Starship Krupa Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 I woke up to this email today from InMusic/AIR: "We've been listening to you and know how much you've missed using our classic plugins. It's time to bring them back, better than ever, and we need your help to make it happen. Be among the first to experience the Apple Silicon and VST3 versions of our classic plugins." Followed by a link that took me to a registration page that referred to it as an "open beta," and requested my name and email address. The email also features an image of a sheaf of their instrument plug-ins, including my faves Hybrid 3, XPand!2, Vacuum Pro and Boom. The ones I mentioned are not just my favorite AIR synths, they're my favorite synths PERIOD. And I'm not a total bottom feeder when it comes to soft synths, I have Chromaphone 3, Ultra Analog VA-3, and MASSIVE, among others, and Hybrid 3 and XPand!2 are still my best go-to's for inspiration (Hybrid's arpeggiator system is freakin ferocious). I am cautiously optimistic about this development (no pun). In the past couple of years they released new synths that obviously leveraged some of the classics' underlying code, and while they're nice enough, they're basically cut down versions. But it indicates that AIR have at least hired some developers, and that they do good work. Too many good plug-ins have fallen by the wayside during the transition to VST3 and Apple Silicon, so the fact that they're putting attention to these is good news. At least there will be these upcoming releases to update the dusty code. They don't mention the #1 requested feature since the last major updates, which is a resizable UI. That has been screamed about so often on KVR that if they don't include it, people will be calling for boycotts of InMusic's entire product line.😄Nor do they mention whether there will be any bug bounties that result in free licenses for people who submit unique showstoppers. It would also be nice to get a modernized skin for Hybrid 3; the current brushed aluminum one is starting to look a bit dated. Of course I expect the subscription fear brigade to check in with assertions that this is a harbinger of subscription-only pricing to come.😄 But seriously, none of AIR's recent releases has been offered under that licensing model. And given AIR's history of decades between updates, there would be few takers. I signed up, and when I know more, so will you.... 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted May 8 Author Share Posted May 8 DANGER! I installed the beta, VST3 only, and it deleted all of the factory presets in the ProgramFiles(86) folder. This resulted in the synth only finding some of the expansion presets I've bought, and my user-created ones. No sweat at my house, I just copied the preset folder from my laptop, but beware. Their traditional lameness in regard to installers is in full force. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted May 8 Author Share Posted May 8 Okay, in case anyone else gets their Hybrid 3 installation messed up by the new installer, I figured out what was up with the presets "lacking something," even after I restored them to the test system. The installer also deleted my Program Files(86)\AIR Music Technology\Content folder, which contains the wavetables, phrases, and part-presets.hybrid files. After I copied those back from my other system, everything worked fine with both the old VST2 and the new VST3 versions of the synth. My recommendation is either wait for them to fix the beta installer or be aware that some of the resources may get deleted/moved from your current installation. Also, at least at this point, the feature we've been waiting/begging for, the scalable UI, is not present, at least not at this time. It looks and acts just like the last VST2 version. So unless you dig software testing (which I do), don't bother. It looks like the new version is also going to use iLok, so the only reason to grab the update would be if you're going VST3-only. I guess that makes it only relevant to Cubase and Apple Silicon users. More news as it develops.... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Call Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 (edited) This is great, I own 2 but never use them coz I am on latest Silicon Mac. And if you say they are your favorite, I can’t that lightly! Thanks for sharing the great news. Edited May 8 by Last Call 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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