Mixbus Members (only as of 1 Mar 201) Mixbus 4 is here

 Mixbus v4 is everything you love about Mixbus, plus hundreds of new improvements both big and small.  Read about some of the changes below!

You can find lots of new information in our  manual which has been dramatically improved & expanded .... it's now over 400 pages of great information! Mixbus’s new & updated GUI answers user’s requests for a better window management, and it allows the transport controls to appear above the mixer. The new “mini-timeline” allows fast & easy locating directly from atop the mixer window:https://gallery.mailchimp...-896a-833f308c02da.png" />The transport controls have been streamlined, and are configurable to hide & show the elements that are needed during the different stages of production: recording, arranging, editing, mixing and mastering. Visit Preferences->Appearance->Toolbar to turn the various sections on & off. You'll find a great opportunity for customization, while still remaining sensible and recognizable if you have to work on someone else's computer. Our latest-generation “True Analog Mixing” engine has been updated with a stereo width knob on the console mixbuses. The width knob varies from stereo to mono, and its primary purpose is to reduce the stereo width of reverb effects ( similar to using a mono bus send to your reverb effects, in an analog console ). After reducing the stereo width, you can pan the reverb image to one side or the other.https://gallery.mailchimp...-8510-8d7a16214d13.png" /> 
The new mixer-strip "Switcher"
https://gallery.mailchimp...-a225-6b26e7a9853c.png" />The new "Switcher" was designed to save vertical space, so we can provide the transport controls on top of the mixer while still fitting in our recommended minimum screen size. Shift+click the switcher to switch all of your channels at once ..... this allows you to see your inputs/outputs, VCA assignments, and other details during the "setup" phase of your mix. Then Shift+Click again to hide these controls on your mixer, and leave room for plenty of plugins while you are mixing!   https://gallery.mailchimp...-bf51-2c4047921e06.png" />VCA Faders:

You may create an unlimited number of VCA faders, and attach them to your tracks and buses; then you can use the VCA's fader to adjust the slave's fader level, or trigger a Mute or Solo on the slaved channels.Input Channels (tracks and mixbuses) may be assigned to an “unlimited” number of VCAs, allowing the user to control a snare drum from 3 VCA faders: the snare, drum, and all-instruments VCA groups (for example). This unparalleled flexibility is derived from Harrison’s large-format console VCA implementation.  

The "Spill" button hides all channels except those that are attached to the VCA fader.

Even cooler:  Mixbuses now have their own "Spill" buttons, so you can immediately show the channels that are sending to the mixbus. This is great to immediately show which channels are feeding the "Drum" bus, or the Reverb.

By combining the use of VCA Spill and Mixbus Spill buttons, you can organize much larger sessions than was practical in v3.
 Global controls for track's input-monitoring, as well as improved support for pre-roll recording and several UI improvements, greatly improve the usefulness of Mixbus for tracking a live band. For example you can mouse-wheel on the metronome button to adjust the click volume, or right-click on it to take you directly to the metronome preferences. Combined with the new “tempo mapping” features, Mixbus is the new standard for live multi-track band recordings!

A comprehensive redesign of keyboard shortcuts, preferences, and window-management makes Mixbus more friendly to users of other DAWs.https://gallery.mailchimp...-81b8-57555f802dcb.png" />VST's on MacOS:

Mixbus can now load VST plugins on Mac (in addition to AU and LV2), allowing for better Mac-to-Windows-to-Linux sharing of sessions.  Visit Preferences->Plugins to scan for your installed VST's.  The plugin's format will be displayed in the right-click context menus, as well as the plugin manager window.
Tempo Mapping: following a comprehensive redesign of tempo and meter conventions, Mixbus allows the user to elegantly add tempo markers on a live show; and when desired, the tempo can smoothly ramp to follow natural tempo changes. An elegant method of editing allows you to drag the "measure lines" directly behind your transients. You don't really think about the tempo itself; just line up the measure-lines with your performance and Mixbus does the hard work for you!

Mapping the mixbus timeline to your performance can dramatically speed-up your editing and mixing process without robbing a performance of its natural timing. For example, once you've mapped a guitar-vocal recording, you can drag&drop MIDI (or a virtual drummer) into your session, and they will follow the natural tempo changes in the music.https://gallery.mailchimp...-bf86-aafcff3cc91f.png" /> https://gallery.mailchimp...-8159-03ba32f6f920.png" />New instruments:  Mixbus v4 includes a bundled General MIDI synth using the high-quality and compact GeneralUser soundfont by S Christian Collins. We've also bundled the FluidSynth soundfont player, so you can utilize a huge range of .sf2 sampler and instrument libraries from the internet.  Finally, we've added 2 "live"-sounding drum instruments from Glen MacArthur, the producer of AVLinux. These open-sourced drum plugins incorporate velocity-layered drum samples from 2 kits ( the rocking "Red Zeppelin", and jazzier "Black Pearl" ), and they demonstrate some of the features of the new LV2 plugin format.

Multi-output virtual instruments are now easier to setup. When you add an instrument with multiple outputs, Mixbus prompts you whether to show stereo or multi-out;  and in some cases it even prompts you to "fan out" the channels to separate buses.  The Bundled AVL drumkits are a great example of this ability.
  https://gallery.mailchimp...-8a7c-b2c0a7b2fc8d.png" />
Inline Plugin Displays:

Mixbus v4 supports a new feature of the LV2 plug specification:  Inline Displays.

We're often asked why we chose the LV2 format for our plugins, and this new feature is an example of the innovations that we will be able to implement with the new open-source format.

5 example plugins are provided that utilize this new feature:  a-EQ, a-Filter, a-Compressor, a-Inline Scope and a-Inline Spectrogram.
 
 Lua Scripting: A comprehensive new scripting engine has been added which allows users to write simple scripts to modify their sessions. Scripts may be triggered from events ( such as “on transport stop” ). Similar to macros from Harrison’s large-format consoles, a Lua script can trigger a sequence of actions.Some of the many included example scripts:
"Faders to trims" sets all of your channel faders to unity, while inserting a “trim” plugin before each fader with the fader’s previous value. This is an awesome way to keep your mix, but zero the fader so you can try 'vocal up' or other alternative mixes.
"Reset Mixer"  resets the mixer faders, mutes, EQs, compression, and bus sends; and it disables any third-party plugins. Because it's a script, you can tweak it for your own needs:  do you like to start with faders at OFF? Or start with all the EQ's enabled? You can change the script to do whatever you need!https://gallery.mailchimp...-a90e-a31deef7bac5.png" />Your Lua scripts may be triggered from keyboard shortcuts or the Toolbar. You can write your own DSP or MIDI processing plugins as Lua scripts. They can even display their own icons!In the next few weeks, we will post some additional scripts in our user forum, and we hope that a community of developers will rally around this cool new concept.A glimpse into the future of computer audio workstations:

You might have noticed that Mixbus's development is accelerating quickly.  This is largely due to the rapidly increasing open-source community that we are encouraging.  Over the last year, Harrison has worked to lower the barrier to entry for developing the Ardour platform so more developers can take part in the process.  The new Lua scripting features are also a new opportunity for users and casual developers to take part in the development of Mixbus.

Continuing our collaboration with the Ardour open-source community, Mixbus v4 is session-file compatible with other Ardour-using workstations: Ardour5, Waves Tracks Live, and the newly-announced iZ Session. This unprecedented level of inter-application support is largely due to Harrison's continued funding and support of open-source development.

And speaking of inter-application support, you'll find something very interesting in the v4.0 release:   .ptf and .ptx file import.   This new item in the "Session" menu allows you to select a Pro Tools session file, and import the raw audio and midi data. This is a "Beta" feature that was developed by a member of the open-source community, and is provided for adventurous beta-testers only.
*Pro Tools is a trademark of the Avid corporation.  

current 32C version still at $99 too

Upgrade pricing?

I found myself with 32C after a sale a few weeks ago but haven't used it yet. At this point though I'm wondering why I would need Mixbus as well - pity you can't transfer licenses with Harrison. 

bapu

sharke
I found myself with 32C after a sale a few weeks ago but haven't used it yet. At this point though I'm wondering why I would need Mixbus as well - pity you can't transfer licenses with Harrison. 

You'll see V4 of 32C within a month (or so I've heard).

Guess I should pull my socks up and delve into 32C in preparation then!

kitekrazy1
Upgrade pricing?

The e mail Harrison just sent me stated that I could upgrade from Mixbus 3 to Mixbus 4 for $39 dollars .
IMHO , that seems pretty fair too me considering I didn't join any membership clubs or anything ...
 
Kenny

kennywtelejazz
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ooppss ,Sorry , maybe I posted this in the wrong thread since this seems to be about membership pricing ...
 
Kenny

Not at all. The OP was about V4 being available (early) for the Plugged In Members.

This is me chomping at the bit

Really liking some of the changes in v4 so far!

Why would one upgrade or buy MBv.4 if one is planning on upgrading or buying MB32c v.4?
 
curious.

Getting Mixbus first is a great way to get into it. It is the must cheaper option initially. You cannot wait around and read reviews either. It is a sonic thing that has to be experienced. Mixbus has the overall essential Harrison console type sound built in and once you start playing around in it you start to hear how it sounds. The tape saturation is another aspect of it too. 
 
M32 is an extended version which includes a fabulous EQ channel strip well worth having alone plus extra buses and other facilities. I don't have it yet but very close. You can certainly get a lot done in Mixbus before M32C. The monthly deal is an excellent way to get into M32C as well for sure.
 
I started by mastering stereo mixes in it.  Then bringing in stems from Studio One.  All the stuff coming from the buses.  You start hearing Mixbus more, and then I have not so much yet but you can start by tracking in it then. More start to finish type mode.
 
The synchronising options are great too as it can be master or slave. (rather than Studio One which can only be master) The Harrison mastering plugins are real nice too. That multiband compressor is very good! The mastering EQ is unusual to use the way it shapes the sound.
 

I interpret Harrison's commitment to Mixbus4 (vs. 32C) akin to SOANR Artist vs Platinum.
 
And that is in no way to look down on Mixbus4, if 32C had not come along I would still be a happy Mixbus4 user.
 
 

http://harrisonconsoles.com/site/store-mixbus-plugins.html
 
Top o the page.

I'm pretty impressed with MB4 so far.
Now I need to see what Tracktion's Waveform has to offer. (and how much that upgrade will be.)
I'm expecting it to be around $49. It should be out this month.
Tracktion has a new groove maker thing that looks interesting, and a new midi window, and has ARA for Melodyne.
I may be tempted to pass on it, and upgrade to 32C. (I expect that upgrade to be around $99. we'll see.)
Mixbus is fun, and for a old guy like myself, it's nice to work with something that looks like an old school board.