Author: Guido Helbling, Avosound - Last updated March 2nd, 2023
Soundminer releases version 6 of the Soundminer programs. Brand new, all Soundminer programs are divided into the three groups BASIC, PLUS and PRO which - hooray!! - are all available for Windows and Mac.
Soundminer V6 represents a consolidation of the previous parallel product lines into a simpler, streamlined single product line offered for Mac, Windows or Universal platforms.
Under V6, there will only be BASIC, PLUS and PRO versions, but we will continue to offer optional Server and ProPack add-on packages for PLUS users. In other words, you can add the Client Server add-on to your PLUS or the ProPack but both would be the equivalent of going to PRO. V6 Pro will, for the first time, be offered in either Mac or Windows or Universal.
Anyone who works in the two worlds of Mac and Windows could previously buy a universal license for the smaller programs for just a fistful of dollars, and use the program on both systems with an universal license.
For the first time, Universal is now also available for the PRO version.
Yes... All these functions are included in all V6 programs, including BASIC.
Good news for all Windows users: The Soundminer V6 product line is crossplatform-ready for Windows and Mac users from BASIC to PRO! For the first time, the PRO version is available as an Universal version and runs both on Windos and Mac.
Soundminer V6 now fully supports Apple Silicon and Intel System for Apple and Windows.
Metal Graphic rendering on MAC and GPU acceleration on Windows is much faster and retina capable now. Zoom in and out of the waveform without stalling.
Do a search, keep the returns active and open a new tab to start another search. Drag items from one tab to another(if permission allows). Tabs can represent different views/layouts of the same database, or of a different database entirely. Searches can be optionally performed across open tabs.
Why not save your tabs?? Tabs can also be saved and restored.
With the demise of Rewire, a new need for digital connectivity to the Pro Tools environment has arisen. Simply instantiate a version of the plugin appropriate for your needs (Stereo up to 7.1) and the application will stream into it.
REWIRE has been discontinued by its maker, Propellerheads. The reason for digital connectivity of this kind is because AVID does not share its interface in the background. Those who use DAWs other than Pro tools likely are working in environments where interfaces can be shared and things like Rewire, I/O and the Monitor plug are not required.
No longer restricted to using the default audio hardware. And with extra controls to accommodate multi-channel outputs for all versions.
A dedicated mode just for playback. Depending on the hardware, you can choose to have ALL your audio (except Radium) routed to the Center speaker (for dialouge editors)... Summed to mono or L/R (headphone users), or surround files downmix to stereo
Every function in the application can have a key command assigned to it. Define it, use it, change it - and change it again, whatever you want.
When the width crosses a certain point, it adjusts the layout to better show the content. Batch edit and search now can be done from within the side panel.
Field display and order pop up to quickly choose fields to display.
Start typing the fieldname to make the field visible, while the arrow is visible, hit return to toggle it showing. Use up and down arrows to go to the next matching name.
Soundminer V6 bings new colour options... lots of new colour options!
With an anticipative load, the file loading in Soundminer V6 is much faster. It will cache the sound into RAM to allow skipping through sound so as to not continuously hit the drive.
You can use up to four fields to filter your searches. Users can multiselect items to do an ‘or’ search. i.e. bring back records with this OR this.
Some facets/pills can be locked, now without thinking any term search or advanced search will just search within those locked pills. Right click a pill to also exclude some pills(only usable on facets) A Facet pill is made from any of the left filter panel filters. Pills can be bypassed by right clicking. Multiple advanced search terms are now allowed(if the previous term was locked)
When sounds were scanned, when they were modified, date ranges, etc.
When restoring a playlist into view, the facet pill is locked visually. This means a find all will bring back just the records in that playlist. You can filter and search within right away. A great way to use tabs with snapshots of items in your database.
Users can choose now the size of the artwork. Can view Library or Show mode, which will pick a representative piece of artwork to display as the hero image. A badge indicates the number of records in the Library or Show.
When Soundminer is brought to the forefront it checks the selected file to see if it has been modified (to rebuild waveforms), and that the metadata is still intact. When writing poly wav files, set the extensible flag depending on the ChannelLayout. Files not in surround (A1/A2 etc) get written as discrete with no surround flags set.
Colouring of waveform based on a histogram type view showing the low/mid/high frequency content. The radar overview can be set to show the centroid (or dominant frequency) visually as well.
You can change the waveform view between standard and XRay view by selecting in Soundminer Preferences / Waveforms / View XRAY Waveform.
Soundminer V6 PLUS and PRO are having a Reverse function button directly in the front interface for immediate playback and transfer.
A large Effect Rack is now available on the main screen along with meters and frequency analysis. These FX are recallable in recorded/transferred sounds and can be used to process sounds going into Radium (if user has ProPack).
You will see a small ‘FX’ icon on the left hand side just below the Left pane. Click it and you will see a Rack of Soundminer’s own effects, a dynamic meter bridge and a Frequency Analyzer.
20 built-in FX to choose from. Each can be enabled separately and dragged in order to create the desired chain. The meter bridge senses if the audio is mono, stereo or multichannel and draws accordingly. There’s a great deal of creative sound design possible here.
Save and recall your fx setting in Soundminer V6 PLUS and PRO!
...
Other FX Improvements have been made in existing plug ins: New Exciter effect. Low High Pass filter is smoothed on movements so no clicks. Additional saturation and distortion algorithms.
Set a slot to grain mode. With controls over random pan, pitch, speed and size of the grains. Combine with TSE Doppler. Great for magic fx, rudimentary granular sample playback (to play a sound at the same speed but different pitches across keyboard) or just to create a constant layer for use in sidechaining/envelope following. Lots of fun to create magic or scifi sounds.
Check out this video and see, what the Grain Engine can do:
The start of big changes in SM SERVER: MySQL/MariaDB improvements for remote use. Anticipates scrolling, speed increases. Much has been worked on in V6 to ready SM Server for remote use as more and more people work from home. While we continue to work to make it more platform independent, the first phase of changes have been implemented in V6. Over the internet, searches can be fast. Very fast.
Follows the timeline ruler timecode mode. Locate or set in/out points based on your chosen timecode format.
A new Fold Down plugin is designed for multi-mic recordings to balance and pan(either LR or LCR) and combine legs. Will even allow you to choose a channel as a Side (in an M/S setup), and delay certain channels
Once you have set up a fold down you can save that back into the Database for the selected files. Then by enabling autoload whenever the plugin is instantiated and you choose one of those files, the fold down is recalled. Embed back into the file as if it were a regular piece of metadata.
Use the built-in Soundminer FX across all slots along with separate set of FX for each slot.
Restrict a slot to playback only when within a certain velocity range, or when a minimum / maximum number of keys are held down
The Radium quadrant mixer let you mix Slots 1-4 by moving the puck position in the Gobal Effects Panel. Important: The four slots are arranged around the quadrant and each corner represents one slot. So, the centre position means all four slots are mixed equally. Slot 1 is Upper Left, Slot 2 is Upper Right, Slot 3 is Lower Left, Slot 4 is Lower Right. If you move now the puck around in the quadrant, you define the level between the slots. Create movement and lush textures live.
And don't forget: Switch on and off the quadrant with the ON-Switch in the right corner! It is working if it's red!
Relink audio files that may have moved location, for library creators including Radium Patches you no longer have to duplicate the media inside a Radium Preset(includes the samples). Relink will automatically look for files in the same location as the .ra88 patch file, otherwise you’ll get this dialog.
See what each voice is doing in each of the envelopes like doppler.
No longer tied to your hardware, optionally swap the sample rate of Radium while recording. Performs essentially oversampling of the signal, giving you a downsampled version for auditioning, while recording the high-resolution version.
Macros replace the old Radium Controls in the DSP rack with a new iteration that gets saved and loaded from presets.
Macros in Radium allow you to use a knob (that is automatable within a DAW) to control multiple parameters across multiple slots. Its also the only way to modulate the Global FX section.
Take your mono or stereo sounds and pan them up to 7.1. Often requested, great for generating swirling, moving content (tornados). Draw in the automation you want each voice to perform, and then adjust random parameters.
One thing to note about the surround panner, is that it feeds the effect rack. A lot of the fx are capable of processing multichannel, however using regular plugins will only process the L/R channels. If you are using a plugin with a sidechain, you might want to slot record the sound to process it, then load it back into an empty slot to then pan it around.
Disable app nap and cpu throttling.
Put the power of Radium right into your Pro Tools environment!