No fade-in/out ability for audio clips.Can't send Synchron32 step sequencer output to a track as MIDI data.DS864 sampler imports Akai S5000/6000, Kurzweil K2000, and Soundfont 2 samples (but not envelopes, pitch offsets, and so on).Compatible with WDM, ASIO, Direct Sound, Rewire, VST, VSTi, DX and DXi.Flexible MIDI addressing for multiple soft synths.Spectral Transformer and Cyclone modules are unique and innovative.Fine selection of soft synths and effects.P-SEQ is a great way to get ideas down fast.Reads and time-stretches Acidised audio files.But the normalised synth analogy breaks down eventually too, because P5 is expandable with other VST and DX devices. It includes a collection of essential instruments and effects, handles automation and external controllers, and can import and loop Acidised WAV files (and standard WAV files, although they won't time-stretch). P5 is sort of a 'normalised' version of general-purpose software, based on a pattern paradigm rather than linear recording. While not as versatile as modulars, they were more streamlined, efficient, and optimised for a particular kind of task. Then people came upon particular combinations of modules that worked well together, and the 'normalised' synthesizer was born. Think of it this way: synthesizers used to be modular. Then again, Acid can record digital audio, so that analogy doesn't really work either. But it also has elements of Acid, joined with a really deep MIDI implementation. And now I see why: it isn't.Īdmittedly, Project5 (P5 for short) is superficially like Reason, as it contains soft synths and doesn't record digital audio. Everyone seemed to be saying that except for, well, Cakewalk. Then you remember the buzz, that this is 'Cakewalk's answer to Reason'. The first thing you notice is the packaging: a transparent, minimalist plastic box that states 'I'm different'. The Mix section (lower left) has bins for MIDI and Audio effects, as well as aux send controls.Īt first sight, Cakewalk's new virtual studio suite might seem like a Reason clone - but it's actually a highly individual product, which offers a new and unique approach to creating music from patterns, sequences and loops.

This works like a drawer, and has been extended somewhat to the left, obscuring part of Psyn but giving more room for viewing P-SEQ data. Moving from left to right along the bottom half, the SYN.OPS control panel shows 16 parameters assigned to real-time control, the Psyn synthesizer is docked next to SYN.OPS, and the P-SEQ pattern sequencer is currently displaying notes and velocities. The top half shows the Tracker, with a Tempo Delay processor and the Pattern Bin floating over it.

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