Xpand!2

My Daily workstation for Bread and Butter sounds. Just love it.

Pro:

• Low on CPU resources.
• Good Organs, great Leslie.
• Great Brass.
• Wonderfull pads ands synths.

Con:

• Could use some sound upgrade.
• Bad acoustic piano's.
• Missing variaty of bread and butter sounds.
• low res editor with small buttons <>
• Very limited editing capability.

AIR, please update this plugin to 2024 norms ! Resizable and better GUI. Better presets folder location.

There seems to be an issue with Mixcraft 9, Windows 10 and Xpand2

The plugin will not receive and MIDI from either the keyboard or MIDI file play back
I have tried everything.

Any suggestions would be very welcome.

Cheers.

Update ....problem found and fixed....Lanes.

As with AIR's other synths, don't let the low price fool you. This is a powerhouse.

It's a virtual ROMpler, a "workstation," great for sketching out ideas.

The thing is, the sounds (over 2000 presets) are so good that I often start out "sketching" with Xpand!2 and end up using it in the final mix.

Great basses, pads, polysynths, leads. Some very usable drum machines. Excellent arpeggiator.

It's not without a few (slight, IMO) weaknesses. The orchestral sounds are not something I'd ever use in a final production, but that's to be expected. Orchestral samples take up a huge amount of space. Still, they are sometimes usable when layered with synth sounds.

The GUI is not resizable, so if you're on a 4K monitor, it'll look pretty small. Not a big issue because it's a ROMpler, you use the presets.

The underlying code hasn't been updated in many years, but this actually works in its favor: it's very resource-friendly.

A smashing deal whenever it drops below $10. I think my licenses (I have multiple for my various DAW systems) were purchased for $5. Whatever, it's worth many times that.

Xpand 2 is pretty insane for what it is. I can make big and intricate sounds very quickly, and I appreciate the selection of onboard effects (although I would really like to have more than just two slots for them.) I am kicking myself for not getting Xpand sooner, because there was a time when I was very heavy into the slightly more cheesy, Ocarina-of-Time-esque sounds, of which Xpand has PLENTY.

A valid issue is that there are very little options for shaping the sounds individually, or for shaping the overall sound. And admittedly, given how I eluded to Xpand having a lot of voices fit for a SNES (or N64), it does not easily have a strong sound. It remains an inspiring tool to use. I do recommend it, because it will get you very far.

Recent xpand2 update (Xpand!2_2.2.7.21000) is broken.

After installation, no sound is coming out in Reaper, Waveform11 and Ableton Live...

Just like the other recent update attemps: DB-33_1.2.7.21000, MiniGrand_1.2.7.21000 and Velvet_2.0.7.21000.

I have been using Air Music plugins for a long time but lately all updates have issues...

UPDATE: After uninstalling and clearing windows registry, re-installed and the plugin now makes sound !

An impressive plugin - especially for the price.

The designers have done a good job providing loads of "stock" sounds, playable instruments & rhythm loops - the ability to combine up to 4 parts - each with level, 2 sends to built in FX with control, Arpeggiator and Filter.

Obviously a tad out of date, but nevertheless certain to find plenty of use.

Got this in a sale & i'm so glad i did because it sounds great. Its easy to tweak the presets & there's loads of them if your not into tweaking. Well worth the money.