Native Instruments remains the unchallenged heavyweight of instruments and effects. Apple’s Logic Studio 8 recently got a formidable upgrade and a big price drop (US$499), but its bundled instruments and effects, behind cosmetic improvements, are largely unchanged from previous versions. Cakewalk, Digidesign and others have also gotten in the ring, but no one can match up to the insanely massive collection of sound production and mangling in NI’s software. So, when NI offers an upgrade, we notice. I’ll be meeting up with NI next week at the AES show for a full preview of the new KOMPLETE kitchen-sink bundle and updated individual apps (plus KORE 2, due in November), but here’s a quick look.

• New Sampler: KONTAKT 3 is the latest version of NI’s flagship sampler, and in terms of raw breadth and depth of features, Kontakt appears to remain at the top of the heap. New in this version: a 1000-instrument, 33 GB sample library, a new looping/slicing/syncing Wave Editor, new envelopes, new amp and cabinet emulations, better browsing, and more. I’m curious to see how the Performance View and the updated KORE stack up to OnStage in Logic 8 (or even what it’s like using both together).
• New Guitar Effects: GUITAR RIG 3 adds new amp models, new matched cabinets, new effects (tape echo and ring mod!), and more. Guitar effects competition is brisk, but Guitar Rig’s edge to me has been its range of sound possibilities, straight out to the bizarre/experimental.
• Addition of Massive: MASSIVE is NI’s latest soft synth, especially geared for “sonic impact” (read, great basses and leads), with drag-and-drop, semi-modular sound creation.
• Lots of updates: Refreshed versions of previous synths include Absynth 4, Akoustik Piano, Battery 3, B4 II, Elektrik Piano, FM8, PRO-53, and Reaktor 5. With the exception of Reaktor, most of these have gotten feature improvements lately, and all have been updated for Vista and Intel Macs.

Partial Bundles, Lower Pricing

One problem with Komplete is that it has so much in it that it really is overkill for many people. There are two fairly sensible partially-complete (INKOMPLETE?) bundles priced at US$449/EUR 399 worth considering. “CLASSICS” includes Akoustik Piano, B4 II, Elektrik Piano, and PRO-53, and seems ideal for a gigging keyboardist. “SYNTHS” hits the electronic lovers with Absynth 4, FM8, Massive, and PRO-53. Still, you lose the sampler, and even as a non-guitarist I’ve found Guitar Rig to be very useful for effects, so if you do have the cash, you should weigh your various options.

KOMPLETE 5 is cheaper now, too: US$1149 / EUR 999 for the whole bundle, and less if you qualify for upgrade pricing. As a software instrument advocate, I have to notice both in my own work and what I’d suggest to others, this makes for a pretty incredible deal. Add Komplete to a host like Logic Studio, SONAR, or Ableton Live, load onto a $1000 laptop, and you’ve got an all-in-one production powerhouse that still costs about the same as a high-end workstation keyboard, even after you add in some extra hardware. In terms of sonic range and flexibility, there isn’t really anything in hardware that compares to the sound set. (Yes, there are still reasons to choose hardware, some having to do with intentionally having less choice. But I’m just sayin’.)

No More Spektral Delay and Vokator

That covers the good news. Here’s the bad news: Spektral Delay and Vokator, two of the more unique effects in NI’s stable, have been end-of-lifed. This to me is really unfortunate, particularly in the case of Vokator. (One option that’s out there: ELS Vocoder, though it requires a dongle, which to me is a big deal-killer.)

Also, there’s no direct equivalent to either in the existing NI suite. Reaktor has some built-in effects and even vocoders, but they’re not quite the same. I’m hopeful this will convince NI to offer these tools free for download; right now, they’re just gone.

Fortunately, NI did update both effects prior to discontinuing them. They’re both Intel Mac-native and Vista-ready, and they’re very stable and mature in their final versions. The problem will be just getting hold of them. I’ll let you know if NI decides to make them available — maybe some well-reasoned, thoughtful letters in support of this will help convince them.

While neither will get any further updates or sales, they do remain supported, and join Intakt and others in the forums:
Discontinued Products [Native Instruments]

Ship Dates

October 1 is the promised date for KOMPLETE 5 and associated updates (KONTAKT 3, GUITAR RIG 3), with KORE 2 following in October. We’ll have a look at all of it at AES, so stay tuned.

KOMPLETE 5 [Native Instruments]

Deckadance, the DJ software from Fruity Loops creators Image Line, has only just come out and already has its first update. 1.10 is a big jump. Updates to the Ms. Pinky SDK support means it can now support absolute mode timecode (so you can needle drop anywhere you like), not only for Ms. Pinky vinyl but also M-Audio Torq and PCDJ, both of which are based on Ms. Pinky. There’s also an adjusted interface and updated playlist, among other bugfixes and enhancements.

The most interesting addition, though: it now natively supports the Wii remote from Nintendo. WiiJ, anyone?

Of course, you don’t need Deckadance to DJ with a Wii remote. On Windows, you can use GlovePIE, allowing for custom scripting. And on Mac, the most elegant solution is probably OSCulator, which translates to OpenSoundControl data, MIDI, and keystrokes. (Traktor, for one, supports both OSC and MIDI, though I haven’t yet tried OSCulator with it; I did have some issues using NI’s OSC implementation in Reaktor when I tried it. Update: you could use OSCulator and MIDI if OSC isn’t your cup of tea — more below.) For MIDI compatibility only, there’s also WiitoMIDI.

But I think built-in support in Deckadance is an interesting development. I’ve heard rumblings about Wii controller support showing up in other applications, as well, including VJ software. That means the Wii remote won’t be so much of a novelty in performance — meaning we’ll all have to actually learn to play with the thing skillfully. But maybe that’s a very good thing.

Thanks to Alexandre Guillet in Paris for the tip!

Updated: OSCulator the best choice for Mac MIDI, too? I erroneously implied OSCulator was for OSC only and not MIDI; if you’re on the Mac and wanting to use a Wii remote, see my separate note about OSCulator.

As for the Deckadance implementation itself, Wiij.com isn’t so impressed. I hope Image Line takes him up on his offer of help.

Native Instruments today made a statement on compatibility and performance under Windows Vista for their full product line. They’ve been doing what sounds like some fairly extensive testing, so these answers should be interesting even in regards to products you use from other vendors.

Native Instruments: Windows Vista Compatibility statement

They have to weigh their words; I don’t. So here’s the executive summary:

What works? Everything, as far as current drivers and software. The only side effect of Vista: some extra clicks during installation for the usual “certification warnings” and whatnot. Your mileage may vary with older products.

Should you install 64-bit Vista? Not yet. There’s tentative 64-bit driver support planned for later this year. I wouldn’t rush, even then: 64-bit Vista introduces some additional compatibility issues (as with x64) for a very small increase in performance. In other words, live life, be happy, go 32-bit for now. (And if you do want 64-bit, the NI stuff should run, albeit no faster than under 32-bit Vista.)

Is Vista faster? No. (They have a longer answer, but I’ll leave it at that. Note that this is software performance; some readers have reported better ASIO driver performance, possibly due to housecleaning elsewhere in the driver system.)

Do I need Ultimate? No. Actually, my current recommendation would be the Business edition, unless you’re planning on recording TV with your computer.

Having oversimplified their answers, though, I do recommend reading through their full story.

What about WaveRT? There’s also been discussion here about WaveRT drivers, the new, high-performance audio driver model in Vista. I should clarify: WaveRT is a significant technology as far as PCI drivers, but for now, it doesn’t apply to USB/FireWire audio devices like NI’s. And you’ll still need a host that supports WaveRT, like Cakewalk’s SONAR 6 or Image Line’s FL Studio 7. (Even Cakewalk’s own Project5 doesn’t yet support WaveRT.) WaveRT could be a factor in upgrading to Vista, but only if you have a compatible audio card and a compatible host. For everyone else, the primary advantage of Vista is overall system stability and usability.

And, of course, the eye candy interf– hey, what’s this? According to NI:

As in previous Windows versions, deactivating certain visual features of the operating system can increase performance of music production software. This especially applies to the new “Aero” interface in Windows Vista.

Yep, that’s right: you may wind up turning off one of the major new features in the OS. (It’s pretty easy to switch back and forth, though, if you must.) I’m not actually sure that Aero will slow down performance in all cases; I would guess that on a system with enough RAM and a dedicated video card, its impact is negligible — and far less than that of visual effects in XP, which run on the CPU card rather than the graphics card GPU. But I’ll be interested to do some testing.

Current checklist for CDM favorites: Cakewalk SONAR, check. Ableton Live, check. FL Studio, check. Max/MSP/Jitter support is coming in an imminent update, though short of authorizing, the software itself runs nicely (and without the UI glitches of the XP version when running 3D graphics, I’ll add).

I’m planning to upgrade my main PC to Vista, because I’m satisfied with compatibility indications for the software and hardware I run. I’ll absolutely log the process here.

For those of you who missed the fireworks, Native Instruments recently left its partner Stanton Magnetics (makers of Final Scratch) to pursue its own DJ strategy, which it unveiled at NAMM as (coincidentally named, I’m sure) Traktor Scratch. As with any breakup, that raised questions about support.

Here’s where the first bad news hits: the existing Final Scratch software is incompatible with Intel Macs. And that combined with other compatibility issues could mean the big losers here are Final Scratch customers, who are likely to be really unhappy when they learn the “solution” means buying new products, whether from NI, Stanton, or a third party.

Meanwhile, with NI dropping support for the software end of Final Scratch, Stanton is in the unenviable position of trying to keep their user base from leaving altogether.

Step one for Stanton: rename their existing hardware audio interface Final Scratch Open. What’s “open” about it? Well, it’s an audio interface, with ASIO (PC) and Core Audio drivers (Mac) that let you use it with any software you want — just like any other audio interface. Not exactly news, of course, and the only reason Stanton has to push hard to communicate this message is that they had previously focused on marketing an integrated solution, rather than an open, BYO software solution. The ScratchAmp could be a great audio interface, but you’ll still need a DJ app and control vinyl to complete the solution. Given that there are other DJ audio interfaces on the market, it’d be more fair to call this “Final Scratch Unbundled.”

Step two — here’s where things get ugly: blame Native Instruments for the compatibility problems. In a statement released this week and spread wide on the Web, Stanton said it was unable to patch NI’s software, because NI is responsible for software support and refused to create an update:

The ScratchAmp is and always has been fully compatible with all Mac technology, but an Intel compatible update for FS2 users on the software side was never developed, and all of Stanton’s requests for this software update have been denied by the developer … We would also like to stress the fact that we are open to offering compatibility to ALL developers, including N.I., and any others who may choose to stand behind the ScratchAmp and implement our code in their programs, present and future. We invite you to encourage your software company to make their developments ScratchAmp compatible!

See The Official Word from Stanton – again, plus discussion, from our favorite turntablist site, Skratchworx

Here’s the only problem: it’s not ScratchAmp’s capability as an audio interface that makes it appealing to Final Scratch users. The whole point is the ability to use the control vinyl. Let’s see how Native Instruments responds in a counter-announcement recently posted to their website:

Statement regarding Stanton Magnetics FinalScratch, February 23 [Native Instruments]

First, NI effectively claims they were already in “divorce proceedings” by the time Stanton asked for an Intel Mac version:

“Stanton Magnetics never requested the development of a Mac Intel-compatible version of the FinalScratch software within a reasonable timeframe before the partnership of the two companies ended. Native Instruments has completely fulfilled all development and support responsibilities towards Stanton Magnetics.”

This would seem to confirm that Stanton did ask for Intel Mac compatibility, and NI said no. That’s a pretty big admission, whether in a “reasonable timeframe” before the partnership ended, or not. NI then says the reasons were legal:

Native Instruments had originally planned to maintain FinalScratch compatibility in TRAKTOR 3 for an indefinite amount of time. Stanton Magnetics has however issued, and never retracted, a legal statement that has forced Native Instruments to remove FinalScratch timecode compatibility from the TRAKTOR platform. The announcement of the “FinalScratch Open” program in January 2007 has not relieved Native Instruments from this specific legal constraint.

Of course, this is the big irony of Stanton’s new “open” platform. All audio interfaces are “open”; the issue is the timecode for the vinyl control technology — there’s a reason the product name is Final Scratch and not Final Phono Connector. But, squabbling aside, what’s NI’s solution?

To provide a favorable alternative, Native Instruments will instead offer a special crossgrade that will allow FinalScratch owners to switch to the TRAKTOR SCRATCH system at greatly reduced costs, while even allowing them to keep their FinalScratch system.

There’s the rub. Current customers will have to wait for Traktor Scratch, the new NI product, to ship, and then pay for an upgrade. (For the record, street price on the crossgrade is US$395, versus $595 street for a fresh copy. Could be worth it, but that’s still a chunk of change.) Or you could wait for Stanton to come up with their own solution, though that seems unlikely, since Stanton by their own admission are a hardware company, not a software company.

Based on the two statements, it seems the two companies are both telling the truth — mostly at least. NI was the software side, Stanton the hardware side. The problem is, software support is a non-issue as long as Stanton controls the timecode technology.

In the meantime, there’s nothing stopping you from plugging Final Scratch into other software that does support Stanton’s vinyl control scheme, like DJDecks, and the upcoming Deckadance; the latter even runs as a plug-in inside other applications. (Important caveat: DJDecks’ Final Scratch compatibility is officially unsupported, though it works. Deckadance promises support for Serato, Final Scratch, and Ms. Pinky out of the box. In current beta builds, only Ms. Pinky support is currently functioning.)

Why is vinyl compatibility a legal problem for NI but not for other developers? As near as I can figure, the reason is the order of events: NI dumps Stanton. Stanton says “fine, then you can’t use our vinyl.” It’s difficult to tell, though, what actually happened between the two companies, only that both now seem to want to punish the other and win over the other’s lucrative customer base.

As CDM’s DJ editor Wallace observes, it’s hard not to see this as a divorce in which the real losers are the kids — the customers. NI and Stanton may be in equal parts responsible for the closed nature of the technology they developed, but it seems that in effect, they’ve made an excellent argument for solutions that give you a choice. Imagine if soft synths only worked with one brand of MIDI controller. Why shouldn’t you be able to mix and match vinyl control, audio interface, and DJ app? And if NI won’t support Final Scratch, why not support another existing technology in Traktor, like the excellent Ms. Pinky? (Or, at long last, plug-ins — especially since NI are themselves one of the biggest plug-in developers.) No matter how good Traktor is, it’s hard not to see open, flexible solutions as more appealing — particularly after this fallout.

If Stanton and NI are so keen for customers, their best strategy may be to put the customers first. It’d be terrific to see their products really be “open” — not just in name, but by supporting more different setups and playing nicer with complementary vendors. It’s not my opinion that matters; it’s the customer base. And both companies are now likely to lose customers and trust: Stanton because they have no workable solution, and NI because they give the appearance of forcing their customers to buy something new by breaking something they already own.

Updated: Native Instruments has responded officially with their side of the story. They argue that the request for an Intel Mac in fact came so late that there was no way to respond, and they’re now focused on their new system:

Internally, we have been working on Traktor 3.3 since January, which has a completely new timecode decoder tailor-made for the Traktor Scratch high-resolution timecode, with all the corresponding changes to how the timecode section is integrated into the GUI etc. Introducing additional FinalScratch timecode compatibility at this point is therefore not about flipping a single bit in the code, it would basically mean rewriting the whole timecode part of Traktor 3.3, just to accommodate a timecode format that we are probably still not allowed to use from a legal perspective, that belongs to a product that we are no longer affiliated with, and which we consider to be inferior to what we have designed in the meantime.

While everybody here can understand the disappointment of some FinalScratch users, and we really try to accommodate them as best as we can, implementing FS timecode decoding into the current build of Traktor is just not feasible for us.

Of course, this makes it all the more disappointing that Stanton seems to have fumbled figuring out their own backup plan for their customers. And while Native makes a strong argument for developing their own combined hardware/software solution, they do face other competition. We hope to test NI’s upcoming product alongside Ms. Pinky, Stanton, and Serato options, and the various software choices, and see just which hardware/software combination is best.

Those of you out there who do have Final Scratch 2, we’re curious to hear your plans.

Final Scratch Open
The Official Word from Stanton – again [Skratchworx]
Statement regarding Stanton Magnetics FinalScratch, February 23 [Native Instruments]

Here’s the Cliff Notes version of the story, followed by more resources and (for a much more enjoyable Live 6 tip) some tricks with drums and racks:

1. Updating the Live 6 library can delete some Live 5 factory samples. The presets will still be there, but some point to missing samples. In my tests, some but not all Simpler presets seem to exhibit the problem. There are two basic workarounds: the easy one is to backup before you update, then copy over the missing samples, either by manually dragging them into the correct folder or using Live’s facility for locating orphaned samples. If you’ve failed to backup, I’d suggest either finding a machine that has only Live 5 on it, or reinstalling Live 5, backing up, then reinstalling Live 6. In the next few days, Ableton says they’ll release an update with the missing files, so once that happens you won’t have to bother with any workaround.
2. Live 5 and Live 6 can run in parallel, but only with separate libraries: Live 6 changes the library structure for the better, but that makes backwards-compatibility a little more complex. Live 6 won’t run Live 5 libraries, and visa versa. If you want to keep both side by side (always a good idea when first upgrading), you can either select a different library folder when you install Live 6, or try upgrading the Live 5 library in-place but keep a backup of your Live 5 folder.
3. Backup and copy: The best strategy is to backup and copy your old Live 5 presets; see Covert Operators’ link below.
4. Presets outside of the library: The good news is that you don’t have to use Live 6’s library folder to store your presets; you can add your own custom folder and put it wherever you want, as long as you bookmark it in the Browser.

That’s the overview, but for more detailed instructions, here are the details:

Live 6 Upgrade and Missing Presets [Ableton forum; official word from Ableton plus discussion]

Making your Live 5 library compatible with Live 6 [The Covert Operators; superb Live preset makers and forum regulars -- thanks, Ash!]

Live 6 packs download [Official Ableton sound downloads]

The extra work here is something of a pain for those of us who upgraded without backing up despite the warnings, but the damage is only temporary and I have to say this is the only issue I’ve had with Live 6.01.

Drum Tricks and Rack Insanity

Enough of the bug workarounds; let’s have some fun now. The Covert Operators have two great drum tricks for Live:

Rolling drums via MIDI effects [Live 5 and later, I think]

128 drum slots in a rack, thanks to putting 16 Impulse drum instruments into a single Live 6 rack! See also 8 Operators in one rack, though I haven’t found a good use for that yet. [Live 6 only]

Expect some ongoing Live 6 coverage this week; I’m pretty deep into it at the moment — apologies to all other major music software. I’ll be back to you shortly.

Today’s Apple announcement was mostly as-expected, and ho-hum for music listeners. Wait, what’s that? John Lennon on iTunes! Fantasti— uh, sorry. That’s John Legend. Never mind. (One of these artists is not like the other.)

Apple did offer improved iPods, long-awaited movie service and high-resolution TV shows, an upcoming video and audio streaming device for US$300, and two features I think music lovers will enjoy:

First, the new “AlbumFlow” feature in fact comes direct from CoverFlow, the homemade app that created gorgeous 3D versions of album art and let you flip through them. Apple can’t be accused of stealing from the Mac developer community in this case: they purchased the technology outright, as can be seen on the CoverFlow site’s announcement today. (Thanks, Lee!) Microsoft recently added a ripped-off version of this look in Windows Media Player 11 beta’s album view and URGE music store, but the iTunes version — in both the store and library — looks much better.

Even if you just use iTunes to store music and never buy from the iTunes Music Store, the new album display will work with your music; Apple will download album art for you. (And, as always, you can copy-and-paste custom artwork into an album if it’s, say, your own music.)

The other minor announcement you may have missed is that Apple is now rolling out seamless audio playback across all its players, from iTunes to iPods. That’s a small detail, but it makes a big difference for listening to music, especially if you’re a classical lover. Now if we could just get OGG/FLAC playback in iTunes.

It’d be nice to see more on the pro music side of things from Apple, but I expect that’ll come soon, especially with AES around the corner.