Is Respire still a thing or did they stop working on it?

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Oquasec
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22 Mar 2018

https://shop.propellerheads.se/rack-ext ... d-respire/
Didn't get the synth and didn't get the free trial yet so I'm wondering whether or not to get the vst/Re version?
Read the manual for it and the layout is so painfully simple I can't overlook it any further :cool:
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Soeno
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22 Mar 2018

i like the VST more, got also an GUI / skin update, otherwise the Re was for 59 at sale, never saw the VST so cheap

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Oquasec
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22 Mar 2018

Ah.Seems like it'd be a wiser idea to get the vst version, then save the $ for the Re that are specifically made for Reason then.
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Quiloc Lim
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23 Mar 2018

I was able to get lucky & buy it when it was $59. I don't regret it. I'd have bought it at full price. Reveal Sound has done periodic updates. It's 1.0.5 now. While there are some valid points to the critiques of ReSpire being a CPU hog, I have noticed something very odd about differences in patches between the VST & RE version. While I have not done a proper scientific study on this, I've noticed that free patches I've found on the internet for Spire VST, when converted to use in ReSpire, are far less CPU intensive than patches in the ReSpire factory patches, or patches I've purchased in a proper refill.

But.... I could be wrong. :-D Anyways, I'm still loving ReSpire. You can't go wrong with the VST, or the Rack. It's a really good synth.

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Oquasec
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23 Mar 2018

Oh they still work on it from time to time. Going to have to steer clear of it for a while longer to see how it goes along on both sides.
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Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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eXode
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23 Mar 2018

The RE GUI implementation needs improvement, or did they fix that you have to click+drag in the mod matrix (no popus)? Also the arp/stepper/fx implementation was clumsy iirc.

Otherwise the RE is a bit of pain, I'd go VST any day in the week.

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Loque
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23 Mar 2018

eXode wrote:
23 Mar 2018
The RE GUI implementation needs improvement, or did they fix that you have to click+drag in the mod matrix (no popus)? Also the arp/stepper/fx implementation was clumsy iirc.

Otherwise the RE is a bit of pain, I'd go VST any day in the week.
Still click+drag. They said, they were experimenting with a port to SDK 2.5.
Reason12, Win10

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

23 Mar 2018

I don't use it much, but I don't think that's the RE's fault. I think I would not use it just as much if I had the VST version. It's not you, Spire, it's me. I'm still all hooked on the virtual analogue.
From the video tutorials I've watched, the VST might be slightly less fiddly than the RE, but it's always going to be a fiddly synth - an unavoidable result of a very powerful super-synth being hidden behind an interface that doesn't give you much to go on in terms of animated oscillators or animated modulation rings around knobs, etc. It's a software super-synth with a hardware interface. A beautiful, but ultimately fairly shit interface. Having read the manual and watched various tutorial videos, I'm still not clear on how FM is implemented, or what the difference is between the two FM oscillator types.

I should definitely make more effort to spend time with it.

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fieldframe
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23 Mar 2018

I liked it back when I trialed it last year, but the UI was just too inefficient for me. Spire has the UI design equivalent of painting the first few words of a sign in really big letters, then realizing you're running out of space and cramming the rest of the words in at the bottom.

I'd probably pick it up if they ever implemented something like my suggestion:
fieldframe wrote:
21 May 2017
There's a lot to like about Reveal Sound ReSpire, even in its early-access "Preview Edition." One thing that's not quite so great, though, is its interface. A lot of Spire's more advanced functionality has been swept into a tiny corner, where you have to select screens with a pop-up menu, sometimes navigating between screens just to edit a single feature, like the stepper.

Chalk it up to limitations of the RE format? Yes and no. The thing is, there's actually plenty of space in 9U if you use it wisely. And ReSpire spends a lot of its space on some huge honkin' knobs. Don't get me wrong, they're great looking knobs! But Reason's 9U limit only works if you use Reason-sized controls.

And so, I propose a solution to ReSpire's space problem: Fix the knobs. As an experiment, I did a bit of photo-editing on a screenshot to see how the the UI might work if all the knobs were 25% smaller, keeping the same size for all the labels. After some re-shuffling (and lots of fun with layers), I got back about 1U of space, which was enough to move a few other pieces and blow up the tiny display at the bottom to something much more substantial.

This new display makes two things possible: No more split pages (a stepper can be all on one page), and only one click to change screens, instead of having to rely on a pop-up menu. And in Reason 9.5, RE usability is more important than ever.

Before:

Image

After:

Image

lakinlakin
Posts: 121
Joined: 07 Jan 2016
Location: Scotland

23 Mar 2018

fieldframe wrote:
23 Mar 2018
I liked it back when I trialed it last year, but the UI was just too inefficient for me. Spire has the UI design equivalent of painting the first few words of a sign in really big letters, then realizing you're running out of space and cramming the rest of the words in at the bottom.

I'd probably pick it up if they ever implemented something like my suggestion:
fieldframe wrote:
21 May 2017
There's a lot to like about Reveal Sound ReSpire, even in its early-access "Preview Edition." One thing that's not quite so great, though, is its interface. A lot of Spire's more advanced functionality has been swept into a tiny corner, where you have to select screens with a pop-up menu, sometimes navigating between screens just to edit a single feature, like the stepper.

Chalk it up to limitations of the RE format? Yes and no. The thing is, there's actually plenty of space in 9U if you use it wisely. And ReSpire spends a lot of its space on some huge honkin' knobs. Don't get me wrong, they're great looking knobs! But Reason's 9U limit only works if you use Reason-sized controls.

And so, I propose a solution to ReSpire's space problem: Fix the knobs. As an experiment, I did a bit of photo-editing on a screenshot to see how the the UI might work if all the knobs were 25% smaller, keeping the same size for all the labels. After some re-shuffling (and lots of fun with layers), I got back about 1U of space, which was enough to move a few other pieces and blow up the tiny display at the bottom to something much more substantial.

This new display makes two things possible: No more split pages (a stepper can be all on one page), and only one click to change screens, instead of having to rely on a pop-up menu. And in Reason 9.5, RE usability is more important than ever.

Before:

Image

After:

Image
This (and pop up menus) would make it a brilliant synth.

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Re8et
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Joined: 14 Nov 2016

24 Mar 2018

A folded view output level knob is a good idea. If there is not enough space in full interface.
OSC can be turned off and that is a nice thing, as well as fx mute from the back of the rack.
A main fx button as in Grain would save thousands of clicks.
The mute functions on the back of the rack it is unclear if they save CPU or not, it's saving clicks, that's for sure, but still manually disabling all the cpu hungry fx is the best choice, so it's a yes and no for me. On the right track I guess :D
Respire 1.0.5 back.JPG
Respire 1.0.5 back.JPG (34.23 KiB) Viewed 4168 times
Can get a Respire drum machine here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7506112
Factory drums and percs needs optimization, there is a wide choice of sounds
that was added with the latest update, so I guess they are still working on it.

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miscend
Posts: 1955
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27 Mar 2018

Spire is awesome and there is a huge amount of patches available for it both free and commercial.

I use the VST for creating patches then I convert them to the RE format. I’m awaiting the RE SDK 2.5 version which will allow me to work completely within the RE.

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svenh
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18 Apr 2018

lakinlakin wrote:
23 Mar 2018
fieldframe wrote:
23 Mar 2018
I liked it back when I trialed it last year, but the UI was just too inefficient for me. Spire has the UI design equivalent of painting the first few words of a sign in really big letters, then realizing you're running out of space and cramming the rest of the words in at the bottom.

I'd probably pick it up if they ever implemented something like my suggestion:

This (and pop up menus) would make it a brilliant synth.
:thumbs_up:
Let's hope that the guys at Reveal Sound get inspired by this - those would be awsome usability improvements!

madmacman
Posts: 786
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

18 Apr 2018

I finally used my coupon during the current "57 year of first man in space" sale: minus $57 and minus full (intro) price of ReSpire, I got this coupon over a year or so and never used it. Now during the sale they did a kindly reminder by mail :)

I lost no money and now have VST/AU at a nice price.

scratchnsnifff
Posts: 1423
Joined: 21 Sep 2016

18 Apr 2018

I sooo hope the Re gets the UI update
Make the stepper/matrix able to be seen using the new sdk pages or what ever it’s called
Pop up menus for any selection of modulation sources/destinations waveforms and filters
And those few things alone would make me use the Re more often :) I like having spire vst but I rarely use it because I just can’t get myself to use vsts often. Lol maybe I’m weird like that but I just love Re and the swift simplicity of their workflow
Mayor of plucktown :evil:

seqoi
Posts: 417
Joined: 12 Aug 2017

20 Apr 2018

I tried it now when it's in the Prop bundle and i liked it a lot. I do have VST version but for some Reason (workflow i guess) i like RE version more. Performance is worse then on VSTi but i can live with it.
eXode wrote:
23 Mar 2018
The RE GUI implementation needs improvement, or did they fix that you have to click+drag in the mod matrix (no popus)? Also the arp/stepper/fx implementation was clumsy iirc.

Otherwise the RE is a bit of pain, I'd go VST any day in the week.
Yes! I wanted actually to create my own thread to ask people is it just me or what's up with the GUI?

I mean when i go to Envelopes faders and i want to fine tune them. I click on top of the fader but then fader skip above the point where i clicked?!?!?!? What the heck? I was like doing it few times just to ensure am i going crazy.

Why does it (click and) jump like that?

Btw someone mentioned SDK 2.5. in this thread. While i don't have a clue what's inside 2.5 and how do you pinpoint in which version RE is created (??), can anyone explain me if company port RE Spire to 2.5 does that mean possibly better performance?

Cheers everyone

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buddard
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20 Apr 2018

seqoi wrote:
20 Apr 2018
Yes! I wanted actually to create my own thread to ask people is it just me or what's up with the GUI?

I mean when i go to Envelopes faders and i want to fine tune them. I click on top of the fader but then fader skip above the point where i clicked?!?!?!? What the heck? I was like doing it few times just to ensure am i going crazy.

Why does it (click and) jump like that?
It's because the developer was either careless or lazy when creating the GUI: The developer must specify some extra information about margins and handle sizes in order for faders to work correctly in Reason -- Or you will get the "jumping fader syndrome"...
seqoi wrote:
20 Apr 2018
Btw someone mentioned SDK 2.5. in this thread. While i don't have a clue what's inside 2.5 and how do you pinpoint in which version RE is created (??), can anyone explain me if company port RE Spire to 2.5 does that mean possibly better performance?
Porting to SDK 2.5 won't help the performance, but there are several GUI enhancements in that release (replaceable panels, support for Ctrl/Cmd/Alt/Shift-clicking in displays, etc) that could help improve the user experience if used correctly.

To improve the performance, the developers would have to write more efficient DSP code, possibly taking advantage of the enhancements introduced back in 2015 (SSE vector operations).

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

20 Apr 2018

The jumping faders is still a problem. They're frustrating. It's just a bit of a frustrating synth with a frustrating UI.

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Loque
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20 Apr 2018

EdGrip wrote:
20 Apr 2018
The jumping faders is still a problem. They're frustrating. It's just a bit of a frustrating synth with a frustrating UI.
Parsec has this problem too. I always think, wtf?
Reason12, Win10

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miscend
Posts: 1955
Joined: 09 Feb 2015

20 Apr 2018

It’s important to note that even the VST version of Spire has long standing issues. It’s a good sounding synth thats a bit rough round the edges.

Where ReSpire beats other Reason synths is that there’s a massive amount of good presets out there for it. Both free and commercial.

tanni
Posts: 213
Joined: 19 Jul 2015

21 Apr 2018

miscend wrote:
20 Apr 2018
It’s important to note that even the VST version of Spire has long standing issues.
what kind of issues do you mean ?

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miscend
Posts: 1955
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21 Apr 2018

tanni wrote:
21 Apr 2018
miscend wrote:
20 Apr 2018
It’s important to note that even the VST version of Spire has long standing issues.
what kind of issues do you mean ?
They’re design issues, the worst technical issues such as the high CPU usage were fixed over time.

The way Spire is designed when they add new features they seem to cause new problems. The browser is not well implemented and needs some work. At the moment the shaper occupies a filter slot so you lose a filter. And very fast audio rate modulations can cause artefacts.

groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

22 Apr 2018

miscend wrote:
21 Apr 2018
tanni wrote:
21 Apr 2018


what kind of issues do you mean ?
They’re design issues, the worst technical issues such as the high CPU usage were fixed over time.

The way Spire is designed when they add new features they seem to cause new problems. The browser is not well implemented and needs some work. At the moment the shaper occupies a filter slot so you lose a filter. And very fast audio rate modulations can cause artefacts.
Overall, I think the vst version works really well, and is very comparable in quality to some others (dune2, serum). It just works for me, at least on the latest version.

I think RE version is just not well maintained, as others have said. They should give every RE owner a free cross grade to vst, just my 2 cents.

lakinlakin
Posts: 121
Joined: 07 Jan 2016
Location: Scotland

22 Apr 2018

groggy1 wrote:
22 Apr 2018
miscend wrote:
21 Apr 2018

They’re design issues, the worst technical issues such as the high CPU usage were fixed over time.

The way Spire is designed when they add new features they seem to cause new problems. The browser is not well implemented and needs some work. At the moment the shaper occupies a filter slot so you lose a filter. And very fast audio rate modulations can cause artefacts.
They should give every RE owner a free cross grade to vst, just my 2 cents.
Your 2 cents are worthwhile. That is a very good idea, since it looks as if the issues with the RE version of Spire will not be fixed any time soon (if ever).

Soeno
Posts: 254
Joined: 09 Dec 2017

22 Apr 2018

i would even change it 1 to 1

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