW and search thru the many Waves VST inserts, I do not see Harmony or Waves Harmony or anything else that hints at Harmony. Where is it? How do I insert it? Thanks!

And the optional Deluxe Upgrade is only $0.59.

If you don't want to be tied into the EPIC ecosystem then GOG has this for about $1 right now.

We just wanted to let you know that for a limited time when you purchase a video tutorial download, you can pick any other download of your choice, of equal or lesser value for FREE! https://www.groove3.com/ I don't know how long this will last. Are their BF deals better than this?