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That marks just slightly over 4 years that I purchased Sonar Platinum for Life! ?

This looks really interesting ...

EZ Pay in 4 installments with PayPal.

ACT, ugh! I gave up on trying to control my DAW with a keyboard. I have a Roland/Cakewalk A-300PRO with integrated ACT for Cakewalk and Sonar. That was a bit too fiddly for my taste, but it worked. I haven't used it in ages. I think if I was doing a lot of intensive recording/mixing I would want an actual control surface with motorized faders. So for now I have focused mainly on commanding virtual instruments with my MIDI controllers, minimizing mouse use for them. Makes using soft synths a bit more like actual hardware, twiddling knobs, etc. The KeyLab 61 Mk II is the best of the bunch for that IMO, especially with the seamless integration for Arturia Analog Lab and V Collection instruments. But it's also a breeze to just MIDI learn your knobs and faders using MIDI CC for any other soft synths with learn capabilities. As far as DAW integration goes, the KeyLab Mk II comes out of the box with magnetic keyboard button overlays and integrated mapping modes for specific DAWs such as: Live, Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, Studio One, and Reaper. It also offers MCU and HUI mapping for other DAWs that may be compatible with those modes. That's probably where Cakewalk would fit in, but haven't tried to set that up. Studio One, Reaper, and Ableton Live are DAWs which I have in addition to Cakewalk. Live is the only one that I have attempted to control with KeyLab so far, and the transport controls work plug and play, as well as track select, solo, mute, record, volume and pan. But I've only scratched the surface of that. Be interesting to see what the pads can do.

VST3 is probably only a real concern for Cubase users. VST2 only is just fine by me. ?

That's probably what bothers me the most. The wasted potential that could have been. If they had just been a bit more aggressive with GUI facelifts, bug fixes, and customer support, they likely could have remained a leading brand. But the management clearly had no vision for that. I cringe every time I read their marketing blurbs these days... Relying on P.T. Barnum's wisdom isn't the ideal way to run a business: Many people are gullible, and we can expect this to continue. You can fool most of the people most of the time.

I picked this up on sale a while back because it seemed like something that would be very handy to have. Like Grem, I almost forgot that I had it, and need to spend some time with it.

At one time, AIR Music Tech was an exclusive instrument bundle for Pro Tools. You know, THAT industry standard! So under the hood it was leading tech, at one time. But since the inMusic acquisition, they have apparently been squeezing every dime out of the intellectual property, while keeping any new development investment low. Not my idea of a grand business model except to corporate MBA's with their eyes focused strictly on the bottom line, rather than the customer. As an AIR, SONiVOX, and AKAI customer for many years, I feel that inMusic could have done much more with what they acquired. I feel that I got some good value from their products for a while, but from a loyalty perspective I'm not likely to buy into their new stuff.

That Hype synth is the only one out of the bunch that seemed halfway interesting to me, as sort of a new take on Hybrid 3. I've always thought that Hybrid would be a great synth with a facelift. It sounds great, but the GUI is horrible. "Cover everything from hard-hitting plucks to sultry melodic leads with this preset and macro-based synth combining multiple synth engines (wavetable, FM, virtual analogue, multi-sample) all in one easy to use interface. Hype builds on a legacy of over 20 years of excellence in Synthesis brought to you by the same world-class team who made the highly acclaimed Synth Engines inside Hybrid 3, the Riser and Loom 2 to name a few!" I'd say that maybe AIR is arriving late to the game with this. There are too many other good premium and even free synths like Vital out there today.

A lot of this looks like repackaged tech from their old instruments such as Vacuum, Hybrid, DB-33, and Velvet. Guess the legacy stuff is never going to get an update. And AIR should definitely provide an upgrade path for existing customers of their synth collection. These prices look too high compared to the current competition.

I think that the ease of setting frequency bands and adjusting stereo width for them independently, plus the mid/side control makes Spread very convenient. I have often heard that narrowing the bass frequencies spread can clean up some mud in a mix. This one knob thingy can deliver quickly!

Not free, but maybe worth a look. https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/software/dj-swivel-spread-one-knob-stereo-width-plugin/ "Unparalleled width, easy to use, SPREAD is the most powerful and usable multi-band stereo imaging plugin on the market. Spread includes additional useful features such as a Side Roll Off which takes advantage of mid/side processing, and a Tilt feature to balance your audio while preserving your stereo image. Make stereo tracks mono. Make mono and stereo tracks stereoooOOOHHH DAMN THAT’S WIDE!" $32.76 at JRRshop with discount code "group". https://www.jrrshop.com/dj-swivel-spread

Already have Mic Room from IK T-RackS...

3 drumsticks! EZD3???

Fathom is now updated from within the GUI. In settings, there is "check for update" button. If there is an available update, you just copy the download link to the clipboard. That part is very straightforward. In fact there are no longer any download links on the web page. But you still need your unzip password to unpack, then your email address and order # to activate the installer. Yep, that part is still a non-standard mess.

I hear ya! But last year I got annoyed that my current biggest controller only had 4 octaves (49 keys), and decided I wanted a really solid 61 key main controller. That 5th octave is handy with key switched sample libraries. I also missed the feel of my old 90's Rompler keyboards, all with 61 keys and built like a tank. Rather than the cheap plastic and rubber controllers that are dime-a-dozen nowadays. The cheap Arturia KeyLab Essential range of keyboards don't even have aftertouch. WTH! However the KeyLab Mk II feels like a real musical instrument that is built to last! Metal chassis, and a keybed like Arturia used on their hardware synth. With aftertouch. Very much like an old fashioned synth workstation, but with plenty of knobs and sliders for controlling virtual instruments.

Better yet, grab one of these if you can! KeyLab Mk II. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KeyLab2-61BK--arturia-keylab-mkii-61-keyboard-controller-black As low as $23/month with 24 mo. financing

In general, Arturia synths are not sample based, but a few of their modeled instruments were inherently sample or tape based, such as the CMI, Emulator II, Synclavier, and Mellotron. So it's only natural for those to have extra sample libraries to support that functionality. Did you know that you can even import your own samples into the CMI, Emulator II, Synclavier, & Mellotron? Trivia: Did you realize that the original Fairlight CMI II that Arturia based their CMI V on was priced at nearly $32,000 in 1982 dollars?

Yes, but I upgraded to Vital Pro anyway for the extra set of preset banks + unlimited "Text to Wavetable" access. Plus it's always nice to support indy developers if you can afford it. https://github.com/mtytel/vital/blob/main/LICENSE mtytel/vital is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 Permissions of this strong copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. Vital_TTW_Demo.mp3

That's a definite plus in favor of Arturia compared to 200GB for IK Syntronik 2 MAX.? So let's see, for Arturia that's 20GB divided by 28 instruments, so 714 MB average per instrument. Not too bad, considering the detailed artwork and scalable interfaces.

If you already have VM, that is probably a good add-on to VM, but it does require you to at least have the base VM, which can be had for free. https://www.jrrshop.com/cherry-audio-voltage-modular-nucleus Although if just starting with VM, the Voltage Modular Core + Electro Drums for $99 is probably the best way to go. https://www.jrrshop.com/cherry-audio-voltage-modular-core

I didn't catch the "ASLY" he clearly pointed out. Definitely got me! ?

Luftrum is an exceptional sound designer named Soren. I have some of his synth preset sound banks, as well as his Bioscape for Kontakt Player library. https://www.luftrum.com/bioscape/ Don't miss his free field recordings (samples). You can also get them as a full licensed 22GB sample library for a minimal donation to the World Wildlife Federation. https://www.luftrum.com/free-field-recordings/

Happy April Fools Day!!!