Why Was TTS-1 Never a VSTi?

[sjoens]

It's based on Roland's Hyper Canvas which was DXi and VSTi. 

Edited August 30, 2024 by sjoens

[bitflipper]

Cakewalk/12Tone never owned the TTS-1. It was created and owned by Roland, and licensed to Cakewalk. This is why it's no longer included with Sonar - it was removed from the distribution at Roland's direction.

It was implemented as a DXi because at the time that made the most sense for a Windows-based DAW, and the TTS-1 was exclusive to Sonar (Roland owned a large share of Cakewalk at the time).

The DX format offered features unavailable to VSTs, such as finer automation resolution and better preset management. Those differences are moot today, and VST has become the standard due to its universality. If Roland had designs on revamping the TTS-1 and broadening its appeal, they would certainly rewrite it as a VST. But Roland has little interest in the wider software market anymore. Channeling software development into hardware synths yields bigger profit margins, exclusivity, and no worries about software piracy.

[Adrian Gregory]

Will there be a VST replacement for TTS-1?

[Terry Kelley]

The Munt MT32 is very close.

[Starship Krupa]

3 hours ago, Adrian Gregory said:

Will there be a VST replacement for TTS-1?

You mean a GM soundset virtual instrument supplied by Cakewalk?

I've never seen a BandLab/Cakewalk employee even hint that there will be, and considering that the GM file format seems to have fallen off in popularity, my guess would be no.

[Eddie]

22 hours ago, Terry Kelley said:

The Munt MT32 is very close.

The Munt MT32 is not GM, while the TTS-1 is. They're not close, unfortunately.

[pedwal wally wally wha]

20 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

You mean a GM soundset virtual instrument supplied by Cakewalk?

I've never seen a BandLab/Cakewalk employee even hint that there will be, and considering that the GM file format seems to have fallen off in popularity, my guess would be no.

yep, shame, useful for playing midi files ootb

i'll bet a shiny euro their next "big" thing will be some kind of "ai" thing

[Terry Kelley]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

The Munt MT32 is not GM, while the TTS-1 is. They're not close, unfortunately.

Nope but it’s close enough and doesn’t crash.

[Adrian Gregory]

Thanks all,

Maybe I'll try Munt - It's simply to play a library of midi cover songs.  I just like to quickly check whether they are OK before I edit and TTS-1 did the job within Cakewalk.

[Terry Kelley]

I used TTS a lot but as I noticed its flakiness I started looking for a replacement. 

[sjoens]

I don't understand copyright law but if Roland only licensed TTS-1 to Cakewalk, how can Cakewalk or Twelve Tone copyright it?

[Xoo]

I assume the name TTS-1 is what's copyrighted, but the IP underlying it is owned/licensed by Roland.