Available now: Tone2 Icarus2.5 - Wavetable Workstation

[Markus Krause]

If your daw supports both formats you always should prefer the vst2 version. Steinberg's vst3 format does not offer proper midi support and has other design flaws. Unlike what they advertise it does not have significant advantages for synthesizers. The opposite is even true. Vst3 does not come with proper midi support

[db3]

@Markus, can you do anything to make it look retina sharp on Mac? No matter the size chosen everything is a bit blurred. Probably needs to be rendered at double the dot pitch as the huge option (2505x1231px) is too big for my 4096×2304px retina monitor.

[DocShay]

If your daw supports both formats you always should prefer the vst2 version. Steinberg's vst3 format does not offer proper midi support and has other design flaws. Unlike what they advertise it does not have significant advantages for synthesizers. The opposite is even true. Vst3 does not come with proper midi support

I understand the midi support, but I meant support for qwerty keyboard preset changes with the arrow keys like the VST2 version.

[Markus Krause]

@Markus, can you do anything to make it look retina sharp on Mac? No matter the size chosen everything is a bit blurred. Probably needs to be rendered at double the dot pitch as the huge option (2505x1231px) is too big for my 4096×2304px retina monitor.

Double dot pitch does not work with the GUI library that we use.
To get a sharper image:
1) Open you Mac's display settings
2) Change the DPI scaling settings to a less aggressive zoom value near 'more space'

[Echoes in the Attic]

Is the beta only mac?

[newluc]

Hi Marcus,
excuse me for this qustion; I preferably use vst3 (i know you're not a fan of!), I have noticed that your vst3 require vst2 installed; i know tha Cubase load vst3 first, but it is possible to have a vst3 "standalone"?.
Thanks!
PS I own ICARUS and RAYBLASTER and I love them all!!!

[Markus Krause]

If your DAW supports both I recommend to use VST2. VST2 is known to be faster, more stable and offers slightly better performance. Me and other developers have pointed it out here for many times: Steinberg's VST3 format does not offer does not offer proper Midi support. It's a badly designed plugin format.
The standalone version (the icon that links to Icarus.exe that you can click on the desktop) and the VST3 both require Icarus.dll to be installed, as they share resources with it (images, etc). Sharing resources means avoiding duplicates and this reduces the harddisc space needed. A dll file is not necessarily a vst2 plugin. It is a 'dynamic link library', a common Windows file format.
You can avoid exposing the VST2 to the DAW when you install Icarus to some directory outside the VST2 directory like C:\Program Files\Icarus. Then your DAW will only see the VST3 plugin.

[newluc]

Hi Markus
Thanks for your kind reply!
Luciano

[lights]

I think I've come across a bug in the 2.5 beta.
When selecting LFO2 as a modulation source in the Modulation matrix on an empty slot, Icarus immediately crashes the DAW.
I was able to replicate this behavior in Studio One & FllStudio.

Can anyone else confirm this please?

[Markus Krause]

Thanks for reporting this. I was able to reproduce and fix it:
- It appears only when you use the AU version on the Mac. It does not affect VST or PC.
- It does not happen when you use drag&drop for routing the LFO. Only with the matrix.

It will be fixed in the upcoming release version.

Markus

[parallax22]

What month will version 2.5 be released? I plan to buy a CD version in a box soon and it would be nice to have version 2.5 right away.

[Markus Krause]

We plan it for August. The update to Icarus2.5 is free for everyone who owns Icarus2.

If you should buy a boxed version though a reseller like Best Service:
Not sure if they ship CDs at all for Icarus. I know that they ship/shipped them for Gladiator. You must ask them about this.
And if they should I don't think that Best Service will press new CDs for an update. You will have to download an update and a keyfile.

If you purchase through our own shop (www.tone2.com) the 'backup media CD' always contains the latest version and the keyfile, as it is individually created for every single customer.

The latest versions are always available for download here:
https://www.tone2.com/download.html

[parallax22]

I see. Thanks for the clarification.

[lights]

Thanks for reporting this. I was able to reproduce and fix it:
- It appears only when you use the AU version on the Mac. It does not affect VST or PC.
- It does not happen when you use drag&drop for routing the LFO. Only with the matrix.

It will be fixed in the upcoming release version.

Markus

Thanks for confirming and pointing out the way to avoid it (drag vs. matrix assignment).

I must also point out that I am very impressed with the Beta, some developers release a very buggy beta that will crash your daw 9 times a day with different bugs. I was impressed with the stability of Icarus beta and it's near finished state. I am sure you have your reasons why you need until August for the official release but must admit ... I can hardly wait

[Echoes in the Attic]

We plan it for August. The update to Icarus2.5 is free for everyone who owns Icarus2.

If you should buy a boxed version though a reseller like Best Service:
Not sure if they ship CDs at all for Icarus. I know that they ship/shipped them for Gladiator. You must ask them about this.
And if they should I don't think that Best Service will press new CDs for an update. You will have to download an update and a keyfile.

If you purchase through our own shop (www.tone2.com) the 'backup media CD' always contains the latest version and the keyfile, as it is individually created for every single customer.

The latest versions are always available for download here:
https://www.tone2.com/download.html

is the windows beta for 2.5 there? I don't see it.