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Looking forward to seeing what the hell Massive X is.
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Jul 3, 2018 19:01
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So sad to see the no-longer-supported Kore 2 expansions in there. The multieffect packs were downright insane.
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Jul 3, 2018 20:25
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what's the go-to drum plugin/library these days? To be more specific, I have pretty decent collection of samples and drum synths but I don't have much in the way of realistic sounding drums and nothing to make the process easier than "fill in notes on piano roll" so my drums always end up being pretty lame. I just use the built-in drum machine plugin in my DAW, drag in samples and plot them out by hand but it always sounds very mechanical and I'm terrible at making them interesting/less repetitive. There's gotta be something out there to make drums a bit easier for non-drummers right?
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Jul 7, 2018 00:20
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If you want realistic sounds in an easy format, i would recommend NI Drumlab, which I assume works in Kontakt Player. It has a lot of electronic sounds too, but has been my easy goto for acoustic drums.
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Jul 7, 2018 00:28
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I use EZdrummer. It sounds good, has a decent library of sample grooves, and has a shitload of expansions if you feel like it. It also runs on standard MIDI so you can import/program whatever you want, too.
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Jul 7, 2018 00:42
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Your Computer posted:what's the go-to drum plugin/library these days? When you say the drums sound mechanical, is it the actual sound of the drums or the rhythm that sounds mechanical? I primarily use Ableton's Sampler with drum samples I have collected and the biggest thing I found to make drums sound like a human played them is to add swing. Different DAWs may also call this groove, but what it does is apply slight adjustments to each note so that it doesn't hit exactly on beat. Even the best drummers of all time don't play perfectly on beat, but they each have their own "swing" or "groove" that gives a percussion rhythm some soul. What DAW are you using? I know in Ableton that I can apply Swing to individual tracks, or I use a Groove to apply a specific type of Swing to a clip.
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Jul 7, 2018 01:03
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I use Addictive Drums 2, played via a Korg Padkontrol. Least mechanical way I can get drums into tracks. Absolutely love it.
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Jul 7, 2018 01:21
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MrSargent posted:When you say the drums sound mechanical, is it the actual sound of the drums or the rhythm that sounds mechanical? I primarily use Ableton's Sampler with drum samples I have collected and the biggest thing I found to make drums sound like a human played them is to add swing. Different DAWs may also call this groove, but what it does is apply slight adjustments to each note so that it doesn't hit exactly on beat. Even the best drummers of all time don't play perfectly on beat, but they each have their own "swing" or "groove" that gives a percussion rhythm some soul. What DAW are you using? I know in Ableton that I can apply Swing to individual tracks, or I use a Groove to apply a specific type of Swing to a clip.  I think my biggest hurdle is that I've never played drums before and don't have a good understanding of what makes a good drum beat so it usually ends up with like, kick, hi-hat, snare, repeat. It's not so bad when I make purely electronic stuff but it's stifling whenever I want to make something else.Anyway I looked at both Drumlab and EZdrummer and they both look sweet! I really like the look of the EZdrummer midi stuff though and I listened to some of the grooves/expansions and this thing sounds perfect. Feels like cheating, but otoh I don't have any ambitions to ever be a good drummer. e: looking more at EZdrummer and this thing seems nuts. Anyone got experience with the hip hop expansion? I'm tempted to go straight for the bundle. Your Computer fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Jul 7, 2018 |
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Jul 7, 2018 01:28
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For electronic/experimental drum tracks I always build my own kits in NI Battery 3 and program them from the Cubase Beat Designer or play parts in live. For traditional drums I've used both EZ Drummer and the various Drum products in Komplete (the Abbey Road collections, Drum Lab, and Studio Drummer). Things I like about EZ Drummer: The tap-to-search feature is very cool, allowing you to give the program a hint at what kind of rhythm you're looking for. The overall library of kits and patterns is enormous (if pricey). Many of the kits sound good and are usable. Things I DON'T like about EZ Drummer: It really is designed mainly for using the patterns, rather than being triggered from a DAW or drum sequencer. Several percussion sounds are not triggerable from external MIDI; they only work with expansion grooves. I find their activation/installation process a bit of a pain in the rear end if you have more than a couple of their expansions (I have lots). It's not that noticeable a problem if you just install things as you buy them, but just try setting up a new computer with a whole library of EZ Drummer MIDI and kit expansions. Literally takes hours for not just installation but activation. Really wish they had a Native Access/Arturia Software Center solution. Things I like about the NI Packages: Komplete Kontrol integration. Hands-down the easiest way to audition multiple kits and mixing presets. They are all completely triggerable from MIDI as well as their pattern libraries. Some very nice sounding kits, with some solid and distinct mixing presets for different genres. All of the packages more or less follow GM mapping, at least for the most common sounds, so you can actually convert GM drum patterns (or patterns designed for other GM-compatible drum plugins) for use with these with little effort. Things I don't like about the NI Packages: The pattern libraries are small compared to the EZ series. (I tend not to use them, though, because it's usually quicker for me to write my own patterns.) Also, if you want to mix these kits using multiple VST outputs, you need to deal with Kontakt's complicated VST output routing setup, which takes some time to wrap your head around and requires a bit of effort to get working.
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Jul 7, 2018 08:01
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Thanks for the tips everyone, I really appreciate it. I've been looking more into EZdrummer and it sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Tons of ready-made midi tracks that you can tweak in a couple of neat ways (I like the add/subtract feature a lot) and decent sounding real drums. I tried the demo and it was nice to be able to just tap in a rhythm, pick a preset and throw it right in and sounding decent (and more interesting than I'm able to make myself): https://soundcloud.com/yourcomputer/calmwav/s-ZYiKT obviously I'd also have to learn how to mix the drums and tweak them to my liking but it seems ideal. I like the bundle thing they're offering, though I'm not sure what I'd pick. I was thinking perhaps the hip hop + jazz one and then maybe throw in the fusion midi pack as well since that's the kind of stuff I want these drums for in the first place. The dream pop kits sound pretty great too though.... oh choices  I'm not really worried about it being a bit of a one-trick pony since all of my drum samples and drum synths are still great for purely electronic stuff, I just want something that can do more realistic and interesting drums for when I'm in that kind of mood.
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Jul 7, 2018 09:57
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If you have the dough, Superior Drummer 3 is amazing. The drum replacement feature is top notch, so you can more or less consider drum loops to be midi for you. If you are remixing something, it is almost magical to throw the stems into SD3 and get a good midi as a result. The samples and midi library are good too, and if you do pick up Ezdrummer packs when they are on sale, they work flawlessly together. Very much worth it if you can swing it, IMO.
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Jul 7, 2018 14:04
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Rusty Kettle posted:If you have the dough, Superior Drummer 3 is amazing. The drum replacement feature is top notch, so you can more or less consider drum loops to be midi for you. If you are remixing something, it is almost magical to throw the stems into SD3 and get a good midi as a result. The samples and midi library are good too, and if you do pick up Ezdrummer packs when they are on sale, they work flawlessly together. Wait, you're saying that SD3 will listen to a drum loop and try and copy it into midi? If so, that's incredible.
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Jul 7, 2018 17:07
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:Wait, you're saying that SD3 will listen to a drum loop and try and copy it into midi? If so, that's incredible. I haven't watched this video, but I think it is an overview of the feature. It works very well for me.
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Jul 8, 2018 00:37
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Rusty Kettle posted:I haven't watched this video, but I think it is an overview of the feature. It works very well for me. while we're on the topic, EZdrummer's tap to search + online shop integration has to be the most evil thing ever invented. Oh you wanted [this exact drum beat that sounds perfect]? Just buy this pack!  I still haven't bought it but I'm having fun with the demo just throwing in presets and making dumb things https://soundcloud.com/yourcomputer/80s-durms/s-iCj5p Now the hard part: realizing that I have better stuff to spend that money on and trying to justify the purchase Your Computer fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Jul 8, 2018 |
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Jul 8, 2018 05:47
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Your Computer posted:while we're on the topic, EZdrummer's tap to search + online shop integration has to be the most evil thing ever invented. Oh you wanted [this exact drum beat that sounds perfect]? Just buy this pack! EDIT: HOLY poo poo MY DUDES, I didn't even bother installing any of my Toontrack stuff after I reformatted my DAW system because of what a hassle the install/activation was when I had to do that before. But I just logged into my Toontrack account to find that they actually do have a Native Access-like product downloader now that does the download/install/activation and update for you! https://www.toontrack.com/product-manager/ Testing it out for the first time now! EDIT 2: Okay, yeesh this is NO Native Access. It's better than what we had before (where you downloaded every product, then unzipped, installed, authorized, and then had to manually download and install updates- even for just-purchased products). You still have to do all that stuff, but some clicks have been reduced since it's all controlled from one UI. So for each product you have to click Download, then Install (when ready), then Authorize (when ready), then Update (when ready). And you also have to answer UAC prompts for every single installer (*sigh*). Hopefully they will continue streamlining this thing. edit 3: Also, EZ Drummer picked my VST3 folder for installation by default, even though it's a VST2 plugin only. Radiapathy fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Jul 8, 2018 |
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Jul 8, 2018 06:54
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I am a sucker for Toontrack's midi packs. EZKeys is good for creating placeholder music in the right key and chord progression. Basically, I use it to be a 'insert something here that sounds like this but isn't this' marker. The actual sampled instruments for EZKeys aren't great, but the midi can be very useful.
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Jul 8, 2018 07:07
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oh yeah I guess I should ask before potentially blowing a bunch of money on this, do they regularly have sales for the software itself? As in, is there a chance I could get a decent discount on EZdrummer if I waited?
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Jul 8, 2018 07:55
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Your Computer posted:oh yeah I guess I should ask before potentially blowing a bunch of money on this, do they regularly have sales for the software itself? As in, is there a chance I could get a decent discount on EZdrummer if I waited? I haven't checked to see how often it goes on sale but I got my copy for $100 on Black Friday.
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Jul 8, 2018 11:27
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Your Computer posted:oh yeah I guess I should ask before potentially blowing a bunch of money on this, do they regularly have sales for the software itself? As in, is there a chance I could get a decent discount on EZdrummer if I waited? They tend to go on sale once or twice a year. If you are patient and sign up for the newsletter, you might be able to get it for cheaper, get a free expansion or something like that. The only toontrack product I haven't tried is EZMix. I am skeptical that it could give good results. Has anyone tried it? I was thinking about picking it up next time it is on sale to try it. Half of my waves plugins poo poo the bed because they want me to spend $250 on their upgrade plan, so my projects are all jacked up. It would be nice to change to software that doesn't hold my work ransom.
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Jul 8, 2018 12:24
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oops guess I'm not patient enough  I just found out I got a bunch of money back on my taxes so I ended up pulling the trigger. Dang this thing sounds great! I already want more midi packs, gently caress! I ended up making a custom bundle with the hip hop and dream pop expansions + the fusion midi pack and I think I made the right choice. I'm surprised there's no DnB expansion or midi pack but I'm already making some really nice-sounding stuff with the hip hop kits and the fusion midi.
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Jul 8, 2018 13:52
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Your Computer posted:I'm surprised there's no DnB expansion or midi pack but I'm already making some really nice-sounding stuff with the hip hop kits and the fusion midi. Despite being classified as metal, the "Hi-Energy Grooves" pack has some very DnB-sounding stuff in the demo. I don't have the full thing though, so I can't say how much is actually in there.
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Jul 8, 2018 14:56
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Oh god I've only owned this plugin for a day and I'm already considering buying a 6 midi pack bundle. Somebody help me  Anime Reference posted:Despite being classified as metal, the "Hi-Energy Grooves" pack has some very DnB-sounding stuff in the demo. I don't have the full thing though, so I can't say how much is actually in there. I know I wanted this for the realistic drums but so far I've really fallen in love with the sets from the hip hop expansion. Some of these are just so crispy and nice! I'm not as sold on the dream pop expansion but not because it doesn't sound good (it sounds great), it just doesn't play that well with any of the midi I've got and there's not a lot that came with it. I guess this is how they lure you into buying midi packs
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Jul 9, 2018 14:05
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Soundtoys just put a whole bunch of stuff on sale: https://www.soundtoys.com/product/
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Jul 10, 2018 12:07
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Trig Discipline posted:Soundtoys just put a whole bunch of stuff on sale: https://www.soundtoys.com/product/
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Jul 10, 2018 13:53
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If you don't have at least decapitator question what you're doing with your life. Buy the whole collection. It's just the right choice.
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Jul 10, 2018 23:07
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Probably going to buy the whole collection seeing as I have Decapitator, FilterFreak, and Little Plate already and they rule.
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Jul 11, 2018 06:39
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQRW0RM4V0k I couldn't have finished my new album without the SoundToys bundle. Or at least made it sound the way it did. And the Arturia V Collection. And FabFilter ProQ 2. And the Ozone 8 Maximizer. Rageaholic fucked around with this message at 07:10 on Jul 11, 2018 |
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Jul 11, 2018 07:07
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I just spent a bunch of money on drums, I can't afford this 
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Jul 11, 2018 09:46
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Another dumbass Kontakt question from ya boy here! I've set up a multitimbral Kontakt instance in Live, nested with a bunch of External Instrument instances corresponding to the plugin's MIDI channels and output pairs. I'm wondering if there's a setting I can tick that when adding an instrument in Kontakt, the next output pair is automatically selected - similar to how it automatically selects a new MIDI channel. It's a small thing but it would be nice not to have to point it at the next available output pair each time. While I'm daydreaming about template stuff and not actually writing any goddamn music still, another thing that would be nice is building another multitimbral patch/Live track group to call up that's a properly panned and levelled, . This is probably as simple as looking at a seating layout of a standard orchestra and placing the instruments. Film composers probably do this exact sort of thing, yeah?
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Jul 15, 2018 02:41
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Mister Speaker posted:Another dumbass Kontakt question from ya boy here! I've set up a multitimbral Kontakt instance in Live, nested with a bunch of External Instrument instances corresponding to the plugin's MIDI channels and output pairs. I'm wondering if there's a setting I can tick that when adding an instrument in Kontakt, the next output pair is automatically selected - similar to how it automatically selects a new MIDI channel. It's a small thing but it would be nice not to have to point it at the next available output pair each time. Even though I spent a lot of time figuring out how to do multi-out in Kontakt for both Live and Cubase, at the end of the day I generally just do tons of individual Kontakt instances in my DAW projects rather than mess with the output routing in a single stacked instance. It's perfectly feasible now that most of us are 64-bit all the way; was more of a stretch in the 32-bit days. (If you're on PC/VST, the Kontakt 5 8x instance is the lowest-impact version to use for multi-instance purposes. The 16x and the undecorated "Kontakt 5" both use more resources.)
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Jul 15, 2018 08:08
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For anyone that was on the fence about upgrading to the full Soundtoys bundle, check your e-mail if you already have a couple plugins and a membership because they just sent me an additional $30 coupon, essentially forcing me to upgrade right now.
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Jul 25, 2018 15:44
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MrSargent posted:For anyone that was on the fence about upgrading to the full Soundtoys bundle, check your e-mail if you already have a couple plugins and a membership because they just sent me an additional $30 coupon, essentially forcing me to upgrade right now. Can't imagine my workflow without it now.
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Jul 25, 2018 20:07
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I decapitate all the things, and i love echoboy to death
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Jul 25, 2018 20:15
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Plavski posted:I decapitate all the things 
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Jul 25, 2018 20:27
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Rageaholic Monkey posted:Doooooooooo ittttttttttttttt I did it! I can't wait to experiment. Plavski posted:I decapitate all the things, and i love echoboy to death Decapitator was one of the plugins I already had and I do the same thing haha. Looking forward to trying out AlterBoy, Echoboy, Devil-Loc, and MicroShift. Hell I am excited for all of them.
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Jul 26, 2018 00:14
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Just got this email, in case you don't already own the Soundtoys stuff:
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Jul 30, 2018 23:23
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Can anyone recommend a VST/AU standalone host for Mac (10.11.6)? Basically what I want to do is have something I can load up some metering plugins in, so I can watch them on my second monitor while listening to music or whatever through my browser. So it's got to have the ability to take audio from my interface. Is something like Soundflower necessary for this, or is there a VST host that will work just fine? AU Lab doesn't seem to want to open.
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Aug 2, 2018 23:23
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I think Mainstage is a lot of people's go-to for that.
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Aug 3, 2018 08:28
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That worked well, thanks. I had to grab Soundflower and create a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup to tap into my system output. I hope this doesn't cause conflict with my DAW - natch, the obvious solution is to switch back to my interface, as I can just run the meters VST in Live. Mainstage is a surprising CPU hog though, maybe there's a more stripped-down way I can run it but right now its CPU meters are reading a little hot for my liking. And I'm wondering if there's a simple way to keep the app windows on top, so that it doesn't disappear from my second monitor when I cursor over and click within my browser or whatever. But so far, it's doing exactly what I want, as long as I CMD+TAB over to it after, for example, loading up a YouTube video. Thanks again!
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Aug 3, 2018 20:15
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| # ? May 21, 2024 23:34 |
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So I got a sweet deal from iZotope on Ozone 8 and picked it up. On top of the 50% sale they were running, I contacted them and they gave me an additional 20% discount because I already owned Nectar 2. I feel like someone else mentioned that their computer starts crapping out when running Ozone 8 and after using mastering assistant, I am having the same issue with lots of pops and crackles. Is there a way to get around this until I am able to upgrade my computer? I guess that one thing I should be doing is bouncing everything to audio in a new project before using Ozone. That way Ozone is the only plugin running, but I would be interested in other ideas. It would be nice to be able to just run mastering assistant real quick before I bounce my project to an mp3 for demo purposes.
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Aug 3, 2018 20:47
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