KVR Audio

kelvyn · Post by **kelvyn** » Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:07 am

Just upgraded to PolyKB III and it sounds fantastic
This really has a flavor of it's own... Been tripping on getting synth sounds like Cliff Martinez - on the Drive soundtrack - which I've found quite hard to achieve with the same amount of authenticity on other software synths. After being quite dissapointed with Avenger - obviously no comparison, just was looking forward to that one - this is more than a pleasant surprise.
Have a great 2017 everyone

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:48 am

electro wrote:Is the demo version at 3.02 yet?

The demo download for the Windows version at this page seems to be v3.0.2 (which is displayed at the link):
https://www.xils-lab.com/pages/PolyKB3_Download.html

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Sat Dec 31, 2016 12:36 pm

wagtunes wrote:Just wanted to report that after working all day with Poly KB III in MuLab, closing DAW was uneventful. Smooth as silk. In fact, plugin works flawlessly.

It appears that the only people who might have problems are those still on Cubase 7 using Windows 7 64 bit. And since most people have probably upgraded to Cubase 8 or 9 by now, this problem probably effects a very small percentage of people.

In the meantime, I'm really loving programming this synth. It is incredibly flexible. I plan on making a video the first chance I get demonstrating some really cool things you can do with this synth.

So stay tuned to this channel.

Thanks for the report Steven. Glad to hear it's OK in other hosts, but smilar OS. Yes, this 'Cubase crashes on exit bug after very long sessions' seems to affect very few systems. I dont have it myself, and my main daw is alos win7,64b, Cubase 7.

Glad you like the synth too. I think/hope you'll like it even more when you'll have mastered it. It can be a very simple and strightforward to use synth. But .... it can also be very very deep, and with unqiue features.

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Sat Dec 31, 2016 12:41 pm

Ingonator wrote:So far in Windows 10 64-bit here the eLicenser protected PolyKB III 64-bit VST2 plugin (currently version v3.0.2) worked nicely in following hosts:
Cubase Pro 9.0.1 (this is 64-bit only), Cubase Pro 8.5.20 64-bit, Cubase Pro 8.0.40 64-bit (this update was released in 2016), Live 9.7.1 64-bit, Bitwig Studio 1.3.15, Studio One 3.3.3 64-bit, NI Maschine 2.5.6 (no PolyKB III NKS presets yet)

Details about the PC used:
CPU: Core i5-3350P (4 x 3.10 GHz), RAM: 8 GB DDR3, audio interface: Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP, Midi controller: NI Komplete Kontrol S61

The Cubase 9 license is backwards compatible (even with very old versions like e.g. SX 3) and it is possible to install use multiple versions at once. Steinerg also provides special upgrade installers that e..g upgarde from v8.5 to v9.0 while it also keeps the old version usable.

Thanks a lot for all these reports and -always precise & documented- infos Ingo

Always a pleasure to read you.

L.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sat Dec 31, 2016 12:44 pm

Lotuzia wrote:
wagtunes wrote:Just wanted to report that after working all day with Poly KB III in MuLab, closing DAW was uneventful. Smooth as silk. In fact, plugin works flawlessly.

It appears that the only people who might have problems are those still on Cubase 7 using Windows 7 64 bit. And since most people have probably upgraded to Cubase 8 or 9 by now, this problem probably effects a very small percentage of people.

In the meantime, I'm really loving programming this synth. It is incredibly flexible. I plan on making a video the first chance I get demonstrating some really cool things you can do with this synth.

So stay tuned to this channel.
Thanks for the report Steven. Glad to hear it's OK in other hosts, but smilar OS. Yes, this 'Cubase crashes on exit bug after very long sessions' seems to affect very few systems. I dont have it myself, and my main daw is alos win7,64b, Cubase 7.

Glad you like the synth too. I think/hope you'll like it even more when you'll have mastered it. It can be a very simple and strightforward to use synth. But .... it can also be very very deep, and with unqiue features.

Yes, I am finding that out as I slowly move my way through the maze. The stereo manipulation on this thing is just flat out wicked. Combine that with a little LFO on the OSC wave shapes and you start getting into sci fi ambient heaven. A little aftertouch for vibrato and creepy show time is complete.

Yes, I'm a 50s sci fi nut. lol

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Sat Dec 31, 2016 12:45 pm

kelvyn wrote:Just upgraded to PolyKB III and it sounds fantastic
This really has a flavor of it's own... Been tripping on getting synth sounds like Cliff Martinez - on the Drive soundtrack - which I've found quite hard to achieve with the same amount of authenticity on other software synths. After being quite dissapointed with Avenger - obviously no comparison, just was looking forward to that one - this is more than a pleasant surprise.
Have a great 2017 everyone

Thanks a lot Kelvin. Avenger, well, yes, a very different beast. PolyKB III is all about this eternal good vintage sound, combined with tomorrows innovations, power and technology. Overall, they sound also very different ( based on my very limited experience with Avenger, and the numerous audio demos I heard made with it)

ZeePok · Post by **ZeePok** » Sat Dec 31, 2016 8:59 pm

Lotuzia/Xils,

Will you please look into that PolyKB II(I) from 2.52 onwards does not have Sustain Pedal in VSTHost (newest version on Windows 7-32)?

As I said it is my go-to host for playing with synths (because it very light and easy to use) and it's kind of annoying that it does not work.

Thanks (and Happy New Year!) .

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Sun Jan 01, 2017 6:41 pm

zxant wrote:
Lotuzia/Xils,

Will you please look into that PolyKB II(I) from 2.52 onwards does not have Sustain Pedal in VSTHost (newest version on Windows 7-32)?

As I said it is my go-to host for playing with synths (because it very light and easy to use) and it's kind of annoying that it does not work.

Hi,

besides other hosts i mentioned earlier here (Cubase, Loive, Studio One, Bitwig) where i did not notice issues with the Sustain pedal i just checked the eLicenser protected 64-bit VST2 plugin of PolyKB III (v3.0.2) in Hermann Seib's VstHost 64-bit v1.56 and Windows 10 64-bit and foun d that teh Sustain pedal indeed does not seem to work there. Same seems to happen with PolyKB II.5.
I checked the MIDI filter settings in VstHost but did not find an option to bypass the Sustain pedal there.

I allso checked with some other plugins like e.g. Xils Lab Syn'X 2 and some others (e.g. Tone2 Icarus) and Sustain seems to work with those in VstHost 1.56 64-bit.

Anyway besides the fact that it seems to work with some other plugins IMO it is still strange that in the other 4 hosts i mentioned (that are mostly so called "major hosts") the Sustain pedal seems to work with PolyKB III.

PS:
The VstHost website including downloads for those who want to check it:
http://www.hermannseib.com/english/vsthost.htm

ZeePok · Post by **ZeePok** » Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:26 pm

Thanks for checking and comfirming this, Ingo. (and Happy Newyear!

)

Yea, it's strange that this occurred after PolyKB II.5 v. 2.50.

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:05 pm

Thanks for the reports and testing it in VSThost 64b Ingo and Zxant. Yes, the sustain pedal works in all major hosts, but not in htis one it seems. We'll see if we can adress this in the future.

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:07 pm

A few PKB II/PKB III sound examples/

https://soundcloud.com/xils-lab/analogville_separate_2

https://soundcloud.com/xils-lab/analogville_separate_1

Note : These two audio demos were made with standard PolyKB II patches. These patches are however 100% compatible with PolyKB III.

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Tue Jan 03, 2017 4:11 pm

10 audio examples from PolyKB III ( These patches can be found in the PKB III factory lib)

PolyKB III Awakening

These patches could not have been done with the PolyKB II, or II.5. Here's a short comment for each clip explaining why.

1/ PA Deep Forest : Uses 3 oscillators
2/ KY Hyper Clavinet : 3 Oscillators + second User Mod Matrix
3/ SY Stringiattor : 3 osc + Oscillators feeding the 2 filters
4/ PA EV Filter Morph : EV2 + LFO 1 perform Filter Morphing
5/ FX Katastroff : 3 Oscillators
6/ LD Lead TGV : 3 osc + Polysequencer lane 1 used as Trance Gate Modulator
7/ PA Chained Filter : Filter chained by simply using different EVs
8/ SY Violent Morphing : Filter Morphing + mangling by Mod Wheel and LFO2Mono
9/ ST Awakening : 3osc + Wave morphing
10/ BR HyperBrass : 3 Oscillators + + diff. EV having diff. multiply times

More examples asap.

robotmonkey · Post by **robotmonkey** » Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:29 pm

So is it worth to upgrade from II.5 to 3?

tbritton · Post by **tbritton** » Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:33 pm

Most definitely!

Terry

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:35 pm

robotmonkey wrote:So is it worth to upgrade from II.5 to 3?

I can't say because I never owned 2.5 (of course I could download it as it uses the same license) but 3 is off the charts amazing. I don't recall having this much fun with a VA synth as I'm usually into more complex beasts. But this thing is just plain cool and a blast to program. I'm already almost 60 patches in and just scratching the surface.

I just might download and install 2.5 so I can give a fair comparison between the two. I think missing whatever isn't in 2.5 will immediately tell me if the upgrade is worth it, depending on the price of course. But I heard it's something like $30?

Anyway, I'll return in a bit with my thoughts after trying out 2.5.

Xils-Lab PolyKB III -Official Thread- [v3.5]