KVR Audio

inkwarp · Post by **inkwarp** » Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:04 am

hmm.
interesting.
I am ashamed to admit the time signature thing hadn't occurred to me...
very odd. as is the only two patterns thing.
Still, in every other respect, it's an excellent bit of kit. I've no doubt those issues will be addressed in the next iteration... If not.. that will be very strange.

LoveEnigma18 · Post by **LoveEnigma18** » Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:30 am

soulata · Post by **soulata** » Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:32 pm

Just got XO now that it's half price (or was, a few days ago).

Seems the Lite version is no more. Probably easier to support one version and make this one a bit cheaper.

k

Cepheus · Post by **Cepheus** » Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:37 pm

My main drum and percussion sounds come from Addictive Drums 2 and XO. I have many folders with subfolders with samples and XO chew on those. I asked XLN Audio last year if they could enhance the XO browser for selecting sample folders. It would be nice if one could prioritize the ranking or position of the sample folders. Or put a plus (+) in front of the folder for collapsing it into the subfolders. Exp. Collapse Zero-G and only select the “disco” folders.

I experimented quite a bit with layering acoustic drums from AD2 with more synthetic stuff from XO. Came up with interesting new grooves but also ran into some difficulties. It would be helpful if both plugins can be synced to each other since both plugins have groove/swing settings. So tweak XO, AD2 follows or the other way around. Furthermore, “borrowing elements” from each other would be great. What if one could drag something from XO in the flexi spots of an AD2 kit (hint for AD3…) and use the AD2 engine to further sculpt the sound or link it to a kit piece.

LoveEnigma18 · Post by **LoveEnigma18** » Fri Dec 10, 2021 5:09 pm

No big XO update but there are some (nice) XOpaks now. Not what we hoped for though.

https://www.xlnaudio.com/products

logicfixbrowserplz · Post by **logicfixbrowserplz** » Tue Dec 14, 2021 1:40 am

Is there a way to increase the volume of previewing sounds when using XO as standalone?

Zoopy · Post by **Zoopy** » Tue Dec 14, 2021 3:00 am

Updated my XLN XO today and it basically completely stopped working, constantly grinds to a halt if I try to change any parameters, it re-scans the library everytime I open a new instance. Anybody else having issues? I've used it for years now and its been fine.

LoveEnigma18 · Post by **LoveEnigma18** » Tue Dec 14, 2021 5:09 am

logicfixbrowserplz wrote: ↑Tue Dec 14, 2021 1:40 am Is there a way to increase the volume of previewing sounds when using XO as standalone?

Guess it's more to do with your audio interface and/ or computer volume control? Otherwise there's a volume slider in the bottom left corner. No other option.

LoveEnigma18 · Post by **LoveEnigma18** » Tue Dec 14, 2021 5:12 am

Zoopy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 14, 2021 3:00 am Updated my XLN XO today and it basically completely stopped working, constantly grinds to a halt if I try to change any parameters, it re-scans the library everytime I open a new instance. Anybody else having issues? I've used it for years now and its been fine.

Close XO and launch the XLN Installer app again and let it do its thing. Then, launch XO again. Needless to say keep the DAW closed during this.

Check my post here to stop the re-scanning at startup: viewtopic.php?p=8270429#p8270429

kisielk · Post by **kisielk** » Wed Dec 15, 2021 7:45 pm

Is there any kind of undo available in XO? I just got and really love it, but the other day I was playing around and had a really great beat going, but then accidentally clicked on one of the arrows in the preset bar and it went ahead and loaded a different preset. Is there any way to get your work back at that point? Or just keep it from loading a preset if the current one has been modified?

LoveEnigma18 · Post by **LoveEnigma18** » Thu Dec 16, 2021 5:21 pm

kisielk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 7:45 pm Is there any kind of undo available in XO? I just got and really love it, but the other day I was playing around and had a really great beat going, but then accidentally clicked on one of the arrows in the preset bar and it went ahead and loaded a different preset. Is there any way to get your work back at that point? Or just keep it from loading a preset if the current one has been modified?

No proper undo/redo, but it allows you to play with your ideas in the Playground mode/area before you commit to them.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:26 am

I just looked at these expansions again. Pastel Punch has just 39 presets. Oscillations has 65, but the screenshot shows up to 5 additional variations on each one, which all presumably count as a separate preset... or do they? Does 65 equate to, say, 15 different presets with small variations between them? Anyone know?

These packs are pretty depressing. Not that they seem bad per se, but the whole point of XO is that it makes use of what you have sample-wise. The obvious missing ingredient is being able to make use of your own midi too, but the release of this series makes me think that will never now happen. It looks like a definitive comment - we are going to keep you tied to our ecosystem - which is so odd given that one of the big selling points is to make use of your own sample collection.

LoveEnigma18 · Post by **LoveEnigma18** » Tue Dec 21, 2021 12:38 pm

I agree. The audio demos sound good, but XOpaks are not worth it, at least for me.

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Wed Dec 22, 2021 3:59 pm

OK, since no-one else seems to have tried an XOpak I've taken one for the team (aren't I selfless?)

I bought the Ultra Bionic pak from Jrr Shop. By the time the GROUP discount was applied and UK currency converted, it cost about £17, which is actually not bad. The headline price on the XLN store is 39 euros, which is nuts.

So this is listed as 118 grooves. That translates to just 24 different sets of beats, with between 4-7 variations for each one. The variations seem to always use the same samples, are usually the same tempo, but occasionally it's half tempo or something. There's nothing to stop them having totally different feels for each one, but they are mostly just minor pattern and mixer tweaks. I'd imagine that all of these paks are similar in terms of the number of sets of beats, but the number of variations vary.

Sounds are ok - generally a quite soft nice analogue feel.

Overall, for £17 this is okay. For 39 euros definitely not.

BTW - I'm not sure if this is new behaviour in the latest build or if I just discovered it, but if you uncheck the XLN sample folders as you browse the presets, it doesn't play the presets with all the normally associated kit pieces. You can't lock the specific pieces you have set - they unlock the moment you change presets - but you can sort-of guide them to any of your folders. I have one for Analogue Drum Machines, and if I only have this checked all the grooves default to it browsing the presets.

This also works for any other search term you have going, which makes it quite powerful. If you type hip hop in the search box, say, and then arrange grooves by tempo you can quickly get something going for the feel of your track as every selection overrides the default sounds.

Damn this thing is fun.

I don't quite know how it selects the specific kit pieces... I presume it picks geographically near samples compared to the ones it would have used.

LoveEnigma18 · Post by **LoveEnigma18** » Wed Dec 22, 2021 6:26 pm

Thanks for your review of XOpak. £17 is not bad and OK to dive once, but still not enticing enough (for me right now).

BTW - I'm not sure if this is new behaviour in the latest build or if I just discovered it, but if you uncheck the XLN sample folders as you browse the presets, it doesn't play the presets with all the normally associated kit pieces. You can't lock the specific pieces you have set - they unlock the moment you change presets - but you can sort-of guide them to any of your folders. I have one for Analogue Drum Machines, and if I only have this checked all the grooves default to it browsing the presets.

This also works for any other search term you have going, which makes it quite powerful. If you type hip hop in the search box, say, and then arrange grooves by tempo you can quickly get something going for the feel of your track as every selection overrides the default sounds.

Damn this thing is fun.

I don't quite know how it selects the specific kit pieces... I presume it picks geographically near samples compared to the ones it would have used.

This is interesting. If I understand correctly, you mean deselecting XO Core Content folder and then using XO factory presets with our own sounds. Great idea and something I did not try before. It does work well and as you said, with search it is even more fun and potentially rewarding.

Although I observed that with XO Core Content folder deselected, if you change the preset it plays the original core content kit sound for the first time, which is a bit strange since the folder itself is not selected, and you need to swap the kit or samples once manually for the pattern to subsequently play with other/your sounds.

XO is at 1.4.2 now. I hope we will see a decent feature update in the form of 1.5 next year.

XLN Audio - XO - Improvement, Pros, Cons