mettelus

I just checked again and shot them an email myself. It seems to be related to the new site layout, but most who would see it would also recognize it (I hope). iZotope on the other hand.... LOL (good grief)

Yep... the MCompleteBundle was a bit cheaper a couple years ago solely due to the 4 new plugins included. I was hinting more to the point that if you own a bundle, you will get the new ones that are added to it in the future at no cost. Weird side note... I like the look of the new web page, but when I signed in there were suddenly offers there for bundles... and comments of "get X more plugins with this bundle." They may be counting MCompleteBundle as an single plugin, but I need to email them about that one. iZotope will sell you the same plugin as many times as you want to buy it, but Melda has always blocked you from doing so (one ethical practice that always stood out amongst the rest).

These are very good plugins, and keep getting better. I got into an interesting conversation with newer musicians, but the bottom line was to the effect of "gear is expensive, requires care, tuning, storage and more skill to use and especially record properly... plugins are often far cheaper, never need tuning, "record" cleaner, can be adjusted after recording more easily and can be stored in far less space... it really comes down to what you really want to achieve, and how much you want to spend." I jumped onboard with AmpleSound last year because I needed a 12-string acoustic, and hate tuning them... even at FULL price, AG12 was $500 cheaper than the cheapest real 12-string I would have bought. Also, for those interested, it is difficult to detemine % savings as you add plugins to your order, so I just updated a chart I made last year. The break point is at 3 plugins, and is pretty consistent regardless of "which" ones you choose. Note: The NON-sale version of this graph has the same curve, and is slightly steeper for the first part (0%, 16%, 33% for the first 3 versus 20%, 33%, 46% when on sale); but the second part is only 12% lower (more expensive) than the sale prices (basically, best "bang for the buck" is 3 in either case, but missing a sale will only cost you 12% more if you miss a sale cycle).

I am not sure if that Corel popup is the task or the service, but I have the services set to manual (required to use the apps), and the tasks disabled. I believe they are the tasks. For the Services... type "Services" into Windows Search/Cortana, sort by name, and scroll down to "Corel License Validation Service ..." There are two with different text for the ... Right click one, select "Properties," and set "Startup Type" to Manual (in the middle). Repeat for the other. This will only start them when launching a Corel application, but they will run until the computer is reboot. For the Tasks... type "Task Scheduler" into Windows Search/Cortana, click "Task Scheduler Library" in left pane, sort the right pane by name, and right click->disable each of the "CorelUpdateHelperTask ..." items listed (is also two in there).

Man, that sucks. I hope you get resolution to it. Definitely do the pawn shop thing. I am not sure what the laws are there, but here pawn shops are required to put a 3 week hold on merchandise before they can actually sell it. Caught me off guard, but is a good practice... they put gear on display, but has an "available date" on it. Even if they do not have such, it is very likely that whomever stole it would take the entire list to a shop to see how much they could get. A shop "should" be able to recognize the same list twice in a few days.

That is good to know. I don't often see things unless they pass through this forum, and should probably check out humble bundle more often "just because." The name alone wouldn't have gotten my attention, but the examples on their page sure did (the surfer one is probably the most impressive). For $1 that is definitely a no brainer. Without someone chiming in and saying what it is and why its cool, the name recognition can fall short for a lot of products. The brush packs for Particleshop are NOT cheap, even bundled... and I only saw the bundles in the app itself, which only shows 12 of the included packs per set. As far as I can tell, the best of the packs (like Fabric Fantasy) are not bundled, only separate. Not the best marketing out there, and is $24.99 for roughly 15 brushes per pack. It is a bit difficult to find clear information on the web on them as well...

This is the time of year to add a bundle to your cart and see how much credit you get for previously purchased plugins. The bundle prices keep creeping up year to year; but if you own them, the new plugins added to it are free.

Just to clarify, there is no way to play non-Uebershall loops in their player, correct? I got their Soundtracks stuff a while back, and seems their player will only use their own libraries, but wanted to verify that.

Hold the phone... wasn't the Professional Crossgrade from another DAW $199 last week? That link has it at full price ($299)! This time of year is when the Professional Crossgrade typically gets cheapest (and sometimes can pick up Notion 6 if lucky). I was expecting to see the Crossgrade at $149. I just checked PreSonus quick and the Crossgrade there is still listed at $199.

Corel had a sale that "ended" last night (and missed the deadline on), but when I added PhotoMirage to my cart at 1 AM it came up even cheaper! The sale is still on, with bigger discounts, so is worth sharing. The link is here. I have had VideoStudio Ultimate for a few years now, which is a nice lightweight video editor (sale is $49.99 versus $99.99). That program typically updates early in the calendar year, and I wait till the upgrade goes on sale. I was actually interested in PhotoMirage, which is another lightweight editor to add motion to a picture (coverts to a video or gif file). That is on sale for $34.99 versus $69.99. The interesting side-effect is that it is bundled with ParticleShop & WinZip 23. I had never heard of ParticleShop before, which is a dynamic brush plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, Corel, and "some other graphics programs." I was having more fun with ParticleShop after buying PhotoMirage, and it was included for free (the 11 core brushes are not bad at all, but apparently they get more revenue from the brush sets than the program - and there are a truckload of them). ParticleShop is a plugin, so I had to Google to find out where it embedded itself into Photoshop on me.

Sforzando is a free sfz player (the format used by Dimension Pro and other instruments). The engine to it is the ARIA player, and there are more free libraries people have made for those. I like Sforzando for a couple simple reasons, it will tap into installed programs that have the sfz file structure, and shows you which keys are mapped for a given sound bank. Not all keys are mapped for some instruments, so it is a royal pain to find which keys truly have sounds associated with them. Sforzando itself includes some free samples (scroll down that page to the Sforzando section, and is the "Sound banks for sforzando" link on the far right). Additionally, the ARIA Engine has many sound sets that are also free. On to the paid stuff... You can also buy sample libraries which also use the ARIA engine (Garritan is probably the most popular set, with Personal Orchestra 5 being the most well rounded version). Please note: If you buy any VSTs, be sure to check the deals section or ask folks there... the best deals are not always from the company, and some deals are at ridiculously low prices, especially this time of year. Lastly, with all of that said, Kontakt is considered the best sample player, but many free libraries require the full Kontakt player (be sure to check this on each library), which may be cost-prohibitive depending on what you are trying to achieve. Edit: Spitfire Audio LABS is also a nice freebie. They put out a new instrument each month, and have enough out now that you can browse what they have done to date. They have a few string libraries already. You just need to sign up and use their audio app to download them. The playback engine is not robust, but you can easily add FX to the tracks you play them in.

Yes, the CbB update cleared it for me.

Yes, this is Win10. It pops up when the toast "Opening Project: Creating UI..." comes up when launching CbB via double-clicking a MIDI file. Ironically, acknowledging it opens the project, UI is loaded properly, but the audio engine is offline and cannot be started (in WASAPI shared mode). The Output of all tracks reads "1-". If CbB is already open (launched as Adminstrator), doubling clicking a MIDI file does nothing. Changing Driver Mode has no effect. This is version 2019.05. Update: I just updated to 2019.09 and it cleared itself with no other changes.

Yeah, there is only one entry to put any type of discount in the buy cycle. There also has not been any type of sale since the email was first sent that I am aware of.

I seem to recall threads on the old forum noting problems with the GUI if not using 100% sizing. The specifics of that varied from thread to thread, but the resolution for most was to revert to 100%. I am not sure if that is OS dependent, or if there is another solution out there for you. Hopefully someone else can chime in on that specifically. It seems that the 100% option is not preferred in your case. @scook had also posted comments to toggle the Windows Magnifier in several posts as well, which may allow you to use 100% with the magnifier as an assist.

I remember seeing this somewhere before, but cannot seem to find the thread now. Can someone please point me to the thread about TTS-1 failing to load? I just used CbB to launch a .mid file and got this pop up:

Before getting excited about the gift card, read up on their main page and check compatibility if you intend to use these with an Android phone (they list known good phone and Pads, but not all are guaranteed and they have an app to test for you). This is basically a competitor to Aerodrums which doesn't require you to sit in a bright light, so can play them anywhere with a supporting mobile device. This Gift Card offer passed through my email a couple weeks ago (I stripped off the email specifics and it still works), and is a deal to save $24 during the holiday sales (can be combined with other promotions). The fine print says it is NOT valid in Australia and New Zealand (be sure to read the specifics on the offer). Gift cards are usable through 01.01.2020. For the digital gift cards it says: "Digital gift cards may only be used on Complete and Starter Kit products until the date of validity stated on the digital gift card. Digital gift cards are delivered as PDF files once the purchase is confirmed. Digital gift cards are refundable for the purchased amount for up to 12 months from the date of purchase. You may not combine the code provided on the digital gift card with another discount code. Digital gift cards are not valid for use in Australia and New Zealand." Apparently you can refund the card after it expires?? Has anyone tried these out yet? I asked this a couple years ago and no one responded, but I have been following them since they did a kickstarter project in 2016. I like the interface much more than Aerodrums, but have not seen anyone else mention them in the forums (yet). I may end up being the guinea pig for the forum, which is fine, but I like the ability to drive a VSTi without a kit or keyboard.

Can you clarify what "close to the edges" means? Do you mean the outside edge of the monitor, or the edge of controls (like windows, objects, etc.)? Regarding window borders: one thing that stands out dramatically with Win10 right from the get-go is the "borderless" windows... they actually have a very narrow border, but depending on the resolution of your mouse, it is easier to cross back and forth over it (and see the icon change), but never actually hit it. One plugin that I forget offhand had a 1 pixel border that left me absolutely livid, until I finally realized that the entire lower right corner (easy target), was the "resize hot spot" for the UI. The mouse itself becomes a Catch22 at that point, some will easily hit fine resolution, but then it takes forever to cross a screen (especially an ultrawide or multiple monitor setup). There are not a lot that have toggle switches between normal/precision mode; but even with those, if I find myself leaning into my monitor to hit small targets, I know I have already crossed the bounds of ergonomics. Ergonomics is not often hit upon, but hours straight in front of a computer is not healthy. The human eye has a very defined focal point to it, so being able to sit in a proper posture and moving your eyes to view your workspace rather than your head is ideal. Additionally, breaks are important to prevent fatigue and strain, so enforcing a habit of 5-10 minutes each hour to view things at a distance, walk, etc. is a good habit to form.

That and remembering plugins is a massive feature combination. The Faderport never really hit my radar before, but that video alone is effective marketing.

Thanks Larry. I seem to recall seeing an "only from us" comment somewhere but cannot find it now on their main site, then I saw the identical price ($55.95) at Sweetwater. EDIT: DOH... it is in the green banner on the main page! LOL... added all that to the OP. I only caught this because I had added the url to a wish list when I realized I do need the ability to edit the gpx files for AmpleSound. I thought I could work around that initially, but is clunky otherwise.

Didn't see this posted yet, but may be a duplicate. Guitar Pro is on sale till 3 December on their main web site and some retailers. Their main site says, "Offer only available on guitar-pro.com until December 3," but I also saw it on Sweetwater for 20% off ($55.95 new, $27.95 upgrade). https://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php

LOL, right when I was about to post a snarky "If FX Pro does nothing... does FX Elite do nothing better??" this stopped me in my tracks (sorta). This is why I have to have equipment that either hums, has a fan, or is riddled with lights... most have the power switch on the back!

High resolution is an interesting and fustrating way to find all of the objects in a GUI that are only 2 pixels wide... only to find out that your mouse has 5 pixel precision to it.

The main screen in LatencyMon will give you a comment after the program has run for a couple minutes. The other pages/tabs in the program allow you to sort through specifics of the capture and let you sort results by column to better find the outliers, but the main screen will present a message of "Your system is adequate for audio processing" in green text or "Your system may have difficulty processing audio" in red text. I forget the exact verbiage, but it is similar to those. That main page also shows you what items have gone into the red, which will point you at the tabs to look at (the main screen is the go/no go indicator). If any of the top 4 bars on the main screen go into the red, start looking at the processes on those sub-pages. Google will help figure out what they are, and those that are services, can be set to manual if not a core function. Another item to check is to open the windows task manager (this will also up latency while doing so) and watch the CPU/Disk/Network Usage while playing back a project. You may also get some insight there. If your disk or CPU usage is truly spiking, you will also catch that there. If the network is doing things, you can disable BT, Wi-Fi and unplug ethernet cables and try again.

Quick question - is mp4 becoming the standard for karaoke tracks? The OP made me do a quick search and the first page was loaded with CD+G to mp4 converters.