KXStudio : News

> The 2nd beta of Carla 2.0 is here!
On 2014-08-15 by falkTX

The Carla Plugin Host 2.0 beta2 release is finally here!
This release was slightly delayed in order to ensure plugin bridges were working properly.
If you haven't heard about the Carla 2.x series do so here.

In short, this release makes plugin bridges actually work and it's the first to support MacOS (>= 10.6).
The backend is now completely toolkit agnostic, only depending on the native window system (like X11 on Linux).
This release is much more stable when compared to the previous beta - it will no longer eat your cat! ;)
It should already be good enough for regular usage, if you can ignore some incomplete UI things.

Known issues / Release notes: (all to be fixed in the next beta)

• All DPF and JUCE-based internal plugins were removed to reduce code size and complexity, they will be re-introduced later
• AU plugin support is available on MacOS, but the discovery mechanism fails to find them
• Linux release has support for bridging Window plugins using Wine (32bit and 64bit).
• Linux 32bit release will not load 64bit plugins even if ran on a 64bit system
• MacOS Carla-Rack LV2 plugin fails to show UI
• MacOS and Windows do not support native widgets in LV2 yet (Cocoa and HWND, respectively)
• MacOS release is 64bit only but it can load 32bit plugins
• Windows 64bit build doesn't provide GIG and SFZ support, use the 32bit build if you need those
• Windows builds do not support bridges (ie, 32bit plugins on a 64bit Carla) or Carla as plugin

The next beta will change a few things, specially UI-wise.
The discovery mechanism needs to be reworked for AU support and faster LV2 access.
Adding plugins and browsing presets will probably change too.
LMMS and VST plugin versions of Carla-Rack are also planned, but no promises for these.
We'll be posting more news as things are developed.

> DISTRHO New release pack (2014-07-16)
On 2014-07-16 by falkTX

DISTRHO has a new release!

In this release we cleaned up all the plugins, added new ones and removed those that we not considered good enough.
Standalones are no longer available. Highlife was removed as a requested by its authors.

The plugins we added to Ports are:

• Dexed
• KlangFalter
• MVerb
• Nekobi
• Obxd
• PitchedDelay

Additionally we made a new plugin - ProM - a music visualizer as audio plugin based on projectm.

See the plugins and ports sections on DISTRHO's website for screenshots and downloads.
The complete source code is available at https://github.com/DISTRHO/.

> Introducing JackAss
On 2014-05-16 by falkTX

JackAss is a VST plugin that provides JACK-MIDI support for VST hosts.
Simply load the plugin in your favourite host to get a JACK-MIDI port.
Each new plugin instance creates a new MIDI port.

Here's JackAss loaded in FL Studio:




And an example setup in Carla for it:

JackAss sends the notes from the host to its JACK-MIDI port.
It also exposes 50 parameters, which send a MIDI CC message when changed.
You can use this to easily control external applications that accept JACK-MIDI input and possibly CC for automation (like Carla).

Additionally there's a JackAssFX plugin, which only exposes parameters to send as MIDI CC, in case you don't need MIDI/notes.

JackAss currently has builds for Linux, MacOS and Windows, all 32bit and 64bit. Just follow this link.
As a bonus, you also get special Wine builds - load it in a Windows application running in Linux via Wine and you get a real, native JACK-MIDI port from it!

You can find JackAss source code and bug tracker in Github: https://github.com/falkTX/JackAss/.

PS: Why JackAss? Because it outputs to JACK. ;)

> The first Carla 2.0 beta is here!
On 2014-04-22 by falkTX

Carla 2.0 is a full rework of the first Carla release.
It's currently under development with a planned release later this year.
Today the first beta is released, and we'll show you what to expect when the final version arrives.

To download binaries or source code, jump into the KXStudio downloads section.
If you're using the KXStudio repositories, you can simply install "carla-git" and "carla-plugins-lv2" instead.
Bug reports and feature requests are welcome! Jump into the Carla's Github project page for those.

DISCLAIMER: This is a beta release! Although all features mentioned here are working right now, they may be incomplete, have bugs or even eat your cat!
You've been warned.

Highlights

Canvas Integration When using the JACK multi-client mode, plugins will be mapped to their respective canvas group. Double-clicking the plugin group will show its UI, while pressing 'delete' will remove the actual plugin. There's extra right-click options, and the keyboard and meters will react accordingly.

New Look Each plugin gets its own slot skin. Different colors are attributed to each kind of plugin (EQ, delay, distortion, etc). Specialized skins that match the author/maker are used when appropriate.

Carla-Rack as a Plugin Carla itself working as a plugin (rack-mode). This allows to use several rack instances inside a single Carla instance. Internal patch-bay mode is also planned, but probably only for 3.0.

Internal plugins as LV2 Carla internal plugins are now exported as LV2. This includes carla-rack and zynaddsubfx! Plugins that released separately (such as DISTRHO and ZamAudio) are not included.

Plugin Bridges Running plugins in a separate process for crash-protection. Using a separate process also makes it possible to load plugins with a different architecture from the host, such as 32-bit plugins on 64-bit Carla and Windows plugins in Linux. NOTE: This feature is currently only available within the KXStudio repos.

More stuff

• Qt5 ready (already used in Windows builds)
• Save and restore canvas connections
• LV2 CV ports and Worker extension are now implemented, allowing to load ams-lv2 and setBfree among other plugins
• VST3 and AU plugin support

There's some other things planned, but they might be delayed until 3.0 so that this release doesn't take too long to happen.
You can find the complete TODO list here:
https://raw.github.com/falkTX/Carla/master/doc/Carla-TODO.

> KXStudio repositories are now ready for Debian!
On 2014-04-10 by falkTX

The KXStudio repositories are now ready for Debian and its derivatives (including the upcoming Ubuntu 14.04).
They should work for all Debian versions since Wheezy and Ubuntu 12.04 or above.
See the Repositories section for more information and how to enable them.

There's a list of available applications in the repository here and plugins here.
These 2 lists will quickly grow as more stuff is added in the repositories.

You can request new software to be packaged in this LinuxMusicians forum topic (although things seems a bit slow now, we'll eventually get to everyone's requests).
Please report any issues regarding packages here.

If you use the repositories, please donate to help keep packager(s) motivated. See http://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/Donations.
All this month donations will go to ensure falkTX has a good trip to the Linux Audio Conference next month!

PS: AVLinux users wanting to use the KXStudio repositories should be patient.
Something cool might come up when falkTX and GMaq meet in next month's LAC. ;)