AIR Hybrid 3

[abacab]

7 hours ago, msmcleod said:

I'm surprised they just don't take the PACE installers out completely, and just tell people to install iLok manager first.

That's the way AIR and SONiVOX used to roll ... don't know exactly when they started including the B.S. in their installers. I have the old installers from 4-5 years ago and they were not included.

 

[Maestro]

I think it's cause a lot of people don't RTFM and started complaining that they couldn't use the products because they were popping up saying they weren't authorized.

So, they embedded an installer for PACE in their installers, but didn't bother to keep the installers up to date (nor is that practical, because iLok is constantly upgrading their license manager, like Steinberg and others do as well).

A bit issue is that some of the older iLok installers install alongside the newer version and this can cause some massive issues.  So you have to make sure you uninstall that duplicate installation immediately after the application installer completes.  Some of SONiVOX's plugins do this - Vocalizer Pro, for example.

[Maestro]

20 hours ago, Peter DeLegge said:

To Maestro's point, yes, like Sonivox (owned by the same company), AIR plugins are really old and haven't been properly maintained by their current owner who clearly buys declining plugin and sample brands just to use their products as cash cows  That is, the get as much money as they can for the products -- which isn't much for these old VSTs and Sonivox sample libraries made in the 90s with VST wrappers from the 00s -- but don't invest anything in new products, in maintaining existing products or in providing even minimal level of customer support. 

AIR is used to develop tech for other products, like AKAI MPC Device FW and DAW Software.  They just aren't really doing anything to upgrade the older Synths.

Sample Libraries are expensive and arduous to develop.  A lot of companies are still selling sample libraries that are 10+ years old today, because of this.  It's REALLY expensive to hire orchestras, staff, and spaces to do this.  If you want to provide something at a low price point, you're probably not going to end up with a decent product.

IMO, the SONiVOX Orchestral Companions sound better than cheap libraries like Garritan Personal Orchestra.  The issue with them is that they use uncompressed samples and dont have the RAM Management features that Samplers like Kontakt/HALion have (where they can automatically purge unused samples, etc.).  This causes them to use massive amounts of disk space, as well as a lot of RAM.  One Orchestral Companion uses almost as much HDD space as the entire HALion Symphonic Orchestra, due to the lack of Compression.

In addition to that, some of the note ranges of the instruments are too small.  You cannot play the violin parts for Vivaldi's Four Seasons with Orchestral Companion | Strings.  You'll end up with tons of missing notes at the upper end of the range in any places.  Aside from that, the samples sound pretty decent, considering the price, and come with all the basic articulations.  If you want something comparable to stock sounds in [many] other DAWs, I do think the AIR and SONiVOX stuff has value when viewed from that perspective.

But they're the first thing to remove once you start buying instruments and synths (or getting some of the better Free stuff that exists, these days).

These SONiVOX instruments (and multiple others, in fact), used to be Kontakt Libraries, but Native Instruments requires licensing to be used in Kontakt Player.  This has forced many developers to create their own sample playback instruments.  SONiVOX, Garritan, HSO, etc.  Many of these companies used to develop for Kontakt, but have since created their own players, becasue it saves them money to do so.

I still think their 88 Ensemble is one of the best low-priced piano instruments on the market (in terms of sound, at least).

17 hours ago, Hatstand said:

I have most if not all of the AIR and Sonivox plugins although rarely used. I have just checked and Hybrid 3 V 3.07.19200 is working fine on my Win10  V 2004 build 19041 782

Admittedly they were installed a while back. I did start updating  recently until I realised the last update was mainly to deal with compatibility with the latest Mac OS.

In regards to the installation path, yes the resultant folders are huge but I was able to move the data files off the main drive and use a folder redirect to fool the vst.

From memory there is some info out there (youtube video?) on how to do this.

I know there are Anti-Ilokkers out there who don't like the whole PACE thing, given that it is always running on the system but tbh I now have so many other vendors that use I Lok such as soundtoys, eventide, Izotope, zynaptic and slate that I have just accepted it as a way of life.

The problem doesn't exist if you install iLok License Manager from the PACE site before installing the AIR plugins.  In that case, the installer will skip the iLok installation (for AIR - SONiVOX products like Vocalizer Pro will still install the old version alongside the newer version, so you have to uninstall the "duplicate" immediately after the intaller finishes).

It's a bigger issue when you install on a fresh machine and let the installer install an old version of the iLok software.

You don't need junctions for the installation of samples with AIR Plugins.  The plugins allow you to set the content directory upon installation and even after installation. You just move and then tell it where to find the sample files.  No different than SampleTank or UVI Workstation.

The only one that is tricky is Structure 2, since it creates a symbolic link in a ProgramData or AppData directory that it uses (Steinberg Library Manager does this when you install some libraries to a non-default location, as well).

Edited February 2, 2021 by Maestro

[Hatstand]

Maestro, I agree, I think my circumstances were that I had no idea at the time when I installed them. How huge the libraries are and by that time the only option I had after finding out using WinDirStat, was to move them. I did try to point the vst at the new location but tbh it was easier and quicker for me at least to install a link.