ACID Pro 5 - 2005 PAR Excellence Award winner

[billybk1]

ACID Pro 5 was selected as a winner of the coveted 2005 PAR Excellence Award @ last month's AES 2005 convention. Here is a list of the 2005 winners:

http://www.proaudioreview.com/par/excel ... ndex.shtml


Sony ACID Pro 5 joined Steinberg's Nuendo 3 & Apple's Logic 7, as the only audio DAW software winners that were selected, as the best, based on the following criteria: Innovation, Value & Performance. Looking over the list of industry winner's (35), it seems ACID Pro 5, is in some pretty elite company

It is nice to see ACID Pro 5 get recognized, by such a prestigious audio (AES) organization. I've always believed that the version 5 update would put ACID Pro, back on top. Now even the industry audio pros think so too.

After perusing the Pro Audio Review website, I found this fairly well balanced and in-depth review of ACID Pro 5, from the March 2005 issue:

http://www.proaudioreview.com/par/march ... Acid.shtml

BTW, the latest ACID Pro 5b update is out now. The latest update now has ACID Pro working better than ever, it even feels a bit snappier too, even when using my UAD-1 plugins, with full auto PDC.

Yes, I am an unabashed ACID Pro 5 fanatic!

[databass]

"I ACID"

[munchkin]

I own ACID 5 and the vst implimentation stinks. I don't know how ACID won this award with the likes of Ableton Live and Sonar out there but it's amazing what can happen when a huge company like Sony gets behing the wheel. Pity Sony doesn't spend more time fixing the VST and adding more features when it upgardes its products rather than collecting awards. I wonder whose palm it had to grease to get this one.

I like ACID but it's a dogs dinner as far as VST is concerned and that's unforgivable for a host in this day and age. Unless they've implimented some kind of VST diagnostic to weed out incompatibles VST's in the latest update then ACID will continue to crash when it tries to register any incompatible plugin. Try working out which one that is with a VST folder with 100+ plugins.

[xylyx]

Must admit I thought this was gonna be a joke thread when I read the title...I guess it still is really, when the criteria are innovation, value and performance, yet they still give the award to Acid

[Cabinfever]

yep this is an absolute joke.

acidpro5 is the most bug ridden, steaming pile of goat-turd this side of shami-bob's kebab and coding shop.

acidpro4 was a buggy disaster; but when acidpro5 came out it made 4 look like military-specification work. i believe that although sony kept many of the original sonic foundry team in place, the couple of real brains behind acid left. what remained were drones, easily directed by marketing considerations and timetables.

acidpro5 is the result.

as an old time acidpro user of many years, and a former forum regular its easy to see the difference on the board. that forum used to be buzzing. now its dead. a few old timers remain blathering futile propaganda, a few pissed-off newbies. dissenters have been banned. many, many threads deleted.

its sad. pathetic. almost criminal how sony mangled a brilliant app.

am i emotional ? sure. i loved that app and it was ruined.

* keep your daw alive, don't touch acid 5 *

[tkay77]

...Acid is crap because Sony is only interested in making more money instead of developing good userfriendly software...some of its acid librarys are fine but also overpriced...

tkay

[Cabinfever]

and that review is shameless puffery. when he stops reciting ancient history, or paraphrasing the acid press release he says: "MIDI support in Acid is no longer an issue for me."

that's about the only smart thing in the review, because there's no way you'd want to touch acid's midi implementation.

this "award" for acid is what gives awards a bad name. some poor sod might now actually pay money for this woeful rats nest.

[zai]

Why Acid...when you can have a better product in Live 3. I made my switch since Acid 4 and never will I go back.

Award...I think Sony must have paid someone for the award! At least that's the one thing they're good at....

Zai

[billybk1]

People can get so overly emotional.
But, emotions aside, let's stick to the facts, shall we? Other than, Munchkin (ACID Pro 5 VST implementation causing ACID to crash when registering certain VST's), all the ACID haters have to offer is, acidpro5 is the most bug ridden or Acid is crap, type comments, without offering any specifics to back up such bogus claims. I could easily say, Live is crap, Traktion is bug ridden or SONAR is vomit, so what, I'd just be another, in a long line of opinionated, ignorant, know nothing, name callers.
Anyway, I would not do that, it is not in my character to spew out put downs, to build myself up. Just because I don't like the way Live or Traktion works (whether it's the workflow, GUI, lack of specific features or whatever), is not a legitimate reason to call those apps a pile of crap, useless or bug ridden. Let's leave personal preferences & emotions aside and stick to the facts, as it pertains to ACID Pro 5b (build 524). Please no drama about issues with past versions that have no relevance to the current ACID Pro 5b. We can all dig up old bones about any previous app release, if that is the case. I use ACID Pro 5 everyday, for paying clients and I am quite familiar with most of it's inner working's and current features. So pray tell, where are all these supposed bugs, in ACID Pro 5b, that I seem to be missing? Please be specific and to the point and without the personal commentary and anti-ACID diatribes.

Maybe I am just one those pathetic drones and I am just not as smart as some people think themselves to be. Because I don't bow down to Live/Traktion and prefer ACID Pro, I must be a driveling idiot and a stark raving lunatic.

[bluedad]

I love acids' concept, but it's midi impletation in v4 was horrid, and for the price to upgrade to v5, well, I think I would go this time with Project5 V2

[billybk1]

I love acids' concept, but it's midi impletation in v4 was horrid, and for the price to upgrade to v5, well, I think I would go this time with Project5 V2

I've been using ACID Pro 5b rewired to Project 5 2.0.
They compliment each other very well. I use ACID like a plugin with P52. Even though P52 has looping features, (Loop Browser, Loop Preview, drag & drop to timeline, auto tempo adjust, etc.), it has it's limitations, IMO. There is no separate loop preview volume fader or auto key adjust(for melodic instrument loops) and ACID's Media Manager makes it so much easier to find and preview loops when you have huge loop libraries(38GB's worth). P52 does not use a project key signature. So while, in ACID you can easily and seamlessly change the project key, on the fly, even during playback, there is no facilty to do this in P52. You can't create project markers or regions, on the timeline, like in ACID either. Just a few of the differences, that make creating and changing arrangements, in ACID, so much easier. Even though P52's strength is as a robust synth workstation, I have been using it's new audio recording capabilites probably more than anything. I have yet to fully explore the new Groove Matrix and just started working with the Dimension synth. I just recently got the full version(I had been using the demo) and I am still working my way through it. But, I've had no problems or issues rewiring ACID Pro 5b to P52 though.

[waiting man]

Awards for Acid? what a degenerated industry.
it's the same bloody app from number3 with added rewire.
oh, yeah, I forgot Beatmapping...clap, clap, clap.

I don't even talk about midi and vsts because people here are not idiot and thay get to know what works and what not.
It's not just the way hosts are working. the problem is IF they're working. Live and Tracktion are working, with a palette of thousands of vst plugins.

[TVD]

Ableton Live 3 & 4 got screwed.

[xylyx]

billybk1: I am not an Acid hater...it was very good at what it did around v3. However, the new stuff that has been added since then has been poorly implemented and it has fallen behind many other apps. Considering how much they have charged for upgrades since v3, the value aspect has been poor, especially considering the poor implementation of vst (no effect support in v4 and bug problems in v5). The piano roll is still one of the worst around IMO.

If v5b has fixed a lot of bugs then great, however the review that you linked to will not have been done on v5b and the award will have been decided on an earlier version too most likely. Even ignoring whether the bugs have all been fixed, I fail to see how Acid can win an award on Value, Performance and Innovation...I am not a Live 4 user, but I could have accepted seeing that win the award, as it does at least fulfill 2 of the 3 criteria.

Still, who cares? I won't ever buy Acid 5 (or any future versions unless Sony pull something incredible out of the hat) and will continue using the hosts that I am happy with...

[billybk1]

Awards for Acid? what a degenerated industry.
it's the same bloody app from number3 with added rewire.
oh, yeah, I forgot Beatmapping...clap, clap, clap.

Ahem.....yeah your right, it is the same bloody app from number3

What's new in ACID 4.0:

Plug-In effects automation using envelopes

VST instrument (VSTi) soft synth support

ASIO driver support

Alternate time signatures

5.1 surround mixing and surround pan automation

Bus tracks allow you to automate track effect parameters, volume, and panning using envelopes

MIDI piano roll editing

MIDI step recording

MIDI event list editing

Yamaha OPT (Open Plug-In Technology) support via the Track Properties window

Loop Cloning: create new loops in the Chopper

Optimized DLS and VSTi soft synth model

New audio panning types

Improved time stretching for Beatmapped tracks

New envelope fade types

Multiple-selection preview in the Explorer window

Autosave crash recovery

Hotkey commands for track muting and soloing: Press X to solo or Z to mute

Windows Media Audio and Video import

Customizable default track properties

Advanced video rendering options on the Render As dialog

Support for multiple pixel aspect ratios for video files, including automatic detection of pixel aspect ratios

High-quality video frame rate resampling

High-quality deinterlacing when rendering interlaced video formats to progressive scan.

ACID is now a ReWire mixer (host) application

Added support for DirectSound audio drivers

RealMedia 9 support.

Windows Media 9 support (including support for rendering 5.1 surround projects)

Keyboard modifiers have been added to allow fine adjustment of envelope points

A keyboard has been added to the Soft Synth Properties window so you can audition DLS soft synths when Enable Real-Time MIDI is turned on.

You can now change patches for DLS synths in real-time using the Soft Synth Properties dialog.

Includes the RealMedia 9 video codec.

Includes the QuickTime 5 file format plug-in

The Ogg Vorbis plug-in has been updated



New Features in Version 5.0:

Groove Mapping™ quantization with Groove Cloning™. (Available only in ACID Pro software.)

Media Manager NOTE: The Sony® Sound Series™ Loops & Samples reference library is not installed by default, but you can install it from the ACID CD or download it here. After installing the library, use the Media Manager Options dialog to choose the reference library.

Folder tracks for intelligent track grouping and multiple-event editing.

VST effect support

Multiport VSTi soft synth support

Bypass All Audio FX command

ReWire Slave device support

MIDI editing workflow advancements

Snap-to-scale filtering in the piano roll

Tempo-based DirectX effects: Amplitude Modulation, Flange/Wah-Wah, Chorus, and Simple Delay

Realtime Event reverse

Enhanced audio time stretching and beat detection (19 new modes)

Disc-at-once CD burning

Metronome for playback and recording

Customizable keyboard mappings

Bus-to-bus routing

Downmix monitoring

Multiple docking windows

Insert Event at Play Cursor and Paste at Play Cursor commands to help you create rhythms with one-shots

Macromedia Flash (.swf) format importing. (ActionScript, motion video, and audio are not supported.)

Audio event envelope changes are applied to all selected events

Ability to save a project path in a rendered file and edit a rendered file's source project

You can use the Display tab in the Preferences dialog to adjust the default track colors, icon color saturation, and icon tinting

Customizable project media folders

Included with ACID Pro 5 software are more than 1,000 loops from the Sony Sound Series: Loops & Samples collection, plus the Native Instruments™ Xpress Keyboards VSTi soft synth bundle