abacab

Keeps on gettin mo better!

All you basically need to do for assurance is to test boot with the USB recovery drive. Select "Restore" and make sure that you can access a usable image file. And then cancel before starting the actual restore. No need to go swapping in spare drives to test the restore on, unless you really want to. Macrium is very reliable when it comes to making images, but there is one additional step that you can add to the image definition. Go to "Advanced Settings" and select "Auto verify image" and check the box to verify the file directly after creation. This will double the time that it takes your image job to complete, but you will be extra secure in knowing that you have a usable image file! I leave that enabled on all of my image jobs.

I have been running Macrium Reflect for years. Started out with the free edition, which works very well, then upgraded to the Home edition at the sale price last year. I make daily full images of my boot drive with Reflect, and have restored the full disk several times using the USB flash recovery drive. The recovery drive starts the computer using a bootable copy of Windows PE that is customized for the task. Then you can start the restore by selecting the image you want to restore, and then the target drive you want to put it on. I can take a full image of my 500GB SSD (~260GB used) in about 35 mins, using an external 2TB WD Elements USB drive. The restore takes about the same amount of time. Rather than backing up files and folders, a disk image copies the disk sector by sector, so you don't miss anything such as a folder being locked. The main advantage for me with the Home edition is Macrium Image Guardian, which protects the image files from ransomware. The free version does not have that feature. There are more image options in Home as well, but I'm still using the full image type just as I did with the free edition. Highly recommend!

Don't miss the Phil & Chester drum duet at 1h:26m. ?

You will be eligible for a cheap upgrade to SM v3 whenever it is released. SM One was actually a proof of concept for the developer to try new technologies, as he tried a few new things, and eventually spun that off to the iOS platform. Lately he has been merging the tech from SM One back into SM 2 into a common architecture, so he can eventually roll out SM3 as a unified concept. SM3 will be able to load SM One presets into layers, along with all the other new goodies in the new version.

Some folks find change unsettling. But to me it's a bit of creative destruction, moving forward!

I agree that the early Genesis was the incomparable original. I got turned on to them in the mid 70's, and used to listen to Selling England, as well as Nursery Crime, Foxtrot, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The breakup really shook things up. But I'm as equally impressed with the turn the band took afterwards. They took that opportunity and ran with it, to a surprising commercial success. Phil was a master front man, although no Peter Gabriel. And a hell of a drummer!

You might be interested in Kevin Schroeder's factory presets for SM2 (not a separate expansion). It's not rock & roll, but it's not EDM either. A bit more atmospheric.

I upgraded my response to a laugh! Here's my favorite Genesis concert, btw. Enjoy!

If you are into classic rock & early electronic music, then many of the SM2 expansions are useful. For example, Historic Synth Giants Volume 1,2, & 4, covers synth sounds of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Vangelis, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, & Jean Michel Jarre. And Dawn of Electronic Music Volume 1 covers Kraftwerk, Volume 2 covers Depeche Mode, and Volume 3 covers Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream.

Of the other DAWs mentioned, I do have Waveform Pro, and can confirm that the keyboard at the left of the piano roll in that DAW will enter notes in step mode. Although personally, I prefer using a MIDI controller rather than clicking in the piano roll. YMMV.

Yes, I would try that first. In my case, and many others, the uninstaller is not available. When that happens, your only recourse is to delete the library from the Windows registry in two places. That will cause Native Access to place the library back into "uninstalled" status. It will remain there because the serial has been registered to your NI account.

Ah! That's not the virtual keyboard you have pointed to with the question marks. I was attempting to address your earlier statement that "It would be very nice to be able to synchronize the keystrokes of the PC keyboard with the Piano Roll through the virtual keyboard." So, if you wish to enter notes directly into the piano roll it is done with the pencil tool and your mouse. You just click them into the grid. That keyboard on the left shows what notes are on what rows. If you have a virtual instrument inserted on that track, you will hear it play the pitch that you click with the pencil. The only way to enter notes on the piano roll from the actual virtual keyboard (where you have circled the letter "F") is with step record activated.

What you are asking for is a way to do it from a PC keyboard. There's a limitation of the PC keyboard, and the way MIDI works, not the piano roll software. MIDI as its most basic level requires a "note-on", followed by a "note-off" message in order to record the pitch and duration in real-time. MIDI controllers take care of this task automatically in real-time. The PC keyboard can only send a the first part, in step-time, so you need to pre-define the length of each note sent by the PC keyboard to effect the "note-off" piece, and/or edit the piano roll afterwards. Step recording with pre-set note lengths is the only way to do data entry into the piano roll from the PC keyboard. Do yourself a favor and get a real MIDI controller. All the best!

It takes a registry hack on Windows. Just did it this morning on a library that was getting the "Repair" option in Native Access, after I deleted the library content folder for it. This particular library had no Windows uninstaller, which I believe could taken care of the registry. So this is a method of last resort if you can't do an automatic uninstall from Windows. Now it shows up in the "Not installed" list in Native Access, as it should. Here is the step by step process: https://spitfireaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009167093-How-to-remove-a-library-from-Native-Access-Windows-

Seeing all of these awesome icons on my desktop gives me a warm happy feeling. Until I ask myself, "which one today?" ? My solution: Just open Analog Lab V and look for an inspiring sound. Then launch the full synth UI when you have something you want to tweak...

Yep, that $49 for a $499 library really made me look! Until I saw that it was being discontinued. And 2 of the 5 included libraries are not even compatible with Kontakt 6. There's probably a few gems in there, but I'd rather not spend my time cobbling a useful install together. Especially if one has some decent orchestral libs in hand. I already have Spitfire BBCSO Core, Soundiron Hyperion Strings Elements and Brass Elements, Kirk Hunter Kinetic Strings, Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra, and Miroslav Philmarmonic 2. So I really don't need more at this point, but that looked like it might have been a no-brainer deal! IMO, the big bang for the buck is getting Spitfire BBCSO Discover for free. Just have to sign up and wait 2 weeks for the license, or pay $49. I got it for free, and Spitfire eventually sent me a nice discount offer to upgrade to Core.

I didn't have V7, only Analog Lab V, but the additions to V8 instruments might make an upgrade worthwhile! Jun-6 V Emulator II V Vocoder V OB-Xa V Jup-8 V 4 Stage-73 V 2 Analog Lab V https://www.arturia.com/products/analog-classics/v-collection/overview#en

If you don't have any V Collection yet, that's a definite yes! If you have an older version, you will need to ask yourself if upgrading is worth it for the new instruments.

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I think 50% off is the deepest I've ever seen Arturia go...

If one is no longer a Spring chicken, what does that make us? Summer, Fall, or Winter chickens? ?

Dream on! ?

Well if you were sitting on the fence for the V Collection 8, now's the time! It's on sale for $279. Normal list is $499. I got V8 earlier this year for $249 on a loyalty upgrade deal. But if you haven't been offered that, this is probably as good as it gets. It's pretty cool!

Picked up my upgrade to Hyperion Strings Elements. Had a discount code in my pocket from my purchase of Hyperion Strings Micro last year, and was able to combine that with the latest sale price! Upgraded for $34.60.