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Author Topic: RetroBand v1.5.1 out now! Windows & OSX VST UniBin  (Read 7602 times)

Kingston

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RetroBand v1.5.1 out now! Windows & OSX VST UniBin
« on: September 22, 2006, 04:41:18 PM »

http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/images/picture_logo.gif


OSX VST Universal Binary is out now here: http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/

The big and highly optimised v1.5.1 update of the Windows version is out now as well.

Apologies for the appalling bugs in the initial v1.5 release. They should all be fixed in all versions. See what's new here: http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/whatsnew.html

Regards,
Michael



Hello fellow studio people,

I have just released two new kinds of windows VST distortion plugins: RetroBand and RetroBandLite. The other is free, the other very cheap, and they both sound great (but don't take it from me, have a listen and try yourself).

http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/images/retroband.png

http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/images/retrobandlite.png

The Concept

RetroBand models several aspects of the interaction between gain stages and transformers of analogue gear, referred to as intra-modulation (IM), ie. Class A/B gain stage switching distortion. It also features several forms of transient shaping in-between the stages.

The Sound

RetroBand is a distortion unit at heart, but this type and concept hasn't been previously available as a digital model. It may desirably enrich sterile sound sources. Failing equipment can be easily simulated and this allows plenty of creativity. With some luck, it makes things sound larger than life. The transient enhanced IM with mid-side stereo control can change or revive a stereo image, too.

Head to the website for all the info you might need.


http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/

There are extensive audio demos on the site, hoping to cover all the basic uses of these plugins. Please have a listen to them to get a better idea of what exactly these plugins do well, but to also familiarise yourself with this new concept. They are actually there as a tutorial of sorts. (honestly, these aren't the easiest of plugins to learn)

The RetroBandLite plugin is completely free for everyone, while the full RetroBand is available for EUR35 as an introductory offer. Check out the trial version and help yourself to the free Lite version! I love a great sound as much as you do, and these were created to help us achieve it. (oh yes, I'm the most enthusiastic user as well as the developer)

Kind Regards,
Michael Kingston
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Ged Leitch

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2006, 09:50:06 AM »

Wow Micheal!

hell of a good job, i just tried the Lite version.

Used it on a mix I was mastering (Realised it didnt do stereo!)

But, I was really impressed, i like the DE-emphasis and Emphasis switch, comes in really useful.

Used it on a stereo mix with harsh cymbals/ top end and tuned the freq to 5k, de-emphasis and master on Push.

Softened that harsh sound really well, it can be really subtle too which is needed for mastering obviously.

I almost finished the master till i realized the lite version only did left - right or center channel! ...OOOPS!


Great work, and I may look to purchase the full version very soon!
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compasspnt

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2006, 03:11:43 PM »


Hey Michael,

Any chance of ever porting this to Mac?  RTAS?

Looks interesting.
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Kingston

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2006, 07:13:20 PM »

Ged Leitch wrote on Wed, 27 September 2006 16:50

Used it on a stereo mix with harsh cymbals/ top end and tuned the freq to 5k, de-emphasis and master on Push.

Softened that harsh sound really well, it can be really subtle too which is needed for mastering obviously.

I almost finished the master till i realized the lite version only did left - right or center channel! ...OOOPS!


Excellent! Good to find out about people who understood these plugins. I've always feared the difficult concept will scare people off.

Of course the RetroBand full version will do stereo as well (and oversampling, meaning it sounds better), and since you're already doing mastering type things, you will appreciate the extensive mid-side features. But first check out the Trial version to see if it works for you.

Regards,
Michael
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Kingston

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2006, 07:16:17 PM »

compasspnt wrote on Wed, 27 September 2006 22:11


Hey Michael,

Any chance of ever porting this to Mac?  RTAS?

Looks interesting.



I'm currently evaluating the possibility. If there's enough interest, it'll happen eventually. Right now it's too early to say anything conclusive. If there ever will be a mac port, it'll start from the VST version. (there are great VST-to-AU and VST-to-RTAS converters available)
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Kingston

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2006, 11:05:36 PM »

Hi everyone,

some important announcements coming from the RetroBand coding vaults where the programmers have been locked for two weeks with no food until they come up with a release worthy of the customer requests this far.

1. complete change of development platform resulting in numerous speeds boosts and improvements.

2. Everything is cross-platform compatible, which means there will be several flavours of OSX versions.

3. RetroBand is now internally fully 64bit, which means the sound has been improved substantially (less aliasing and processing artifacts). There are some algorithmic tweaks as well, resulting in clear leap of sound quality.

4. as a bonus, RetroBand is now roughly twice as fast. When it previously used 4.2% of CPU in normal mode, it now uses only 2.2%! YAY!

This thing is just about to move to beta stage, so stable release is looming several weeks ahead from now. Existing customers will receive update download details as soon as it's done, and I'll update this thread accordingly.

Kind Regards,
Michael Kingston

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compasspnt

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2006, 03:12:51 PM »


Good to hear!
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Kingston

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2006, 03:03:37 AM »

Hello all,

this is the release week so I thought I'd pop in to make an unofficial announcement. RetroBand and RetroBandLite will be released for OSX VST this week.

All the stuff on the list above still apply, and the windows update will be made available simultaneously. Existing customers will receive upgrade mail by the end of the week, and the rest of you stay tuned here.

I suspect the next question from the OSX front would be about the AU version. It will happen sometime in near future, but the VST version has been verified to work perfectly with the reliable fxpansion VST-to-AU and VST-to-RTAS adapter, with just about no CPU hit (just like with any plugin really).
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Kingston

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Re: RetroBand VST plugins. A good kind of distortion model?
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2006, 06:08:53 PM »

Hello,

Last sunday a major update to RetroBand was released and it was finally made available as OSX VST. Things did not quite go as planned as too many users soon noticed, and there were major problems. Fortunately all of those were easy to track thanks to crash reports and such. All the reported problems, bugs, crashes and glitches are now fixed. Apologies for having ever released such an ill-fated update.

http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/


Here's a list of changes and fixes:

Version 1.5.1, 21-dec-2006
------------------------
1. Fixed dependency on zlib1.dll and the file is no longer needed.
2. Fixed complete muting of sound or crashing in certain hosts when switching presets or opening the editor window.
3. Adjusted individual band 'Emp' parameter range and knob behaviour.
4. Removed sound bursts when switching presets.
5. Shortcut to HTML manual now works if user keeps installed directory structure intact.
6. Mouse no longer "clamps" when tweaking knobs.

Version 1.5, 16-dec-2006
------------------------
Milestone update.

1. Mac OSX Tiger Universal Binary versions now available.
2. Windows version is no longer tied to SSE enabled CPUs and will work on even older models.
3. CPU and RAM usage excessively optimised, in some cases more than halved.
4. All processing is now internally 64-bit -> improved sound quality.
5. New 'residual' noise mode. (does not apply to Lite version).
6. Alternative Drive mode.
7. Main output volume attenuator.
8. Safety 100Hz Hi-pass filter.
9. Various tweaks and optimisations of the DSP engine.
10. Preset maintenance removed.
11. Plugin initialisation is significantly faster.
12. Installer for better deployment, detects CPU and enables right optimisations for it.



Kind Regards and Merry X-Mas,
Michael Kingston
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Kingston

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RetroBand & RetroBandLite 1.5.7 update for Windows/OSX
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2007, 12:24:39 PM »

http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/images/picture_logo.gif

Hi all,

I've released a handy little update for the RetroBand plugins and reduced the price of the full version permanently (EUR39 now). Especially Windows users have a reason to rejoice as CPU usage has been reduced significantly. Miscellaneous OSX bugs were fixed as well.

Here's the list of changes:

Version 1.5.7, 24-sep-2007
------------------------
1. Major DSP optimisations. RetroBand now uses roughly 2/3 of the CPU compared to previous versions on Windows.
2. File size of the plugin was halved on Windows.
3. Major memory usage optimisations with the GUI on OSX and Windows.
4. Fixed incompatibility with VST-to-AU adapter with recent OSX Tiger versions.
5. Fixed and optimised mouse and redraw functions for more recent OSX Tiger versions.


Registered users will receive their update and download details by mail by tomorrow.

The rest of you head on down to http://www.michaelkingston.fi/retroband/ and download the free RetroBandLite or RetroBandTrial versions. Smile

Kind Regards,
Michael Kingston.
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