Matthew Sorrels

SDX on Sept 8, EBX on Sept 15. The bass is always late. ?

Some nice details on what's in the update over at VI https://vi-control.net/community/threads/uvi-release-world-suite-2-with-introductory-and-upgrade-offers.97671/ Took forever to download (UVI really needs to work on that). I like all the new instruments have a WS2 on them. I don't think this ever is going to replace high quality single instruments, but it was (and now is even more) one of the nicer world instrument collections.

$59 to upgrade from v1.

6.4.0 - 2020-08-26 New Dynamic Effects, new Main Effects Module. ADDED There are now two new effects for dynamic processing (SUPERCHARGER GT, Transparent Limiter) ADDED There is now a new Main Effects signal processing module ADDED New constants for the <generic> argument when setting and getting engine parameters ($NI_SEND_BUS, $NI_INSERT_BUS, $NI_MAIN_BUS) IMPROVED The number of maximum MIDI object export areas has been increased to 512 ADDED KSP A new constant that defines which area should be used when dragging from a specific label ($CONTROL_PAR_MIDI_EXPORT_AREA_IDX) ADDED KSP A new command that defines the number of MIDI object export areas mf_set_num_export_areas(<num_of_areas>) ADDED KSP A new command mf_copy_export_area(<index>) is used to manage the usage of the new additional export areas ADDED KSP New bindings for Inverter and Amplifier parameters for Phase Invert and L/R swap ($ENGINE_PAR_PHASE_INVERT, $ENGINE_PAR_LR_SWAP) ADDED KSP A new constant allows up to 16 custom event parameters to be assigned ($EVENT_PAR_CUSTOM) IMPROVED Effects can now be replaced with a right mouse click IMPROVED Saving the name of a custom snapshot by pressing “Enter” is now supported FIXED Since Kontakt 6.3.0 folder locations with a slash directly in the path would not be stored by Kontakt FIXED KSP Showing and hiding a label with a drop target did not work correctly FIXED Replika BBD Type, Diffusion Amount, Diffusion Mod and Diffusion Density did not correctly recall values FIXED When used as a send effect, Replika return parameter did not behave correctly FIXED Kontakt would crash in certain edge cases when manually entering values in edit fields ADDED New factory KSP multi script Remap Keyboard IMPROVED Tweaks to the factory KSP multi script Change Keys ADDED Replika, Plate Reverb and Send Effects Chain additional presets Creator Tools stays on version 1.2.0 and works with this version of Kontakt, too.

I also think you can re-download anything more than once. I'm sure there may be some limit, but I've not had a problem with just re-entering my serial number to get it to download again. The only "trick" is some of their libraries need install steps (Kontakt full libraries sometimes need to have images placed in specific loctations) and some users have issues with that. Mostly due to their older installers not correctly handling Kontakt 5 and Kontakt 6 both being installed. But the download is just files. You can move them anywhere you want after you get them, including to another machine.

All 8Dio products require the full version of Kontakt. There is no activation. You download the files (using their download manager) and you load them into the full version of Kontakt. https://8dio.com/company/contact/support/downloader-manager/ As far as recommends go, you have to remember 8Dio products roughly come in two flavors. One are products that are based on loops. Things like the Hybrid tools. The Kontakt instruments usually have a bunch of effects and arps and things but it's still just loops. Then there are the full on multi-sampled instruments. If you have no experience with loop based Kontakt instruments you may find it's a bit of a rough road. While I own a bunch of 8Dio loop-based instruments I'll be honest I've never been all that happy with them. Their "real" instruments are much better of course. The strings are pretty nice. The brass stuff is pretty nice. A lot of great percussion. Some very nice pianos. Way too many choirs. None are really bad but many of them feel like that were designed solely so Troels could make a single song and if you aren't him you'll never get much out of them. They do have a bunch of "odd" instruments (the 66 stuff and the misfits for example) that either works for you or is completely worthless. One thing they do seem to push are these giant/epic sized recordings (the 66 stuff, Majestica, etc) but I think you'll find it's more marketing hype than actually something you need or can use. A zillion Cellos doesn't somehow make your music "more epic". This is a hard lesson though, because it requires a bunch of time and experimentation to realize that bigger ensembles aren't really what you need. You should definitely get the free stuff (several of them I actually bought back in the day).

I'm seeing it (and I didn't purge any cache even) but I'm a desktop running real browsers (I tried Firefox Nightly and Chrome both work). Web caching can be almost impossible to work out. His ISP and/or one of the CDNs may also be responsible. Usually I just tell people to try another web browser. Sooner or later the cache will catch up.

Any VST plugins that are using the VST shell feature (like Waves and a few others) have to be scanned every single time you start if you have the automatic background scan on. With a shell plugin the actual plugin is another file, the DLL the host (like Cakewalk) talks to is just a shell. The actual plugins can be changed/updated without any visible change to the shell DLL itself, so hosts have no way of knowing if anything has changed. So they pretty much all scan the shell plugin completely every time. Wish they could make that an option so that if the shell date hasn't changed to not scan it.

I spent the morning hunting down jQuery fixes for abandoned plugins. The jQuery Migrate Helper plugin can help for now but won't solve the actual problem. They keep saying Wordpress 5.5 is largely a success, but it's not true.

If you can get the exact model of fan you could replace it, contact Zalman and check. But usually that's harder than you'd think on things no longer being made (the Zalman CNPS12X is discontinued). And trying to fit a random fan into that heatsink and have it still work well may be very tricky. That means you most likely need a whole new heatsink/fan unit. While there are a lot of different companies in this space, Noctua is where I'd start. If you have never installed a CPU cooler before, it's not that difficult, but it's best to do some homework. You have to make sure the new unit fits (height/width/ram clearance). You also should get something to clean off the old thermal paste. Just yesterday I redid the paste on an older computer using ArctiClean was pretty happy with it (vs old school 100% isopropyl alcohol). Though you'll need a micro-fiber/lint free cloth (which it doesn't come with). The new heatsink may come with new paste, though you may be better off getting something better. Again homework pays off. YouTube has lots of videos on the steps for just about everything. Watch a few of them so you know what you are getting into.

I believe all the Bela D libraries require the full version of Kontakt.

Yes they have a sort of unique way of mapping the drawing to the left/right/up/down panning of the sound. In each of the drawing modes the area you draw on has a gradient (different gradient layouts for each drawing mode) and the sound renders based on where in that gradient you draw. Watch the video closely and you can see how it works. The sounds are rendered as stereo wave files in either 44.1khz or 48khz. The drawing mode is very natural with a mouse. I didn't even bother trying my tablet (which I almost never use in day to day stuff). I really like the mapping from a mouse scribble to a sound. It's very natural. I was kind of surprised with the musical generator there are actually different instruments for each of the drawing modes (move/rotate/scale/appear/merge/transform) -- for move they have violin/cello/trumpet but for transform they have a metalophone and a koto. I was pretty amazed (figured they would just have the one set of instruments). It also has a snap shot feature that I think is very nice. Set the path to where you want to save and all you have to do is hit the snapshot button to save the wave file, no file name work/save dialog/etc. You can make a dozen sounds really fast. Plus you can setup the range on the various parameters for randomization and then have it render the same motion as multiple files with different random settings. Very handy for game work. The edit button opens the wave you just created in your audio editor, which is very handy too. Definitely check out the PDF help (press the paper icon in the lower right corner to open the help). It doesn't let you do a sequence of hits though -- it can make a long drawn out sound effect, but you can't use it as a footstep generator for example. Each time you let off the mouse and then restart the mouse starts a new effect. I think their flagship GameSynth is more for that but it's also a bit more pricey.

This isn't a deal, but I thought people might be interested. DSP Motion is a sound effect/Foley generator that works on mouse motion. It's mainly aimed at movies/film/games but it makes wave files which you can use in anything. It doesn't let you load your own sounds, but it has a nice collection of generators (air/fire/metal/paper/etc) some very nice randomization options. About the only thing I didn't like was I can't resize the window. But for $49 it's pretty neat. I have no doubt I'll be using it for my next animation. No demo though. They do use ShareIt for purchasing and adjust the pricing so you pay $49 including what ever sales tax they have to collect. Which is always nice (and yes when you go to checkout it will show a lower price until it adds in the tax). http://tsugi-studio.com/web/en/products-dspmotion.html

I think this has already come up in Deals before, but I would like to add the MIDI included with this free pack is pretty nice. The loops are so-so. But it does have much better than normal MIDI riffs. Worth getting if you are into that (and EDM I guess).

Might want to read the thread at VI https://vi-control.net/community/threads/audio-imperia-ni-sale.97371/ Jaeger has been on my Want To Buy list for a while, so I picked up the bundle. To be honest I'm kind of disappointed in the new boring interfaces. I suspect if these instruments had originally shipped with the new current UI, they would have never made my list. The missing vocal instruments for Jaeger isn't exactly helping them here either (I'm sure it will get fixed shortly). They seem very uninspiring. Video play throughs of the old UI was a lot more interesting. I'm sure the sound is the same but the new UI is actually very boring. I was actually considering getting Nucleus and Areia as well as the bundle (I collect things more than actually use them and hate to not be complete). But after watching all their videos and playing with what's included in the bundle, I think I'm going to pass. Nucleus seems very nice but doesn't really bring anything new or better to my library. Areia just brings some more string articulations, again nothing new or better. I'm pretty sure this initial hot take isn't being fair to Jaeger, but since I already have Ark 1-4 and the entire Albion collection, it is being judged a bit harshly. I still have to give it a bit more of a chance and I might warm up to it. Once they get the missing vocal update out perhaps I'll feel better about it.

I suspect while it needs no authorization, the software was built on it/with it (because it's based on the full software). And it may be what is protecting them from the user's playing non-free drum kits in the free VST? Usually protection schemes never go away, even in demo versions, they are always there at least a little. I've always had a lot of scanning problems with Slate's plugins and iLok which is why I mentioned it. It is possible your SSD5 Free scanning problem isn't related, but I've seen the iLok plugin gets scanned and marked as not a plugin thing a bunch of times over the years with many versions of SONAR/Cakewalk. The fix has always been to force Cakewalk to rescan it (ideally without rescanning other plugins), which can be done a number of ways. Once Cakewalk gets a valid entry for a plugin, usually it will be fine. I have some theories about why this happens more with iLok plugins than others, but iLok doesn't exactly talk about their copy protection system much publicly. Deleting the registry entry will force the rescan. You can also edit the registry entry (as you did with the isVst change) You can move the DLL out of the scan paths, start Cakewalk, let it scan, then exit and move it back. Rename it in place to not end in .DLL and do the same thing. Or use the rescan all plugins option. I think even changing the time stamp on the DLL may work (there are utility apps that can do that). Normally if Cakewalk thinks something isn't a plugin it won't try it again unless you give it a reason. I should also point out the all iLok plugins fail to load after some point in a scan thing has happened on Cubase to me as well, so it's not just Cakewalk. But Cakewalk seems slightly more sensitive to it. The scan in a sandbox option has seemed to help that a bit though.

It's not about in the same directory. It's about how Cakewalk does the scanning. Cakewalk loads plugin #1, checks it, unloads it, then loads Plugin #2. That first plugin doesn't clean up things correctly it can cause Plugin #2 to fail to load right. Cakewalk's scan in a sandbox option is supposed to help fix this. But it only sandboxes the Cakewalk process. It can't protect system services (like iLok/eLicenser/etc) that not only use loaded DLLs but also actively running services. SSD5free claims to use iLok: https://stevenslatedrums.com/ssd5/#SSD5FREE

When Cakewalk scans DLLs to see if they are plugins if the plugin fails to load it will mark it as not a VST. This happens because some plugin developers mix non-plugin DLL's into the directories that are being scanned. Plugins that do load then have to respond like a VST/work like a VST as well. Sometimes when scanning plugins one plugin will do things that cause later plugins to fail to load. When this happens the later plugins can be marked as not plugins, even though they certainly are. I actually wrote a Powershell script that would clear out all bad plugins so that they would get re-scanned. Otherwise the only way to get that to happen is to use the Cakewalk option to re-scan everything which takes a long time. I suspect the problem with the Slate Drums might be related to iLok libraries. Loading an iLoc plugin can sometimes have issues (not just with Cakewalk). I've seen many a iLoc plugin fail during a scan (multiples of them) but then when reset and re-scanned they work fine. Rather than edit the entry, I'd just delete it and let Cakewalk re-scan it.

It actually seems pretty nice. But isn't exactly novel these days. But has some good sounds. One thing I did notice all the instruments are set to a maximum of 32 voices, for some of the arp presets you can easily exceed that. Upping that number seems to actually be a good thing (computers are much faster these days than when they made this)

I guess I got in before they stopped it. ☹️ I remember the last time they did a blow out people reported the coupons worked, so I decided to risk it.

Note on the product page is this note: "This is the last chance to own this product, don’t miss out!" Sample Logic has been retiring products lately (with blow out sales). I suspect once this sale ends the product won't be available anymore.

I picked up a $50 Sample Logic gift cert from Audio Plugin Deals using my APD Rewards for $30 and it worked on this. NOTE: see messages below they have closed this loophole.

Seems like a nice synth though, just playing through some of the patches. It is a lot like VPS Avenger though. May take me a bit to figure out what it does differently/better.

I kind of regret buying it now. Collecting a standard worldwide 20% tax used for price equalization and transaction fees without telling the customer in advance doesn't seem legal. I also don't think the way they have implemented collecting VAT is legal either, VAT isn't always 20%, it is based on the country. Not collecting and remitting the correct VAT is definitely not legal. I sure hope collecting an extra 20% was worth losing me as a future customer. I wonder if Germany has a VAT fraud report site?

The store implies the VAT is included and separate but they don't remove it if your address isn't EU. Also seems unlikely they adjust the VAT either (if you aren't in Germany/at 20% Vat). I kept expecting them to adjust the cart but they never did. Even though my Parawave account has my full US address and my Paypal account also has that same address.