Introducing ARC System 3

[jamcat]

Honestly, for whatever reason Amplitube at least is not that much better M1 native vs Rosetta. The promise of native is mostly for Cubase users who can’t use the AU version or rather who won’t get a host like Unify or Combinator etc. to host AU versions. If you’re capable of using the AU version it’s just not that big of a deal, and it’s likely less than a 10% hit to use the Rosetta version.
That said I would bet T-Racks is next, probably within the next 5 months.

2 points:
1) I need cross-platform compatibility with Windows, so using AU instead of VST3 makes things VERY inconvenient.

2) The main plugins I'm using from T-RackS are the Tape Machines on each track, and Stealth Limiter at the very end of the 2buss. These are all CPU smothering plugins, so even just 10% per instance adds up to quite a bit.

But either way, if T-RackS is 5 months away or whatever, IK should tell their customers that, so we can plan accordingly. That would be the right way a company takes care of their customers.

[machinesworking]

Honestly, for whatever reason Amplitube at least is not that much better M1 native vs Rosetta. The promise of native is mostly for Cubase users who can’t use the AU version or rather who won’t get a host like Unify or Combinator etc. to host AU versions. If you’re capable of using the AU version it’s just not that big of a deal, and it’s likely less than a 10% hit to use the Rosetta version.
That said I would bet T-Racks is next, probably within the next 5 months.

2 points:
1) I need cross-platform compatibility with Windows, so using AU instead of VST3 makes things VERY inconvenient.

2) The main plugins I'm using from T-RackS are the Tape Machines on each track, and Stealth Limiter at the very end of the 2buss. These are all CPU smothering plugins, so even just 10% per instance adds up to quite a bit.

But either way, if T-RackS is 5 months away or whatever, IK should tell their customers that, so we can plan accordingly. That would be the right way a company takes care of their customers.

1) You have very valid concerns there in terms of wanting support for M1.

2) Nobody can truthfully do this. It's one of the reasons that subscription models for updates are risky. I had Komplete Care™ from NI back in the day when they were working on Mac OSX support (OS9 was completely different etc.), they promised the world, and failed miserably to deliver. You can get all the way to the end beta and find out it cripples hundreds of systems out there etc. Companies are dammed either way, you demand a timeline and something kills their ability to deliver, they look even worse than if they said nothing.

Lastly, even though 1) is a very valid reason to want support, the fact is there is no guarantee with software, IK could kill the line, there's no promise from them to support some brand new chip when you purchased the software, at least nothing legally binding. I get the impression you've done audio and software etc. for a while, like most of us there's a list of deprecated no longer supported products we've purchased, the upside is that list is much smaller than the list of products that do run on the latest chips and OS's etc. and of course the fact that software is exponentially cheaper than hardware. I'm actually mostly impressed that the only Apple Silicon update I did that was flatly tied to an upgrade that cost was East West with Opus. Everyone else has done it in a flat update.

Saving graces are that it seems to me most of the T-Racks line up and ARC 3 is all newer GUIs, this is the major set back to M1 support for companies, NI are far behind everyone because of 15 year old graphics frameworks etc. it's why things like Reaktor will take forever. I don't see that with ARC or T-Racks so it shouldn't be too long of a wait IMO.

[jamcat]

So to make things clear, I of course understand that philosophically there is no absolute guarantee of M1 ports for existing plugins, etc, etc. But also, I have absolutely no doubt that in the real world, IK will eventually deliver M1 native updates for existing product lines. We all know that.

The only REAL issue here is that when those updates are coming is a complete unknown to IK customers. IK may not even know when they're coming. But they at least know when they're NOT coming. And the rest of us really could use that information, because again, in the real world, projects are ongoing as we speak. In the real world, many musicians and audio professionals are either on Apple Silicon, or are planning to be very soon. In the real world, a very large chunk of IK customers are waiting on these updates and can't move forward on either purchases or projects until they're out, or at least have a ballpark idea of when they might be out.

The fact is IK is lagging way behind most developers. Maybe they've got their heads in the sand about that. But truth be told, almost every major player is fully up to date with native Apple Silicon (which, after all, has been available for 2 years now.) Except for IK Multimedia (if they want to be considered a major player, anyways.)

IK has relatively few plugins updated for Apple Silicon. Somewhere around 7. After two years, 7 updates. And there are over 50 plugins in T-RackS. So if you do that math, it doesn't bode well for T-RackS users. So let us know just how long we have to wait, IK.

[machinesworking]

The only REAL issue here is that when those updates are coming is a complete unknown to IK customers. IK may not even know when they're coming. But they at least know when they're NOT coming.

How can they know that? Literally any information they give will lead to disappointment. They have a beta, it looks like it will take a couple months to work out, they say not in the next couple months, then the beta reveals some major bug and it goes back to alpha. They announce another 5 month period that x product will not come out, and people are far far more ticked off than if they didn't announce anything. This is why they don't announce anything, it's not worth it.

The fact is IK is lagging way behind most developers. Maybe they've got their heads in the sand about that. But truth be told, almost every major player is fully up to date with native Apple Silicon (which, after all, has been available for 2 years now.) Except for IK Multimedia (if they want to be considered a major player, anyways.)

NI lag far behind IK, that's not debatable, looks like another update to Maschine came out without Apple Silicon support even. PSP are about in the same boat, so are Plugin Alliance, Air, Akai, Nomad Factory etc. just with products I own without looking at my plug ins folder even. Then there's the products iZotope are deprecating that will never support Apple Silicon.

I of course am not happy about this, but it is what it is. Apple Silicon support will come, and like I mentioned already, I think they have a leg up because of modern GUI libraries being used. They aren't going to give any sort of estimate though, that's a given.

[AtomOfScent]

I started using ARC in version 1. It was a really big improvement at the time, but there's only so much it can do unless you already have great monitoring in a treated room and a looking to go that extra step.

I switched to VSX and my monitors haven't been plugged in for a year.