Hey guys.
Please don't take this the wrong way (and sorry it's so long):

I have Cakewalk registrations (for various products) on two email accounts.
The first account never worked... no registration emails... no order confirmation emails... no mailing list emails...
The second account always worked fine.

About a month ago, the first account started working, and the second account stopped.
I called both email service providers (one a local isp, and the other a web hosting service)... both have (and have had) server-based spam filters over the entire time.
My ISP, which is small and friendly, readily admitted to an update to their spam filter... this somehow made my failing account work.
My web hosting service, which large and unfriendly (but cheap), didn't offer any suggestions, but I imagine it's something similar... causing my formerly working account to stop.

A little background (non-meant to be arrogant or elite... just factual):
I do this for a living (internet/email/isp interfaces/web servers - for 4 years now), and I interface with hotmail, aol, yahoo, vanilla-pop mail servers, exchange servers, vpn servers, small and large isps, earthlink, gmail, etc...

In the past 4 years, the spam wars have taken off, and it's everywhere.
There are dozens (or more) client-side spam filters that you can get free or buy to put on your local machine... you control them.
There are several dozen server-side/client-facing spam filters that you can also configure.
There are dozens of server-side/client-hidden spam filters that you do not see and cannot configure.

The first two are of little concern, and they're really there to help you filter this and that. They have wildly different levels of usefulness and reliability, and I generally turn them all off and don't install anything client-side.

The third one, however, is the problem.
This software is updated frequently... new versions... new patches... it's unbelievably fast, because it's a new-ish technology and everyone wants to be the best.
Companies may (or may not) even tell you one is in use, and they'll very likely not tell you which one.

If you're on a small isp, and they are nice, they MIGHT tell you one is being used (like my isp), and they might even tell you the basic configuration technique. On extremely RARE occasions, they'll let you tweak for this or that mailserver (like Cakewalk's server), but in 4 years I've only gotten that ONCE, and I've interfaced with dozens of them about this very topic.

If you're on a big isp (aol, earthlink), they probably won't even talk to you about it... I've never gotten them to tweak anything for me... not once. They have too many customers, and tweaks to spam filters on a user basis are manual... it just can't really be done in a costly and maintainable way.
AOL, for example, is particularly bad in the last year, and sometimes throws things on the floor, and other times keeps the email for days before giving it to you.

If you can get your ISP to tweak your settings now, and it starts working, the next update/patch or zealous admin might break it again... seen this.
If Cakewalk changes it's email heading to say something that doesn't "look" like spam, that may work for some, and break others, and again it relies on the settings being permanent (on the filter), and they aren't.

Partnerships between companies and ISPs is a great idea.
However, we've also tried this and it's VERY difficult to get them to listen, even if you are corporate and have power and money.
Some of them even want money to do it... one in particular actually said they would if we started using their companies servers (hmm... who could that be?).

I know this is long, and slightly OT for this thread, and I apologize.
I also am not trying to be flaming or anything. I know it's annoying... I really do. I see it at least weekly, and it makes my job periodically quite annoying (though I'm getting used to it).

I just really don't see any solution right now, and I really don't think it's Cake's fault, at least not entirely.
Email, after 4 years, is less reliable (from where I stand now) than 4 years ago, but I also rarely ever get spam.

Take care,
- zevo

René,

just post all the info here. Everybody that matters checks here, as far as I can tell ;-}

I really don't understand this spamming biz. I NEVER EVER open email I do not recognise. My spammail box is bloated from the amount of junk that goes there.
I mean what's the ****ing point !!!
"If you don't want to receive this mail again click here": a nice way for them to find out your mail adress is alive and worth a lot of money.
I haven't reveived any spam mail on my pc for over 4 years now. All spam is collected serverside and maybe once a year a valid email ends up there by mistake.
That is no problem cause I can correct it by putting it on the whitelist.
I pay good money for it though.

Ermm.....maybe that's the point.

ORIGINAL: SteveW

I have to say very simply:

During the mid-'90s, Eric Persing's work, initially for Roland, and then for his own company, really set a standard for musicality in electronic music programming.

Later, work by Rob Papen carried the same kind of weight and made the Virus a very popular synth.

I've been very hardware-oriented for many years, using softsynths as a supplement.

With Rapture and Dimension Pro, I think they're good enough to be easily competitive with any hardware synth, not only in quality and variety of sound but in depth and variety of control. Personally, I'm finally at a place where I can consider software synthesis -- with these, and Reaktor -- an equivalent partner in my explorations with my hardware synths.

Enough so that it warranted me building a custom computer to support SP6 with Dimension, Rapture and Reaktor 5 as the software foundation for the platform.

I know a lot of people have converted to softsynth use for lots of bread 'n butter purposes long before me. For me, this is more about the full aesthetics and enjoyment of making music.

The work for Dimension Pro and Rapture in the expanded soundsets is absolutely premiere, competitive with anything Persing or Papen have done, and puts these two instruments right at the core of my music-making now.

Congratulations to all of you for your hard work; for me, this is an epoch-making advance in musicality for software synthesis. And I should simply add, I thoroughly enjoy the more experimental, more electronic direction the later XPs have gone. I'm sorry I'm probably more of a minority in the audience for your work; I'd strongly encourage more of it, if it were possible to justify such experimentation, with what has always been a mostly conservative player audience (more piano emulations, less scratchy noises, in other words, from the majority) as your primary customer base.

WoW!!! Major Compliment there sir! Thank you, on my behalf anyway...you're words are very much appreciated.

Nick I don't know, sure, it would be nice, but we've had plenty of years emulating old analogues. Sure they're timeless but really, in my opinion, there's a lot more to do beyond what they've already done, and it just seems so restrictive to be pushing for emulation as the be-all and end-all for synth sound design, when there's such a wider range of things that are possible with the current environment.

Ok back to lurk mode now. :)

Hmm...
I like my EXS24 & Proteus X2 for emulation... of course, they are both comparatively limited in comparison to Rapture particularly, but I recently "fell" into Proteus X2 for $99, so it doesn't bother me so much.
Of course, I have a Korg Z1 as well, so between them I can get the "vintage/classic" synth feel in any of my tracks.

However, while I wouldn't "need" emulation so much, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing some patches in a future expansion pack (assuming, of course that there will be future expansion packs), it would be nice to have them there as well.

I'm personally quite happy with the expansion packs so far... both of them. NOT really for the sounds, but for the examples they provide.
One of the things I found quite lacking on some of the older "analog/analog modelling" synths was good example presets. I don't mind presets, and sometimes use them in tracks (we talked about this in another thread recently), but my favorite thing about presets and expansion packs is the "I didn't know you could do that" vibe I get from some of them.

The "drawbar" stuff from expansion pack 1 was a perfect example of this (thanks B-rock for pointers about this).

Take care,
- zevo

I LOVE this instrument too.... the Violin sound really impresses me, and I found a neat way to use "whooping cranes" in a presentation background soundbyte, was really fun
http://www.dephoto.com/ click on "wildlife presentation" if you want to listen -- Thanks guys for great sounds!

Ha, that was cool, good job jeriann3!