Fabfilter Twin 3 --Released Feb. 7th

[gentleclockdivider]

Yes, and especially the warm recommendation of the plugin developing and beta-testing expert zerocrossing ecourages people to purchase the Twin 3.

Pretty sure zerocrossing is not a betatester for fabfilter , nor a plugin developer

[nusound mind]

I'm probably going to pick this up after demoing it for a couple days. At first the presets weren't impressive and I was ready to write it off, but then I got to the bass presets and it was game set match. Easy to get movement going and sweet spots seem to lay around every corner just tweaking it abit. Little different approach, still can't figure how to add filters in the main central display yet.

Don't have twin 2 but my discount puts it into price of Electra 3 upgrade territory so an entire new synth is more appealing, esp. one that sounds this good w/ it's own sound. FX are as basic as you can get but there's something to be said for stripped back simplicity.

[Harry_HH]

Yes, and especially the warm recommendation of the plugin developing and beta-testing expert zerocrossing ecourages people to purchase the Twin 3.

Pretty sure zerocrossing is not a betatester for fabfilter , nor a plugin developer

Who said he is? Read again.

[zerocrossing]

I'm planning to buy this plugin. The interface looks stunning and intuitive since I'm already used to Fabfilter plugins, plus some of the presets sound really nice.

Yes, and especially the warm recommendation of the plugin developing and beta-testing expert zerocrossing ecourages people to purchase the Twin 3.

As the kids say, I’m the man.

[Jac459]

I'm probably going to pick this up after demoing it for a couple days. At first the presets weren't impressive and I was ready to write it off, but then I got to the bass presets and it was game set match. Easy to get movement going and sweet spots seem to lay around every corner just tweaking it abit. Little different approach, still can't figure how to add filters in the main central display yet.

Don't have twin 2 but my discount puts it into price of Electra 3 upgrade territory so an entire new synth is more appealing, esp. one that sounds this good w/ it's own sound. FX are as basic as you can get but there's something to be said for stripped back simplicity.

Just double click on the filter area.

Playing with the filters is just a joy with this synth....

[MrJubbly]

The interface is on first glance intuitive, not doubt, it carries it over the good concepts of Twin 2.

But some operations have become harder, navigating the modulators is slow, first if there are more than a few the navigation bar is behind the modulators, making it awkward to click on it. Second, in the previous version the modulation sources presented all their parameters now you have to click on them to open its values. You could also see all the targets for a single modulator above it and adjust, now you have to move around the interface for each target. Overall it feels harder to navigate.

Yeah, there needs to be an 'expand/collapse all' option for the modulation source controls.

The scroll bar to quickly navigate through the modulator panels should also be larger and more visible/accessible like it was in Twin 2.

However, due to the new flashy/gimmicky "diffuse flow" (glowing blur) effects, perhaps that would add addition CPU/GPU demands to Twin 3.

Alternately, Fabfilter could also just allow an option to enable/disable that unnecessary graphic animation and restore that previously mentioned modulation workflow from Twin 2.

Such 'optional' extras would really improve the overall workflow of Twin 3, imho.

[MrJubbly]

Since fab filter designs for both iOS and desktop, it makes sense they are aiming to perfect the "hardware in a box" concept. Desktop only users can expect to be frustrated by many design decisions, and I certainly get frustrated using fab filter plugins, but then I remember I can sync all my patches and open them on my iPad (with a great touch interface and amazing sound in a tablet) and the frustration is (somewhat) lessened

That actually explains away most of my frustrations with Fabfilter's UI design choices lately (over the last few years).

Before that they never put a foot wrong imho. However, their more recent update have introduced more clunky and less streamlined workflows.

Catering more to tablet users requirements, at the direct expense of desktop producers workflows is an insane development choice to make. Even if it makes sense for them from a purely financial/business perspective of attracting more and ever more of those 'touch screen' addicts on a budget. Lol!

Doing so, ends up compromising (however marginally) the end product for their Desktop customers, who are surely their core demographic?

Aren't the iPad apps a hell of a lot cheaper than the Win/Mac versions also? That kind of sucks for users like myself who paid top dollar, if that's the direction Fabfilter intend going in the future. Catering primarily to users who like touchscreens but who don't pay the full wack for their software?

[Double Tap]

Since fab filter designs for both iOS and desktop, it makes sense they are aiming to perfect the "hardware in a box" concept. Desktop only users can expect to be frustrated by many design decisions, and I certainly get frustrated using fab filter plugins, but then I remember I can sync all my patches and open them on my iPad (with a great touch interface and amazing sound in a tablet) and the frustration is (somewhat) lessened

That actually explains away most of my frustrations with Fabfilter's UI design choices lately (over the last few years).

Before that they never put a foot wrong imho. However, their more recent update have introduced more clunky and less streamlined workflows.

Catering more to tablet users requirements, at the direct expense of desktop producers workflows is an insane development choice to make. Even if it makes sense for them from a purely financial/business perspective of attracting more and ever more of those 'touch screen' addicts on a budget. Lol!

Doing so, ends up compromising (however marginally) the end product for their Desktop customers, who are surely their core demographic?

Aren't the iPad apps a hell of a lot cheaper than the Win/Mac versions also? That kind of sucks for users like myself who paid top dollar, if that's the direction Fabfilter intend going in the future. Catering primarily to users who like touchscreens but who don't pay the full wack for their software?

Don't forget that Apple have been integrating their MacOS and iOS more and more, and there's been talk of having touchscreens on laptops. Not to mention all the speculation about putting Logic on iOS. There's not many decent synths on iOS so Fabfilter would be in a good position if that happens. And I'd be interested to know how many people have been making music on phones and tablets - Ableton didn't release Note for no reason.

[MrJubbly]

Don't forget that Apple have been integrating their MacOS and iOS more and more, and there's been talk of having touchscreens on laptops. Not to mention all the speculation about putting Logic on iOS. There's not many decent synths on iOS so Fabfilter would be in a good position if that happens. And I'd be interested to know how many people have been making music on phones and tablets - Ableton didn't release Note for no reason.

Yeah, but I'm a Windows user and so I don't really care about the Apple brand (no offence intended). All I know of Apple, is that every time they change their OS/hardware every couple of years, there are mountains of headaches for software developers whose products I have purchased, who then need to accommodate that operating system, the upteen hundredth time.

It gets boring hearing how development of updates to plugins get delayed while those developers have to make their existing software once again compatible with Apple's new stuff.

It's at the point where I honestly wish both platforms (Win/Apple) had completely separate audio software and DAWs, so that devs who chose to support one or the other could do so without any other distractions. And primarily, I'm most bothered by updates for software on Windows development being constantly slowed down to accommodate all of Apple's shenanigans.

I hold no other animosity towards that company (i.e. I'm no OS 'fanboy'). It's simply that a company who makes hardware and an OS that I never use and have no intention of doing so, still manage to negatively impact software development for the OS that I do use. That's pretty annoying, tbh. Were it not for that, Apple would never even register on my radar and so would not be a nuisance.

[Double Tap]

Don't forget that Apple have been integrating their MacOS and iOS more and more, and there's been talk of having touchscreens on laptops. Not to mention all the speculation about putting Logic on iOS. There's not many decent synths on iOS so Fabfilter would be in a good position if that happens. And I'd be interested to know how many people have been making music on phones and tablets - Ableton didn't release Note for no reason.

Yeah, but I'm a Windows user and so I don't really care about the Apple brand (no offence intended). All I know of Apple, is that every time they change their OS/hardware every couple of years, there are mountains of headaches for software developers whose products I have purchased, who then need to accommodate that operating system, the upteen hundredth time.

It gets boring hearing how development of updates to plugins get delayed while those developers have to make their existing software once again compatible with Apple's new stuff.

It's at the point where I honestly wish both platforms (Win/Apple) had completely separate audio software and DAWs, so that devs who chose to support one or the other could do so without any other distractions. And primarily, I'm most bothered by updates for software on Windows development being constantly slowed down to accommodate all of Apple's shenanigans.

I hold no other animosity towards that company (i.e. I'm no OS 'fanboy'). It's simply that a company who makes hardware and an OS that I never use and have no intention of doing so, still manage to negatively impact software development for the OS that I do use. That's pretty annoying, tbh. Were it not for that, Apple would never even register on my radar and so would not be a nuisance.

Yeah that’s fair enough - I was just trying to work out what’s in it for FabFilter, not tell you you’re wrong to be annoyed.

[Jac459]

Yeah, but I'm a Windows user and so I don't really care about the Apple brand (no offence intended). All I know of Apple, is that every time they change their OS/hardware every couple of years, there are mountains of headaches for software developers whose products I have purchased, who then need to accommodate that operating system, the upteen hundredth time.

It gets boring hearing how development of updates to plugins get delayed while those developers have to make their existing software once again compatible with Apple's new stuff.

It's at the point where I honestly wish both platforms (Win/Apple) had completely separate audio software and DAWs, so that devs who chose to support one or the other could do so without any other distractions. And primarily, I'm most bothered by updates for software on Windows development being constantly slowed down to accommodate all of Apple's shenanigans.

I hold no other animosity towards that company (i.e. I'm no OS 'fanboy'). It's simply that a company who makes hardware and an OS that I never use and have no intention of doing so, still manage to negatively impact software development for the OS that I do use. That's pretty annoying, tbh. Were it not for that, Apple would never even register on my radar and so would not be a nuisance.

I don't like apple neither but I have to defend them on this specific point.
If you are referring to the transition to "M" chips from apple, this is also something that will (must) arrive on windows.
Actually, if you remember it already happened with Windows RT and the first surface release.
This is a change of architecture that is necessary and for technical reasons it is extremely difficult to make it seamless for software developers.

So Microsoft tried it with Windows rt 10 years ago and they had to rollback.
Now they are restarting and proposing again a windows that would not rely on x86 architecture. When it will be fully mainstream it will also create issues.

But this transition out of x86 is necessary, it is an obsolete architecture (CISC) and need to be replaced by the much more modern and power efficient RISC.


For me apple is much more annoying when they are not using any freaking standards and their phones can't be charged with usb C while their tablets/laptops do. So they talk about ecosystem integration but you can't charge your phone and your laptop with the same cable, that's a joke. Pc have that since years...

[MrJubbly]

But this transition out of x86 is necessary, it is an obsolete architecture (CISC) and need to be replaced by the much more modern and power efficient RISC.

You're talking to somebody who still prefers Windows 7 to 8, 10, 11 ...

So no, I don't believe it is "necessary". Just like I know, it wasn't necessary for Windows 8 and above. Microsoft introduced nothing positive or revolutionary for the end users that couldn't have been included in further Windows 7 updates.

They did however, introduce much bloat, spyware and more system instability in the later versions of Windows and their, by default, automatic mandatory and buggy system updates. So there's that. But that wasn't, imho, "necessary" either.

I prefer using Windows 7 to 8, 10 and 11 and to me, it is a better user experience. As for Apple M1 ... I don't want to use that either.

[rod_zero]

Yeah, but I'm a Windows user and so I don't really care about the Apple brand (no offence intended). All I know of Apple, is that every time they change their OS/hardware every couple of years, there are mountains of headaches for software developers whose products I have purchased, who then need to accommodate that operating system, the upteen hundredth time.

It gets boring hearing how development of updates to plugins get delayed while those developers have to make their existing software once again compatible with Apple's new stuff.

It's at the point where I honestly wish both platforms (Win/Apple) had completely separate audio software and DAWs, so that devs who chose to support one or the other could do so without any other distractions. And primarily, I'm most bothered by updates for software on Windows development being constantly slowed down to accommodate all of Apple's shenanigans.

I hold no other animosity towards that company (i.e. I'm no OS 'fanboy'). It's simply that a company who makes hardware and an OS that I never use and have no intention of doing so, still manage to negatively impact software development for the OS that I do use. That's pretty annoying, tbh. Were it not for that, Apple would never even register on my radar and so would not be a nuisance.

I don't like apple neither but I have to defend them on this specific point.
If you are referring to the transition to "M" chips from apple, this is also something that will (must) arrive on windows.
Actually, if you remember it already happened with Windows RT and the first surface release.
This is a change of architecture that is necessary and for technical reasons it is extremely difficult to make it seamless for software developers.

So Microsoft tried it with Windows rt 10 years ago and they had to rollback.
Now they are restarting and proposing again a windows that would not rely on x86 architecture. When it will be fully mainstream it will also create issues.

But this transition out of x86 is necessary, it is an obsolete architecture (CISC) and need to be replaced by the much more modern and power efficient RISC.


For me apple is much more annoying when they are not using any freaking standards and their phones can't be charged with usb C while their tablets/laptops do. So they talk about ecosystem integration but you can't charge your phone and your laptop with the same cable, that's a joke. Pc have that since years...

For a lot of macOS updates developers have to fix stuff that becomes broken, not just the migration to m1. These has been happening for many years.

I don't think apple products in the long run will be suitable for the kind of software ecosystem there is in audio, at least not in its current form.

[rezoneight]

I don't think apple products in the long run will be suitable for the kind of software ecosystem there is in audio, at least not in its current form.

Where the f**k do you guys come up with this stuff? “The long run”? You mean like the almost 40 f**king years Apple has been making Macs and having music software written for them? Lordy.

That said, this isn’t a Mac vs Windows thread. Take it outside please.

[Jac459]

That said, this isn’t a Mac vs Windows thread. Take it outside please.

Fair...

Back to the topic, I am just discovering Fabfilter as an editor (and loving what I see), is there any chance that they do some incremental update to Twin 3 ?
I'd love in particular a CLAP format support...