Sonic Academy Kick 3

[bryansonic]

Bitwig, Windows 11. Maybe the text anti-aliasing on windows sucks on thin text. Thicker and brighter or adjustable text would be better.

i'm not 100% sure about Bitwig, but its very possible they have the same issue as Ableton Live, in that you have to turn OFF the plugin scaling modes to get a crisp GUI.

in Ableton Live you do that by right clicking on the Plugin name in the device browser and turning off

this forum post might be related? viewtopic.php?t=582715

[Choikdoi]

Just a nit-picky little request for a later update, but it would be nice if the volume sliders didn't reset when switching through the presets for each layer, as in Kick 2.

Otherwise, nailed it for me. Kick design heaven! Put it in the list for the KVR Readers' Choice Awards and I'll be voting for it.

You talking about the main slider or the individual layers?

The ones on the individual layers.

[bryansonic]

Just a nit-picky little request for a later update, but it would be nice if the volume sliders didn't reset when switching through the presets for each layer, as in Kick 2.

Otherwise, nailed it for me. Kick design heaven! Put it in the list for the KVR Readers' Choice Awards and I'll be voting for it.

You talking about the main slider or the individual layers?

The ones on the individual layers.

those reset in kick 2 as well (to whatever the preset has them at), the volume of each layer is very preset dependent, i'm not sure why you would want to lock those?

[anoise]

i'm not 100% sure about Bitwig, but its very possible they have the same issue as Ableton Live, in that you have to turn OFF the plugin scaling modes to get a crisp GUI.

in Ableton Live you do that by right clicking on the Plugin name in the device browser and turning off

this forum post might be related? viewtopic.php?t=582715

I don't use scaling in windows. It's on 100%. In this case plugin scaling does nothing in Bitwig. Is just that Kick3 has thin text when the GUI is not maximized. Look at the screenshot. At this size, it's hard to read the grey text on black background and especially the numbers in the circles.

[Choikdoi]

those reset in kick 2 as well (to whatever the preset has them at), the volume of each layer is very preset dependent, i'm not sure why you would want to lock those?

I meant changing the presets on the layers themselves, not from the main preset browser. In Kick 2, switching through the independent layer presets keeps the volume slider at the same level for each one. Even for the 'Sub Control' presets.

But, I have just realised though, in Kick 3 it's only the sub layer presets that reset the volume, not the click ones. But, as I say, I was used to the sub ones in Kick 2 not resetting either.

[bryansonic]

those reset in kick 2 as well (to whatever the preset has them at), the volume of each layer is very preset dependent, i'm not sure why you would want to lock those?

I meant changing the presets on the layers themselves, not from the main preset browser. In Kick 2, switching through the independent layer presets keeps the volume slider at the same level for each one. Even for the 'Sub Control' presets.

But, I have just realised though, in Kick 3 it's only the sub layer presets that reset the volume, not the click ones. But, as I say, I was used to the sub ones in Kick 2 not resetting either.

sub layer presets are a completely new thing to kick 3, before they were just "curves" you were cycling through. so depending on the length of your kick, they would always sound different.

the sub presets are now the whole layer, amp, pictch, length and harmonics / keytracking etc. - so each one completely unique and much more usable. But yes, that also includes volume. - perhaps there is a case for not bringing the volume across

[Funky40]

my attempt to upgrade ends here:

i think i can see the error in the backend, something is blocking access to our payment gateway javascript. have you got some popup blockers something running maybe?

i have popup blockers, yes.
I don´t want to deactivate there anything. It´s anyway a plain (old) mess.
Tryed on brave browser too. I think i don´t have there popup blockers.

maybe it´s related ? We had huge troubles with my account and login. Several times in fact.

[bryansonic]

i'm not 100% sure about Bitwig, but its very possible they have the same issue as Ableton Live, in that you have to turn OFF the plugin scaling modes to get a crisp GUI.

in Ableton Live you do that by right clicking on the Plugin name in the device browser and turning off

this forum post might be related? viewtopic.php?t=582715

I don't use scaling in windows. It's on 100%. In this case plugin scaling does nothing in Bitwig. Is just that Kick3 has thin text when the GUI is not maximized. Look at the screenshot. At this size, it's hard to read the grey text on black background and especially the numbers in the circles.

i'm not 100% familiar with Bitwig, i'll need to investigate further, but there does seem to be a plugin scaling setting (global setting) for Bitwig somewhere, that hands off the scaling to the plugin rather than managed by Bitwig.

I've included a picture of the plugin scaling mode on and off in Ableton Live for reference.

you can see things are just pretty blurry in Live when its left to deal with the plugin window scaling.

Ableton Live Auto Scale Plugin ON


Ableton Live Auto Scale Plugin OFF

[anoise]

Ableton Live Auto Scale Plugin ON

That is how it looks on my PC.

Ableton Live Auto Scale Plugin OFF

Yes, much better.
But are you running a 4K screen with scaling over 100%?
My resolution is 1440p without scaling and if the size of the plugin window is as small as in my screenshot in my previous post, the text is pixelated and thin. If I resize the plugin to almost fullscreen then the text looks fine. I think Kick 3 was designed with 4k and scaling in mind and on not scaled displays and a "normal" windows size, it looks just bad.
Yes, there is a "Plugin interface scaling" option in Bitwig but does nothing in this case.

[bryansonic]

Ableton Live Auto Scale Plugin ON

That is how it looks on my PC.

Ableton Live Auto Scale Plugin OFF

Yes, much better.
But are you running a 4K screen with scaling over 100%?
My resolution is 1440p without scaling and if the size of the plugin window is as small as in my screenshot in my previous post, the text is pixelated and thin. If I resize the plugin to almost fullscreen then the text looks fine. I think Kick 3 was designed with 4k and scaling in mind and on not scaled displays and a "normal" windows size, it looks just bad.
Yes, there is a "Plugin interface scaling" option in Bitwig but does nothing in this case.

yes that is on a 1080p monitor running at 540 with scaling.

i tested on 1080p and compared to a few other plugins and the detail seems consistent. So is it just the colour and the font weight that is the problem at this resolution?

Screenshot 2024-10-25 at 12.03.16.png

Screenshot 2024-10-25 at 12.03.31.png

Screenshot 2024-10-25 at 12.03.34.png

Screenshot 2024-10-25 at 12.03.14.png

[TIMT]

Was never a fan of Kick 1 or 2 due to how difficult it was to keep shit in complimentary phase outside of just working with audio, but this update is next level. Probably gonna be my fave purchase of the year in terms of plugins.

[Ou_Tis]

No intro sale... is there going to be a Black Friday or spring sale on Kick 3? If not maybe I'll wait until next year to demo it, since I'm not in a rush and more features will probably be added by then. Eager to try it though.

[anoise]

So is it just the colour and the font weight that is the problem at this resolution?

I guess so. Easier to read (thicker) fonts on monitors without scaling would be welcome.
Kick 2 also has small and thin fonts (not great) but they are at least sharp. If I resize Kick 3 to the dimensions of Kick 2 (I use it bigger btw), the font gets blurry due to, I guess anti-aliasing. Needs better fonts that can handle the small resolutions.

[midi_transmission]

Is it possible to move layers of the sound forward/backwards in the timeline? Like a offset delay?

This is a big advantage when just using audio tracks to layer a kick. But it should be easy to have in a plugin with layers as well. Just a dial with +- offset for the start of the layer.

And please allow for negative offset (causing a delay). That can be corrected by PDC of the host, but it allows to have a introduction sound before the grid.

[midi_transmission]

After having a look it seems not to be possible. Any possibility to add this @bryansonic? At least a simple layer delay similar to the phase adjustment from the sub layer but with a higher range?