PreSonus Studio One 3 Professional

Top notch DAW Studio One is THE way to go especially if you prefer arranging and multi mixing/recording your own stuff and in this respect beats the likes of Ableton Live hands down!! Too many awesome features to list here! With the newly updated version, Studio One is faster than ever and loads/performs at lightning speed. An excellent set of instruments and notes FX etc is also included and its really well worth getting the professional version for these extra features. I'll certainly be using this DAW more often than i have done in the past!!


Studio One Artist and Professional are available direct from both PreSonus and music retail shops worldwide as both upgrades and full versions. Both Artist and Professional come as standard download versions, and can also be purchased with the entire program on an exclusive limited edition 64 GB USB flash drive.

Instantly familiar—yet nothing feels like it. Studio One® 3 contains everything you’d expect from a modern digital audio powerhouse. Once you touch its fast, flow-oriented, drag-and-drop interface, you’ll realize Studio One® 3 was built by creative people for creative music production.

At every step of the musical process, you’ll spend your time creating music instead of fighting a bloated interface. And the sound quality? Well, simply put, it’s unparalleled. In fact, the most common comments from musicians, producers and engineers who have switched to Studio One are “I can just get things done faster” and “Studio One just sounds better.” Let’s find out why.


Version 3.5.1 Release Notes (June 27, 2017)

New features and improvements:
Overall lower latency when playing virtual instruments
Further CPU load balancing improvements
Improved Quick Zoom behavior (alt+shift)
Mixer Undo history logs parameter changes from external devices
Visual bypass state for Mix Engine FX in console
Bouncing Events now keeps routing

The following issues have been fixed:
[Mix Engine FX] Softube Tape not working in 64-bit double-precision mode
[Event FX] Editing tail value in event inspector by dragging mouse is broken
Copy > Replace Arranger section from Scratch Pad back into song creates empty section
Track names cut off when in "Show Automation" mode
Inserts on duplicated tracks stop working
Duplicate / Copy with "Layers follows events" copies wrong range from layers
Copy and paste to wrong track if "Layers follows events" is active
[Auto Punch] punch area not respected, results in merged Event
[macOS] crash in window management
[macOS] incomplete localization when multiple versions of Studio One are installed
[macOS] Stillwell The Rocket compressor (Audio Units) not working
[macOS] crash when using built-in audio device on 10.9.5
Disable Solo from Arrangement not working for multi-out instruments
Browser selection lost after searching
Time offset when bouncing pitch-shifted audio with new algorithms
Mixer Undo not working on Cue Mix sends
Instrument channel direct assign to sidechain not recalled on song load
Instrument Low Latency Monitoring not working with Vienna Instrument Pro
• Latency information for hardware monitoring is incorrect
[Rotor] Drive not stored correctly
[StudioLive Series III] DSP and plug-in sync issues
[Fat Channel XT] Vintage EQ boosts hi and lo shelves on copy
[Fat Channel XT] gain reduction incorrect
Output Level Meter modes not synced
Can't select a plug-in from the Insert Menu with touch
Can't open controller lane (focus issue)
[Project Page] crash when importing from DDP Image
[Project Page] can't update artist name
[Project Page] Analyzer parameter changes don't mark document as edited
Level Meter doesn't store/recall "LU/LUFS" and "EBU+18" settings
Level meter display settings (+18 or LU/LUFS) should NOT reset Loudness values
Replacing instrument results in wrong instrument UI displayed
"Cursor follows edit position" broken in Arranger inspector list
Midi file export with tempo change broken
Fader automation causes noise on fade out
Bounce of external instruments at bar one not possible

Madrona Labs - Aalto

An amazing synth with absolutely amazing sounds. If your looking for some unique and out of this world sounds........look no further!

Aalto is a semi-modular software synthesizer with an innovative, patchable UI, distinctive sounds, and a charming personality

Aalto's sound engine lets you create sounds that have been difficult or impossible to make with softsynths before now. The heart of Aalto is a Buchla-inspired complex oscillator, with FM, timbre and waveshape controls that enable a wide range of expressive sounds. These sounds are uniquely malleable and alive, in part because they are made with dynamic calculation, not static wavetables.

Aalto is designed as much for sequencing patterns as for playing individual notes. Each voice has a separate, built-in sequencer with a patchable, independently controllable rate and offset that make it easy to achieve evolving, chaotic textures.
Each voice also includes a lowpass gate module with a vactrol emulation in the control path. The vactrol equation slows down the response to incoming control signals through a complex nonlinear filter. You can turn the vactrol response down to instantaneous, or up to a pronounced ring.

Following the lowpass gate is a patchable waveguide / delay module with a waveshaper and a peaking EQ built into the feedback loop. Because it has such short and controllable delay times, unlike a typical analog delay, it can be used as an additional oscillator or waveguide.
Aalto's filter is a state-variable topology with mixable simultaneous outputs, tuned to have a similar range to an Oberheim SEM filter. (Though I couldn't resist turning up the resonance just a little more.)

Subjectively speaking, Aalto can make a wide range of sounds, from lush to edgy, including some very complicated ones, without sounding too thick in a mix. Aalto's sounds are not hyped or confined, they are wide-range, open and natural. We hope our approach will appeal to experienced sound designers who have their own favorite EQs and limiters. And for those just getting into synthesis, Aalto is an accurate and honest tool for learning. We have tried to make Aalto a deep instrument that will reward lasting engagement.

Aalto's manual (included) has over 50 pages full of Aalto lore, tips and tricks, and a complete introduction to patching synthesis!

Acon Digital Acoustica Premium Edition

Extremely comprehensive and versatile mixing and mastering suite that not only looks great but is also an invaluable tool to fine tune your mixes.

Acoustica is a comprehensive solution for professional audio recording, editing, mixing and mastering. The intuitive user interface was designed with speed, accuracy and ease-of-use in mind and gives access to a large set of powerful tools to make your recordings sound the best. The consistent workflow simplifies your production work all the way from recording, editing, batch processing, sound design and audio restoration to Red Book compatible CD burning.

Ultimate Audio Quality
Acoustica offers support for state-of-the-art audio resolutions up to 32 bit and sampling rates up to 384 kHz, ensuring that all of your work comes across at the highest quality. Acoustica Premium Edition even supports multichannel audio recording and editing such as 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound.

Audio Restoration
Integrated audio restoration tools help you get the most out of recordings impaired by background noise, clicks, crackle, clipping or missing high frequency content. The Premium Edition contains the same set of professional tools as our Restoration Suite.

Multitrack Editing
New in Acoustica is the ability to edit multitrack audio. Both the Standard and the Premium Edition allows you to mix audio from different tracks in real-time, add audio effects to tracks or easily create cross-fades. You can even loop or time stretch clips directly from the multitrack timeline.

Processing Tools
High quality audio tools and effects are integrated such as dynamic processing, limiter, equalizing, reverb, convolution reverb, chorus and flanger. You can also modify tempo and key of your recordings independently using the superb quality time stretching and transpose tools.

Effect Chains and Plug-In Support
You can create complete chains of processing tools, including external plug-ins, and save them along with all the parameter settings for later use. VST and DirectX plug-in support allows you to access a vast number of both free and commercial third party audio processing plug-ins directly from Acoustica.

Analysis Tools
Powerful offline analysis tools are available, including spectrum, spectrogram and wavelet analysis. Real-time analyzers such as K-System level meters, phase correlation meters and spectrum analyzers allow you to monitor your audio output visually in real time during playback.

SquaredHeads - Nora

Amazingly detailed arpeggiator with  a myriad of options which are not available on the majority of arpeggiators.. This is almost like a DAW in its own right where you can chain sections together to create complete sequenced arrangements. 

THE NATURAL EVOLUTION OF AN ARPEGGIATOR ADAPTED TO OUR TIMES

Nora is a groundbreaking arpeggiator with DAW technology that employs advanced editing tools to create phrases with ease.
It allows the creation of quality solo melodies, rhythmic bass lines or stabs, instantly.


SAMPLE ACCURATE PREMIUM MIDI ENGINE
The engine has been re-designed from scratch to offer precision at sample-level. This way, we obtain output that is loyal to the input, without any kind of latency.

ALL THE POWER OF A DAW IN ONE PLUG-IN
We employed the workflow of a cutting-edge DAW for a creative, simple and quick edition with a complete integration among the modules. Nora can be sequenced by either a linear manner or by patterns triggered by MIDI.

IT INCLUDES:
· 8 tracks, 8 independent arpeggiators and 64 patterns per track
· Real-time quantizer with user-defined patterns
· Hundreds of presets
· Complete real-time edition
· Simple and fast workflow
· 2 random phrase generators & 2 mutators
· Very low cpu usage
· Highly customizable interface with over 400 parameters

Regroover Pro - Accusonus

Very interesting and fun to use but does seem to have varied results, mainly dependent i suppose on the kind (quality) of audio loop chosen. Nice to be able to split your drum grooves into layers though and mess around with them, although there are limited effects to apply here and layers really need to be routed out onto different outputs of your DAW . Quite easy to do though and well worth the effort. The expansion grid is cool too,where you can drag and drop sounds to create your own expansion kits. Quite a unique plugin then, which is the only one of it's kind as far as i know and great if you have a large loop library!

Discover the magic inside your drum loops which you’ve wanted to extract for years. Create new sounds from old or simply adjust the volume of individual elements inside a loop. Regroover uses Artificial-Intelligence to extract layers from within your previously recorded beats and samples. Once Regroover analyzes the file, you are able to make your own drum kits and combine them with external sounds to make new beats, loops and your own unique Expansion Kits. Use Regroover to:
Unmix your loops into distinct sound layers.
Get previously unheard sounds from inside your loops.
Craft the isolated beat elements and form your unique rhythmic signature.

Regroover Pro Only Features:
Grab the magic kick, snare or clap and place it on its own trigger pad.
Or Build your own Expansion Kit with any element inside your loop which makes for rapid-fire MIDI triggering of samples to make new beats and grooves.
Create Regroover Projects with both external and found sounds from inside your loops.

Who's It For?

Regroover is for music producers, beatmakers and DJs who use sampling, drum programming, and beat slicing to remix and compose.

Who should never use Regroover?

Musical snobs who don’t like fun sample manipulation tools and new ways to work with samples.

Blue-Cats MB-7 Mixer

Astonishingly powerful multiband EQ with features i have not seen elsewhere in an EQ! You can actually host VST plugins on each band which can be more than 4 and each one has 2 slots This opens up enormous possibilites when mixing and mastering your songs. As if that's not enough you can also automate any parameter of said VST. Absolutely awesome!! This makes most EQ's seem pretty basic. Lots of fun to be had here for sure!

Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer is a unique plug-in that splits the signal into several frequency bands and lets you mix and process them as if they were separate tracks.

Each band proposes controls that can be found on a mixing console, and more: bypass, mute or solo each band separately to isolate frequencies you want to work on, adjust the gain, the "stereoness" and the position in the stereo field. When manipulating the stereo image, a master mono switch also lets you check mono compatibility.

The plug-in can also operate as a multiband VST, VST3 and Audio Unit host: you can process each band independently with your favorite VST, VST3 or Audio Unit plug-ins! Up to four plug-ins can be loaded on each band, pre or post fader. Latency compensation, presets management, undo/redo integration, and individual plug-in bypass are included for optimal operation.

The plug-in also proposes unique linking and grouping options thanks to our multi-instances technology. You can link bands together within a single instance or between several instances of the plug-in on different tracks. This lets a simple fader control as many bands on as many tracks as you want. This is particularly useful when adjusting the placement or the balance of several competing tracks.

And as usual with Blue Cat Audio, the plug-in provides comprehensive visual feedback to let you know what's exactly going on: for each channel, monitor the spectrum, the in/out levels and the frequency response.

Thanks to its advanced MIDI and automation input capabilities, when combined with our other plug-ins, Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer is capable of advanced side-chaining features that really unveils its potential. Check out our MB-7 Mixer Tutorials for more details.

If you are looking for a simpler plug-in to host VST, VST3 and Audio Unit plug-ins, please try Blue Cat's PatchWork. If you are looking for a multiband dynamics processor that can be combined to this plug-in for side chain effects, check out the Blue Cat's MB-5 Dynamix plug-in. Also, any Blue Cat Audio plug-in is compatible and can be hosted by this plug-in.

Ploytec ISM AROMA

A vert cool little processor plug in to add spice to your mastering. Works really well on seperate tracks as well as whole mixes. Deceptively simple GUI but quite effective!

Aroma is a newly developed Harmonic Processor creating analog charm in an unprecedented musical way. The four valve or tape like units add elegance to your audio material. Primarily designed for mastering, Aroma can also create astonishing changes to the character of vocals and instruments.

The additional Mid/Side processing options allow a decent and smooth fine tuning of the stereo base you won't get from any other software or hardware. We refrained from names like "tape simulation" or "valve" for the processing units.

Though Aroma's refinements are loosely related to such analog models - Aroma's variety is far beyond. The flavour controls relate to a wide variety of beauty, warmth and attractiveness. Aroma not only adds elegance to your music, Aroma makes it shine, sounding simply sensational.