abacab

I frequently see Nexus recommended for dance music style, and it's regarded as a "ROMpler", so it's good for the non-programmer. https://refx.com/nexus/ It start at $249.99 (which puts it just under your $250 limit), and many factory expansions are available. As far as the u-he synths go, they are probably some of the best, especially if you are into tweaking and programming. But synths like Diva are intended to model the sound of vintage analog synths. Excellent sound quality, but you would probably need to tweak it to get your sounds. Zebra is a programmer's dream synth with endless possibilities for designing "way out there" sounds. Instead, you could try their Hive synth which is more oriented to modern music. $149 and a demo is available. Scroll down the page and click on the "Demo tracks" link to hear some demo tracks made with Hive 2: https://u-he.com/products/hive/

Thanks, but I already saw that, and read the reviews at KVR, both good and bad. I got the impression that it's mostly a Serum knock-off, which is a synth that I never felt the need to own. So I am curious what folks here may think now that they have owned Sektor for a few days, weeks, months. You know, after the new smell has worn off. I could demo it, but it would still have that new smell, so I'm afraid that I might give in!

I have always had the best results when learning about something specific that I am trying to do (or to a question asked by another user). Then it always makes more sense in the usage context, and I am not as likely to forget how to do it later on. Just reading about a list of features, or watching some videos about them is useful for getting an overview of the program's capabilities (and this is a deep one), but nothing beats applying specific skills to meet one's current objectives, hands on style. One feature at a time. Maybe the better question to ask is what are you attempting to do?

I tested the forum email notifications out a few days ago, starting on July 3rd. I turned them all on and waited ... for 3 days ... Nothing. Then I checked my spam folder. Google Mail (gmail) had marked them all as spam. So I turned the email notifications off again. Browser notifications are good enough for me.

Anybody actually using this synth? Just curious. I have enough virtual cash at PIB to get it for about half the sale price. But I would rather hold off from buying another synth just because it's almost free. I already own enough good synths that I haven't fully mastered yet, so I was just looking for opinions on whether there is anything special or unique about this one. More a case of, will I regret passing this one up later?

Did the original problem here with Sektor ever get sorted out?

That version is at least 12 years old. I assumed he was running a really old computer. Just in case the OP isn't, I provided a download link earlier for Cakewalk by BandLab. Flashback! https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/cakewalk-sonar-7

I'm thinking this thread actually belongs in the coffee house.

Aha! So what you are doing here is just trolling actual users.

Which is pretty much why the first thing I do when auditioning a synth preset that I like, is to switch off any internal reverb or other time based effect, and listen to it again. Many times the sound quality is improved, and a synth or a preset that I may have overlooked suddenly has more punch and higher definition! I like to layer synths, but that mud quickly builds when each one has its own reverb going. If you have some quality 3rd party reverb plugins to work with, you can easily do a much better job than the internal synth FX by sending them to a reverb bus.

Yep, I'm with you, but everybody had the opportunity to vote. As @Craig Anderton expressed above, "CbB is a mature program. It really doesn't lack anything that's needed to make pro-level music." My vote would go to MIDI editing (such as chord editing), but the audio editing area seems to have taken at least a 2:1 lead over that item. I suppose there are many that assume audio improvements would include more modern sampling and looping groove tools as in Ableton Live. As far as workarounds for lack of MIDI editing or songwriting tools, in my opinion the best strategy at this point would be to do that workflow in another DAW that does have those features (such as chord tools), and then export the MIDI results to Cakewalk. Those that compose with notation have long wished for a remake of the Cakewalk staff view, which was never completely ruled out under Gibson, but looks even more distant now. At this time the only other realistic option for a full featured score editor is to use a 3rd party notation program.

I think that is is highly likely that the direction of available development resources will be based on the results of this recent Cakewalk poll from @Jesse Jost Can you guess what the top feature area voted for was? The answer is in the poll results at the top of the linked post.

Komplete Start is just the Players bundled together, with some extras. The same rules apply to instruments that require the full edition of Kontakt. Fyi, unrelated to the question, but perhaps still useful: Komplete Kontrol is included in the bundle, and it will support most any 3rd party VSTi/VST plugins (with the exception of the previously mentioned Kontakt instruments) AND it supports 3rd party controllers.

LOL! This is a public forum, and you will get opinions that you don't agree with. No forum etiquette was broken here, except for you deciding to be rude!

As a user of Cakewalk's products for over 20+ years, my humble opinion is that BandLab's business is not any of our business. They are developing and supporting a free DAW that is being given to us, for free. I am just grateful for the gift, with no questions or attitude! But if your business depends on knowing where the product plans stand in the long term, I would suggest that PAYING for one of the commercial DAWs that cater to music professionals would probably give you more peace of mind, rather than worrying about what might happen.

That makes sense! You would be creating a single "room" that way. And explains why my synth tracks always sound cleaner if I kill any internal reverb in the instrument presets, and send them to a bus dedicated to a single reverb.

Since MIDI data itself does not contain any sound, it cannot be "faded" like an audio track. The basic MIDI data itself includes note on, note off, note velocity, and MIDI channel, plus optional MIDI continuous controller (CC) parameters. The MIDI data must be played through a synth to produce sound. If you were to record that sound onto an audio track, then you could edit the resulting audio as desired. If you are working with a pre-recorded MIDI clip, then you will need to learn to work with MIDI data to edit after the fact. It is also possible to record a MIDI clip in real-time that includes some CC data sent from your MIDI controller, such as mod wheel, pitch bend, CC 7 or CC 11, etc. You can edit the recorded data for the MIDI note velocity in the piano roll view. This will affect how relatively loud the instrument assigned to that track will play each note. There are also MIDI continuous controllers (CC) that can be recorded during a performance, and edited afterwards. CC number and Description, partial list below, full list at this link: http://www.nortonmusic.com/midi_cc.html CC 7 Volume (MSB) Note: CC7 and 11 both adjust the volume. Use cc7 as you would the control on the amplifier - set it and leave it at the beginning of the MIDI track CC 11 Expression (MSB) Note: CC7 and 11 both adjust the volume. Use cc11 for volume changes during the track (crescendo, diminuendo, swells, etc.) Also, it is possible to convert MIDI controllers to automation envelopes in MIDI tracks, and edit them as you would audio automation. But I don't recall what version of Sonar began supporting this. Since you are still using Sonar 7, are you aware that you can download and use the latest Cakewalk by Bandlab 2019 for free? It is an updated and fully supported version of the DAW formerly known as Sonar Platinum. https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk Sonar's MIDI Track Pane https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/sonars-midi-track-pane

Exactly!!!

I don't think you have made it clear yet whether you prefer emulations or samples of "real" instruments, or want to use completely synthesized sounds. It appears from your list that you already own a bit of both types of virtual instruments. It would also help to know what style of music you are into. I get that you don't want classical music oriented collections (which implies to me no orchestral sample libraries), but that does not exclude other real instruments like guitars, basses, pianos, organs, jazz brass and woodwinds, drums, etc. I would suggest that some of the previous comments about Kontakt are right on as far as "real" instrument coverage. It's like SampleTank, but with extensive 3rd party instrument libraries. For pure synthesizers, there are a range of popular options, but many of the most popular ones today are supplied with presets for trance and dance machines used by the EDM crowd. A synth really isn't genre specific, and can be programmed and used for any style of music. It is always recommended to first learn to program a virtual analog synth (and there are several great free ones available), before plunging into buying an expensive commercial mega-synth. I really like the SynthMasters and find them quite satisfying. There truly isn't "one synth to replace them all". Except maybe for Omnisphere, but I just can't bring myself to drop $500 on a synth.

You really have to wonder about their QA process. If they break as many things as they fix when releasing a patch, it's clear that they are not testing thoroughly. I understand that 4.0.0 was rushed out the door to meet marketing deadlines, but at this point I would expect them to take the time to get updates right.

If there are two vsts operating independently of the host project tempo, you could get some drift away from the beat, even if they are started at the same time. If you sync them to the host tempo, they should both run at the same tempo. Who knows? Could be an interesting experiment! In theory, 60bpm and 120bpm should have their beats lined up, with one just playing twice as fast.

The freebies are for us po folks that don't own Komplete yet. NI is trying to lure us into the money pit! It's a nice little starter setup that includes the already available free Player versions, but adds a few new instruments and the Komplete Kontrol. I have to say that KK is really nice for 3rd party plugins that have old pull down preset menus, as they are augmented by the KK search menu!

Were you running multiple instruments within a single instance of ST4?

Are you referring to opening the program itself, or opening a project once the program is open?

I wish XLN would add some of the features to AD that EZDrummer 2 has, such as the song creator and tap to find.