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LOL! At least I am being frugal about upgrading hardware this time... So I am getting 3 computer upgrades for the price of 1 here. First, upgrade the sample drive on the DAW with the new SSD, the former DAW sample SSD moves to the laptop as a new boot drive, and then the old laptop SSD moves to the home entertainment PC as a new boot drive. That last PC is the only one still running a spinning HDD as the boot drive. Win!

Simon says...

Yep already received my new SSD. Probably migrate my samples over this weekend...

I see the Renaissance Bass as well. But... "Status: Complete Purchase to Qualify".

Including some of the factory "Multi" presets that may use a few of the obscure instrument presets that you thought were not needed.

6.6.1 updated ok here! ?

Yes, but even when downloading only the sample libraries you want, you will still have all of the unwanted instrument presets listed in the SampleTank browser, unless you also weed those out those unwanted preset folders after the product install. If you forget to do that, you will get an error any time you click to load an instrument preset that is missing the samples. Too much work for me with MAX.

Yes, but it will be the ONLY synth you need!

Can you install ST4 sounds separately? Not easily, as the Product Manager is designed to install all of the instruments for your selected edition of ST4. I have MAX and that is all 200GB of instruments installed on my DAW. I took a look at putting a scaled down version of MAX on my laptop and gave up. There's probably a way to do it, but I couldn't be bothered to look into it any further.

I understand that one major delay that Bulent had was merging the newer tech from SM One back into SM2, so that SM3 could be compatible with presets from both earlier synths. SM 2.9.9 already has mostly everything from One aboard (except for the presets). SynthMaster 3 should be awesome (and years in the making)! The dev had mentioned adding more layers, a wavetable editor, and granular synthesis.

Freebies are always NFR.

I wonder if this means the release of SynthMaster 3 is right around the corner?

That's no-brainer territory there, unless you already have one of the big boy wavetable synths! This has a great factory library, and it's also easy to make your own sounds. Same engine as SynthMaster 2.9, but only one layer, so easier to learn.

That would be the best alternative for internal sound chips.

If one really cares about DAW performance, it is always best to avoid internal sound chips and/or generic ASIO products. Stick to a pro audio interface with vendor supplied ASIO for best results! Plus a reliable audio interface vendor should stay on top of Windows latest development, and supply users with the most compatible drivers and bug fixes for them. You get what you pay for in this case!

What Doug said! ^^^

I would say for $5, think of it as "GAS relief", LOL!!! And I concur with Starship's love for Hybrid. It makes some wonderful sounds, especially the moving pads. There are tons of them in there, and the architecture of the synth lends itself to movement. 2 layers, and 3 oscillators per layer! Just wish AIR would make the GUI bigger!

Purchasing AmpliTube 5 SE would get you in at the $149 level. Satriani at the $99 level would then be available to you as a freebie.

?

I forgot that I had Drumazon in my PIB account that I had received as a freebie a while back. So I installed it. Dang, is that GUI small with text hard to read, even on a standard HD display! ?

Yep, still Hybrid 3. Nothing to see here, so move along... ?

Clever indeed! Those virtual X stomps are 150 credits each in the Custom Shop! "Only" 600 credits for the set. But you can buy 500 Gear Credits for $349.99, less if you apply some Jam Points! Then $99.99 for the last 100 credits... (buying 300 credits x2 ends up same price as 500 + 100 credits).

The Satriani pack will work, but you would be missing out on AmpliTube 5's new cabinet section with VIR technology. Only available in SE and above... Comparison: https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/amplitube5/?pkey=amplitube-5-se

You can use many keyboard controllers with Cakewalk, but unfortunately you will need to do some research and deep diving to get most of the functions mapped. There is typically no plug and play hardware support with Cakewalk where MIDI controllers are concerned. There was once upon a time, when Cakewalk was owned by Roland. But those days are long gone. If you search the many threads on this forum, you will discover some "how-to" instructions from users who made theirs work. But it takes more than just plugging them in, and expecting full satisfaction! If you require fully integrated, out-of-the-box, support these days, it is best to research a hardware and software combo that is fully supported. Ableton is one of those companies that has partnered with hardware manufacturers, among others. Many controllers say they support leading DAWs, but sadly Cakewalk is typically not on their leading DAW list. Not a slam on Cakewalk, by any means, as I have used it for over 20 years. It just is what it is. A fantastic DAW!

Can anyone compare this with Soundiron Hyperion Strings?