abacab

Another Christmas Present... SynthMaster v2.9.9 arrives (Major Free Update before v3.0) https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=557970

Just my humble opinion, but the nice folks at Arturia seem to be more on point than the nice folks at IK in setting things right quickly! ?

Same here! Now have all of my presets in AL V! ?

There is an update for Analog Lab V available! v5.0.0.1212. Run the software manager. Installed it, and now I have all of my Analog Lab 4 presets back in AL5! ?

That thing makes the UJAM Carbon look very weak! LOL!

Takes a while before it gets added to your account and software manager. But it installed OK!

I never tried LiquidMusic. What are the advantages with that?

But do they go to 11?

The Biotek 2 factory presets favor ambient cinematic soundscapes with the included natural and environmental samples. But if you're into sound design you could literally do almost anything with this synth. If you're a fan of electronic music sound designer Richard Devine, there are nearly 100 of his patches included here. I have some of his presets in numerous other synths, including AAS Chromaphone 3 and Ultra Analog VA-3, Arturia Analog Lab 4 (from the factory V Collection), Waves Flow Motion, and AIR Loom II. Each Biotek 2 instrument has up to 4 oscillators per layer (up to 12 layers) that can be samples, basic synth waveforms, noise, or granular. Mix or match. But no wavetables. Then there are almost limitless ways to layer sounds, and modulate and morph them. Lot's of tweaking potential!

Loom II is worth $10...

Get em while they're (almost) free!

An interesting way to experiment with and generate MIDI rhythm patterns...

Glad you have it working! Cheers!

Some USB keyboards require the use of a 2nd MIDI port for its on-board control surface to work. I don't have an LX25, but the comment from Dennis reminded me of a similar issue with the setup for the Roland A-300PRO that I have. It uses 1 port for the keys (music), and a 2nd port for the controls and transport, etc. The keyboard setup probably offers the user some options for this mode. In any case, the keyboard setup needs to match the MIDI settings in CW.

I wouldn't bother with that. The VST3 stuff kinda wants to be there, and that's the default path for it.

Have you tried uninstalling and re-installing everything by Cakewalk and BandLab?

Well, that's not how it's SUPPOSED to work. Tried a reset and re-scan yet?

I don't understand why some plug-in installers insist on creating a Steinberg folder, even though I don't have ANY Steinberg products installed. I have to check for that occasionally and ensure that any plug-ins located there are also in my 2 main VST Plugins folders. If not, I move them from Steinberg and then delete the Steinberg path. I only use 2 plug-in scan paths in Cakewalk: "C:\Program Files\VstPlugIns" and "C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\VstPlugins". Every plug-in that I own is in one or the other of those folders. If it gets installed elsewhere on my system, I move it into one of those 2 folders. I reserve the Cakewalk\VstPlugins folder for those plug-ins published or supplied by a Cakewalk installer.

Yes, I would pursue something up to date with Win 10 drivers. I am sad that my M-Audio is sitting around as a paper weight, when the hardware is perfectly fine. But time and software has marched on ...

Just in case you didn't know, when you necro a dead thread it bumps it to the top of the list, often to the dismay of forum regulars, when it's really nothing new. Proper net etiquette is to start your own new thread instead. ? Cheers, and Happy Holidays!

I suppose that might get you a freebie in an alternate account, but you may have issues with downloading and activating products from multiple IK accounts on the same PC. The IK downloads are only accessible from within your account, and installs are activated to your PC based on that account.

I agree that spending a lot of time to learn an end of life synth could be a risk. If it's an oldie synth that you already know how to program well and love, have used in many projects, or just don't have the budget for anything new, stick with it. Otherwise, instead of YouTube presentations, I would suggest picking out one synth you are interested in and install the demo or trial to see how you get along. Maybe try several. Then buy just one and dedicate your time to explore learn it fully before you buy any more. Once you know one synth end to end, learning another should fall into place more easily. I will add that saying one synth is more clear, vivid, dynamic, etc., than another is rather a subjective exercise. Are we comparing apples/apples the same type of sound, on-board effects on/off, stand alone or sitting in a mix? Most factory presets come drenched in effects by the sound designer, and can add a tremendous boost to the stand alone sound. But they will likely sound like crap in a mix. Proof: take any preset you like and disable all effects. Now listen to it dry. Did that magic and sparkle just go away? There are a lot of ways to make the same synth sound good, or bad. But some of the new generation of synths do have better oscillator and filter models than past generations. So they should still sound better without any effects turned on.

Most of the old synths still run really good. In fact, most run better on current hardware than they did when new! ? I think a lot of the difference in modern synths is UI design, preset browsers, and programming workflow. And factory presets. The synth developers try to keep making them easier to use. But soundwise, it is mostly up to the sound designers who designed the preset collections for the perceived quality of a given instrument's sound. Any of those synths in the hands of a skilled sound designer can make nearly any sound. When you use a label such as "modern" sounding you may be referring to newer synths that toss in wavetable and granular synthesis in addition to virtual analog, which may contribute to a perceived modern sound such as those synths that emphasize EDM in their preset libraries. For example, using virtual analog, a saw wave is a saw wave (or same for sine, square, triangle). It's how you filter it, shape envelopes (ADSR), assign LFOs, and effects, etc., that define a sound. Any particular synth architecture may set limits on how many choices of oscillator sources you have, how many voices, how many layers, filter and envelope designs, how you route modulations, etc. My take is that if you are looking for "modern" sounds, choose a synth that includes wavetable synthesis. And if you are not interested in programming, choose one with a lot of factory presets. Or a money pit with lots of sound expansions for sale. My biggest annoyance with the old stuff is generally the UI size, and that many have not been updated to be scalable for high res screens. But bottom line answer is Z3TA 2, Rapture Classic and Dimension Pro are still functional and good sounding. The UIs are a bit dated though. I still think Rapture classic has some fantastic sounds that I have not heard anywhere else!

Close, but actually all of the Cakewalk intellectual property was included in the Gibson/BandLab deal. The BandLab CEO announced in the Cakewalk forum that they would be releasing the DAW for free, but reserved making any decisions about releasing plug-ins for the future. And probably not for free...