Monthly Archives: March 2016

PreSonus Release 3.2.1 Maintenance Update For Studio One

PreSonus Release 3.2.1 Maintenance Update For Studio One

PreSonus, the makers of Studio One – have released Version 3.2.1 of Studio One. Here is the full list of improvements and fixes.

New features and improvements:

  • Save and restore Studio 192, RM and AI mixer settings (Fat Channel, Pre-amp)
  • New button in mixer settings controls restores audio device settings
  • Pass-through mode for Mix Engine FX
  • New option allows Mix Engine FX plug-ins in a downstream bus (like Main Out) to process all upstream channels, even if a bus is inserted in between)
  • Different indicator LED colors for different Mix Engine FX routings
  • Added 23.98 (23.976) frame-rate support for HD video
  • Show relative value tooltip when using transform tool
  • VCA Channel – Show/Hide Targets
  • Loop follows selection shouldn’t activate Loop
  • Zoom Tool available in Music Editor
  • VCA Fader should follow multiple selected tracks
  • Option to play overlaps in create song dialog
  • Option to switch off auto color
  • Return to Start on Stop without view jump
  • Group tracks hidden in hidden folder
  • Suspend “Loop follows selection” when loop has been changed manually
  • Save play start marker in song
  • [Win] Updated GEAR CD burning drivers

The following issues have been fixed:

  • [OSX] Sample Rate Mismatch In OS X 10.8.5 and 10.9.5
  • [OSX] Preview in file selector missing
  • [OSX] Help Viewer not brought to front again
  • Putting a Main bus automation under a Track folder hides the main bus
  • Shift modifier conflict
  • XLN audio plugin stalls progress dialog
  • Crossfade not working after applying it
  • Crash when loading song
  • Midi notes are not recorded correctly using Repeater in input mode
  • Repeater’s Gate causes unpredictable playback at low settings
  • Groove Programs B to G not properly recalled
  • VCA Fader only shows metering while Peak/RMS is selected
  • Auto-scroll not applied again after activating it
  • X Fade: hard to get back to linear
  • Changing Note velocity repeatedly by mouse input won’t go below 13/10%
  • Arranger area (partially) black after closing extended editor
  • Return to Last Locate on Stop
  • Input Level meter pre inserts (was post in 3.1.1)
  • Multi-output instruments track assignment issue
  • Invert Macro Control doesn’t work properly
  • FX Wet/Dry broken when saving the song for the first time
  • FX Sends can be dragged on insert FX
  • [Mai Tai] Pitch & Key follow doesn’t work correctly
  • Markers are unnecessarily duplicated when created from Arranger sections
  • Automation volume drop when adding VCA
  • Micro-view state not recalled when instantiating from thumbnail or plugin name
  • Vertical zoom state not restored by Restore Zoom State
  • Group Comping: switching layers for grouped tracks
  • Unexpected result on numerical changes to event start inside part
  • Start of audio event within part snaps to wrong position after specific action
  • Slip-editing single short Event within part not correctly redrawn in editor
  • Go to next/prev track is not working on Project Page
  • “Solo follows selection” broken for Folder Tracks attached to a VCA
  • Mute and Solo key commands don’t work for VCA’s
  • Doubled audition notes sent when using arrow keys to switch
  • Pro EQ “Waterfall” moving faster while editing a curve
  • Listen tool as alternative tool does not solo channel
  • Crash after drawing on tempo track after Scale Time, with Scratchpad open
  • External Instrument Bounce broken for multi-channel MIDI
  • Channel editor opens in detached Melodyne editor
  • Marker color does not update when changed with mouse wheel (suppressed now)
  • When “Show Automation” is enabled, automation data is always pasted to displayed lane
  • Start region of successively recorded audio event is not exact (but early)
  • Return to Start on Stop is ignored on Record
  • Click in Empty Space does not locate in playback
  • Last CC node in part always being set to the last CC value before punch out
  • MIDI CC data resets to last value after loop cycle
  • Record Mix MIDI CC data in a loop, randomly replaced for blanks
  • Bus ends up in folder Bus when dragging folder past other Bus in console
  • DDP cd-protocol.html is missing EAN code 

Overview Of The PreSonus Pro EQ Plug-in

In this video, Paul Drew looks at the fantastic stock EQ plug-in that ships with PreSonus Studio One, the Pro EQ.

Understanding Audio Over IP

Audio Over IP

Audio over IP is fast becoming the next big thing in moving audio around. Several PreSonus products already take advantage of this and some now included DANTE. Julian, Audio over IP specialist wrote this excellent article for Pro Tools Expert, it’s well worth checking out.

In my recent post about AES67 I referred to the typical path technologies take when establishing themselves:

Adoption – Standardisation – Convergence

There are many examples of widely used technologies which follow this pattern, Telephone systems are a popular example but I have also used railways as an equally valid example in the past. The thing they all have in common is a technology which is useful to a single user but which becomes more useful as more people use it, and not in a linear fashion – its usefulness grows exponentially as its user base grows. This is known as the “network effect”, sometimes referred to as Metcalfe’s Law, and it is probably most clearly illustrated by the example of online social networks. The success of a social network depends on its popularity. Facebook is popular because it is popular. It has an overwhelming advantage because the network effect reinforces its popularity in a positive feedback loop. Things can of course change (Ahem – Myspace…) but the network effect remains very powerful.

When it comes to computer network technologies, it’s hard to remember that there was a time when Ethernet was only one of several competing network systems but Ethernet has become so overwhelmingly pervasive that to most “network” and “Ethernet” are virtually synonymous. In fact the progress of Ethernet has been so unstoppable that it gave rise to the (apocryphal) Metcalfe’s Second Law – “Never bet against Ethernet”!

When talking about laws of computing it’s appropriate to mention the most famous of them all – Moore’s Law. This remarkably resilient prediction on the progress of speed in computing, while it’s had its wobbles, is testament to the fact that current limitations based on speed will change, and will change soon.

Given that where there is potential for networking it appears inevitable and unstoppable, it would be a brave person who would assume that they don’t need to be aware of its potential and its consequences. This is a big subject and one I will be addressing over the coming months in some detail but for now here are 5 things to consider about life in an audio networked world:

1. Distribution

This is a network’s key strength. If you want to duplicate, share or send audio to multiple or remote locations then networks offer so many advantages over traditional point-to-point techniques that these advantages outweigh the disadvantages many times over. This is why live sound and broadcast have been comparatively early adopters of Audio over IP (AoIP) whereas post and music production have been comparatively slow on the uptake. After all, if you record in a single room then the benefits are less apparent but the disadvantages remain. However when factoring in the cumulative “network effect” when AoIP reaches critical mass and the inevitable performance increase over time as hardware becomes more capable, I think people not using AoIP will be the exception rather than the rule.

2. Communication

There are two (largely) distinct audiences who will need to learn about Audio over IP. Audio engineers are going to need to learn about IT infrastructure and IT specialists are going to have to learn about professional audio (and video). This presents an interesting dilemma – All of us are going to have to address just how “front loaded” our respective fields are. Try explaining what you do to someone with no knowledge of audio production in the way you would to a fellow professional, you’ll see just how much knowledge you assume. That’s exactly how it is when IT people speak to you about IT! Unless you are one of the lucky few who understand both audio and IT to a suitable level you’ll have some work to do to exist independently in the future.

3. Generalised Infrastructure

We’re all used to computers in studios. I’m (just) old enough to remember computer-free studios and the idea of having no digital equipment beyond a hardware reverb in a studio is strange indeed. Of course there are people who run all analogue studios as a choice. That is great. Old technology doesn’t just disappear when it is superseded and nor should it, but the fact that the job of specialised hardware can be done by generalised IT equipment, and the fact that any modern facility will have to have Ethernet cabling and switches installed but doesn’t have to have specialised audio and video cabling installed, combined with the low cost and convenience of Ethernet means that there is an overwhelming drive towards Ethernet in all but the smallest of new installs. Because of this, there is an uncomfortable truth in the future life of anyone working in commercial audio – your infrastructure will no longer belong to you. You will become a priority user of a shared resource and to get the best out of it you are going to have to speak to IT people.

4. Managing Delays

Networked audio is about managing delays. All digital audio systems introduce delays to signals. Sending digital audio across networks introduces further delays and the job of the audio engineer of the future will be capturing the waveform using the traditional skills of an audio engineer, but then ensuring it is delivered across the network in the shortest possible time and most importantly with related signals playing out at the same time as each other.

5. Circuit Switched vs Packet Switched

To someone who hasn’t had to deal with this before it can seem like so much hard work to fix a problem which simply doesn’t exist in an analogue system or traditional digital systems. This is because we are in effect trying to use a packet switched network as a traditional point to point system. We want the flexibility of a network without the timing issues that packetisation introduces. If you don’t know what packetisation is stay tuned as that is one of the many terms we’ll be de-mystifying over the coming months.

If you record in your bedroom and you can’t see how this affects you, you’re probably right. It won’t affect you. It depends on whether you want to come out of that bedroom?

Many thanks to Mark Yonge, Standards Manager at the AES for permission to use content from his address to the Audio Networking Forum, Dec 2014. 

Article by Julian Rodgers

Studio One 3.2 – Various Workflow Improvements

In this free video tutorial for PreSonus Studio One, David Mood demonstrates some new workflow improvements in Studio One 3.2.

Review – Waves BSS DPR-402 Plug-in

Dan at Pro Tools Expert has done an excellent video review of the Waves BSS DPR-402 Plug-in.

Watch the video to hear how the BSS DPR-402 performs and to hear what Dan thinks.

“Long favored by studio, live and broadcast engineers, the BSS DPR-402 dynamics processor is known for its punch, versatility, and the explosive sound it delivered on countless rock, dance and hip-hop hits since the 80s.”

Main Features

  • Created in association with BSS Audio
  • Precise software model of the super-versatile BSS DPR-402 Compressor/Peak Limiter/De-Esser
  • Separately control the dynamics of selected frequency ranges
  • 12 modes providing quick access to diverse combinations of dynamics processing
  • Two independent sidechains per channel for extra flexibility
  • Auto mode for program-dependent attack and release control
  • MS matrix for separate mid-sides processing

Waves offer free trial periods on all their plug-ins with the BSS DPR-402 available for a limited time at a very special introductory price of $99, regular $149.  Visit the Waves website for more information.

How A Software Thief Justifies Their Actions – An Astounding Read

Software Thief

If you want to know how a software thief justifies their actions then this story from the Pro Tools Expert team will astound you. 

Read on to see an email they received from one of their plugin developer friends. They write;

A developer friend of ours sold a plugin from their web store and then a few days later the credit card company issued what is called a ‘chargeback’ on the transaction meaning that the person was claiming they had never used their credit card for this transaction. Giving the buyer the benefit of the doubt the seller emailed them to raise the issue to see what had gone wrong, this is the reply they received. Note some minor changes have been made to protect the identity of the vendor.

I used a stolen credit card. Never meant to hurt any one as its just software code and you are a rich man, I thought you would just let it slide as paypal will give the money back to the card owner.

Just want to create good sounding music so I can get a producer song writer record deal. The more my music sounds professional the faster they will give me attention your app if one of the best reverb out there.

I can not afford the real gears so I go for the plugs. I now have 3 fully commercial sounding songs produced and written. When I reach to 20 songs Ill head out for a record deal. When I make it and can afford stuff   I will stop.

We all have to start from some where mine is a bit dainty but the sun will shine soon.

Sorry man no heart feelings

Take it easy and take care of the Fam.

Regards (sic)

When we read this we spat our coffee, especially the last line about taking care of the family. Has this thief not connected the dots and realised that they take care of their family is by selling plugins.

This is how a thief justifies their actions but there is no such thing as a victimless crime. Furthermore we advise any seller to use both the credit card companies and the law enforcement authorities to bring prosecutions whenever possible.

If you want to make great sounding tracks and don’t have the money then don’t steal, use things like our free Studio One plugins – there are a lot of great ones about. There’s also a powerful free version of Studio One, Studio One Prime.

What do you think?

Producing Hip-Hop & Trap In PreSonus Studio One – Part 1 – The Session Template

In Part 1 of this free video tutorial series, Friend of the Blog – Producer/Mixer “Concrete Zebra” takes us through his basic approach to building a solid session template geared towards producing Hip-Hop & Trap In PreSonus Studio One.

Quick Tip: Adding A Keyboard Shortcut For ‘Expand Envelopes’

There are certain times when it can be more convenient to work with Envelopes as opposed to displaying track Automation over top of audio events.  As some of you may or may not know, by selecting a track in the Track List, (top left of the Arrange window) we can choose to expand/view its Envelopes.  However, if this is something you find yourself using quite a bit, adding a keyboard shortcut for “Expand Envelopes” can be a nice time-saver.

Personally, I have mine mapped out to the “0” key on my keyboard, as it was one of the keys that was left available.  For anyone coming from Pro Tools, this will be a familiar view that some of you may have used.  This can be especially useful if you have multiple envelopes you wish to edit quickly, as it eliminates the need to scroll through them one by one.

Waves Release Limter/Compressor/De-Esser BSS DPR-402 Plug-In Emulation

Waves in association with BSS Audio has modeled the super-flexible, super-punchy BSS DPR-402 dynamics processor, popular for decades among studio, live and broadcast engineers. The prices is normally $149 but they are offering it for $99 for a limited period.

This BSS dynamics processor was well loved by studio and live sound engineers alike.  When I was running a mobile recording facility, I had a good number of these in my processing rack and when mixing live sound I would spec this whenever possible. and so the BSS DPR-402 dynamics processor was known for its punch, versatility, and the explosive sound it delivered on countless rock, dance and hip-hop hits since the 80s.

Working in association with BSS Audio, Waves has modeled this long-unavailable unit, bringing back its diverse functions and sounds, and adding new features for extra flexibility and ease of use.

BSS DPR-402 can be used as a straightforward compressor, de-esser or limiter. But it really shows its colours when these processes are combined, and when it is used to selectively process individual parts of the audio band, leaving the rest of the spectrum untouched. The possibilities range from low-frequency expansion and narrow-band compression to general dynamic equalization to create surprising enhancement effects.

Waves has also added five features unique to the plugin:

  • A MS matrix to separately process the mid and the sides,
  • A Mix control to balance the processed and unprocessed signal,
  • A Noise control to add or remove the modeled noise of the original unit,
  • A Gain Reduction control 
  • An option for separate L/R metering.

Waves BSS DPR-402 Plug-in Features Summary

  • Created in association with BSS Audio
  • Precise software model of the super-versatile BSS DPR-402 Compressor/Peak Limiter/De-Esser
  • Separately control the dynamics of selected frequency ranges
  • 12 modes providing quick access to diverse combinations of dynamics processing
  • Two independent sidechains per channel for extra flexibility
  • Auto mode for program-dependent attack and release control
  • MS matrix for separate mid-sides processing

How To Quickly Program Trap/Hip-Hop Style Hi-Hats In Studio One

In this video Paul Drew is working from home without his Midi keyboard. He explains how to enter midi information into Studio One using his computer keyboard by programming up some Hip-Hop / Trap style hi-hats.