FL Studio 21.1 released! - A disappointment in the making

[Teksonik]

I've been using FL Studio for two decades and it is by no means perfect. But then there is no perfect DAW.

My biggest complaint is the primitive and nonsensical way FL handles MW, PB, and AT data.

Even in this latest version here's what happens when you "select all" then delete in a pattern. Notes and Velocity data are deleted but MW,PB, and AT data are not:

FL 081823.png

Don't even get me started on copying MW,PB, or AT data between patterns. The steps needed to accomplish the task are utterly ridiculous. The task is automatic in other DAWs. All data is copied/pasted or deleted as it should be.

I've been on them for more years than I can count about the issue and I think I finally got them to acknowledge the issue but no fix is in sight.

I think the problem is that early versions of FL were programmed by a video game programmer who had zero understanding of midi. I think Gol programmed so many issues like this deep into the code and the current team just has no ability to fix or no ability to easily fix.

I think the "more mixer strips" issue which some people (not me) have been requesting for as long as I can remember is another example. IL has been "working on it" for more years than I can remember.

But lifetime updates are free so you just go along with the flow. Given the size of the FL user base there are no doubt so many feature requests and complaints that it would take several coders a lifetime to fix. Every update is going to grant some people's wishes and disappoint others because their wish was not granted.

I've been using Bitwig more and more because of FL's midi data issues but I still prefer FL for 90% of my work. I find its piano roll far superior and BW's lack of step record is a definite minus for me.

[xbitz]

...Without the 'General Setting/Ultrasmoth,' which reduces the UI framerate to 30 fps, ...

Ultrasmooth takes quite a lot of CPU as well... I have that turned off by default and don´t notice any differences in terms of a more "unsmooth" GUI...

luckily someone else has created a video about it

at 1:00, can confirm it (Yep, it's quite good that FabFilter plugins use their own refresh rates; they work perfectly in Reaper too.)

[Trancit]

...
luckily someone else has created a video about it
...

I am even more lucky as I don´t care about frames/second absolutely zero... none nothing...

I am not able to see any differences in a DAW if it runs at 15 frames or at 60 frames/sec... I simply don´t see it...

The only thing I care about are my system resources and there I have to say FLS does a really good job with their plugins (and the DAW has improved as well...)

I start FLS and my template loads with 225MB of RAM usage...
I insert 50 EQs... 230MB RAM usage, 1% CPU usage on play... that´s so great... they took resource sharing really to the max...
Bitwig uses the 10-15 higher amount in both RAM and CPU...with 50 instances of EQ+...

[Teksonik]

Bug Fix

* 16104 High cpu usage in Windows Task Manager when FL is playing

Well I do notice a pretty significant improvement in the numbers I'm seeing on FL's Buffer Meter. In the recent versions before this release I was seeing numbers way higher than I ever had before.

So, well done for that fix.......

[maanga]

Pay once, free updates for life. The updates keep coming, improvement by improvement every time.
Still there are people who complain, this can be like this, that can be like that, don't like this feature etc.
They are born this way. They will always complain, complain.
Like... Go to a movie? This actor is not that good, the music could have been better, less fighting scenes, romance not that good- don't like the dialogue.
They are there to complain. Otherwise they will suffer from severe headache.
Even those saying that they switched to another DAW, still will be using their old DAW in one way or other.
I can bet, most of us do have more than one DAW.
Learn to live with what you have and make the music life enjoyable.
Enjoy your music creation time, good or bad.
Regards.

[eerie_audio]

Pay once, free updates for life. The updates keep coming, improvement by improvement every time.
Still there are people who complain, this can be like this, that can be like that, don't like this feature etc.
They are born this way. They will always complain, complain.
Like... Go to a movie? This actor is not that good, the music could have been better, less fighting scenes, romance not that good- don't like the dialogue.
They are there to complain. Otherwise they will suffer from severe headache.
Even those saying that they switched to another DAW, still will be using their old DAW in one way or other.
I can bet, most of us do have more than one DAW.
Learn to live with what you have and make the music life enjoyable.
Enjoy your music creation time, good or bad.
Regards.

People can have flawed perceptions and theories too, right? You do know that bugs and features get added because people complain and report them, right? You do know that things improve and the bar gets set higher by the people who demand better, right? Your opinion is yours, nothing more, so simply let people have their own. It's a really simple concept that doesn't need to be weighed down by self importance and the lack of a spine to read through criticism.

[ImmutableTrepidation]

Piano roll scripting in particular means that every tool and personal request people may have there is now instantly possible. Check the forums, there are already 50+ scripts covering everything from chord progression tools to velocity based note selection.

Yeah. Sure. I'll acknowledge PR scripting with emphasis on humanization and chord progressions are desirable - (PRIMARILY FOR BEGINNERS)

I know my way around music theory and harmony man. So many beginners just want to skip out on the theory and have tools do the work for them. Whatever. That is completely fine, but you'll never see me using a PR script to generate monotonous 4 chord loops like "I-V-vi-IV" or "IV-I-V-vi"

No thanks!

[ImmutableTrepidation]

The problem isn´t the programming language but how Gol puzzeld this thingie together...

The problems which need to be adressed to be able to make changes are so deeply rooted in the progamm core that this has to be changed at core level first to open the programm up for future ideas and being able to implement them more modular...

This is (afaik) why it takes so long time... changing nearly everything under the hood and under it´s hood...

I really hate this about FL Studio. I wish they would rework their code like Ableton did. The inability to do something so simple as copying/pasting MIDI in the Playlist is infuriating.

Despite the modularity and power of FL Studio, it really still feels like an underdeveloped toy to me. The Playlist is HEAVILY neglected. The Event Editor is complete f**king garbage if you intend to use it with any goal of accuracy.

[Trancit]

The problem isn´t the programming language but how Gol puzzeld this thingie together...

The problems which need to be adressed to be able to make changes are so deeply rooted in the progamm core that this has to be changed at core level first to open the programm up for future ideas and being able to implement them more modular...

This is (afaik) why it takes so long time... changing nearly everything under the hood and under it´s hood...

I really hate this about FL Studio. I wish they would rework their code like Ableton did. The inability to do something so simple as copying/pasting MIDI in the Playlist is infuriating.

Despite the modularity and power of FL Studio, it really still feels like an underdeveloped toy to me. The Playlist is HEAVILY neglected. The Event Editor is complete f**king garbage if you intend to use it with any goal of accuracy.

This wasn´t what I wrote...you quoted that wrong!

[ImmutableTrepidation]

I think the "more mixer strips" issue which some people (not me) have been requesting for as long as I can remember is another example. IL has been "working on it" for more years than I can remember.

Yeah I think the devs throw out sensational claims and don't (usually) deliver on them. I can remember as far back as 2018 one of the developers saying custom hotkeys were "Right around the corner" and its 2023... do we have custom hotkeys? No. (Like said idc because I use AHK to do it for me)

They shouldn't make promises they cannot keep. I'm also not in that crowd that need worry about adding more mixer strips, but I could see how it would be a hindrance to people who use a shit ton of mixer strips.

I think the Mixer is so silly in that you have to MANUALLY delete plugins one at a time that are loaded in the FX Inserts and cannot just drag a box around (or shift + click just like in Windows) and select the ones you want to delete. This is so embarrassingly bad.

I'm very opinionated I know, but I also think themes are rather ugly. (To my understanding this was done by a single developer under a very strict time frame, but to me themes feel more like Instagram/Snapchat filters than they do "themes")

[Teksonik]

I'm very opinionated I know, but I also think themes are rather ugly. (To my understanding this was done by a single developer under a very strict time frame, but to me themes feel more like Instagram/Snapchat filters than they do "themes")

Many of them are eye searing ugly to me but that's the way people like them so more power to them.

Theming just allows us to select custom colors and contrast for some elements of the gui so I don't liken them to Snapchat filters. Other DAWs have much deeper customization abilities.

I created a color scheme that is easy on my eyes,suits my personal taste and is more efficient for me. After staring at the tilted to green color scheme of FL for two decades the change is most refreshing here. Sadly, theming is only about 80% complete as there are colors we can't change like highlighted sections which are still putrid pink, mod data in the piano roll lanes and so on. Hopefully progress will continue.

Were themes the most important feature that could have been added to FL ? No of course not but they are very much appreciated here unlike more mixer strips which would have no use here.

I've always wondered how many people really need more than 125 mixer strips. I saw one guy post a screenshot where he had five different strips just for a High Hat. I think some people are trying to impress others with how complex their projects look instead of how they sound but hey to each their own.

I look forward to more strips being added even though I'll never need them because that will finally shut them up errr I mean make them happy so then IL can move on to other business and hopefully some day my number one feature request will be granted. It's a feature that's so important to me that it's caused me to start working in Bitwig.

But for every feature added there will be those who are grateful and those who whine because they didn't get the toy they wanted. With the size of the FL user base it's impossible to add everyone's feature. So we just go along for the ride and hope our favorite features will be added and be grateful for lifetime free updates.

[jules99]

Interesting move by IL in the beta to 21.2: https://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic.php?t=311250

While avoiding any mention of subscription and parading their lifetime free updates, they mention this:

While there will always be freely available content in FL Cloud, we will be introducing paid content later also.

Which sounds like a way to introduce subscription into the world of FL. Having acquired Melda, UVI and ProducerLoops, IL must now be sitting on a gigantic pile of loops to sell.

It will be interesting to see how the community receives such a move.

[Carbonboy]

Which sounds like a way to introduce subscription into the world of FL. Having acquired Melda, UVI and ProducerLoops, IL must now be sitting on a gigantic pile of loops to sell.

It will be interesting to see how the community receives such a move.

If there is a subscription to sounds, why would anyone complain about that?

The DAW is the problem not sounds. They have promised FL Studio will always be lifetime free updates.

[xbitz]

^^^ Their word conquering plan isn't secret anymore

https://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic. ... 0#p1876118

the loops are only sources of their AI

[osiris]

I like Flex but I'm thinking any new synths will be like Flex, which reminds me of UVI stuff. I just wish they'd signify Demo in the Plugin Manager. I don't know how many times I see something I can use and pull it up only to have Demo across the top of it. Like Luxeverb. It's gorgeous. $79.00 worth of gorgeous.