4K in a DAW – appendix

My previous post about 4K in a DAW is still getting many hits, so I decided to continue this topic. Especially since a lot has changed since then in DAW & VST world. I also discovered some new tricks and issues that make it even more important topic to discuss.

• Ableton 10 got very nice automatic high-DPI scaling, which takes system settings and resizes each plugin’s windows accordingly – possible to enable or disable per plugin. However, it does have its caveats. Namely, jBridge plugins don’t work with resizable windows, neither plugins which already offer free drag-to-resize feature.
• To enable internal Ableton scaling under Windows, the automatic Windows 10 scaling system needs to be turned off and use application internal scaling instead. Without it, some plugins receive incorrect DPI or try to upscale twice at a time, leading to heavy distortion and unusable GUI.

Additionally, over last two years many plugins have received or are going to receive high-DPI scaling. Massive X, Dune 3 and the newest Cableguys bundle in particular offer drop-down menu with predefined sizes, while Ozone 9 offers free scaling via mouse drag. It is expected that also the rest of iZotope family gets it, as well as AAS – Ultra Analog just enabled this feature, though I’m only waiting for their Chromaphone 2 update. It is knows that Native Instruments also considers it – they recently even ran a poll, which suggested possible GUI resizability for Reaktor.

There are of course many others plugins with scalable GUI, which I don’t own or use however.

All in all, high DPI is getting more accessible and useful. It’s also just easier for eyes to get high-DPI monitor, such as mine 4K at 27″. So, if you consider gear upgrade anytime soon, just go for it with no hesitation.

Black Friday loot

With new job and new tracks signed I felt like burning some more money this year. So here comes the new software:

Chromaphone 2

This unique synth simulates the behavior of physical object oscillating, which creates realistic sounds of strings, drums, bells as well as some oddball contraptions. While modulation options are somehwat limited, it works great under any settings. Awesome plucks and tube bass out of the box – just can’t go wrong with Chromaphone. While I don’t need Chromaphone for any particular purpose, it’s great plugin for organic sounds of all kind.

AAS also made some plugins for Ableton Live, especially Corpus which I use every now and then. You will be able to hear some great Corpus bass working as a main motiff for my upcoming “Meteor Ride” track.

Got this thing from JRR shop for 75 USD, normal price is 200 USD.

Orb Composer

Now that’s a big deal – automagical orchestral music composer based on artificial intelligence. It’s like having a classical-trained musican next to me: “Just write me a string section in G minor.” – snap. “Nah, another one” – snap. “Or maybe in C minor. Or faster and higher, but solo” – everything in split second. “Now, add flute accompaniament to it” – snap.

However, things get really interesting when I route this thing into state-of-art synths, utilizing complex sound design and perfect mixdown. By now I can make all the things just sound good.