Brian Walton

I was thinking Scaler 2 (and maybe EZ Keys are capable of doign the MIDI chord track as you have outlined), but it doesn't put the output chords into a nice big Chord indicator within the DAW. It isn't a plugin but Zplane's Decoda does the Audio Track thing about as reasonably well as one might expect with affordable technology. They released an update that has a basic MIDI file output based on what it decided was playing. For simple tunes it works pretty well. Think we are a long way away from handing Jazz chords and more complex musical changes.

Depends on your computer. I've tried it on multiple Lenovo Laptops (pre T470) that failed and rolled back every time. T480 I had both success an a failure. Older Custom built i3 machine finally updated properly yesterday. It has been the most problematic update yet for Windows 10 in my view (in terms of getting it to actually install)

Correct

Yeah if you want to load 2 plugins just to pan properly. The fact the built in DAW pan knob comes affer the effects negates the abilty to use it with the built in tools. Adding 2 plugins would be fairly annoying in a workflow . (and my favorite panner is Panknob...so...) ?

Not a stupid question. Honestly I wouldn't make any hardware change without de-authorization first. I could outline a couple scenarios I used where ilok didn't like it, but don't have the time to detail it out and I don't want to mislead if it doesn't apply in all similar situations.

The low freq summing is what makes it magic. If you are considering it (I use it ALL the time)...also harass Boz about it needing a prochannel version while you are at it. Honestly it is annoying having it as a plugin...if he made the PC version, it would solve those problems.

From one of the reviews posted on the website "If your ears are not trained then you’ll probably miss the magic." Yep, exactly the kind of mojo that $350 should buy.

I'm guessing you could use try the old authorization manager, then just enable the plugin in your plugin manager in Cakewalk since I'm sure it is already installed thanks to the way IK works.

Indeed, perhpas the first time I've heard about it actually going on sale since it was released (i..e not the normal every day "$10 off msrp")

I've thought about True Iron.... Can someone provide insight into the authorization methods/limitations they use? Edit - purchased, appears to be a "we actually trust our paid users" method. approved.

Odd...worked fine for me on 3 different Windows 10 computers of various "vintages" Using latest Bandlab build of each.

Well is the demo less than 4gb? I bought it, but the initial state is demo mode after the 4gb download. Haven't really used it so can't comment, but I have plenty of guitar equipment - so I'm not exactly the typical customer for a guitar plugin.

Process is easy. If it is worth 4gigs of HD space, honestly that is the question I'd pose.

Actually my belief is multi-fold 1) We actually have MORE people creating content currently - since they are stuck at home with more "free" time. Thus there are demands for music and content creation tools. 2) Developers of these small shops have business as usual as these are operations that can continue on 3) Some less disposable income overall - but honestly not as big of a percentage as many people would suggest. The percent of people actually unemployed (in the USA anyway) is what 8% or so right now? And those that were unemployment getting more unemployment benefits than ever. There was even a report that suggests the majority of the unemployed actually got a pay raise by being on unemployment than actually having the job they had before unemployment. 4) Sales drive revenue in good times or bad - that is what is surprising here a lack of obvious sales and to me that tends to suggest many developers are not feeling the pinch.

Like I mentioned earler you have to run the installer the previous installer downloads. It will be in the default place your web browser downloads to. Likely your download folder. You will likley see a Folder it created that contains about 5 files in it totaling 4+ gigs.

Depends on what you compare them to and the sound you want from them. It is the most convenient to add to every track that is for sure. As you can load it on the tracks with a few button clicks. I personally did not find it as satisfying as some of the other options on the market (gotta remember that Cakewalk Tape plugin is now 6-7 years old. not a huge deal, but I think we have seen some advances in efficient processing and complexity in that time frame). But these things can and generally should be very subtle. Almost as though when you A/B you hear the difference but otherwise likely would not.

Look at Used Heritage Guitars "LP style models" made in the original Gibson Factory, and on the whole they make better guitars than Gibson does, including the custom shop. the new ones are well out of your price range, but the used market takes a major unnecessary hit. I've seen them go for close to what your OP guitar price range is in. No way would I buy a made in Korea model for ~$1000, I have owned a Schecter before and it looked fantastic, but the electronics and play-ability were not anywhere close to the order of what Heritage offers. The guitar sat virtually unplayed for about 6 years until I sold it. Had noise and grounding problems...and yeah, likely could have spent a few hundred fixing that, but not really worth it. As for versatile tone...not exactly sure a LP qualifies for that. And since you are looking for a Floyd Rose, not sure a LP is really what you are after either. Other option is Eastman (made in China). They have have options that sound and are made better than Schecter's made in Korea lineup.

What is odd is that "installer" then actually downloads the installer and files it uses for the installer. On the machines I ran it on it downloads what is in effect the actual installer. The initial program they give you is effectively some downloader application that makes sure it is downloading everything needed, but doesn't actually end up installing the program or used as a manager such as paulo mentions.

It is cool, but resource heavy. I can't imagine using it across tracks on a project. Maybe at the mastering stage. If it was coded more efficiently it would be pretty amazing.

There are way more options than that and they really do all sound different. All impact the high end in different ways, all impact teh low end in different ways, all color the sound in different ways. A good one should be fairly subtle, but able to push it more for effect if needed. IK Multimedia has 4 different tape emulators - they sound great, but somewhat resourse hungry Kramer Master Tape is an old standard but I'd buy Waves J37 anyday over it (though I'd also stay away from WAVES due to single computer authroization) Softube = ilok so limited authorization there as well. Check out Airwindows Tape - it is free - while it basically only has 2 sliders, it frankly sounds as good as many of the paid counterparts. ToneBoosters Reelbus 4 is like $40. You can give it a free test spin. It impacts and tames more of the high end than I generally prefer but a good option with a fully resizable gui and a number of tweaks you can make under the hood that are fairly unique. Taupe is very good - but also very resource hungry https://www.acustica-audio.com/pages/acqua-manuals I would personally try a few before buying. Use them on a few different types of projects.

For those wondering - I think these are the extra Amplitube 4 models you get: Super Reverb Twin Reverb Deluxe Reverb AC30

Well the mu-ton biphase sounds completely different. The design might be evolutionary in what it can do, but always felt like a totally different effect (and not one I'd use as much. And believe it or not, I've played one of those monstrosities.

Yeah, if I didn't already have the Tube Modulator one, at least the demos of the UV Vibe sound promising.

Depends on exactly what you want out of a chord track. Nothing free does what I want. Scaler 2 or EZ Keys are closest for what I'm looking for. But neither of those also have the chord progression at the top like the arranger view in the OP (which is something I think Cake walk desperately needs. There are a few concepts to the idea of a Chord track. The visualization of where Chords change (without having to resort to painfully tiny markers that the user has to create one by one) The other idea is having these chord selection pick and play basic chords for you to preview as you build a song. More like Scaler or EZKeys (and what Cubase offers)