Canopus Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 I just noticed that AAS has released an updated version of their electric piano, called Lounge Lizard EP-5. The price is $149 (regular price a pretty hefty $199), or $49 when upgrading from EP-4 (regular price $79). It can optionally be bought at JRR Shop for $125.16, or the upgrade for $41.16, using code GROUP. Here's what's new. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFigg Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Hmmm. I have Lounge Lizard 4. Also have another 10 (at least) Rhodes plugins. $41.16 though. Hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canopus Posted June 5 Author Share Posted June 5 1 hour ago, MrFigg said: Hmmm. I have Lounge Lizard 4. Also have another 10 (at least) Rhodes plugins. $41.16 though. Hmmm Yep, my exact thoughts. I have tons of Rhodes and Wurlis, including Lounge Lizard EP-4, and don’t really need another one. But AAS has always been one of the really good and generous companies, giving away a free sound bank every year, so I thought I’d show them some love and pressed the button anyway. Still waiting for my license, though. However, I bought the upgrade for $41.16 at JRR Shop, and not directly from AAS for $49. My altruism has its limits. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFigg Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 7 minutes ago, Canopus said: Yep, my exact thoughts. I have tons of Rhodes and Wurlis, including Lounge Lizard EP-4, and don’t really need another one. But AAS has always been one of the really good and generous companies, giving away a free sound bank every year, so I thought I’d show them some love and pressed the button anyway. Still waiting for my license, though. However, I bought the upgrade for $41.16 at JRR Shop, and not directly from AAS for $49. My altruism has its limits. Let me/ us know if you have no regrets when it finally arrives :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFigg Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Now I'm trialing it and trying to pretend that it sounds better than all the other ones. Side by side with the new Klevgrand one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promidi Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 Is anyone having an issue with the VST2 version preset dropdown of Lounge Lizard EP5 not staying put.... it disappears before you have a chance the select the preset. This is on CbB, VST2 only. VST3 is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canopus Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 On 6/5/2025 at 1:00 PM, MrFigg said: Let me/ us know if you have no regrets when it finally arrives :). Wow. Is the site up again already? That was fast! Just a tad more than 24 hours. As to the question, I can’t really hear any difference when running the EP-4 sound banks in EP-4 and EP-5 side by side. But that may be a good thing. I’m sure the enhanced physical modelling core will add to the realism when put to the test. However, I honestly prefer the main user interface in EP-4; it’s brighter, has better contrast and larger knobs compared to EP-5. Also, to have all the tweakability that’s available by default in EP4, you have to switch EP-5 to its detailed Expert mode. Sure, you can resize the GUI in EP-5 from 75 % to 200 % in 25 % increments, which is great, but to my aging, not-so-20/20 vision, it’s questionable whether the UI overall can be considered an upgrade. On the other hand, I do appreciate the new Library with its Search function and possibility to select and filter Favorites. An additional 150 factory presets won’t hurt, and the updated Effects rack is a step forward. As always, you win some and you lose some, but overall, I have no regrets. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canopus Posted Friday at 02:33 PM Author Share Posted Friday at 02:33 PM (edited) 38 minutes ago, Promidi said: Is anyone having an issue with the VST2 version preset dropdown of Lounge Lizard EP5 not staying put.... it disappears before you have a chance the select the preset. This is on CbB, VST2 only. VST3 is fine. I can't see that when running the VST2 version in CbB. The drop-down stays where it should be. I tested 75 %, 100 % and 125 % scaling to see if there was any difference, but it worked as expected regardless. However, I much prefer the Library view as it allows presets to be changed without the need to press Enter each and every time a new preset should be loaded. Using the Up and Down keys are sufficient there. Edited Friday at 02:34 PM by Canopus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promidi Posted Friday at 09:53 PM Share Posted Friday at 09:53 PM 7 hours ago, Canopus said: I can't see that when running the VST2 version in CbB. The drop-down stays where it should be. I tested 75 %, 100 % and 125 % scaling to see if there was any difference, but it worked as expected regardless. However, I much prefer the Library view as it allows presets to be changed without the need to press Enter each and every time a new preset should be loaded. Using the Up and Down keys are sufficient there. Must be particular to my PC. However, you’re right about the Library view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promidi Posted Friday at 11:25 PM Share Posted Friday at 11:25 PM 1 hour ago, Promidi said: Must be particular to my PC. However, you’re right about the Library view. Found the issue. It was Jbridge. For AAS plugins in Cakewalk, I have an issue where AAS plugins have an intermittent "click of death" and stops producing sounds. Freezing and unfreezing gets the sounds back. Bizarrely, Jbridge prevents this issue from occurring. (Yes, I know Jbridge is actually for 32bit plugins that don't play nice). But that is a story for another thread (perhaps). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Steinschneider Posted Sunday at 02:34 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:34 PM Lounge Lizard 4 and VB3 1.4 were my original two VST plugins that got me started. Someone moving out of a loft near our business left behind an XP-80 that suffered the epoxy meltdown (weights under keys fall off and pink goop gets onto circuit boards below). After I got it cleaned up and the weights re-epoxied I started looking for the vintage keyboard card. Someone on a keyboard forum advised me to check out VB3 and LL4 and I've never looked back. I've gravitated to Cherry Audio 140B Wurlybird for EP. Still use LL4 for Rhodes though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted Sunday at 02:40 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:40 PM Lounge Lizard EP-4 was my first virtual Rhodes and I still love it dearly. Got so many Rhodes plugins in the meantime but the Applied Acoustics one still sits high up there. So this upgrade should be a no-brainer. AAS, here I come. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFigg Posted Sunday at 03:01 PM Share Posted Sunday at 03:01 PM Yeah, I'll be getting it too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canopus Posted Sunday at 03:16 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 03:16 PM Just a quick tip for anyone thinking the Lounge Lizard EP-5 GUI lost too much of its contrast compared to EP-4. It is possible to enhance the legibility to more acceptable levels pretty easily. As all EP-5 GUI elements are stored as images in C:\Program Files\Applied Acoustics Systems\Lounge Lizard EP-5\Bitmaps (in Windows, that is), all you need is an image editor that can handle png files. I used Photoshop, but free alternatives like Gimp will do perfectly fine. Be sure to create a backup of the Bitmaps folder before you begin. As for me, I updated the four background GUI files (two for Tines and two for Reed) by adjusting the levels; first by brighten the midtones and then by increasing the contrast. Here’s one of them, as displayed in Sonar. It took me some 20 minutes in total for all four images, and, although subtle, I think it turned out pretty well. Of course, much more could be done by anyone so inclined. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy1 Posted Sunday at 04:54 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:54 PM On 6/6/2025 at 4:25 PM, Promidi said: Found the issue. It was Jbridge. For AAS plugins in Cakewalk, I have an issue where AAS plugins have an intermittent "click of death" and stops producing sounds. Freezing and unfreezing gets the sounds back. Bizarrely, Jbridge prevents this issue from occurring. (Yes, I know Jbridge is actually for 32bit plugins that don't play nice). But that is a story for another thread (perhaps). AAS installers don't give you choice. They install every plugin format. I usually have to clean out those Pro Tools format ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promidi Posted Sunday at 08:41 PM Share Posted Sunday at 08:41 PM 3 hours ago, kitekrazy1 said: AAS installers don't give you choice. They install every plugin format. I usually have to clean out those Pro Tools format ones. I have a script that runs daily that deletes Avid folder (if found) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAGinz Posted Monday at 10:00 AM Share Posted Monday at 10:00 AM Have loved EP-4 for years. One of my first. Not quite feeling it for 5 yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFigg Posted Tuesday at 12:51 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 12:51 PM (edited) In the cart. Been comparing the remastered LL4 presets to the originals and I honestly can't hear a difference. Also a bit strange is that the remastered ones have a few with 2 versions e.g Bfly1 and Bfly2 . Not sure what's going on there. So, as said, in the cart but I still can't decide whether to press the button. Edit: Bought Edited Tuesday at 02:18 PM by MrFigg 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFigg Posted Tuesday at 03:11 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 03:11 PM On 6/5/2025 at 12:52 PM, Canopus said: Still waiting for my license, though. How long did you have to wait? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canopus Posted Tuesday at 03:33 PM Author Share Posted Tuesday at 03:33 PM (edited) 25 minutes ago, MrFigg said: How long did you have to wait? About 10 hours. The license link came through some middle-man called Skuport, so check your spam folder if it doesn'r arrive in due time. Well, provided you bought from JRR Shop, that is. Edited Tuesday at 03:38 PM by Canopus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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