AIr Xpand2 FREE...limited time

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Ostermilk
Posts: 1535
Joined: 15 Jan 2015

15 Oct 2017

I spent $0.99 on it a few months back.

I knew I should have waited. I feel ripped off now... :lol:

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Carly(Poohbear)
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15 Oct 2017

FYI I have done a Nektar mapping for this, details on this thread

viewtopic.php?p=357719#p357719




PoohBear

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Recent Music made with Reason
(Electronic) Poly Madness
(Electronic) Solar Dance
(Electronic) Into The Night
(Upbeat) The Players Took Me There Made in Reason 9 with heavy use of the players
(Electronic) 5 Steps (Video added) Updated
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My Soundcloud Page ....... Nektar Mappings
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PhutureD
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16 Oct 2017

Pralijah wrote:
14 Oct 2017
Was just looking at the deal to get ´em all for €70. I know one can trial them, but anyone tried these? Opinions...

I listened to the deomo of Strike and thought it sounded surprisingly natural.
I bought expand when it was on sale for $1 at pluginboutique. Then did the upgrade to the complete package recently. I's currently
on sale. https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... E-UPGRADE-
there are demo's available as well. One serial number for the whole lot. The download is 70gb. Split over a number of downloads.
It uses iLok so, if u are not a fan of that protection system then it may be a nasty installation experience. What helped me is to disable
" pace antipiracy " in windows task manager , because when installing HYbrid , it will roll back and you will get an error message. You might have to go through the process of disabling it every time when the error appears.
So far , that was the only issue I , and many others have had, and that fixed it. So far im happy with this product line. Especially Hybrid, Loom, And Vacuum pro , which is a legit sounding VA. For the price and the amount of stuff in the bundle , its unbeatable. Plus they give u a whole bunch of expansion packs for the synths. Definitely worth checking out.

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miscend
Posts: 1955
Joined: 09 Feb 2015

16 Oct 2017

I think the entire package will be too much for me. I already have too many VSTs and refills as it is.

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Carly(Poohbear)
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16 Oct 2017

I'm getting a lot of assertion errors in R10 with this VST, Anyone else?

DonnieAlan
Posts: 271
Joined: 25 Jan 2017

16 Oct 2017

Carly(Poohbear) wrote:
16 Oct 2017
I'm getting a lot of assertion errors in R10 with this VST, Anyone else?
I've not encountered that issue. I wonder if it there might be something with your system? You might try uninstalling/and reinstalling Xpand2 just to see.

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mrmiyagi
Posts: 31
Joined: 28 Sep 2017

16 Oct 2017

We have been using XPand in Pro Tools for the longest time (it used to be Pro Tools only), and when they finally released it as an audio unit, all of us here bought it for $49.99!!!! That is how good we think it is. Plus a lot of Pro Tools people secretly use it to fill out their arrangements. I know because I have seen it! xpand is very handy, almost like a JV rompler.

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moneykube
Posts: 3447
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16 Oct 2017

interesting... here in Canada $3.50 tax for something free... what?
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RandyEspoda
Posts: 275
Joined: 14 Mar 2017

16 Oct 2017

DonnieAlan wrote:
15 Oct 2017
RandyEspoda wrote:
15 Oct 2017


I love this thing, just got it. I would agree this is surely one of the best free vst thingies out there.

Only thing it lacks (imo) is a way to route each layer through a separate output, in order to process each layer separately in reason, which would offer a ton more control over each layer.

Still you can overcome the limitation simply with a combinator, and use a separate instance of xpand for each layer you use, routed to a mixer. You can then process each layer separately with additional effects and/or processing...
When they came out with Xpand2, they added the ability to have up to 4 MIDI inputs to control each of the 4 parts, but oddly, left out the audio out. I'm hoping its added in Xpand3...if that ever happens!
Let's hope, I might be inclined to go for the upgrade then...but as long as we have the combinator we can at least kind of work around it...

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QVprod
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16 Oct 2017

RandyEspoda wrote:
16 Oct 2017
DonnieAlan wrote:
15 Oct 2017


When they came out with Xpand2, they added the ability to have up to 4 MIDI inputs to control each of the 4 parts, but oddly, left out the audio out. I'm hoping its added in Xpand3...if that ever happens!
Let's hope, I might be inclined to go for the upgrade then...but as long as we have the combinator we can at least kind of work around it...
I don't see and Xpand3 coming anytime soon. Last year they sold Xpand2 for $1. I think Air is really trying to introduce non Pro Tools users to their software in general hence the upgrade offer to get their other plugins.

Amazing plugin though. The amount of sonic variety you can't through layering is practically limitless. And it's very light on the CPU.

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AttenuationHz
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Location: Back of the Rack-1

17 Oct 2017

Carly(Poohbear) wrote:
16 Oct 2017
I'm getting a lot of assertion errors in R10 with this VST, Anyone else?
Yeah. I was hit with a VST window related issue within the first half hour. If you Minimize a window and deselect the rack device (closing the minimised VST) When you open it back up it causes an assert. Seem to be low priority too!
It is not too much of an ask for people or things to be the best version of itself!

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WillyOD
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17 Oct 2017

Update: After removing / rebooting / reinstalling / rebooting I got iLok stuff working and also Xpand2.

I very much dislike all this protection stuff, but other than that seems like an ok plugin. Basically choose 1-4 different sounds and mix them together. I encountered asserts too (made a bug report) so I couldn't really play with it.
I used to make music but now I just cry on these forums. @diippii.com

DonnieAlan
Posts: 271
Joined: 25 Jan 2017

17 Oct 2017

mrmiyagi wrote:
16 Oct 2017
Plus a lot of Pro Tools people secretly use it to fill out their arrangements. I know because I have seen it! xpand is very handy, almost like a JV rompler.
Shhh....you weren't supposed to tell anyone! You broke the code!

DonnieAlan
Posts: 271
Joined: 25 Jan 2017

17 Oct 2017

WillyOD wrote:
17 Oct 2017
Update: After removing / rebooting / reinstalling / rebooting I got iLok stuff working and also Xpand2.

I very much dislike all this protection stuff, but other than that seems like an ok plugin. Basically choose 1-4 different sounds and mix them together. I encountered asserts too (made a bug report) so I couldn't really play with it.
I noticed one last night for the first time. I'll try to reproduce it, do a screen capture and send a bug report too. The only issues I've encountered with any VST plugins have been from AIR. Transfuser has the entire bottom of the Transfuser interface missing, so you can't use some of the most important features with it. I reported on that on another thread. Now, Xpand2 seems to be causing assertion errors. I'd suggest anyone who has that issue send a bug report. Its rather odd.

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Carly(Poohbear)
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17 Oct 2017

DonnieAlan wrote:
17 Oct 2017
WillyOD wrote:
17 Oct 2017
Update: After removing / rebooting / reinstalling / rebooting I got iLok stuff working and also Xpand2.

I very much dislike all this protection stuff, but other than that seems like an ok plugin. Basically choose 1-4 different sounds and mix them together. I encountered asserts too (made a bug report) so I couldn't really play with it.
I noticed one last night for the first time. I'll try to reproduce it, do a screen capture and send a bug report too. The only issues I've encountered with any VST plugins have been from AIR. Transfuser has the entire bottom of the Transfuser interface missing, so you can't use some of the most important features with it. I reported on that on another thread. Now, Xpand2 seems to be causing assertion errors. I'd suggest anyone who has that issue send a bug report. Its rather odd.
I sent mine in the other day. Funny thing is I have not had the assertion error in the last 24 hours and I have been trying so hard to break LOL

RandyEspoda
Posts: 275
Joined: 14 Mar 2017

17 Oct 2017

After reading the latest posts here, I've been trying to reproduce the assertion error mentioned by minimizing and deselecting the vst, then opening it again.

Though I am not able to reproduce it. I haven't had one error with Xpand2 in Reason.
But I'm on Windows 7, so perhaps the issue is more OS related ?

I'm willing to keep trying to reproduce the errors you guys are getting, but I'll have to know 'how' to reproduce them...

So all those getting assertions, pls tell me what I have to do to replicate it.
If I don't get any errors, I'm betting it is an OS related issue, since most Windows users are on at least 8.1 these days...

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Carly(Poohbear)
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17 Oct 2017

RandyEspoda wrote:
17 Oct 2017
After reading the latest posts here, I've been trying to reproduce the assertion error mentioned by minimizing and deselecting the vst, then opening it again.

Though I am not able to reproduce it. I haven't had one error with Xpand2 in Reason.
But I'm on Windows 7, so perhaps the issue is more OS related ?

I'm willing to keep trying to reproduce the errors you guys are getting, but I'll have to know 'how' to reproduce them...

So all those getting assertions, pls tell me what I have to do to replicate it.
If I don't get any errors, I'm betting it is an OS related issue, since most Windows users are on at least 8.1 these days...
Running Windows 10, nvidia card.

DonnieAlan
Posts: 271
Joined: 25 Jan 2017

17 Oct 2017

It might be a Win-10 related issue. Something with Win-10, Reason 9.5 (or Reason 10 beta), and AIR VST plugins isn't quite working right together.
Win 10 did present some issues with respect to audio production. When I first upgraded from Win-7 to 10, I encountered all sorts of issues with MIDI not working, issues with my audio interface, and some with my main DAW, Pro Tools 12.7. Turns out virtually all those were solved with tweaks and some other changes to Win-10 itself. It wasn't very pro-audio production friendly!!

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WillyOD
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18 Oct 2017

I don't think they're too busy fixing this one since they've got a new, similar product Layers available ;)
I used to make music but now I just cry on these forums. @diippii.com

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QVprod
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18 Oct 2017

WillyOD wrote:
18 Oct 2017
I don't think they're too busy fixing this one since they've got a new, similar product Layers available ;)
Nope not a similar product. Aside from the ability to layer (which all multitimbral plugins can do) the content is entirely different. It seems it may be windows 10 issue though (as far as 9.5 goes). No issues on Mac OS 10.10.

DonnieAlan
Posts: 271
Joined: 25 Jan 2017

18 Oct 2017

There seems to be issues with a couple other of the AIR VSTs as well. I noticed today with Structure 2.0 VST, that only about 2/3 of the edit screen showed up. But, when I closed and reopened the VI window, it was all there. The problem with the bottom half of the Transfuser screen persists however. (I've reported on that in a separate thread here, as well as a bug report.

I did find a workaround for all these issues this morning, however. IF you happen to have Blue Cat Audio's Patchwork, and have it recognized by Reason as a VST, then you can host all the AIR VSTs (or any others for that matter) in that. Patchwork, when installed, comes in 2 flavors. One is as an effects host, the other as a VI host. Neatly, Reason recognizes the VI version under the "Instruments" list, and the effect version in the "Utilities" list.
So, you can load in the VI version of Patchwork, and then host Xpand2, or Structure, or Transfuser, or any other VI that might be having issues with REason, in that. The catch is, if you're using 64bit version, you can only host 64bit VSTs, unless you have something like JBridge installed. But that might create some issues of its own.

After doing it this way this morning, I did not encounter any of the issues others have seen with Xpand causing Reason to crash or getting "access violation" notices. I had similar issues with Structure as well. Hosted in Patchwork, however, all that goes away.

Patchwork offers another side benefit. You can use it to host a VST player, such as Kirneau Cream, and direct the MIDI output from that to a VST VI also hosted in the same instance of Patchwork. You can do the same with XFer Reocrds's Cthulhu. Its a nice workaround until the P-heads add full MIDI in/out routing on the rack. So, if you don't have it already, you might want to take a look at Blue Cat Audio Patchwork. They also have a nice set of free plugins on their website, all of which are quite useful and good.

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WillyOD
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18 Oct 2017

Sorry I didn't mean to talk about beta stuff didn't notice this was VST forum, somehow thought I was in a beta subforum, or maybe I'm just tired.

( To reproduce Load Xp2, Load a preset, [Minimize, Maximize...] -> Assert. )

It's just funny I stumbled upon this since I've haven't had any other problems with the beta.
I used to make music but now I just cry on these forums. @diippii.com

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wireless
Posts: 100
Joined: 14 Apr 2017

21 Oct 2017

Thanks for the heads up. Just downloaded and installed (bit of a faff - first time I've had to download iLok onto my machine).

Agree with the two main comments made here already:-
1) Its sonically very rich, full of great presets, and I can see me using this. Just had great fun with the vocal and the hammond organ patches.
2) It keeps freezing on me (I've seen reports here of 'Asserts', but I don't know what this means....). I get no issues other than the VST window going non-responsive. The windows are all perfectly formed as far as I can see.

My experience of three hours so far is of about 6 freezes ('Plugin Window not responding'). These happen both inside and outside of a Combinator, and appear mostly to occur soon after opening the VST window. As far as I can see simply adding an instance to the rack is stable, but you take your chances when you open the VST to select a patch (which cannot be done from the front of the VST device in the rack).

I raised a bug report and sent it in.
I'm using a Win 10 Pro OS on a fast i7 Desktop, REason 9.5.2 and Xpand!2 v 2.2.7

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moneykube
Posts: 3447
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21 Oct 2017

with all these freezes... I'll pass... got too many synths to learn anyway :idea:
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DonnieAlan
Posts: 271
Joined: 25 Jan 2017

21 Oct 2017

I think I'm going to report the freezes in Reason being caused by Xpand2 over at AIR as well. I suspect its a Reason issue, as Xpand2 has no issues being hosted in other VST hosting programs such as Reaper or Blue Cat Audio Patchwork. But, they should know, in case there is something they can address on their end.

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