z3ta+2 HOW CAN I GET Z3TA+2 IN 2025

[Name]

I have been seeking Avicii's sound since I was a child. Because he was using Z3TA+.

However, I didn't have the money at the time and tried to save up to buy it after I started working in 2020.

However, it was already unavailable because the old Cakewalk disbanded in 2017.

 I really needed Z3TA+2 for my music, so I pulled out my old Windows 10 computer and installed the Steam demo version.

 Then I exported the CRQ file from there and tried to load it into BandLab Assistant to get the request.dat, but the specs had changed and it looked like Splice and most of the features had been removed.

 So I installed the Cakewalk Product Center from BandLab and tried Offline Activation, but I got this message and I could not do anything. The CRQ file is invalid for the selected application."

 I have tried every way possible, but there is no way to legally purchase or even activate it.
Furthermore, my main machine, a Apple Silicon Mac, no longer has Z3TA+2 available.

What on earth can I do?

 

I have sent an email to BandLab asking them to reinstate it and have not received a reply in a year. 

 If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Edited January 14 by Name

[Amberwolf]

I know of no legal way to get Z3TA (any version) nowadays, but it's a great synth (with a few minor design / usability issues), and I wish it was still available for others to get. 

It was made by RGC, I think that was Rene Caballos (sp?); if you could find the source programmer or company maybe you could convince them to re-release it. 

 

I love the thing and use it in virtually every project to one degree or another; some have many instances in it!  Even after all these years of using it (since it was first included in SONAR), I still haven't explored all it's abilities. 

 

This one uses it for most of the synth sounds in it

https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/intron-159

 

Edited January 14 by Amberwolf

[Name]

8 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

I know of no legal way to get Z3TA (any version) nowadays, but it's a great synth (with a few minor design / usability issues), and I wish it was still available for others to get. 

It was made by RGC, I think that was Rene Caballos (sp?); if you could find the source programmer or company maybe you could convince them to re-release it. 

 

I love the thing and use it in virtually every project to one degree or another; some have many instances in it!  Even after all these years of using it (since it was first included in SONAR), I still haven't explored all it's abilities. 

 

Thank you for your reply.

I immediately went to the RGC:Audio website (http://www.rgcaudio.com/) from the archive and tried to contact the email address (info_request@rgcaudio.com) that was there. However, that was already a broken link.

If you have valid contact information for René Ceballos, I would appreciate it if you could share it here.

If you can post it here, we may be able to see more hope for resale if we make a collective request through here, rather than a single request, for example.

[Amberwolf]

Unfortunately I don't have any contact info.  I *think* that at one time, pre-bandlab, he worked at least indirectly for Cakewalk, and that might be why there had been several RGC things included with / provided by Cakewalk back then.   But it's been so long I don't remember for certain. 

EDIT3:  a google search finds potential links to contact info, but you'll have to explore them to see if any are actually for the person we're talking about. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=René+Ceballos+RGC

 

AFAIK, the site you link to (http://www.rgcaudio.com/) is just a squarespace domain placeholder; it's not actually the real site, which IIRC was taken down years ago. 

It probably won't have anything useful on it, but you could check archive.org for any copies of the real website from back then.

EDIT1: this is the last version of the RGC site that archive.org has that doesn't basically just send you to the old cakewalk site for anything. It's pre-Z3TA2, just hte original shown there, from 2007.  (I didn't check *every* version of hte archive, just sampled along the timeline every several versions for a moment, so there *could* be something else there, if you have time to check them all)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070203173036/https://www.rgcaudio.com/

I'd certainly add my name to any list asking for a re-release of Z3TA...but if it's not actually included in the properties bandlab acquired with Cakewalk, and if RGC / Rene isn't still around as a legal entity to authorize it, then it probably can't happen.  (that's something Bandlab would have to respond to). 

 

EDIT2:  Poking around, I found this post that indicates v2 was a CW development based on v1.  If true, then unless bandlab also acquired the synth code and stuff too, you'd have to get Gibson (the last owners of it all) to release it, or sell someone the code so they could do that.   

Basically, without knowing who actually presently owns the code, we don't even know who to pester.   

 

 

Edited January 14 by Amberwolf

[Name]

2 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

Unfortunately I don't have any contact info.  I *think* that at one time, pre-bandlab, he worked at least indirectly for Cakewalk, and that might be why there had been several RGC things included with / provided by Cakewalk back then.   But it's been so long I don't remember for certain. 

EDIT3:  a google search finds potential links to contact info, but you'll have to explore them to see if any are actually for the person we're talking about. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=René+Ceballos+RGC

 

AFAIK, the site you link to (http://www.rgcaudio.com/) is just a squarespace domain placeholder; it's not actually the real site, which IIRC was taken down years ago. 

It probably won't have anything useful on it, but you could check archive.org for any copies of the real website from back then.

EDIT1: this is the last version of the RGC site that archive.org has that doesn't basically just send you to the old cakewalk site for anything. It's pre-Z3TA2, just hte original shown there, from 2007.  (I didn't check *every* version of hte archive, just sampled along the timeline every several versions for a moment, so there *could* be something else there, if you have time to check them all)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070203173036/https://www.rgcaudio.com/

I'd certainly add my name to any list asking for a re-release of Z3TA...but if it's not actually included in the properties bandlab acquired with Cakewalk, and if RGC / Rene isn't still around as a legal entity to authorize it, then it probably can't happen.  (that's something Bandlab would have to respond to). 

 

EDIT2:  Poking around, I found this post that indicates v2 was a CW development based on v1.  If true, then unless bandlab also acquired the synth code and stuff too, you'd have to get Gibson (the last owners of it all) to release it, or sell someone the code so they could do that.   

Basically, without knowing who actually presently owns the code, we don't even know who to pester.   

 

 

Should I send another email to the BandLab ( info@bandlabtechnologies.com )? I have already sent 3 emails, including one from last year.

 Or should I send a reply to René (?) of Twitter X ( https://x.com/rgcaudio ) ?

Or should I contact Gibson at service@gibson.com or https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Support/Contact ?

I hope both Win/Mac will be available again for many users.

[Amberwolf]

I don't know who owns the code so I don't know who you should contact.   

You can try the shotgun approach and hope something sticks somewhere, but I wouldn't expect any results.  

 

[Name]

22 minutes ago, Amberwolf said:

I don't know who owns the code so I don't know who you should contact.   

You can try the shotgun approach and hope something sticks somewhere, but I wouldn't expect any results.  

 

I sent a message to René at Twitter X and to Gibson. I'm waiting for their replies.

By the way, Could you please try email to BandLab ( info@bandlabtechnologies.com ) too? Perhaps I am the only one who is not getting a reply because I am the only one sending request emails. Maybe I need to have as many requests as possible.

[Chaps]

21 hours ago, Name said:

 If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

This may be the clumsiest workaround ever, but if you know which Z3TA patch/es you want to use you could create a MIDI track using another synth, upload that MIDI track and someone could use Z3TA to create an audio track of the performance for you, and tweak as necessary.

[Name]

51 minutes ago, Chaps said:

This may be the clumsiest workaround ever, but if you know which Z3TA patch/es you want to use you could create a MIDI track using another synth, upload that MIDI track and someone could use Z3TA to create an audio track of the performance for you, and tweak as necessary.

Good idea, but I'd have to start by finding a friend who has a Z3TA+ for that...

[Chaps]

23 minutes ago, Name said:

Good idea, but I'd have to start by finding a friend who has a Z3TA+ for that...

I have it because I have Cakewalk Sonar X3 Producer files installed. I could create an audio track from a MIDI track/file, though I have never actually used the Z3TA+. But if you knew which patch you wanted it would be doable, though someone who is more familiar with the Z3TA+ could most likely do a better job. I'm not hip to a lot of file sharing apps but Google Drive is pretty handy. If you create a project file with a MIDI track of what you want, upload it, and post the link to it, anyone with Z3TA+ could take a shot as it.

[Name]

1 hour ago, Chaps said:

I have it because I have Cakewalk Sonar X3 Producer files installed. I could create an audio track from a MIDI track/file, though I have never actually used the Z3TA+. But if you knew which patch you wanted it would be doable, though someone who is more familiar with the Z3TA+ could most likely do a better job. I'm not hip to a lot of file sharing apps but Google Drive is pretty handy. If you create a project file with a MIDI track of what you want, upload it, and post the link to it, anyone with Z3TA+ could take a shot as it.

Thank you very much. However, for now, I would like to wait for the official return of the Z3TA+2.

 I know you probably have an important family and work. I would like to avoid as much as possible taking up your valuable time to try an unofficial method, as it may be risky for both of us.

 However, if there is a desperate chance that BandLab will announce a Z3TA+2, then I would like to consult with you.

 Thank you for trying to help me.
 

[Chaps]

9 minutes ago, Name said:

Thank you very much. However, for now, I would like to wait for the official return of the Z3TA+2.

 I know you probably have an important family and work. I would like to avoid as much as possible taking up your valuable time to try an unofficial method, as it may be risky for both of us.

 However, if there is a desperate chance that BandLab will announce a Z3TA+2, then I would like to consult with you.

 Thank you for trying to help me.
 

I don't work and I spend 99.9% of my waking hours sitting in front of two monitors doing nothing, and I'm get sick of listening to my own music. Listening to this 50 times a day would drive anyone to distraction. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEQUcALqX0m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== , so my time isn't all that valuable

My skills are meager but a project to keep my mind occupied wouldn't be unwelcome. The new Sonar is more likely to offer more synth options than Cakewalk by Bandlab as its support seems limited to maintenance at this point.

[mettelus]

4 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

I don't know who owns the code so I don't know who you should contact.   

This may be more convoluted than you realize, why reaching out to Gibson (if you get any response) was a good idea. There never was a clear definition of which IP was sold to BandLab (another company to contact). After the Gibson debacle, all of the Cakewalk extras ceased development, so it is probable that Gibson retained rights to everything except the DAW itself. No idea, just speculation; but if Gibson retained those rights, Z3TA+2 may be off the radar for good. Because all of those apps ceased development and were not even re-released in their "current form" which would have been simple to do, I am assuming BandLab was only interested in the DAW portion and Gibson still controls the extras, but that has never been confirmed or denied.

[Name]

4 minutes ago, Chaps said:

I don't work and I spend 99.9% of my waking hours sitting in front of two monitors doing nothing, and I'm get sick of listening to my own music. Listening to this 50 times a day would drive anyone to distraction. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEQUcALqX0m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== , so my time isn't all that valuable

My skills are meager but a project to keep my mind occupied wouldn't be unwelcome. The new Sonar is more likely to offer more synth options than Cakewalk by Bandlab as its support seems limited to maintenance at this point.

I see thank you.

 

You and I seem to be able to establish a cooperative relationship.

I followed you on Instagram.

 

If I want to discuss the Z3TA+ with you privately, I will send you an Instagram message there.

[Chaps]

7 minutes ago, Name said:

If I want to discuss the Z3TA+ with you privately, I will send you an Instagram message there.

There or here. I check both sites daily. FOMO and all that. Thanks for the follow.

[Name]

I've received the email from Gibson.

 

"

Dear Customer,

Thanks for Contacting Gibson.

Unfortunately, we do not have any documents or information about the cakewalk at this time.

We're so sorry about that the only way we can recommend you is to contact BandLab about that.

 

Best regards,

Gibson Japan Customer Service

"

 

Unfortunately, perhaps Gibson has already given away much of the material related to Cakewalk. And that may have included the Z3TA+2 source code.

 

But I will not give up. I will keep pursue the possibilities.

[mettelus]

4 minutes ago, Name said:

Gibson has already given away much of the material related to Cakewalk

Gibson doesn't give away anything, so unless someone bought Z3TA+2 from them, Gibson still owns it. BandLab would be a better source if you can get a legitimate response.

[Chaps]

7 minutes ago, Name said:

But I will not give up. I will keep pursue the possibilities.

I suggest also considering other options, like the Surge XT free virtual synth. While I don't have much experience with Z3TA+, I can usually find something in Surge XT to fit my project, and its GUI and sounds are pretty straight-forward and useful. Like the song says:

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime, you'll find
You get what you need

Surge XT Free Synth

[Sidney Earl Goodroe]

IMO, good call on Surge! I don't actually do a lot of projects using synths in the box, but I  have played around with Zeta quite a bit over the years. 

Surge XT is a beast! BEWARE! There will be quite a learning curve involved but it would be well worth it!

[Alan Tubbs]

Rene sold his earlier synths thru cakewalk.  That included zeta 1.  He then developed Dimension for cakewalks P5.  Dimension was the basis for Dimension Pro and then Rapture/Pro.  I know that doesn’t help but puts the timeline and ownership into a mixed up perspective.

your best bet is to forget about Cakewalks synths.  Use them if you have them, I do!  But I turn them into audio and save those for tracks.  I don’t know if I can add my versions to a new computer.   Bandlab seems perfectly happy just renting Cakewalk Daws out and has shown no interest in adding any old or new synths or effects.  I wouldn’t torture myself over what Bandlab will add for Daw use.  If you have it, use it.  Otherwise move on.