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Digital Performer 9 Review

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Well it doesn't seem a lifetime ago since DP8 was released and low and behold Motu have just announced Digital Performer 9 review. As you may have read on some of my previous posts I have been a Digital Performer user from version 3.1 onwards, but more and more tend to use Logic these days all the time. That is not a slight at DP, it is just that for some things (and mainly the way I work and my knowledge of Logic means that it is quicker and more efficient to work in Logic) and those things are mainly composing. Why, because call me lazy but I do like region based editing and manipulation, something which is still lacking in DP, I know you can loop sections, but it just seems clunky to me. Having said that when it comes to sound design or film projects, DP really does pip Logic in terms of functionality, so as such I am a bit of a DAW switcher. Anyway, back to DP 9, what does it offer?Well according to the press release, the following

  • MX4™ MultiSynth — Now included with DP, MX4 is a powerful 64-bit virtual instrument plug-in featuring a hybrid synthesis engine that combines several forms of synthesis, including subtractive, wavetable, frequency modulation (FM), amplitude modulation (AM) and analog emulation. Included is a new EDM-inspired soundbank with 120 new presets.
  • Five new plug-ins — Meticulously crafted plug-ins include DP's new MasterWorks™ FET-76™ emulation of the classic 1176LN limiting amplifier (Revision D/E), MultiFuzz™ model of Craig Anderton's seminal QuadraFuzz™ distortion kit from the 70's, MicroG™ and MicroB™ polyphonic octave generators for guitar and bass, and the mind-blowing MegaSynth™ subtractive synth processor.
  • Automation lanes in the Sequence Editor — Display audio and MIDI automation data (volume, pan, plug-in settings, etc.) in separate lanes below each track for easier viewing and editing. Show and hide as many lanes as you wish.
  • Spectrogram display in the Sequence Editor — View the spectral content of each audio track, side by side with their waveforms, directly in the Sequence Editor timeline with a colorful, informative visual representation of the frequency content of your audio material.
  • Retina display support — View DP's carefully crafted UI themes like Carbon Fiber, Producer and all-new DP9 theme in stunning detail on the exceptionally high image resolution of your Mac's Retina display.
  • MusicXML export — Export your DP QuickScribe notation scores as a MusicXML file, which can then be imported into popular music notation applications like Finale™ and Sibelius™. QuickScribe's renowned notation transcription, along with dynamics and many other musical symbols, are preserved during the file transfer.
  • Create Tracks command — Add many tracks to your project in one step — even different types of tracks (MIDI, audio, aux, master faders, etc.) all at once.
  • Floating plug-in windows — Keep plug-in windows in front of all other DP windows. Set the floating preference globally or choose to float on a per-window basis.
  • MIDI Learn for audio plug-ins — Map knobs, faders and switches on your MIDI controller to audio plug-in parameters. Use Digital Performer’s powerful Custom Consoles feature to access advanced programming for the connection.
  • Mute MIDI Notes — Use the Mute Tool to temporarily silence both audio regions and MIDI notes, including multiple selected notes.
  • Project Notes — Save text notes in your DP project, rather than a separate text document. Log production info, keep a To Do list, build up liner notes.
  • More searching — Find Markers, Chunks and plug-in preferences faster with newly added search fields.

Hmm is that really a whole point version upgrade, I am not completely sure, feels more like a point version upgrade. It is SO great that they are adding more synths and plugins to DP, I guess to keep it competitive against the others out there in particularly Logic, but to be honest in 2015 don't most of us have our own favourite external plug-ins and instruments already (many just me). I really like the floating plug-in windows, that has always been a bit of a PITA to the way I work. Finally there is the mute midi notes, but that should have been there from the start perhaps. Automation lanes is great feature finally and so is the spectrogram display, especially for me as I am so used to working with spectrograms. And that kind of is it. We shall have to see what the first reports suggest when they start coming in.Will I upgrade, not sure at the momentEnjoyPeaceNeil