Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

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Michael Canavan
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by Michael Canavan »

dewdman42 wrote:Cakewalk is not the right company to market it, it could be doing better somewhere else, but oh well.
Agreed, and I feel the same way about Absynth. NI bought it and haven't really marketed it at all since then really.
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by mhschmieder »

I'm not going to write them this many days after; was too busy to check the internet for a couple of days so it wouldn't feel fair to write them this late. It'll probably go on sale again. Or maybe I'll decide it's worth it to get the bundle with the extra patch libraries.

Out of curiosity, did someone other than Cakewalk develop this synth? Am I reading too much between the lines with what you said about it and then Absynth?

I've long wondered if people walk across the street much between MOTU and Cakewalk, whether they have a friendly rivalry, or are mortal enemies. My impression is that MOTU staff are extremely loyal and devoted (I've known a few over the years, and my own company is like that too), so I wouldn't be surprised if little intellectual cross-pollination has occurred.

I guess part of why I'm wondering is that Cakewalk don't seem to be in the best of shape at the moment, given that no one ever talks about them like in the old days, they had some problematic updates, they're maybe the only single-platform DAW remaining in the marketplace, and the Roland and above-Roland "ownership" (receivership?) can't be good for the long term stability and confidence of the company and its employees.
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by stubbsonic »

I agree that Cakewalk is probably in some form of disarray. When they released Z3ta+2 for iOS, that could have been a shot-in-the-arm for them, but the release was pretty messy (IMHO). Not sure how successful that was as a rollout.

Even as of now, if you go to their support page to issue a bug-report, and you are asked to choose a product-- the iOS version of z3ta+2 isn't listed. If you issue a bug report or feature request, you are not given any acknowledgement that your request was received.

As a pure synthesizer goes, it is remarkable in several ways-- unprecedented realtime wave-shaping options, mod matrix with secondary controls, ranges & curves, tuning maps, MIDI import for Arps, pitch bends that constrain to a selected key & scale (meaning you can pitch bend chords and it will adapt the bend for all voices so they land on a scale note), decent effects that can be re-ordered, etc. BUT, there are some general problems that should have been fixed in a .01 update that have probably been around forever.

I've been "ranting" about it just because it is one of those pieces of software that is really close to being great.
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by dewdman42 »

z3ta was not developed by Cakewalk initially. A developer by the name of Rene Ceballos had a little company called Rgc:Audio. here is his linked-in page:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rené-ceballos/42/b49/a50

Z3ta was by far his best creation with rgc:audio. Cakewalk acquired rgc:audio in 2005 and version2 of z3ta was developed at Cakewalk. According to his linked in page he is no longer with Cakewalk, which explains why DimPro and Rapture are not being kept up to date perhaps. Cakewalk did come out with a rather substantial update for Z3ta+ v2, which in my mind means that they see the value and potential of this synth, even though the original genius has moved on.
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by mhschmieder »

That link breaks because of the accent aigu.

Interesting background information nonetheless.
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by dewdman42 »

Yea I couldn't figure out how to quote the link because of that. That's how it copies from the web browser. You can probably do a search for his name in linked in
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by mhschmieder »

It's on sale again for half price from Audio Deluxe, for the next three days only. $45 is a steal for this well-crafted and versatile soft synth.
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by James Steele »

There are so many deals that are steals lately, I'd have to resort to stealing to get them all! :) I don't want to be knocking over convenience stores to support a plug-in habit... been there... those were bad times, but that James is gone now. :P
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by mhschmieder »

Yeah, I'm kinda getting worn down myself by this non-stop onslaught of "grab it while you can" sales. It seems that retail in general is in its final throes.

So, if you're even a tiny bitty bit patient, almost any sale that comes and goes, returns within weeks if not days. :-)
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by bayswater »

I'm sworn off. When I set up Yosemite on new drive, I came across about 100 plugins and VIs I didn't even remember I had. No doubt every one was a no brainer.
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Re: Z3ta+ 2 on sale this weekend for $35

Post by James Steele »

mhschmieder wrote:Yeah, I'm kinda getting worn down myself by this non-stop onslaught of "grab it while you can" sales. It seems that retail in general is in its final throes.

So, if you're even a tiny bitty bit patient, almost any sale that comes and goes, returns within weeks if not days. :-)
True enough. The economy remains relatively flat. I didn't jump on the Toontrack EZ Drummer upgrade, but I feel confident that a deal will come 'round again when I'm in the position to jump on it. That goes out the window when the economy is booming. I do a lot of craigslist voyeurism (aka, can't afford to buy much) and I see deals that would be snapped up languish for days. Not a lot of people have money to burn these days.
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