In the past I have been one of the most vocal critics of Anamark,I just didn't like the sound.That all changed with the latest version.The character and depth of sound in version 2.11 is very impressive.I suggest everyone download the demo and check it out.The wide range of sonic possiblities and low price now makes Anamark one of the best values on the vsti market.The only problem I had was many of the patches brought my stone age 850 Duron to it's knees.I don't fault Anamark for this as 3x osc+2 waves per osc is going to create a demand for cpu.This is one of those synths that along with z3ta and Discovery that I really like but can't use on my current weak system.Anamark now goes high on the list of synths that I will purchase right after I aquire a modern, non-hamster driven computer.I have gone from critic to unashamed evangelist.I urge everyone who felt the same way I did about Anamark in the past to give it a second chance-you'll be glad you did.To the legions of fans who loved Anamark from day one I'm sure you are equally as pleased.Great work Mr.Henning!

dang, tek, it does sound nice and thick..and my eyes popped out at the price. $40 compared to some things I've been wanting is quite a good deal. and liqih did a nice job on the gui.

More AnaMark evangelists:

http://www.virtualsoundstudio.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=synths_b oard;action=display;num=1045783680

Wow, like Teksonik I just didn't care for earlier versions of AnaMark but this one sounds great and has some interesting features. It's on my "one day I will buy" list. Rather high on the list as it's inexpensive and fantastic value for money.

Sigh.

I've been pretty busy of late but this will keep me occupied making patches in my spare time...

Teksonik wrote:

[...] To the legions of fans who loved Anamark from day one I'm sure you are equally as pleased.Great work Mr.Henning!

Thanx for your words here.

It took me about two years from the moment I wrote the first codeline of AnaMark until today. One thing I want to say here: All this wouldn't have been possible without all the people (most around here at KvR) who wrote critics (positive as well as negative), suggestions, and helped me removing bugs. So thank you all for this! Especially to EasyMode and Liqih who did great demo songs, presets and graphics!

- Mark Henning

well - i have to add my voice to those saying that previous versions left them cold but the new one appears to be something special


and at that price too !!! - how can it NOT be tempting ???

the niggle i have at the back of my mind is - i already have z3ta+ - do i need anamark ???

at the moment im thinking yes - from the little play ive had so far it seems to have a very different nature to renes synth despite them both being monstrous semi-modular cpu munching beasts - to me z3ta is a swirling shifting monster pad machine and anamark seems more like a VERY powerful traditional VA for bass and leads [i know both of these are crass simplifications but im trying to justify getting the plastic out again arent i ???]

go on folks - convince me


slainte rob

eXpeRIMentFOUR wrote:

go on folks - convince me

Rob, easy... three steps
1. click on the "Random Bank" function
2. browse through randomly generated bank of presets
3. repeat until thoroughly impressed (usually very quick).

And, no, I have no affiliation with AnaMark.. I just happen to think it's a great-sounding synth... review coming up

eXpeRIMentFOUR wrote:

the niggle i have at the back of my mind is - i already have z3ta+ - do i need anamark ???

YES YOU NEED IT !

obviously on commission there crim


seriously - i always welcome your in depth and immaculately reasoned responses to my queries


slainte rob

eXpeRIMentFOUR wrote:

obviously on commission there crim

Nope, It's just a great synth and I love it

Quote:

seriously - i always welcome your in depth and immaculately reasoned responses to my queries

well - ive given in [willpower - whats that ???] -

another beast of a synth to get my head round


slainte rob

I've never liked Anamark before but now I'm going to download the demo and see if I like it.

I've been playing around with the demo of Anamark and I think it's great especially considering the low price
It does seem to have a little bug when running in FL 3.56. If you use the internal FL buttons for "next"/"previous" patch it makes FL crash with message "List index of out bounds".
Works fine in Tracktion though.

Cheers
travisdk

travisdk,
I may be wrong but it sounds like you a slightly older version of the demo, than the current one. I believe this was fixed in a later release. If not, then e-mail Mark from the Anamark site, as I know he had a version which fixed this FL issue.

Hope this helps

Hi Gargoyle,

Well the about-box says version 2.11

I'll send a mail to Mark with this.

Cheers
travisdk

travisdk wrote:

I'll send a mail to Mark with this.

Got it. Thanks. No, this bug is not yet known, but I will try to fix it. It's a bit strange, because other people told me, that in Fruity everything is alright. On my system, the current 3.56 demo is also installed and I will check it.

BTW: My Fruity behaves a little bit strange. When opening a graphical editor (doesn't matter which VSTi, this occurs with all VSTi), closing it and reopening, it crashes the whole system. Other people don't notice this bug, on their system, everything is allright... Maybe I have to reinstall FL, will see.

- Mark Henning

Mark,

This is something I had noticed, but when you sent me the update which was labelled as better for FL users, it was remedied, so I figured that was the problem which was fixed

So, I'm really not sure what the problem is there

That FL problem you describe is certainly weird.. I've never come across that in all my years of FL use. Sounds like maybe a graphic issue - are you using DirectSound for audio?

Cheers,
Jon

I'm having the same problem with FL Shame, this looks interesting and at a good price too.

no problem here with 3.56 & anamark 2.11

Finally got round to trying V2, very impressed. Big improvemant on V1. Especially being able to disable multi-timbral mode, i hate all those mixer strips

good sounds, nice and big, easy to use

(i just mailed you too Mark)

Gargoyle wrote:

This is something I had noticed, but when you sent me the update which was labelled as better for FL users, it was remedied, so I figured that was the problem which was fixed

The FL bugfix introduced with V2.021 last year is (of course) included in the current V2.11. I just figured out, that this bug _only_ affected FL, and many of my customers don't use it, so why sending them a 500kB email update from 2.02 to 2.021 if it isn't of any use for them? Therefore I told the people: If you use FL or will use it, tell me, then you will get the update.

Quote:

So, I'm really not sure what the problem is there That FL problem you describe is certainly weird.. I've never come across that in all my years of FL use. Sounds like maybe a graphic issue - are you using DirectSound for audio?

I'm not sure whether this problem existed from the beginning. If I remember correctly, the problem suddenly occured.

Some VST hosts (don't know, whether FL has this problem too) behave weird, when a VSTi is updated. With them, it is necessary to uninstall the VSTi, restart the host once without that VSTi, and maybe clean the registry manually (delete all keys which have the string "AnaMark" in it's name or value). Then reinstall VSTi - and then it works. Observed this with Cubase ...don't-remember-the-version and some other hosts.

- Mark Henning

I opened orion plat, and hit randomize to generate a bunch of notes, just to have something to flip through the presets. immediately (almost) my 1.4 ghz amd spiked up to 80, and when I hit the next preset everything froze and I had to do a hard reboot.
But I blame that on having too many notes playing, and not on anamark.
So - be careful.
Anamark does have a great sound, so expect my order soon. (like I really need another synth..but this is so nice and thick sounding!)

SRF wrote:

I'm having the same problem with FL Shame, this looks interesting and at a good price too.

Revisit the AnaMark website maybe next weekend. If I can reproduce this bug at home and have an idea of how to solve it (by update or by the user) I will post it on the news page.

easymode wrote:

no problem here with 3.56 & anamark 2.11

So, this bug doesn't occur on your system?

To SRF & Travisdk: Before AnaMark V2.11 - was there an older version of AnaMark installed on your system and used in FL?

To Kriminal: Got your mail, and waiting for your snailmail.

- Mark Henning

To SRF & Travisdk: Before AnaMark V2.11 - was there an older version of AnaMark installed on your system and used in FL?


In fact yes but everything was removed in advance ... even the registry keys containing Anamark. But this should hardly be a job for the enduser right ?. Why not just deliver the .DLL to people ? I think messing with the registry-db is not neccessary for most VSTi's out there - so why ?.
If the old version should be removed in order to run 2.11 correctly why not look for it (and remove it) in the install-process, or keep the two versions completely seperately alltogether ?. Furthermore why is there an FL issue when all other VSTi's known to man runs smoothly in FL (almost at least) ?


My 2 cents
Cheers
travisdk

travisdk wrote:

In fact yes but everything was removed in advance ... even the registry keys containing Anamark. But this should hardly be a job for the enduser right ?. Why not just deliver the .DLL to people ? I think messing with the registry-db is not neccessary for most VSTi's out there - so why ?.

I think the point Mark is making is that host software sometimes adds registry keys referring to the plugin.

Doesn't explain why a Vsti should need installing

travisdk wrote:

To SRF & Travisdk: Before AnaMark V2.11 - was there an older version of AnaMark installed on your system and used in FL? In fact yes but everything was removed in advance ... even the registry keys containing Anamark.

O.K., then this should not be the source of the prob in FL.

Quote:

But this should hardly be a job for the enduser right ?

Yes. It should be the job of the VST-Host to properly remove/update the registry keys, which it (= the VST-Host) writes to registry. AnaMark itself doesn't read from/write to registry. But most VST-hosts (as well as FL, as far as I know) do. And most VST-hosts I know fail automatically removing those keys if plugin is removed and automatically updating those keys if plugin is updated, respectively.

Each VST-host use it's own keys, it's own naming conventions, so there is no standard. The only way for the AnaMark-uninstall software for making it sure, that all AnaMark-keys are deleted, would be to delete the whole registry.

Quote:

Why not just deliver the .DLL to people ?

Oh, if you like, you can only copy the .dll into the VST-plugin folder. It will run correctly, of course!

Before I released the first version of AnaMark I did some usability tests with friends of mine, some of them were VST/Windows-Newbies. And they had some problems installing/using AnaMark right, because the well known "Setup.exe" was missing. It also turned out, that many people (especially the beginners) are "not able" to read readme-files. In the readme file of AnaMark you may read the following:

To install simply copy "AnaMark.dll" to the plugin-folder of your
VST-software

That statement should make things clear, that the included setup is optional for those who want to use it and not a must. My experiences led to the conclusion, that normally the people who are "not able" to read readme files are also not able to (un)install things on their own.

Because AnaMark isn't for PC-cracks only, I decided to make a setup available for those who need it.

What the setup additionally does:

- Searches for VST plugin folders, so that the user doesn't have to do this (Some of my friends already failed at this step and needed some time for figuring out, what to do. Those people are often lost customers.)

- Properly copy AnaMark's manual and putting an easy-to-find link into the Startmenu, where everyone (Cracks as well as beginners) easily finds it.

- Creates the necessary directory for custom-skins, so that it's easier for you to use e.g. the alternative skin you can download from the AnaMark homepage.

- Makes it easier for you to select your language. AnaMark as well as the manual supports german, spanish as well as english. It is easier for the user when a dialog opens where he simply can click on his language than looking through AnaMark's GUI for finding a "select your language"-button.

- Keeps track of all AnaMark-files, so that you don't have to manually clean up your system after uninstallation. If you uninstall manually you will have to delete AnaMark.dll, AnaMark.ini, Skin-folder, Link to manual, language file, and all manual files. This is also something, beginners will have problems doing it 100% correctly.

Quote:

I think messing with the registry-db is not neccessary for most VSTi's out there - so why?

The registry keys are set by the host. So ask the developer of your VST-host why he needs to create registry keys for the plugins.

Quote:

If the old version should be removed in order to run 2.11 correctly why not look for it (and remove it) in the install-process,

You're right. This could be an improvement for later versions of the setup software.

Quote:

or keep the two versions completely seperately alltogether?

This is also not a problem of the VST-software but of VST itself. Each plugin has a 4-character-identifier which must be unique in the whole world, and you have to ask Steinberg to get such an ID. If two plugins share the same ID, hosts will get confused, the whole system may not work properly. On the other side, it is not possible to give each version of AnaMark an own ID (even if Steinberg would give you one for each version), because then it's no longer possible for V2.11 to read presets of older versions, because that ID is used for correlating preset data files to VST-plugins.

Quote:

Furthermore why is there an FL issue when all other VSTi's known to man runs smoothly in FL (almost at least)?

You say it right: almost. Currently I don't know where the problem is. Seems, that on my system, things in FL work correct too. So if it's a bug in AnaMark, why doesn't it occur on my system, as well as on exponents system (and others)? If it's a bug in FL, it should also occur on all systems... Maybe a bug of a driver? Or a timing problem between FL and AnaMark which only occurs on some systems? Bugs like this are very difficult to find (because sometimes they occur, sometimes not), and much more difficult to solve. Sometimes you need weeks to reproduce such a bug, and also weeks to solve it.

Things are not always as easy as they look like.

To Collusion: Yes, you're right.

To patchworkcat: Does the above explain, why AnaMark includes a setup?

- Mark Henning

I purchased AnaMark a couple of days ago but haven't tried it in Fruity yet.I'll give it a test and report any problems.Is there now or will there be in the future a dedicated Anamark forum or site similar to the ones here for Linplug,Muon, etc or the yahoo group for crystal?It might be easier to discuss issues that way.Perhaps if everyone who has issues with Fruity could list their graphics card/info, maybe we could see a pattern.It may be an issue with just a certain card or driver(Ati,GeForce etc).Just a thought.I'm going to spend some time with Anamark now I'll report any issues in this thread.

[quote="Teksonik"]Is there now or will there be in the future a dedicated Anamark forum or site similar to the ones here for Linplug,Muon, etc or the yahoo group for crystal?[quote]

Good idea. Will see where I can open such a forum.

- Mark Henning

Hi!

Just included an AnaMark-forum here:

AnaMark-Forum

There we can furtherly discuss the FL-prob. The forum isn't linked into the main AnaMark website yet. So use the above link instead.

- Mark Henning

AnaMark wrote:

Just included an AnaMark-forum here:

Link included on your developer page @ VSS

Teksonik wrote:

I purchased AnaMark a couple of days ago but haven't tried it in Fruity yet.I'll give it a test and report any problems.Is there now or will there be in the future a dedicated Anamark forum or site similar to the ones here for Linplug,Muon, etc or the yahoo group for crystal?It might be easier to discuss issues that way.Perhaps if everyone who has issues with Fruity could list their graphics card/info, maybe we could see a pattern.It may be an issue with just a certain card or driver(Ati,GeForce etc).Just a thought.I'm going to spend some time with Anamark now I'll report any issues in this thread.

MyFL setup has an Audiophile 2096 and my system is an Athlon 1700+ running XP (home version). I don't think I have had a version of Anamark installed on this PC, but I could be wrong - if I have, it was a long time ago and I must have deleted it later.

Sorry - forgot the grpahic card - it's a very ancient TNT Riva 64 (yes, I know I should upgrade it but I'm a tight bastard).
Fruity seems to be working fine in all other respects, and I can choose the presets in Anamark by clicking on the second button under the heading "channel" without a problem. But when I right-click on the Fruity Wrapper to select a preset, the error message appears and Anamark refuses to make a sound. In fact, everything refuses to make a sound. When I then try and close FL, it freezes and I have to use the old 3-fingered salute...

Shame about these problems, as from what I've heard this is a cracking synth - but I haven't given up yet!!!

SRF wrote:

I don't think I have had a version of Anamark installed on this PC, but I could be wrong - if I have, it was a long time ago and I must have deleted it later.

Do/did you use AnaMark LF?

Are you familiar with RegEdit? If yes you could help me figuring out some data of your system which may help me solving the problem. Then, contact me per email, please:

AnaMark Mail Form

- Mark Henning

Further to above I'm experiencing the exact same problem as SRF,
System:
AMD XP 2000+, Win 2K SP3, FruityLoops 3.56, ASUS Geforce 3, SB Audigy.

As earlier explained I've manually deleted every reg-key containing "Anamark" - no effect.
BTW Fruityloops does NOT mess with the registry for it's plugins in any way, and have AnaMark 2.11 been tested in FL 3.56 ??
Another thing that comes to my mind is that Anamark 2.11 seems to make a tiny Anamark.ini file upon exit. No other VST'i that I'm aware of does this !?

Sad that this problem exists, the sound of this beast rocks !
Keep up the good work Mark !

Cheers
travisdk

travisdk wrote:

Sad that this problem exists, the sound of this beast rocks !

Yesterday, I figured out, that this problem only occurs in the demo version of AnaMark, and not in the full version. That's why some people tell here, that the problem does not occur on their system - they're registered users.

The difference between demo and full version is that the demo doesn't save preset data, and this causes the trouble. Currently, I don't know, whether this is a bug in Fruity or in AnaMark. I will contact the Fruity developers to clear things up.

- Mark Henning