YAH Soundtoys version 4 tis out

[Xzault]

i just installed my native suite over my version 3 and everything has been fine for me , and i love their product

[mhschmieder]

Good to hear. I think the "installing v4 over v3" problem may have been specific to using SoundToys within the context of another DAW (whether Logic or Cubase, I do not recall).

[KEVORKIAN]

i just installed my native suite over my version 3 and everything has been fine for me , and i love their product

+1 Soundtoys is one of the better things in life. I haven't done a mix without Decapitator since the beta was announced!

[zed]

Good to hear. I think the "installing v4 over v3" problem may have been specific to using SoundToys within the context of another DAW (whether Logic or Cubase, I do not recall).

I'm pretty sure I read on the SoundToys site that they had resolved this issue and that it was no longer necessary to be concerned about it.

+1 Soundtoys is one of the better things in life. I haven't done a mix without Decapitator since the beta was announced!

I've been meaning to ask what both you and Kubi what you thought of Decapitator when compared to the URS saturation plugin. Do you think Decapitator could effectively address the bulk of most saturation needs?

[kwiz]

Bought my upgrade license on Friday and received the iLok auth today, so will install and try tonight (hopefully).

It is advised to uninstall version 3 first (and probably the demo of Decapitator as well), based on some early bug reports from those who didn't.

I don't know whether this "breaks" projects that are pointing to instances of SoundToys plug-ins or not, though, and whether those plug-ins will have to be deleted and reinserted and re-load their settings (I make it a habit to name and save most of my plug-in settings for this very reason, but often just document offsets from personal or factory presets).

For me, the new Pan plugin is a no show. DP failed it when it initialized but it works in Logic 9 and DSP Quattro. I uninstalled all the plugs then reinstalled, repaired permissions but got the same results.
I sent an email to SoundToys about this but haven't gotten a response yet.
Any ideas?

[mhschmieder]

The PanMan plug-in is a work in progress, which most people are willing to forgive since we didn't really expect it this soon anyway, without a beta trial first. My understanding is that they didn't have time to test every combination of host, hardware, OS, etc., and are encouraging problem reports to be submitted so they can address them one at a time.

BTW, I met the SoundToys crew at the NAMM Show, and was really impressed by their attitude. They are about as far from being cavalier about user's problems as one could get. But they are a small outfit, so they have to make tough decisions about how long to hold up a release vs. working aggressively to fix platform-specific issues. They obviously write tight code and have a disciplined staff, since bugs are ALWAYS fixed quickly.

I was able to do the install over v3 last night, but the authorization didn't show up in my iLok account, so I haven't had a chance to try the v4 versions yet. Their rep apologized in email today and says they have verified that my iLok account now has the license, so I'll give it a try tonight (if time).

As for Decapitator, I find it works great on vocals, drums, even guitar. It doesn't damage the clarity of the original track, as I felt URS Saturator did. I'm not sure if "transparent" is the word, but generally I use that term to mean that the basic timbre and articulation are unaffected. Other people use the term differently.

I know Decapitator is a tube saturation vs. tape saturation plug, but I am ironically finding it most useful in situations (such as drums and vocals) where I would normally reach for tape saturation (if anything). I haven't compared it directly vs. iZotope Alloy yet, but Alloy's saturation effect is a bit of a kludge -- yet it does the job.

[kwiz]

Well, after another install I got it to show up but it winds up outside the SoundToys folder.
A rep from ST got back to me and said this...

"We're not that familiar with Digital
Performer here so I'm not sure how to fix it. You might try and remove all
the SoundToys plug-ins, start and close Digital Performer, and put the e
plug-ins back in. You'll have those annoying messages pop up again but if
you wait it should be OK.

On the other hand, I don't see any problems with it being outside the
SoundToys folder."

I appreciate that they got back to me but I find it odd that on their site they say,

"Go Native! Get all eight SoundToys native plug-ins for one smokin' price. For registered owners of any SoundToys plug-in. Includes EchoBoy, FilterFreak, PhaseMistress, Tremolator, Crystallizer, Speed, Decapitator and PanMan. Compatible with Pro Tools LE/M-Powered, Apple Logic Pro, MOTU Digital Performer, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase & Nuendo, and Cakewalk Sonar. Speed can be used as either an AudioSuite plugin with Pro Tools or within Logic's Time and Pitch Machine. All others function as Audio Units, VST, RTAS, or AudioSuite. For registered owners of any SoundToys plug-in. Compatible with Mac OS 10.4 or later and Windows XP/Vista/7. Requires an iLok for product authorization."

Again, I got it to work, and I understand that they couldn't possibly test every combination of OS, hardware, and host but how are they not familiar with DP?

[mhschmieder]

Well, I thought one of my Arturia plug-ins had gone missing, only to discover later that it didn't get filed into the Arturia plug-in folder but was outside it, sort of like your situation with PanMan.

I don't claim to know enough about the Audio Units standard to know where the hand-off happens regarding the default organization of plug-ins into vendor-specific folders or top-level listings, but I would imagine that is determined at installation time and is independent of DAW host?

[KEVORKIAN]

Well, after another install I got it to show up but it winds up outside the SoundToys folder.

I had no trouble getting PanMan to show up in DP after install but it is outside of the Soundtoys folder. I believe this means that Soundtoys has changed some of the Manufacturer metadata in PanMan vs their other plugins and thus DP sees it as being separate and unrelated.

Honestly this is something that Motu should also address, IMO. I think that all plugins should show up in folders regardless of how many are present. Then at least they would all show up next to each other in the menu.

[KEVORKIAN]

I've been meaning to ask what both you and Kubi what you thought of Decapitator when compared to the URS saturation plugin. Do you think Decapitator could effectively address the bulk of most saturation needs?

Honestly they are different. I think that URS Saturation is more subtle overall and is a better candidate for placing on all or many tracks in a mix because it is less resource intensive.

Decapitator wins in the vibe category though and it really imparts a cool tonality to any source that goes beyond the URS plugin in my book.

Honestly I have been using both and I like the results. I think of Decapitator more like a piece of cool analog gear and I think of URS Saturation as a tape-like treatment. I have URS saturation coming first in most signal chains then I add the appropriate comps and EQs and then I add Decapitator towards the end of the chain or on a parallel bus.

Between Decapitator and the Lexicon Native Bundle I'm pretty much in heaven. There are just so many excellent plugins around now.

[KEVORKIAN]

I just checked in Bidule, Logic and Live and they all are able to list PanMan under the same Soundtoys folder as all the other Soundtoys plugins.

I'm going to file a Techlink with Motu for this as a bug. I don't think it's broken but I do think that DP is overly-accurate in its assessment of 3rd party plugins in some way.

[bjornln]

I had no trouble getting PanMan to show up in DP after install but it is outside of the Soundtoys folder. I believe this means that Soundtoys has changed some of the Manufacturer metadata in PanMan vs their other plugins and thus DP sees it as being separate and unrelated.

The same thing happened to me, except for me it was the tremolator that was acting up.


/B