abacab

40 minutes ago, John Bradley said:

I just think it's weird that I can get glitchiness with some of the (heavier?) presets in this synth even though the cpu meters in Cakewalk (and Task Manager) are barely registering any load whatsoever.

Set your view in Task Manager to show a separate  graph for all cores/threads.

Whenever I encounter breakups in the audio, it's usually when the load on the first core/thread is running high, while the others are still idling. I think this is normal as the VSTi is most likely single threaded...

6 hours ago, paulo said:

Yeah, I agree - Iron would be definitely be more usable with a dry signal option.

Their entire product range would benefit with a wet/dry switch for those that prefer to use 3rd party FX plugins in the track, or mix buses.

But in all fairness, you can torn the amp knob setting to clean, and then turn  the knobs for delay,  chorus, reverb, and  drive to zero, which is probably not totally dry, but workable. Then insert an amp sim of your choice and get some new flavors.

Though when they add MIDI phrase drag and drop and instrument mode, I might be interested! ?

5 hours ago, paulo said:

Jacky Ligon presets are causing dropouts for me too, but CPU usage is indicated as really quite low if anything. Weird.

I found a few other Ligon presets that did break up after I leaned into some heavy handed polyphonic  chords. But then I am running a CPU released in 2012. ?

2 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

 just like iPhones without 1/8" audio jacks are the future.

LOL, exactly!!! ?

Not a huge fan of the Apple empire, but I did buy an iPod once. Might even consider a used iPad in order to mess around with the latest mobile audio apps on iOS...

2 hours ago, husker said:

Fair question.  I don't have many concerns about credit card information or data breaches, but I do have concerns about their infrastructure.  If you are an ECommerce vendor, having a running website and good recent backups is IT 101.   JRRShop struggles with these basic functions.  With so many other resellers, I think I will choose to not use JRRShop in the future.  

Seems like the web server is running on an old Pentium 3 in the back of the garage... right next to the email server... ?

I think it would possibly be easier to fork the VST3 SDK with an open source team on GitHub and start from something almost everybody has working today. Then   evolve it into something new and standardized. Probably easier to get the buy-in from DAW and plugin manufacturers.

Instead of starting from scratch.

3 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

Why can't a group of companies other than Steinberg band together and come up with an alternate, open spec? Look no further than the creation of the MIDI spec, which I and other MI veterans still see as a miracle. In the 35 years it's been around, it's been officially revised how many times, despite for example data storage and transmission technology advancing beyond the point of 1984 fathomability? There's MIDI 2.0, how's that proceeding? Well, I hope.

Ever try to get 7 people from the same department at just one company to agree on where to go for lunch? I think getting people from half a dozen plug-in manufacturers to agree on which platform to use for the teleconference meeting might scuttle the whole thing before it started.

One problem with any standard is that in adopting it, muchless creating it, at least someone is going to have to give something up, and that thing is going to cost them in some way. Even if it's just loss of face, or autonomy. Back before MIDI, synthesizer manufacturers could lock musicians into buying only their sound modules, their keyboards, their controllers, their sequencers, and so they could charge more for them. A LOT more. You may think that's laughable now, everyone knows that when everything got cheaper, it allowed so many more people to start playing around with music gear that it attracted more people, which attracted even more money, and everyone made even more money, and got even richer, and it was just in time for computers to get involved, so Cakewalk and Pro Tools and Cubase and MIDI made all that possible. It was freakin' awesome, and a great illustration of how going with standards vs. proprietary can increase the entire market enough that everybody benefits way much more in the long run.

But the men who sat down over lunch to create MIDI didn't know all of that, it was a big dice roll, and not all of them necessarily benefited, a couple of them lost their companies a few years down the road anyway. They were brave, and we owe them gratitude to this day, no lie, they risked a lot for that vision.

Hey, it's just really, really hard. Go ahead, try it. What's stopping you? Everyone would benefit, right? So stop playing music and working and all that and create a plug-in standard for everyone. There's another problem: who does the work? Coordinating email, keeping records, documents, etc., filing for non-profit status, legal status. Hmm. These problems, they sound more like the problems that companies solve. Company creates a standard, they know who's going to benefit, they know who's going to do the work, who's name is going on it, who's going to get sued if someone decides that it infringes on their IP copyright. There's another one, BTW. Risk exposure.

Nice essay! By the way, where did that quote come from? Probably close to the truth, LOL!

11 hours ago, brandon said:

I have been scouring the internet for a single bell (wav) sound  -the tolling type that appears on some classic rock tunes. All to no avail.  I believe that the nearest i will get to it is a sample of a tubular bell. But the ones i have come across sound synthesised. Does anyone know of any or even has a sample of a single bell preferably in the key of B (but not absolutely necessary) with a  2 to 3 second tail?

Thanks in advance

I found one in SampleTank 4, and it is listed as a FM tubular bell tone.

You might try searching FM synth resources for other options, as in the free DX-7 carts, playable in the freeware Dexed synth.

Bender on a Fender! ?

I seriously laughed out loud at that! ?

So what's the best "robot" guitarist available?

Hey @ZincT, are you still enjoying that new Arturia controller?

2 hours ago, Grem said:

I use LastPass for quite a few years now. They keep the software updated and add new features fairly often. It is also has an Android app that seamlessly lets me use it on my S10. It stays sync'd across all my PC's and cell phone. It also has a family feature that allows a family to use the same software with different profiles and passwords. I really like it. 

I use it too, for about a year.

But if they get breached, I'm totally owned... ?

OB-Xd v2 VST3 displays the programs in the host VST window in at least CbB and Reaper. May be others...

Or you can use the VST2 version in other DAWs that do not. The VST2 works in the same fashion elsewhere.

However, the previous advice is the only method I am aware of for switching banks in any version.

Cakewalk w/ VST3:

Reaper w/ VST3:

3 minutes ago, Starise said:

You probably heard about the new MIDI 2.0 spec.? 

Maybe I mistakenly thought the spec worked pretty well up until now. MIDI.org has been making changes along the way . The spec allowed for some manufacturers to get creative with it. Both Yamaha and Roland adopted some factory specific commands back in the day. I think I like that MIDI.org are in charge of it because it establishes a  standard. Lots have cried that it was behind the times. I don't think it really is when you consider all of the possibilities that have been adopted since using it. Most people who use it never use it to the full potential. I mostly use it when playing sample libraries. 

This is exactly the kind of thing I believe would be helpful to the plugin industry. Call it PLUGIN.org or whatever.  If we had one wrapper that would play both older and more recent versions of plugins in the same wrapper lots of people would be happy. Or maybe just several wrappers that all work in any DAW. Not sure how MIDI.org gets their funding. Maybe a token contribution from members keeps them going? Another benefit is all members could have input into the process.

On the different specs for plugin wrappers. Just proprietary stuff I guess. Makes more work for the developers . 

You probably heard about the new MIDI 2.0 spec.? 

Yep. 30+ years in the making.

This is exactly the kind of thing I believe would be helpful to the plugin industry. Call it PLUGIN.org or whatever.  If we had one wrapper that would play both older and more recent versions of plugins in the same wrapper lots of people would be happy. Or maybe just several wrappers that all work in any DAW.

Great idea!

Not sure how MIDI.org gets their funding. Maybe a token contribution from members keeps them going? Another benefit is all members could have input into the process.

The MIDI Manufacturers Association, among others. They are midi.org. Formed in 1985.

Quote

The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) is a non-profit trade organization where companies work together to create MIDI standards that assure compatibility among MIDI products.

On the different specs for plugin wrappers. Just proprietary stuff I guess.  Makes more work for the developers .  

Yes it does.

19 minutes ago, Starise said:

Good idea as well. I have done this. It reduces the chances .  Doesn't hurt to change them periodically, especially if you just used the card in a situation where there was a possibility it could have been compromised., such as travel.

I had one of my cards hacked. It probably wasn't done online. Before COVID we were staying in a  distant motel. They always get your CC info. We think it happened then. New card issued. No worries.  They were clever ( so they thought) by trying to get a 3.00 item to see if it would go through. Then they went to a 300.00 item. We had made the phone call before they were able to get the larger amount.

I had a credit card get caught up in 2 major breaches. Both times the issuer cancelled my card and issued a new number. A 3rd time someone used my card for a low dollar amount to see if it would go through. Called right away, cancelled and renewed, and the transaction was quickly backed out.

The bigger risk IMHO, is when you use a debit card for an online (or anything besides the ATM machine) transaction. The hacker now has access to YOUR bank account!

It would be a more stressful process to get the bank to give you your money back. Especially if bills are due!

When a credit card gets hacked, it is the banks money that gets stolen. So they have more incentive to deal with the problem quickly. It's still an account in your name with the potential to affect your credit rating if not dealt with promptly, but in my experience most banks are willing to offer 'no risk' credit card fraud options.

22 minutes ago, Starise said:

I think it's the path of least resistance and not necessarily that an alternate solution that couldn't be reached. abacab, you are correct. I took the discussion to a broader application than Cakewalk. Hence why I said I think people could be "thinking outside the box". 

It is often this closed mentality thinking and " this is the way we've always done it"  that impedes progress. JMHO....oh yes I am opinionated. lol! This isn't politics or religion so I see nothing wrong with having thoughts on it.

I really wish I had the know how to do it. I would take a crack at it. I don't think getting multiple DAW software makers to  sign on would be so difficult. It isn't actually a plugin, it's a plugin interface. The real brains seem to come in making the actual plugins. Mr. Steinberg was a visionary who made VST 1.0 and handed the dev to someone else.  These things always start small. I mean, you can't start big. 

A little broader question about standards. Why is MIDI.org in charge of the MIDI standards? We should probably have a better digital music interface considering it's taken several decades to get where we are.

And then there is this IEEE Standard Association  committee that decides how our Wi-Fi works (IEEE 802.11x), among a zillion other technical things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_Standards_Association

Sorry to ramble off topic, but in my opinion standards are the glue that holds the world together, and informs manufacturers that the products that they produce will be compatible with other manufacturers. We have entered an age of interconnected things. A lot of time and effort by experts in their respective fields must work together  to develop standards. So yes, I agree that the path of least resistance is probably what leads to a standard that is accepted by the majority. [/ramble off].

Final thoughts on plugin interfaces... why do we still have VST, AU, AAX, and others, rather than one for all?

Dimension LE was included in Sonar 7. You could try installing that plugin with the original  Sonar 7 installer disc.

I don't see it in my legacy Cakewalk account products list. Maybe it was never a standalone product with it's own serial?

[Edit]: Wow, that's weird. I just inserted Dimension LE in Cakewalk by BandLab and got the registration message too! Maybe it was only licensed for Sonar?

[Edit 2]: Just figured out that you could click through the registration prompt, and continue using the plugin. Just hit 'cancel'.

I get this prompt each time I open the plugin UI, and have to cancel the prompt each time. But if I close the plugin window and save the project, there are no nags when I reopen it, until I open the plugin window again. Weird that this is the only legacy Cakewalk 32-bit plugin that behaves this way here.

7 hours ago, LAGinz said:

 Sounds great, loads a zillion of those old presets and ......

That's literally a problem in itself, LOL!!!

5 hours ago, Fleer said:

https://www.discodsp.com/obxd/

Yes, very nice update!

16 minutes ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

You are so right.  It's coming.   And upgrades are rarely discounted.

But I like the ujam system.  I actually prefer it to Toontrack. They update the instrument and the MIDI at the same time.  And the cost of the upgrades are usually fair.

But yeah, there will eventually be a version 3 of everything they sell.  ?

Well I already have Sparkle, and the Dandy Bass with the new V2 features. I need to try out the Carbon demo. It would be nice to have the latest features in a guitar, so I will probably just wait to upgrade to v2 of Sparkle when it comes out.

I had some fun learning my way around Dandy this weekend. MIDI drag and drop for the phrases works, and if you hold a key or chord when you drag, that is what you get in the MIDI clip in your track. Nice!

Picked it up on the last day of the intro pricing. Very versatile sound, you can range it from mild to wild. Sounds best with a bass amp and cab simulator insert.

Ujam must be getting ready to release v2 of their guitars.

Their latest guitar edition, Carbon appears to be the only guitar with new features such as MIDI drag n drop, and instrument mode.

Wonder how much a v2 upgrade would be?

3 minutes ago, Philip G Hunt said:

I  don't think iOS is the only option anymore, it just had more options. ?

Maybe not, but it seems to be where all the cool kids hang out. ?

4 minutes ago, Philip G Hunt said:

I wonder if anyone can help. 

I'm going camping next week in the wilderness, and wanted to take a keyboard to make music on. After browsing all the cool portable keyboards I got to wondering whether I could use my old M-Audio Oxygen 8 midi controller with my phone.

After doing some googling, I realised all I'd need was a USB-C to USB adapter to plug straight into to the phone, so I bought one, downloaded an app called Midi piano, and...viola... I've got a working piano triggers by the midi controller.

Now, my question: does anyone know if any cool android apps that work with midi controllers for making music. I've downloaded Caustic, but it's quite old. Anything cool and recent?

Cheers guys.

I've actually been thinking about acquiring a used or refurb older model of iPad for that purpose. All of the cool music apps are written for iOS. That appears to be where the mobile music market is happening today.

I believe I once heard a developer mention that there are still some issues with audio on the Android so that many have been shying away from that platform for mobile audio development.

1 hour ago, SynthManDan said:

 I agree.., they’ve not really been keeping up with updates for Windows.  I’ve already got a workaround for the issue, and that’s just setting up Multitimbral templates with Structure in my DAW.  Structure is actually pretty CPU friendly too.  I have a feeling that I’ll be able to run multiple instances if necessary.

I’ve got quite a few VST’s from AIR and SoniVox.  No problems with abt of them.

AIR: Mini Grand, Xpand2, DB-33, Velvet, Hybrid 3, and Structure 2.

SoniVox: 88 Ensemble, Orchestral Companion Strings and Woodwinds, Big Bang Universal Drums, and the Singles Bundle.

All of these run great for me with Windows 10 Pro and Home Edition.

SMD

I would  agree that Structure 2 is much more CPU friendly than SampleTank for example.

Yes, I have  the AIR and SONiVOX collections. Picked them up on sale a few years ago. Most of the AIR stuff is very good, especially the synths and keyboards. However, I have run across a few bugs with Structure 2, Strike 2, and Transfuser 2. Those also  appear to have the oldest UIs of the bunch, as well. No bug fixes for those in 4 years. I did go ahead and pick up the new Loom 2 because I like that instrument, even though my confidence in AIR was beginning to lag by that point.

I actually have issues with all of the SONiVOX instruments, except for the 88 ensemble, which is nice. I'll just leave it there.

In any case there are some great deals on those, if you can live without ongoing support and development, and especially if your budget is tight. But I think that I have finally decided to spend any further money on supported products only. Plus there is some excellent freeware available that is currently supported, and works. The TW16x is a good example of a freeware sampler. https://www.tx16wx.com/

Too bad most sample libraries are proprietary, such as is the case with Structure's.