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It probably was supposed to be released by now, but based on my take of some Vital forum comments, Matt is dealing with a few Mac graphics issues.

There are no free versions of either Augmented Strings or Pigments that I'm aware of, other than the free Intro version Arturia released for a limited time. The fully editable advanced mode of AS exposes a string sampler engine, plus a synth engine based on Pigments. The AS advanced GUI is arranged into two parts A & B, each with 2 layers, that can be selected as either sampler or synth engine, or both of the same. Mix & match them as you like. Definitely worth $29. The full Augmented Strings sample library is 2.5 GB installed here, so not bad by modern sample library standards!

Right, but you also will need a DAW with CLAP to use that.

Here's a new video showing off the spectral warp modes in v.1.5.1...

I have learned that this "Early Release" v1.5.1 is available to both Vital subscribers and Pro users. Updated the title.

I can vouch for the Samsung cloning software. I have used it several times with great success!!!

Think of Augmented strings as a synth, rather than a string library. It can be a "string box" on steroids, once you open the advanced screen. Quite "synthy". From the synth side, you can see that they leveraged the Pigments synth engine. And if you get into Pigments, you will discover that it's a very deep and vast synth, with a very intuitive and fun GUI.

Unfortunately, the Roland Cloud still requires you to log on periodically to keep you perpetual licenses activated. What are they thinking? KORG doesn't do that!

Pigments is definitely worth exploring! Beyond the 1,350 factory presets, there is an impressive multi-engine synth under the hood. It sounds great, and is big fun to explore! Very intuitive UI. My two favorite non-vintage emulating, i.e., "modern" synths are Pigments and Phase Plant. With either synth, you will end up with an easy to grasp interface that is just pure fun and inspiring to play with! And with a vast synthesis powerhouse under the hood in either! I also have NI Massive X. But what were the NI devs thinking? Yes, the sound quality is very good, but the UI is quite awkward, IMO...

Pigments! Great synth! I can see where Arturia borrowed a bit of that synth to augment some strings! I was a bit wary of Augmented Strings initially, based on the main page, with no access to advanced mode. But once you go "advanced'" it's another world! That's where it easily blows away the Kontakt two-part libraries. I want to see what's happening behind those A/B parts, otherwise I open the instrument, fiddle around with the A/B morphing for a while, then toss it back, LOL!

No problem. The Samsung 970EVOPlus is my benchmark. Sammy dropped the price, and everybody is selling it for $64.99. I'll just wait for a deal!

Sorry, that's not an M.2 NVMe... ? Looking to use up one of my 2 available M.2 slots (for boot drive performance, not capacity). Already have 1TB and 2TB internal SSD's in 2.5" form factor. But thanks for playing!

It seems that Crucial MX500 is a respectable drive. However on a comparison link from premiumbuilds.com, here's what they have to say about the Crucial P2 that I was considering: "On the other hand, the Crucial P2 may not be great for installing and running games and applications, but it is a fast SSD that is great for large file transfers, especially for its $92 current selling price for 1TB capacity. If you need an SSD to store and transfer files, the Crucial P2 will not disappoint. " The P2 is probably not an ideal candidate for the primary boot drive in my DAW. ? https://premiumbuilds.com/comparisons/crucial-p1-vs-p2/ Thanks again!

I still think Analog Lab is a great tool, even after owning the full V Collection. I use it as the main lobby to the V Collection. The built-in browser and preset search is crazy cool. So if you are just looking for a preset, it gives a user a fast way to narrow down sounds from among thousands of diverse presets, without having to launch a full V instrument. Then the macro controls in Analog Lab are tuned by each sound designer for performance mode, so you can manipulate the sound in real-time. Really nifty if you happen to have an Arturia controller, with everything in the Lab already mapped. The full V instruments are really of value to those that want to explore deeper. Once they are installed, if you find a particularly interesting preset you can quickly launch the full V instrument directly in Lab if you wish to tweak it, or just to see how it works...

"The Orchestra" is a Kontakt instrument. I seem to recall that some users have previously reported certain instrument parts becoming inaudible while using other Kontakt instruments in Cakewalk. In this case, I would do a broader search in the Cakewalk forums, and include all results for Kontakt, not just "The Orchestra". I would also continue to look into scook's suggestion regarding the CC controllers. For example, is MIDI CC 7 or CC11 getting set to zero when playback stops? https://anotherproducer.com/online-tools-for-musicians/midi-cc-list/

The co-founder and creator of the WaveDNA concepts passed away 2 years ago. In Memorandum David Joseph Beckford: https://www.wavedna.com/david-joseph-beckford-co-founder-of-wavedna/#comments

Rescan with Komplete Kontrol in standalone mode.

Good to know! Fortunately I am experienced with imaging and cloning, so always prepared for that eventuality. About 4 years ago I helped a friend build a new PC, including a new Samsung SSD EVO 850 250GB. I also upgraded my PC with the same SSD model around the same time. His Samsung SSD suddenly died about a year later, but mine is still rocking! Have since swapped my original SSD drive into a laptop that came with an HDD, and many thousands of hours later, it's still healthy! But being cautious, and wary of sudden SSD death, I implemented a daily full imaging schedule for my SSD boot drive. Thinking now about the possibility of keeping my original SATA boot drive in place after installing the M.2 drive after cloning my boot drive to the M.2. With the old SATA drive remaining in place I could set up a schedule to clone the M.2 drive to the SATA drive nightly. With the bootable SATA drive already installed, and always containing the most recent clone copy of the M.2 drive, it would be available to boot from at any time in case the M.2 drive suddenly failed. "With Macrium Reflect you can *boot the target disk on the same system after cloning. Cloning your hard drive creates a bootable new hard drive with the state of your computer at the time you undertook the clone." * Windows can not be booted from USB. This would only work using an internal drive.

Thanks for the feedback! I had read a few negative comments with concerns about this particular M.2 drive on both the Amazon and Crucial sites, while they are overall positive, often reviews are to be taken with a shaker of salt! And yes, I ignored the complaints about the missing *screw! ? *NVMe screw kit (2 screws + 2 standoffs) supplied in my ASUS motherboard retail box. Glad that I saved that!

Maybe that's why it's called "Prime Day"??? ?

I just don't need anything larger than 500GB for my boot drive! I put everything else on other drives. Got terabytes to spare, LOL! My question was about the relative quality of Crucial SSD. Have never used one. Samsung has always been my reliable go-to for SSD. But $42 for a Crucial with the same capacity drive as my current Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SATA drive, in a much faster M.2 form factor was worth considering. Just investigating this from strictly a performance (not capacity) viewpoint. The Crucial is $30 cheaper than the Samsung M.2 I had been looking at. But thanks for the suggestion! ?

Any opinions on the Crucial M.2 NVMe SSD drives, such as this one? It's $42 as a Prime Day deal. https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-500GB-NAND-NVMe-2400MB/dp/B086BGWNY8/ref=sr_1_4 I have always used Samsung SSD without issues, so am reluctant to switch brands just for a deal.

Well that was fast! Arturia support "added a coupon to my account" in about 35 minutes of my support request! Seeing the upgrade discount now in the cart! Must be a glitch that caused some of us with Intro to not see the discount initially... Ordered and installed! ?

Stems and full mixdown if you want it all!

Exactly! Bounce your projects to audio and you will have them virtually forever. The most common problems seem to arise when hobbyists attempt to resurrect projects that they were working on 10-20 years earlier, after taking some time off for careers, families, etc. Unlike your old hardware that you can just fire up again, the software world has moved quickly in 10-20 years!!!