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Tayter Swift
Nov 18, 2002

Pillbug

0dB posted:

GearSlutz

... And the fact that this is the name of one of the most popular synth boards is just... Jesus Christ :ughh:

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Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.

Bananalogue posted:

... And the fact that this is the name of one of the most popular synth boards is just... Jesus Christ :ughh:
Yeah. I use their "Gearsz.com" skin so at least it doesn't say "SLUTZ" in a huge banner across every page. But the gearsz.com domain automatically resolves to gearslutz, and it still says "Gearslutz" in your browser tabs. Super unfortunate.

coolskull
Nov 11, 2007

KVR has a music theory forum and it's the worst place to try and learn anything. A couple people who know poo poo and a billion others trying to teach each other things they don't understand

W424
Oct 21, 2010
http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/XILS%203%20LE%20V2.0.html only 4€ if you are a cheap bastard.

coolskull
Nov 11, 2007

Do they still use the iLok program or something for that?

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.

BKPR posted:

Do they still use the iLok program or something for that?
Some of their products use either iLok or eLicenser, but I don't think this LE version does. (And probably partly why they're able to offer it so cheap.)

coolskull
Nov 11, 2007

Yeah, just saw this:
http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/XILS32_Differences-And-Upgrade.html
So looks fine as long as you don't upgrade. I'll pick it up.

Your Computer
Oct 3, 2008




Grimey Drawer

Oh, sweet! A genuine analog modular synth for only 4€? :aaa:



e: wait a second this is a vst, you lied to me XILS

magiccarpet
Jan 3, 2005




Ohmicide is $29 bucks at Guitar Center (in store only). Everyone should own Ohmicide.

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.
Now that Komplete 10's out, I was curious to hear how NI's three new pianos stacked up against the various other sampled pianos you can find in Kontakt and Komplete 10 Ultimate.

I went through all the current and recent Native Instruments pianos from Komplete 9 & 10 Ultimate and compared them by features and sound.

Here's the resulting article: Native Instruments Acoustic Pianos Compared

Inside you'll find screenshots and sound clips of every piano, as well as details like where you can find them and which original piano models they're based on.



While I'm still a huge fan of Alicia's Keys, I'm really loving the new "The Gentleman" as well.

Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

I have been using The Grandeur quite a bit, really all three of the new pianos are better than the Upright/New York/Berlin etc. but I still like The Giant the best of all the NI pianos.

Dessert Rose
May 17, 2004

awoken in control of a lucid deep dream...

Earwicker posted:

I have been using The Grandeur quite a bit, really all three of the new pianos are better than the Upright/New York/Berlin etc. but I still like The Giant the best of all the NI pianos.

The Giant is easily my favorite piano of all the ones I own.

Earwicker
Jan 6, 2003

also I have been getting really into the Maverick. I didn't like it at first but with some tweaking it is really great for ambient piano pieces.

https://soundcloud.com/disparition/three-ghosts-at-place-sainte-scarbes

Flipperwaldt
Nov 11, 2011

Won't somebody think of the starving hamsters in China?



There's 30% off most Waldorf plugins until the 27th of october if anyone was considering one of these. Coupon code WALDORF30

Largo, Lector, PPG wave 3.V and The Waldorf Edition (LE editions of Attack, PPG Wave 2.V and D-Pole)

http://www.waldorf-music.info/steinberg-meets-waldorf

It says exclusive offer for Cubase customers, but someone on the Blofeld facebook page said it just works for everyone, presumably after testing it.

coolskull
Nov 11, 2007

Asked on KVR and got nothing, so maybe some of you folks know: I want to test some of my effects, get some concrete data on their character. What would you guys recommend doing for this? My first thought was just running a sine wave or white noise through, depending. Aside from seeing the shape of a filter though, I'm not sure how to read useful info from that. Christian Budde has a tool for this kinda thing, but it only works with 32-bit plugins so it's no use to me.

Your Computer
Oct 3, 2008




Grimey Drawer

BKPR posted:

Asked on KVR and got nothing, so maybe some of you folks know: I want to test some of my effects, get some concrete data on their character. What would you guys recommend doing for this? My first thought was just running a sine wave or white noise through, depending. Aside from seeing the shape of a filter though, I'm not sure how to read useful info from that. Christian Budde has a tool for this kinda thing, but it only works with 32-bit plugins so it's no use to me.

I think the main problem here is the bolded part. "Character" isn't really something you can objectively measure. With a bit of math you can quite easily see what any plugin adds or subtracts to your initial waveform, but whether that change is positive/negative or fattening/thinning etc. is purely subjective and honestly hard to put into numbers. I suppose it depends on what you wish to measure? Added/removed frequencies? Phase differences?

I'm interested in the plugin you're talking about, though I couldn't find it.

coolskull
Nov 11, 2007

I was thinking mainly of compressors. Trying to determine at what point distortion (good or bad) is being introduced, how a "character" compressor might be effecting parts of the spectrum differently, etc.

The program is VST Analyzer, it's a standalone.

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.
Two things I might suggest: There's the Audio Diffmaker which creates a difference file when you feed it a raw source file and a processed file. This lets you hear the sonic differences that the processing lends. It can be a little fiddly (garbage in/garbage out), but some people swear by it.

Another tool that I actually use is Meterplugs Perception. It's a pair of plugins, one you insert before your effects chain, and one at the end. It analyzes the difference between your source signal and processed version and lets you toggle between them, automatically adjusting for gain, so when you hear the processed signal you are ONLY hearing the character it adds, without being distracted by volume bias. I've found this particularly useful when deciding on which compressor to use for a given application.

im_sorry
Jan 15, 2006

(9999)
Ultra Carp
I just impulse bought the Sandman delay/looper on Steam, because I buy audio plugins impulsively when they show up in a Steam sale (but I bought Ohmicide this way, which was totally worth it). Has anyone else used this? Did I just waste my money? What can I do with this thing?

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.
I just put together a tutorial on how to build a drum kit from scratch in MachFive 3, including multi-output support.

There is a written, step-by-step guide at my blog:
How to Build a Multi-output Drum Kit in MOTU MachFive 3.

You can find a little sample pack there that I put together for the tutorial; it includes a MIDI clip that triggers all the sounds in the kit.

For the first time, I also did a companion video tutorial, which walks you through the whole process.

*VOLUME ALERT*- the video starts off with a bang. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQt6bGpFm_E

I really like MachFive, but it’s complex and layered enough that some of this stuff isn’t exactly obvious.

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.
JUCE just got acquired by those guys who make that awful-looking keyless keyboard.

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2014/11/roli-makers-seaboard-instrument-just-bought-leading-c-audio-framework/#more-35504

I really hope it doesn't end up driving licensing fees up. For months I have had next week and Christmas week set aside for evaluating JUCE and Boost in some audio tools that I'm going to write. The JUCE closed-source license isn't cheap (for an average joe like me) and I am a little worried how the acquisition might change both the pricing and licensing. Crossing my fingers that it's a positive move.

WorldWarWonderful
Jul 15, 2004
Eh?
Anyone get anything for Black Friday?

I picked up UVI's Toy Museum, Absynth and Razor, all for half off or more.

Tempted to get Monark but I already have UVI's Vintage Vault and the Arturia collection.

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.

WorldWarWonderful posted:

Anyone get anything for Black Friday?

I picked up UVI's Toy Museum, Absynth and Razor, all for half off or more.

Tempted to get Monark but I already have UVI's Vintage Vault and the Arturia collection.

Monark is loving RAD. I haven't messed with the UVI mini yet, but Monark's a lot more fun to use than the Arturia one (and sounds wonderful).

I got a ton of stuff that I had been keeping an eye on, just waiting for prices to go down:

  • Resolume Avenue 4 (50% off)
  • UVI WaveFrame Sound Collection, Electro Suite, Percussion Store (30% off)
  • Synapse Dune 2
  • SonicCouture Scriptorium
  • MusicLab RealRick (this was actually a discount due to me already owning the other guitars, there is/was a sale on though)
  • HollowSun - Definitive M1000, Vintage Samplers, Nebulae
  • VirtualCZ at pluginboutique
  • MuLab MUX 6 upgrade
  • Alesis V25 Controller - almost half price deal only going til Dec. 1. (Includes AIR xpand)
  • Waves H-Delay and UltraPitch- this was a real score; had been waiting for H-Delay to come down for ages


The one thing that I WANT but still isn't on sale, is FXpansion Geist. I am still kicking myself for not getting that $50 Musician's Friend edition earlier in the year. Also AIR Structure. It's included in a bundle that's discounted, but I don't want any of the other stuff from the bundle. Also could really use a discount on Steinberg Groove Agent, Halion 5, or Absolute VST Collection, but their Black Friday sale was only on stuff I had no interest in.

Tayter Swift
Nov 18, 2002

Pillbug
Yeah I picked up Synth Squad and Reaktor this weekend. That should keep me busy for the next decade, I hope.

Tayter Swift
Nov 18, 2002

Pillbug
Arturia decided to miss the Black Friday boat entirely by releasing V collection 4 today. New this round is the Vox Continental from earlier and new Solina and Matrix-12 emulations, Spark is updated to 2.0, and a supposedly less retarded activation scheme.

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.

Bananalogue posted:

Arturia decided to miss the Black Friday boat entirely by releasing V collection 4 today. New this round is the Vox Continental from earlier and new Solina and Matrix-12 emulations, Spark is updated to 2.0, and a supposedly less retarded activation scheme.
Spark 2 is pretty great (I have it already) and I am pleased to see the Vox is included with the update.

I am actually a little nervous about the activation scheme. If it works like the Steinberg/PACE/Waves "soft license" it will be a step backward from eLicenser, as far as I'm concerned. If it works more like NI Service Center, though, probably won't be too bad.

0dB
Jan 3, 2009
One guy I know was given an upgrade from V3 to V4 for $99. Thing is, I have the same V3 and ain't a word about it anywhere on the Arturia site.

Your Computer
Oct 3, 2008




Grimey Drawer

0dB posted:

One guy I know was given an upgrade from V3 to V4 for $99. Thing is, I have the same V3 and ain't a word about it anywhere on the Arturia site.

I just checked and it says 399€ until I click "Buy", after which it turns into 99€ (being logged in, of course).

edit. Unrelated, when I click their link to read about the new licensing software I get a page wonderfully named 'Page not foundsh404SEF custom content' :haw:

Your Computer fucked around with this message at 10:20 on Dec 3, 2014

Tayter Swift
Nov 18, 2002

Pillbug
Yeah I got the $99 offer after buying V3 for 50% off in August.

I love the Solina, but a bug in the convolution reverb spikes the CPU when latency is below say 128 on my machine. Take that off and slap on ValhalaVintageVerb though and everything is as it should be.

With the Spark upgrade (that looks like it actually has a drum synth buried in there somewhere instead of strictly a sampler) I basically got four new VSTs for $25 each. Not a bad haul.

Radiapathy
Dec 3, 2011

Snooping as usual, I see.

Bananalogue posted:

With the Spark upgrade (that looks like it actually has a drum synth buried in there somewhere instead of strictly a sampler) I basically got four new VSTs for $25 each. Not a bad haul.
The Spark VDM thing that was in V Collection 3 was straight-up garbage. Had some great vintage drum samples (all licensed from UVI), but the plugin itself was very buggy and painful to use.

Spark 2 is much deeper- not just drum synthesis, but a full-on Reaktor-style modular editor. Each pad can contain samples, synth drums, effects, all with custom routing. I haven't spent too much time with it but from my limited experience, it's far less buggy and more responsive than the VDM. I'm still not a fan of some of their UI design choices, but at least it works reliably.

A Winner is Jew
Feb 14, 2008

by exmarx

Radiapathy posted:

The Spark VDM thing that was in V Collection 3 was straight-up garbage. Had some great vintage drum samples (all licensed from UVI), but the plugin itself was very buggy and painful to use.

Spark 2 is much deeper- not just drum synthesis, but a full-on Reaktor-style modular editor. Each pad can contain samples, synth drums, effects, all with custom routing. I haven't spent too much time with it but from my limited experience, it's far less buggy and more responsive than the VDM. I'm still not a fan of some of their UI design choices, but at least it works reliably.

When I got my SparkLE :sparkles: controller they were already up to v1.8 and by then it was a solid drum machine, but v2 has been loving amazing. The UI stuff you get use to, but the ability to simply drag and drop either midi or .wav from the VST to tracks in your DAW is probably the most useful feature so far with the Reaktor modular thing being a very close second.

0dB
Jan 3, 2009

Your Computer posted:

I just checked and it says 399€ until I click "Buy", after which it turns into 99€ (being logged in, of course).

Yeah they're "looking into it for me". Sales guy is talking to Web guy. You'd think Sales guy could just push a button. :(

field balm
Feb 5, 2012

I was wondering if anyone with the full version of rob papen's distortion plugin could weigh in about how useful all the different distortion algorithms are - specifically, the quality of the saturation and tube ones, as they're really all I can see myself using. I've got the CM version and find myself using it often for the flavorsome filters and the stereo widener, but I don't really use the distortion module except for the radio emulation, or with an lfo sometimes for weird modulation.

Basically, I like the plugin a bunch, and feel like I should probably buy it, but there doesn't seem to be any reasons for me to use the commercial version over the CM version!

Oldstench
Jun 29, 2007

Let's talk about where you're going.
Madrona Labs Aalto and Kaivo are 50% with the discount code "DOUGFIR". You should buy these awesome synths.

Your Computer
Oct 3, 2008




Grimey Drawer

Oldstench posted:

Madrona Labs Aalto and Kaivo are 50% with the discount code "DOUGFIR". You should buy these awesome synths.

They both seem pretty awesome (especially if you want to do something very experimental), but I've never actually heard or seen a proper demo of any of them. I have the limited version of Aalto, but that's only one voice so I feel it kinda defeats the whole concept.

How long does this offer last? I want to be convinced to buy them :10bux:

coolskull
Nov 11, 2007

There are demos of both on the Madrona site. Fully functional except for occasional white noise.

Oldstench
Jun 29, 2007

Let's talk about where you're going.

Your Computer posted:

They both seem pretty awesome (especially if you want to do something very experimental), but I've never actually heard or seen a proper demo of any of them. I have the limited version of Aalto, but that's only one voice so I feel it kinda defeats the whole concept.

How long does this offer last? I want to be convinced to buy them :10bux:

Take my word for it, they are awesome. The discount lasts until tomorrow.

coolskull
Nov 11, 2007

Didn't notice it was over so soon. Guess I'm buying Kaivo!

e: asked in the synth thread, but anyone here have experience with the QuNeo? Seems like a really nice non-keyboard controller for doing more expressive playing.

wayfinder
Jul 7, 2003

BKPR posted:

There are demos of both on the Madrona site. Fully functional except for occasional white noise.

And with the music they're designed for, nobody could tell that was unintentional.

wayfinder fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Dec 9, 2014

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Oldstench
Jun 29, 2007

Let's talk about where you're going.

wayfinder posted:

And with the music they're designed for, nobody could tell that was unintentional.

I disagree with this. You can do amazing melodic work with both.

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