ZincT

Thanks Piotr. I thought I would try the demo as I am trying to be more selective about stuff I buy. Well having tried it I think it’s impressive but I will pass even at this price. Truth is I really don’t need it . I have ProQ3 and many others. So I avoided the GAS this time. ?

There's also a MIDI bundle on offer at ADSR (20 hours left when I last looked) for anyone who is into MIDI chords/drums... https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/presets/midi-nerds-bundle-5-for-20/

Wow, that's some saving Larry....but is it worth having?

T-4 days and counting! This and Scaler 2 are my two lockdown treats-in-waiting for this month (plus the new keyboard). Any indications who is going to be cheapest yet Larry?

Cheers Larry. Btw it looks like you accidentally posted the link back to this thread instead of T&S. https://www.timespace.com/collections/special-offers/impact-soundworks

I installed MIDI Control Centre and used this to apply the firmware upgrade which was painless. The integration with Analog Lab is really nice as you would expect but the User MAP button should allow quick switching setups for Kontakt, Sampletank 4, Unify etc.

I have updated Waves Central but the only other update for me is OVox and the latest release notes (March 24th, details below) don't mention a fix for the CbB issue so I am sticking with my current version which seems to work fine. Ovox 11.0.61.58 Update: New: MIDI Out support. New: 250 presets added. New: SoundGrid support; OVox can now be used in eMotion LV1 and SuperRack. New: NKS-ready for NI Komplete Kontrol and Maschine. Fixed: AutoPan Stomp Initialization. Fixed: Audio artifacts when using Glide while playing chords. Various other fixes and improvements

Apologies @abacab I missed this post and thanks for clarifying. That should make things pretty painless ?

It's now installed and looking good. Excellent piece of kit which feels well put together and looks really nice in white with wooden accents at each end. Setup was a breeze: Connect via the included USB type B cable, Windows 10 recognises and configures automatically. The startup light show is also quite impressive and it goes into this mode if left unused after a while. I have tried Analog Lab 4, a few of the V Collection 6, Pigments 2 and even Synthmaster which all seemed to allow use of the faders, knobs etc. without any further configuration. I need to look up the DAW config for CbB and others to use the transports controls but from the video I saw on this it looks straightforward. It comes with Analog Lab (which I already own so a spare license to sell), Ableton Live Lite (another spare) and UVI Grand Piano Model D which looks like a Steinway Concert Grand (49 EUR value). There's also MIDI control Centre to download and a new firmware version (the display shows the version when it boots up). It's on 1.1.2 and 1.1.6 is available which apparently improves knob smoothing ?). I have also downloaded the manual to have a quick look at and make sure I haven't missed anything useful. The extra octave compared to my old controller certainly makes a difference and it just squeezes into the required space. ?

Currently when you drag and drop a MIDI file onto CbB with no project opened it will automatically open a new project with an instance of TTS-1 and all of the MIDI track outputs set to TTS-1. This is really useful and I wouldn't want to change this behaviour except to have an option for the user to choose whichever instrument VSTi/DXi should be used by CbB for MIDI file playback. The default should continue to be TTS-1 but, for example, I would like CbB to use the Roland Sound Canvas VA VSTi. I can imagine some kind of preferences option like the one I made up below. You would click on the Browse button to select a different default MIDI synth.

I just tried it with a MIDI file that I have been working with recently which uses some Sysex and it worked well in CbB with SC VA. I also tried it in Cubase and Studio One with SC VA and they all sounded pretty much identical. The manual also mentions the "Import SMF EXC" function; if you’re using a DAW that cannot handle system exclusive messages, this loads MIDI data and applies the system parameters to SOUND Canvas VA.

That's interesting and I'm amazed that you still have one. Does it still power on or is that why you use samples of it?

It arrived! ? However, I've only got as far as looking at the box today ?

I had a CM-64 back in the day followed by a D-10 but always lusted after a Sound Canvas. Listening to some of these sounds they still stand up these days but the main reason for me to get it is for ultimate compatibility with millions of GM/GS MIDI files out there. I am actually pretty impressed with TTS-1 for that purpose but you probably can't beat the Sound Canvas as a lot of the files were written using one. BTW the FAQ says ...

I only have the free Roland Cloud at the moment but I guess it still lets you buy stuff outright if you want to.

It's within the new Cloud Manager @Fwrend ... Next to where it says Get Lifetime Key (top right) Worked out at around £57 inc VAT in the UK.

Lol! I guess you are all Zen'd out then Fleer ? That must be a beast!

Would be interested to hear @Fleer 's thoughts on this?

To answer my own query, the difference between the free and $3/month version is that you get free Sound Packs and Wave Expansions with the paid one. They can only be used in the Zenology plugin though.

Yes I was thinking the same and wondering whether it might prompt Korg to drop their prices. Wishful thinking maybe Just trying to figure out whether it's worth $3/month compared to the free version.

For anyone who does a lot of GM/GS MIDI stuff I also noticed that their Sound Canvas VA seems to have dropped a lot in price to buy outright. It was $120 but now $69.

There are 182 presets to choose from covering a lot of bases (some excellent pads I noticed). I have shown the first 40 below. You can click on categories to filter by type. The UI changes depending on the type of preset. So a drum preset displays drum pads rather than cutoff, resonance etc.

Thanks @musical I keep looking at Roland Cloud but the price has put me off as a hobbyist user who already has heaps of synths. This has definitely got my attention though. Here are the various membership options and what's included... https://www.rolandcloud.com/roland-account/memberships/ I notice that whichever membership option you choose it starts with a month trial of Ultimate so you can sample everything they have to offer. I guess they are hoping that after a month of access to everything you wouldn't want to lose access to some of the better stuff but $199/year is too much for me. Also if you pay annually the cost is less. For example Core is $2.99/month paid monthly or $2.49/month paid annually ($29.99). The entry level doesn't include much (unless you own a Fantom or RD-88 hardware) so I would be looking for at least Pro for $99/year (approx £6.70 per month). Still not sure whether that's low enough for me. Do you know if there is still a loyalty program? I think they used to allow you to keep one piece of software every year if you subscribed or something like that. Maybe that's only on the higher subscriptions. Just trying the free Zenology plugin and it is pretty nice for a freebie - one to add to the freebie instruments thread.

Yes it's certainly going to get a lot of use here. Some of those multis are killer.

Thanks abacab! That's a good deal including VC 6. Are you tempted? Maybe if you wait they might include VC 7, IDK. Might be worth an email to Arturia to see if they would consider a free VC 7 upgrade if you were to buy it? I have VC 6 but the upgrade price for VC 7 hasn't yet fallen to what I consider reasonable for 3 extra models. Still there's plenty to keep me occupied in VC 6. I looked at the Keylab Mk II but decided that I couldn't justify the extra cost as the Essential version also works well with the V Collection. Space is also at a premium in my workspace so the Essential version should fit in nicely (leaving more room for guitars ).