Revision history

Version 12.1

New "multi-item editing" support:


• Edit parameters for multiple items as quickly and as easily as for a single item. When more than one is selected, e.g. five regions, the property pane will show <5 regions> instead of a region name. If a parameter is the same for all of the items, it is drawn in gray (inherited values) or in blue (overrides), as before. But if it has different values for different items, then it is left blank. Just type in a new value to set it for all of the selected items, or clear the box to reset it to inherit its value from the parent levels.
  

Improved visualizations:


• The various visualization graphs (waveforms, envelopes, audio player et c) now use anti-aliased line drawing for better visuals.
  
• The Equalizer section now has a graph to visualize it. A secondary purpose of this is that you can right-click it to select Copy/Paste EQs.
  
• The Filter section now has a visual graph. Again, a secondary purpose is to right click it to select Copy/Paste Filter.
  
• You can now use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in waveform graphs (control keys and mouse buttons variously modify the function).
  

More new features:


• The "auto-select collection items" and "auto-select waveforms" options are now much more responsive when working with large collections.
  
• The various "Read <format> CD" commands on the I/O menu have been replaced by a single "Read Sampler CD" command, which will auto-detect the disk format.
  
• You can now read Sampler CD disk image files directly (.ISO). NB; only AKAI/Roland/Ensoniq/Kurzweil native formats are supported for now - it won't read UDF or ISO-9660 formatted disk images.
  
• You can now use VST plug-ins that don't have a UI. When there's no UI, it'll show a simple VST parameter editor instead.
  
• When the Batch conversion wizard is in 'Collections' mode, and you input a file with only waveforms, no instruments, then instruments will be created from the waveforms. When in 'Waveforms' mode, if you input a MIDI song, it will be rendered to a waveform.
  
• On the Options menu, there's two new choices: "Auto-audition waveforms" and "Auto-audition collection". When enabled, this plays any waveform or collection item for 1s when you click on it.
  
• The MIDI Player dialog now has an option to visualize velocity per note instead of note count per track.
  
• Added support for reading waveforms from Yamaha SY99 all files (.T01).
  
• Added support for reading waveforms from Yamaha SY85 all files (.G01).
  
• Improved compatibility with PlayStation 2 wave files (.VAG).
  
• Added support for one more type of Sony PS2 sound files (.ADS/.SS2).
  
• Add support for reading Roland S-550 CD-ROMs.
  
• Added support for reading Korg PA2X/PA3X/PA4X/PA5X wave files (.PCM). Note that compressed waves can not be read.
  
• When reading an Audio CD, meta data is now fetched from gnudb.org.
  
• Blue collection tree icon outlines replaces the earlier red flash for indicating articulation overrides.
  
• Many smaller tweaks and improvements.
  

Version 12.0

• There is now an Undo/Redo-system.
  
• There is also a new Navigation history with Forward/Backward buttons on the tool bar. This allows you to backtrack your path through the property tabs. You can also use mouse button 4/5, much like in web-browsers.
  
• The previous Save/Restore state commands have moved to a bookmark icon and drop-list on the toolbar.
  
• The pop-up property dialogs have been retired. In their place is a new "property inspector pane” filling the right-hand side of the main window. This works much like the former auto-properties function, but is smoother and fits much more info on each tab. A note on keyboard navigation: Tab/shift-Tab toggles between the collection and waveform panes, or navigates among the controls in the property pane. Control-Tab/control-shift-Tab navigates among the property pane tabs - and when reaching the left- or rightmost of them, it continues to the most recently used of the collection and waveform panes.
  
• Articulation parameters can now be individually overridden on any level of an instrument, where before you could only override all or nothing. Unless a level is disabled in the parameter set setup, you’ll see articulation tabs on regions, layers and instruments. Values that are inherited from a parent level are shown in gray. Values that are activate overrides are shown in blue. To clear an override, and reset it to inherit the parent value, just remove the value from the edit box (delete the numbers and to leave it blank). Or for drop-lists, select the first blank entry in the list.
  
• There are now four envelopes and four LFOs – one of each for volume, pitch, filter and pan. When working with formats that don’t support this, you can disable it in the parameter set (uncheck "Envs: Separate P/V/F/X envelopes" and "LFOs: Separate P/V/F/X LFOs"). That turns it back to the way it was earlier (V-ENV + M-ENV and P-LFO + M-LFO).
  
• The region overrides for waveform volume and fine tuning have been removed. In their place, use the volume and pitch parameters on the articulation tabs. NB; if you disable region level articulation in the parameter set, you'll still have region level volume and pitch parameters, but now located on the region general tab instead.
  
• The region root key, waveform start/end, and loop overrides are still there, but now use the same convention as the articulation parameters – drawn in blue if an override is active, and cleared by wiping the text.
  
• The Copy/Paste articulation buttons, which were formerly placed on some General tabs, have moved to the Edit menu. They can also be found in the context menu when right-clicking on instruments, layers and regions.
  
• The LFO settings now have a small icon visualizing the LFO shape. A secondary purpose of this is that you can right-click it to select Copy/Paste LFO.
  
• You can now right-click the loop editor graph and select Copy/Paste loop. The region waveform override section has corresponding Copy/Paste loop buttons.
  
• In the loop, waveform and envelope editors, if you hold down the control key and drag with the left mouse button in the graph, it'll now control the zoom levels.
  
• The Audio processing wizard now allows a preview also when working on multiple waveforms, and has << and >> buttons to switch which wave is previewed.
  
• Added support for up to three envelope Release segments, as well as an Initial Level (this can all be disabled in the parameter setup).
  
• The number of available effect channels has been increased from 2 to 4.
  
• Added Velocity to LFO depth parameters.
  
• Added a Random to Pan parameter.
  
• For SoundFont 2 files (.SF2), what is in that format called instrument global parameters, are now mapped to layers rather than regions. This can potentially make the files marginally smaller, but more importantly, fewer parameters need to be stored (which is often a limiting factor for making big SF2s).
  
• For Kontakt files (.NKI), the formats group parameters are now mapped to layers when reading. Non-overlapping layers may be merged though, typically for drum kits, in which case the parameters move to the region instead. Zone parameters maps to regions as before. When writing, it will create groups as needed from the layer level when it can, or from the region when needed.
  
• For SFZ v2 files (.SFZ), the formats parameter setup, with three levels of individually overrideable parameters, now maps directly to that of the program.
  
• For SFZ v2 files (.SFZ), it will now use the ARIA extension eg1_ampeg=1 to override the v1 ampeg - but only when a more complex volume envelope is used which can’t be represented in v1. The v1 ampeg is still written for the benefit of such players as don't recognize the extension.
  
• When using any of the "Read from CD" commands, the usual post-file-load operations are now performed after reading (see options on the File load tab in the preferences).
  
• Added support for Akai S3000/S5000/S6000 "envelope 3" (.P/.AKP).
  
• Added support for rare MIDI format 2 files (.MID).
  
• Added support for rare Roland sequences with pattern triggers (.SVQ).
  
• Added support for reading Kurzweil PC3K/Forte song format (.P3K/.FOR).
  
• Added support for reading Unreal Engine 3/4/5 SoundWave assets (.UASSET).
  
• Added support for reading and writing Decent Sampler presets (.DSPRESET).
  

Version 11.7

• The layout of the articulation property pages have been changed to better illustrate how values are summed together for modulation. They have also received a touch of color here and there.
  
• The previous OK/Cancel buttons in the property pages are now named Undo/Close, with Undo only lighting up when you have edited something. Just like before, this is live editing, where everything takes effect at once - closing a page keeps your edits - you must explicitly press Undo if you wish to revert them.
  
• There are now tooltips in the various editor and options tabs, replacing the earlier F1 context help.
  
• Several trigger parameters are now available both on the layer level and, as before, on the region level. This works like the articulation overrides, e.g. the velocity range is by default 0..127, which can optionally be overridden on the layer, and again optionally overridden on the region. Many times, these values are common for all regions in a layer, so it is easier to edit them there, than to have to go into every region and repeat the same edit.
  
• Added "Auto-move trigger parameters to layer if all equal on region level" and "Auto-remove duplicate waveforms when merging files" options to "File load" tab of the program settings (both enabled by default).
  
• Auditioning a region or a layer that doesn't have articulation enabled, but the parent instrument or layer have, now plays with the articulation from the parent.
  
• Improved SFZ format support. You can now choose between saving as SFZ v1 or SFZ v2. When reading, it will try to map global opcodes to instrument level articulation, and group opcodes to layer level articulation, rather than all to region level. Similarly, when writing, global (SFZ v2 only) and group opcodes will be written, not just region opcodes. The directives #define (SFZ v2) and #include (ARIA) are now supported as well. Several new opcodes were also added.
  
• Improved conversion to Kurzweil K2000 format (.KRZ). It now identifies stereo waves (either dual-mono or interleaved) and saves them in the synths preferred format (two mono waves stored under one a single id and flagged as stereo). It also finds duplicated keymaps and saves only one instance. Per region tuning and volume adjustments are now saved to keymaps. When reading, if the layer volume envelope is disabled, the "native envelope" from the sample is now converted into a region V-EG.
  
• Added support for writing Kurzweil PC3K-series files (.P3K).
  
• Added beta support for writing Kurzweil Forte-series files (.FOR). NB; this is as yet untested.
  
• Added parameter set selections for SFZ v1, SFZ v2 and Kontakt NKI in the program settings.
  
• The envelope editor now uses individual edit boxes for each value, rather than the previous approach of selecting which one value to see and edit at a time.
  
• The loop editor now uses cubic interpolation rather than linear interpolation for the display when zoomed in to more than 1 pixel/sample.
  
• Added a "Loop tuning" parameter (adjusts the pitch during loop playback). Supported by SFZ v2, Korg Kronos/M3/Triton, Akai S1000/S3000, EXS24 and Kontakt NKI.
  
• Added a "Delay time" parameter to the region trigger section (supported by SFZ, Korg Trinity/Triton/Kronos/M3, Yamaha Motif/ES/XS/XF...)
  
• Added "Velocity/ModWheel/Aftertouch to Resonance" parameters. Supported fully by SFZ v2, SF2 v2.01, DLS level 2++, Kontakt, Korg Kronos/M3/Triton/Trinity, and partially by Yamaha Motif/ES/XS/XF, Yamaha Tyros and Reason 2.x NN-XT.
  
• Added a "Random to Pitch" parameter. Supported by SFZ.
  
• Added support for a 3-pole/18 dB low pass filter - natively available for Akai S1000 and Yamaha Motif/ES/XS/XF, and emulated using two filters for SFZ v2, Kontakt, TX16Wx, and Yamaha Tyros.
  
• Filters are now assumed to not have gain compensation for resonance. This is an unknown property for many synths, but for DLS, which do specify gain compensation, the inverse of the compensation is now added to the region volume.
  
• When using the "Create instrument wizard" and enabling "Auto-create regions from waveform root keys", it will use only those waveforms that you have selected in the waveforms pane (if none are selected, it works on all waves as before).
  
• You can now save an individual layer or region to any format to which you can save an instrument. Similarly, a MIDI track can be saved to anything that can handle a MIDI song.
  
• A number of bug fixes and minor improvements.
  

Version 11.6

• Added support for writing NI Kontakt instruments (.NKI), banks (.NKB) and multis (.NKM). This should be compatible with Kontakt v3 and up (the full version, not the free player). Also improved the articulation parameter conversion when reading said formats.
  
• Added support for reading and writing NI Kontakt 'Monolithic' files, i.e. with embedded samples (unencrypted only, pre-v4.2.2, .NKI/.NKB./.NKM).
  
• Added support for reading NI Kontakt Compressed waves (.NCW).
  
• Added compatibility with NI Reaktor file format versions 5, 6 and 7 (.MAP).
  
• Improved articulation parameter conversion for Yamaha Tyros-series (.UVN/.UVD/.TVN/.TVD).
  
• Improved conversion of SoundFont v1 (.SBK) and added support for reading ROM waves from the SB Live-driver file "1mgm.sf2" (when reading .SBK or .SF2 files referencing ROM waveforms).
  
• Added a "Save in sub-directories" option to the "Save all in multiple files" function.
  
• All envelope segments now have "Vel to time" and "Key to time" scaling parameters, i.e. no longer just "Vel to Attack" and "Key to Decay". Supported to various degrees by SoundFont 2.1, Akai S-series, Kurzweil K-series, Yamaha Motif-series, Yamaha Tyros-series.
  
• Envelopes now have a "No Release" option (a.k.a. no note-off, a.k.a. one-shot mode). For formats that don't support this, it translates into max release time.
  
• Added "Mod wheel to Volume" and "Master Volume" parameters (the latter will be summed into region volumes for formats that don't support it).
  
• The region "Waveform parameter override" block has been split into three independent sub-sections: "Override tuning/volume", "Override loop" and "Wave Start/End offset".
  
• The "Remove silent sections" function in the Audio processing wizard now has an option to "Delete waveform if it is all silence".
  
• Added an option to adjust the mix volume of the "Awave Synthesizer". It is now louder than before by default, but you can lower it if you experience clipping (or raise it even more if you want to make it even louder, at the expense of risking clipping).
  
• Refreshed the texts and layouts of the articulation parameter tabs.
  
• The program and the installer executables are now digitally signed for improved security.
  
• A number of bug fixes and stability improvements.
  

Version 11.5

• The "Awave Synthesizer" has been completely rewritten and now features:
  
  • Much lower CPU usage when auditioning instruments.
  • Much lower latency.
  • Much faster MIDI to waveform conversions.
  • It replaces the "Microsoft Synthesizer" for playing MIDI files.
• WASAPI is now used for all audio playback (replacing the older DirectSound interface). Low latency shared mode is available if your driver supports it.*
  (* If you are using the "Realtek High Definition Audio" driver (typical for motherboard integrated audio), then switching to Microsofts generic "High Definition Audio Device" driver will allow you to go from 10 ms down to 2.7 ms).
  
• Working with large collections is now much faster.
  
• The various item property dialogs (waveforms, regions, layers et c) now directly apply any changes that you make - as you make them - so that you can immediately audition your changes. As the "Apply" button is no longer needed, it has been removed. In case you want to revert your changes, you still have the "Cancel" button.
  
• The virtual keyboard (i.e. playing notes with your computer keyboard) has been improved:
  
  • You can now edit the key mapping under Preferences->Auditioning.
  • It is now split into upper- and lower-octave sections, allowing for a few overlapping keys (for convenience when playing).
  • It should now handle "OEM keys", i.e. the keys between 0PLM and Enter. These will vary depending on the keyboard layout, so you may need to configure it - by default it is set up for US/UK layouts.
• When auditioning things, the status bar now shows the state of pressed keys and a handful of basic controllers.
  
• In the Preferences dialog, a single "Audio settings" tab replaces the previous "Audio playback" and "Auditioning" tabs.
  
• The articulation property tabs have been restructured so that:
  
  • Articulation "enable" is now found on the "General" tab of the item. The earlier "Articulation" tab has been removed.
  • The panning and effect send settings have moved to a "Mix" tab, where they are joined by the EQ settings.
  • The terms V-EG, M-EG, M-LFO, P-LFO (Volume, Modulation and Pitch) are now used instead of EG1/EG2/LFO1/LFO2.
• The previous six-stage "DAHDSR" envelope model has been extended to a more advanced "AADDSR" model. Still six stages, but with three additional level parameters. The previous Delay-Attack part is now Attack1-Attack1Level-Attack2. Hold-Decay is now Decay1-Decay1Level-Decay2. The modulation envelope is now bi-directional and sports two additional parameters: Attack2Level and ReleaseLevel (these are locked at 1 and 0 for volume envelopes). The program will convert this to whatever type of envelope that a file format supports. If you work only with file formats that doesn't support this (e.g. SF2 or DLS) and don't want to see the extra parameters when editing envelopes, then you can disable "EGs: Six-stages + levels + bid (AADDSR)" under "Parameter set" in the program options.
  
• All "Key to x" parameters now centers on key 60 (i.e. middle-C) and are expressed as change "per octave" (rather than the less intuitive center on key 0 and change "per 128 keys" as were the case in previous versions). Similarly, "Velocity to x" parameters now centers on velocity 64 (rather than velocity 0). (The sole exception is "velocity to volume", which is a special case in that it instead fixates the peak volume point.)
  
• Added "M-LFO to Pan" and "M-EG to Pan" parameters.
  
• Added "Key Velocity to M-EG to Pitch" and "Key Velocity to M-EG to Cutoff" parameters.
  
• Instrument properties now have a new "Effects" tab where you will find find two assignable "Channel FX" slots. These are the receivers of the effect sends set in the articulation tabs (by default Reverb and Chorus). A handful of effects are available to choose from (Chorus, Reverb, Delay, Tremolo, Compressor, Distortion, Phaser), with adjustable parameters for each. This has limited support in file formats as of yet, but may be expanded upon in the future (tbd).
  
• Added support for reading and writing Cwitec TX16Wx sampler banks and programs (.TXBANK, .TXPROG).
  
• Much improved conversion from Roland D-50 sound banks SysEx (.SYX) and added support for reading D-50 VST sound banks (.BIN). Also added support for reading Roland D-50 PCM ROM dumps (which makes the whole thing somewhat more useful). The latter can be either a single combined 512KB file, or one file per chip of 256KB (or even 512KB if the data was accidentally duplicated...).
  
• Melody machine compressed SoundFonts (.SFARK) can now be read directly, without the need of an external DLL. This now works in the 64-bit app too.
  
• Improved the precision of the "Auto tune" function.
  
• The column header in the MIDI track dialog is now clickable (for sorting).
  
• The "Load/Save Art" buttons have been replaced with "Copy/Paste Art".
  
• If you right click on an envelope you now get a menu with the options "Copy/Paste envelope".
  
• Various bug-fixes and minor improvements.
  

Version 11.4

• Awave Studio is now available in both 64-bit native and 32-bit versions.
  Be sure to use the new 64-bit version if you ever ran out of memory in earlier versions.
• The UI now supports high-dpi screens (without blurry upscaling) and the icons have been improved.
• Accessibility improvements (screen reader compatibility for menus, keyboard navigation fixes).
• File dialogs now use an up-to-date style.
• Unicode support for file names.
• Improved keymap to layer/region mapping when reading and writing Kurzweil files (.KRZ).
• Added support for raw ITU G.722 data. If you use a .G722 file extension it assumes the 64-kbit/s mode. Use .G722-6, .G722-7 or .G722-8 to explicitly indicate 48, 56 or 64 kbit/s modes (i.e. 6, 7 or 8 bits per codeword, with two samples encoded per word). It can also read G.722 data from .AIFF, .AU and .WAV-files.
• Added support for writing (as well as reading) Opus files (.OPUS).
• Added visualization to the MIDI player dialog, showing the number of notes playing on each channel.
• Various fixes and improvements.

Version 11.3

• Added support for reading waves from Korg PA-series sample files (.PCM).
• Added support for reading Kontakt v3 files (.NKI).
• Improved reading of Kurzweil Forte and PC3K series files.
• Improved volume level conversion for Korg Trinity/Triton/M3/Kronos.
• The "Enable/Disable loops" function in the "Audio processing wizard" now has a new option to "Enable loop over the whole waveform for all waveforms regardless of previous state".
• Added a "Set waveform names from root keys" option to the "Audio processing wizard".
• Added an option to save as "<hibank>-<lobank>-<prg> - <name>.bar" a "m-bank-program-name" to the "Save all in multiple files" dialog.
• Added a "Set EG1 release rate to" option to the "Set articulation parameters for all items" function in the "Instrument processing wizard".
• Fixed problems with written Yamaha EX5 wave files (.S1M).
• Added support for reading ID3v2 data embedded in Microsoft wave files (.WAV).
• Windows XP is no longer supported.

Version 11.2

• Added support for reading Kurzweil Forte (.FOR) and Kurzweil PC3K (.P3K) files.
• Added support for reading ripped raw DVD LPCM audio using the file extensions .DVD-16-44, .DVD-16-48, .DVD-16-96, .DVD-16-192, .DVD-24-44, .DVD-24-48, .DVD-24-96 and .DVD-24-192 (give the raw files an appropriate extension to tell the program if it is 16/24 bit and 44/48/96/192 kHz).
• Added support for reading GigaStudio files with multiple extension files (.GIG + .GX01 + .GX02 et c). Note however that although Awave Studio will read the file and show the instruments and waves in it, it will not be able to convert anything that needs more than 1-2GB of memory due to the limitations of 32-bit applications. I.e. you can convert individual waves and probably also pick out individual instrument layers, but not whole collections of > 2GB size.
• Fixed incorrect interpretation of "loop off" and "ignore release" flags for Kurzweil K2000 (.KRZ) files.
• Fixed tempo conversion for Roland .SVQ songs that were using a tempo track.
• Fixed issue with parsing of Gravis Ultrasound ULTRASND.INI file.
• Fixed envelope conversion from certain Gravis Ultrasound .PAT files with an invalid voice count parameter.
• Fixed import of .EXS files with an unknown object type flag set.

Version 11.1

• Added support for reading Sony PS2 SCEI instrument sets (.HD + .BD files).
• Added support for reading Sony PS2 SCEI sequences (.SQ files).
• Added support for reading Konami KDT1 songs (.KDT files).
• Added support for reading SmartSound SDS files (.SDS).
• It is now possible to drop a folder onto the main window in order to open all files in the folder.
• It is now possible to drop a folder onto the input files list in the Batch conversion wizard.
• Added a "Ø-cross" button to the loop editor, that helps you move loop start and end points to the nearest zero-crossing.
• A new Batch conversion wizard option named "Enable Audio processing wizard" allows you to use all the algorithms from the Audio processing wizard during batch conversions.
• When using the Batch conversion wizard in "Convert waveforms" mode, you can now select "Auto" as data format.
• The "Remove silence" function will now try to preserve loop points if possible.
• Added "Drum kit support" enable/disable in the parameter set list.
• Added a button in the MIDI track editor to start playback from the position selected in the MIDI event list.

Version 11.0

• Added support for reading Native Instrument Kontakt instruments (.NKI) and multi banks (.NKM). NB; only files compatible with Kontakt versions predating v.4.2.2 are supported. Files written by later versions use a different binary format which is not supported.
• Added support for reading and writing Korg Kronos program collection files (.PCG).
• Added support for reading and writing Korg M3 and M50 program collection files (.PCG).
• Added support for reading and writing Korg M50 program collection files (.PCG).
• Added support for writing (in addition to reading) Korg Triton LE program collection file (.PCG).
• Improved conversion of Korg Triton and Korg Trinity program bank files (.PCG).
• Added support for reading & writing Korg Kronos samples (.KSF), keymaps (.KMP) and script files (.KSC). Note that when you read a .KSC its "uuid" (a unique number identifying the set of files) is set as the collection comment. If you write it back to a .KSC (or .PCG) then its uuid is set from the collection comment if available, otherwise a new uuid is generated.
• Added support for reading Opus audio streams (.OPUS). NB; this requires the OpusFile add-on DLLs.
• Added support for reading and writing Wusik 4000 files (.W4KSND).
• Improved conversion from Kurzweil K2000-series files (.KRZ).
• Added support for reading AdLib Visual Composer song files (.ROL + .BNK).
• Added a "Linear Filled" option for the waveform graph on the wave edit page. This fills the area between the wave and the zero-line. This is now the default display mode.
• Reworked the "Logarithmic" option for the waveform graph - it's now bidirectional and filled.
• Added support for using VST plug-ins in the "Audio processing wizard" and in the in the "Batch conversion wizard".
• The "Split waveform at silent sections" function in the "Audio processing wizard" is much improved.
• Improved "Remove silent sections" function in the "Audio processing wizard".
• Improved the speed of the "Auto loop finder" function in the "Audio processing wizard".
• Added support for equalizer parameters. This is implemented for the following formats: Kurzweil K2000-series (.KRZ), Kontakt (.NKI), Korg Kronos/M3/M50 (.PCG), Yamaha EX5 (.S1V), sfz v2 (.SFZ), Yamaha Tyros-series (.TVU/.UVN), Yamaha Motif-series (.W2V/.W7V/.X0V/.X3V).
• Added a "key to pan" parameter. Implemented for AKAI S5000 (.AKP), Kontakt (.NKI), SoundFont v2.1 (.SF2), AKAI S1000 (.P), Pinnacle (.PBK), Korg Kronos/M3/M50/Triton/Trinity (.PCG), Yamaha EX5 (.S1V), Yamaha Motif XS and XF (.X0V/.X3V).
• Added a "Find volume" function to the "Audio processing wizard". This lets you estimate the loudness of waveforms and append a dB value to the wave name and/or adjust the volume to make them equally loud.
• The MIDI Player now supports track channel groups for playback of more than 16 channels.
• There are now two options for saving .SFZ files - with "samples in same folder" or "samples in sub-folder".
• There are now 8 "alternate groups" in the region trigger type selection. Regions in the same group alternate between each other independent of other regions.
• In Options→Preferences→Synth to Wave, it's now possible to set a minimum waveform length in addition to maximum length.
• When using the "Auto property sheet" option, it's now better at remembering the property window position.
• If there's a path to an audio file on the Windows clipboard, you can now open it in the program using Ctrl-V or Edit→Paste.
• Various bug fixes.

Version 10.6

• Added support for "key release" region triggers, i.e. waves that are played at note off. This new parameter is currently supported for the following file formats: rgc:audio sfz (.SFZ), Korg Triton & Trinity (PCG.), Yamaha Motif XS & Motif XF (.X0V, .X3V), GigaSampler/GigaStudio* (.GIG), Ensoniq EPS-series (.EFE), Kurzweil K2000/K2500 (.KRZ), Logic EXS24 (.EXS). [* for .GIG only when reading.]
• Added support for "alternate" region triggers, i.e. switching between alternate waves each time that a note is triggered. The parameter is currently supported for the following file formats: rgc:audio sfz (.SFZ), Yamaha Motif XS & Motif XF (.X0V, .X3V), GigaSampler/GigaStudio* (.GIG), Logic EXS24 (.EXS).
• Added support for trigger selection of regions by the Sustain Pedal state, i.e. different waves can be played if the pedal is "Up", "Down", or both. This can be used e.g. for hi-hat open / closed, or piano staccato / sustain. The parameter is currently only supported by the following file format: rgc:audio sfz (.SFZ), GigaSampler/GigaStudio* (.GIG), Ensoniq EPS-series (.EFE).
• When using the computer keyboard to audition sounds, the Shift-keys now acts as a sustain pedal.
• Improvements to the Awave Software synthesizer; e.g. reduced CPU-usage when not playing anything, an improved chorus effect, and chorus & reverb effects implemented as "sends" rather than "inserts".
• Improved stability of "MIDI to Wave" rendering.
• The "Options->Preferences->Format options" tab now has a selection for the data format for Dialogic files (.VOX). This is usually Dialogic ADPCM at either 8000 or 6000 Hz. But there are also .VOX files using other formats and unfortunately there is no way to determine the data format from the files themselves, therefore you can now select it manually here.
• Assorted minor bug-fixes.

Version 10.5

• Added an "I/O->Read Ensoniq CD" command to read files from Ensoniq EPS 16+ and Ensoniq ASR-10 CD-ROMs.
• Added support for writing Yamaha Tyros 3 drum-kits (.UVD).
• Added limited support for reading Cakewalk SFZ format version 2 (.SFZ). NB; version 2 EGs and LFOs are not converted (version 1 EGs and LFOs are).
• Added support for reading and writing Westacott WinRanX Instrument Files (.WRF).
• Added support for reading & writing Korg M3 samples (.KSF), keymaps (.KMP) and scripts files (.KSC).
• Accumulated bug fixes.

Version 10.4

• Added support for reading and writing Yamaha EX5 files (.S1V, .S1M, .S1A).
• Added support for writing (in addition to reading) Yamaha Tyros 2 and Tyros 3 files (.TVN, .UVN).
• Added support for reading Yamaha Motif XF all/voice/wave files (.X3A, .X3V, .X3W).
• Added beta-support support for writing Yamaha Motif XS and Motif XF voice and wave files (.X0V, .X0W, .X3V, .X2W). This hasn't been fully tested yet, so feedback is appreciated!
• Added support for reading and writing Logic EXS24 files (.EXS). NB; only basic parameters are converted - LFOs, envelopes et c, are currently ignored.
• Added support for reading audio data from Matroska container format files (.MKV and .MKA). Currently the following audio codecs are supported: MPEG, AAC, Ogg, and PCM.
• Added support for reading songs from Cakewalk/Sonar work files (.WRK). This includes support for associated SoundFont files and for SysEx banks with Yamaha DX-series or Roland MT-32 instruments.
• Improved conversion of Kurzweil files (.KRZ, .K25).
• Added support for writing AKAI S900/S950 sample files.
• Added support for reading Ensoniq Mirage floppy disk images (.EDM). As these can not be reliably auto-detected, you must use a file extension of .EDM. NB; envelopes are not converted, and the pitch can be a bit shaky...
• Resampling of waveforms is now up to 8x faster.
• Added a "Compact MIDI file size" function to the "MIDI processing wizard", allowing removal of duplicate/unnecessary MIDI messages, and optional replacement of Note-Off with zero-velocity Note-On (which saves a Byte whenever the previous message is a Note-On on the same channel).
• Added an "Auto-detect and fix phase inversion" option to the "Convert to mono" function in the "Audio processing wizard".
• The MIDI track editor now allows multi-selection, so that you can delete more than one event in one go.
• When reading rare "format 2" MIDI files, each "pattern track" is now automatically converted into a separate format 0 songs.
• Added support for reading several "raw Adlib / OPL register capture" formats (with conversion of both song and instrument data):
  • DOSBox Raw OPL format v1 & v2 (.DRO files).
  • Rdos Raw OPL capture format (.RAW files).
  • id Software Music Format (.IMF & .WLF files).
• Reading & writing Monkeys Audio files (.APE) now requires the external file MACDLL.dll (included in the latest codec pack).
• Added support for reading .WAV files containing Ogg Vorbis format compressed audio.
• Added support for reading 2/2.67/4-bit SoundBlaster/Creative Labs ADPCM compression from .VOC files.
• Added support for reading rare "non-seekeable" .OGG files.

Version 10.3

• Added support for reading Yamaha Motif XS files (.X0A/.X0V/.X0W), with fairly complete conversion of the more important articulation parameters.
• Added support for reading Yamaha Tyros 3 files (.UVN). Also improved the conversions of Tyros 2 files (.TVN). For both formats, there's now experimental support for conversion of envelope, LFO and filter parameters.
• Added support for reading and writing Musepack (.MPC) compressed files (SV7 and SV8 types supported for reading, only SV8 for writing).
• Added support for reading and writing Shorten (.SHN) lossless compressed files.
• Added support for reading Korg Triton LE bank files (.PCG).
• Added support reading "MIDI Converter Studio" packed Sound Fonts (.SF2PACK).
• Much improved support for reading Roland song sequencer files (.SVQ). New is support for v2 and v3 files, files with >64KB of note data, files using an alternate tempo indication, and conversion of key signature meta data.
• Fixed several problems with conversions of AKAI MPC-series program files (.PGM). Also added translation of more parameters for these formats.
• Added experimental support for encoding and decoding KAWAI R50/R50E/R50III/R100 ROM-dumps (.KAWAI12 files). These are assumed to contain 12-bit nonlinear (DAT Long play format) audio, zero-padded to 16-bits in the files.
• Added support for reading audio from "AVI v2" files (.AVI) that use index lists.
• The "file types" tab in the options dialog has been removed as it has been deprecated. In its place it now supports the Windows "Default programs" and "Open with" features (Vista/7 only).
• The file open dialog is now resizable.
• Added an 4s pause (8s if "slow dev." is selected) between waveforms when using the "Send all" command in the "MIDI SDS transmit" dialog, allowing synths some breathing space between waves.
• The "Set parameters for all items" function in the "Instrument processing wizard" has been split into two: "Set region/wave parameters for all items" and "Set articulation parameters for all items". New options have been added to set the following parameters: "default pan pos", "default chors mix", "filter type", "filter resonance", "LFO1 to Volume", and "LFO2 to Pitch".
• Now correctly handles UTF-8 encoding of text meta data (in addition to Latin-1, Windows 1252 and UTF-16).
• Assorted bug fixes.

Version 10.2

• The old program menu plus separate tool-bar have been merged into a single custom "command bar".
• Added support for reading songs from Roland sequencer files (.SVQ).
• Added support for reading Yamaha Tyros 2 voice files (.TVN). NB, only the waveforms and the most basic parameters are read for now.
• Added support for reading and writing Apples CoreAudio file format (.caf, .caff). Currently supported for reading are uncompressed PCM, floating point, IMA 4-bit ADPCM, MAC3 and MAC6, mu-law and A-law, (AAC, ALAC, MP1, MP2, MP3) data formats. Supported for writing are PCM, float, mu/A-law, and IMA ADPCM.
• Added support for reading and writing WavPack (.WV) lossless compressed files. NB; to use this you need to install the free WavPack codec add-on (wavpackdll.dll).
• Added support for reading Apple lossless (a.k.a. ALAC) compressed data (.M4A and .MOV files).
• Added support for reading version 4 of the Reason NN-XT file format (.SXT).
• Added support for reading a rare compressed version of Yamaha SMAF (.MMF) mobile ring-tones.
• Added support for encoding 12 and 20-bits/sample FLAC files (in addition to 8, 16 or 24-bit/sample). Also Added support for using libFLAC.dll versions later than v1.1.2.
• Added support for reading and writing WusikStation v5 sound files (.wusiksnd) as well as reading pack files (.wusikpack).
• If you have zoomed in vertically in the loop editor (i.e. amplitude-wise), you can now drag the graph vertically using the mouse if you want too see parts of the wave that is beyond the edge of the display.
• Added a "Renumber instruments" function to the "Instrument processing wizard".
• Speed improvements in the 'Awave software synth'. The synth now also supports a chorus effect.
• What was previously called "FM instruments" are now called "Synthesis models". And they are now found as region-leaves instead of as special-case instruments. A region can now link to either a waveform - for regular wavetable synthesis, or to a synthesis model - for emulating other kinds of synthesis. The definition of regions has not changed, i.e. you can use them to split sounds across the keyboard, you can layer them et c, you can even use waveforms and synthesis models in the same instrument. NB, editing of the synthesis model parameters is not supported, limiting its use to sounds imported from files.
• Added support for reading waveforms from Roland MT-32 / CM32L / LAPC-1 control and PCM ROM dumps. Also added support for reading instruments from Roland MT-32 (and compatibles) SysEx files, as well as control ROM dumps. These are very accurately converted into synthesis models which can be played using the Awave software synth (NB, with the current release, you can't do much else with them - converting to wavetable synthesis, like what's possible for the FM synthesis models, is currently not supported for LA-synthesis). Instruments can also be read from Roland D-50 SysEx files. These are more roughly converted to synthesis models (you'll be asked to supply .wav files for any PCM samples used by such instruments).

Version 10.1

• If you are running under Windows XP then buttons and other control will now use the rounder 'XP style' look.
• In the loop editor, it is now possible to move the loop graph by pressing down the mouse button on the loop graph and dragging.
• There's now a handful of keyboard short-cuts in the waveform editor (right click the graph to see the context menu for which keys).
• Added a 'Track playing pos' option (on by default) to the waveform graph context menu in the waveforms editor tab.
• Added an option to display (& edit) also the minor bank number as part of the instrument names.
• Added support for reading DLS 2.2 files containing compressed waveforms using "wave-format-extensible" chunks.
• Added support for reading FMOD SoundSystem sound banks (.FSB files, uncompressed variety only).
• Improved Akai S5000 / S6000 release time translation.
• Added support for WusikSND v4 stereo samples.
• A hand-full of bug-fixes.

Version 10.0

• The 'Awave Software synthesizer' is a new 'built in' software synthesizer that can be use both for auditioning instruments and for rendering MIDI songs to waveforms. Here are some of its features:
  • All processing is done using 32-bit floating point calculations, including support for 32-bit output, thus virtually eliminating quantization noise.
  • Arbitrary sample rates are supported.
  • Very high quality sample rate conversion - our best FIR resampling algorithms are used - providing much higher sound quality than what is available with normal 'real-time' synths (be it hardware or software).
  • Smooth parameter changes - envelopes, LFOs, MIDI controllers (interpolated ramps), et c, et c - everything is updated on a per sample basis. It is very common that synths update some or all of these only every few hundred samples or even less often - which saves many CPU cycles but degrades the sound quality.
  • Accurate mathematical functions are used throughout instead of approximating 'look-up tables'.
• Previous versions allowed you to convert a MIDI song (or track) intro a waveform by saving it to special 'WAV - Render MIDI to WAV, x Hz' file format selections. This used the Microsoft Software Synthesizer from DirectX to 'play' the song and captured the output to a file on disk. This has now been replaced by two different mechanisms that both use the new 'Awave Software Synthesizer' to render from MIDI into waveform format:
  • You can right click one (ore more) MIDI songs (or tracks) and select 'Render song/track to Waveform'. The same command is also available on the Tools menu. This creates a waveform (in memory) that contains the rendered MIDI song. A dialog box pops up that shows the rendering progress. You can abort it at any time by pressing the [x] button.
  • You can select a MIDI song (or a track) and then do a 'Save selected MIDI song/track as...'. Just like in previous versions - but - instead of just providing a few 'special' file format options to render to WAV files, you now have listed, first of all of course, all of the file formats that supports MIDI-like data, but then also all of the file formats that supports saving waveforms. MIDI to waveform rendering is then done automatically whenever necessary.
  If you go to 'Options → Preferences... → MIDI to Wave' you'll find options that control the MIDI to Waveform rendering; e.g. sample rate and what 'Default GM bank' to use (any instrument that is not loaded into Awave Studio and that used by a song will be pulled from the selected default GM bank).
  
  Note that the rendering need not be done in real-time. Simple passages in a MIDI song may be rendered faster than real-time, while more complex passages will take more time to render. Also note that the 'Play MIDI song/track' commands still use the DirectX synth for playback (the Awave Software Synthesizer is simply not fast enough for such real-time playback).
• The Awave Software synthesizer is now also the default auditioning synth - albeit with reduced resampling quality and limited polyphony. Under 'Options → Preferences → Auditioning' you can select the sample rate and the audio latency (determined by how much sound is 'pre-buffered') that is used when auditioning instruments. The advantages with using this synth for auditioning is of course that it supports every single instrument parameter that Awave Studio supports, and that it should provide 'reference quality' sound.
• FM to Wavetable conversion was introduced in Awave Studio v9.5 with support for reading sounds from different Yamaha DX-series synths as well as AdLib sound card formats and instruments from SMAF (.MMF) ring-tones. Several improvements are made in this version:
  • FM synthesis instruments are no longer converted to Wavetable (sample-synthesis) instruments when a file is opened. Instead the sound parameters are stored in memory in an algorithmic synthesis format and the synthesis type conversion is delayed until such time as it is needed (e.g. when saving it or when auditioning). This makes loading the files much faster. NB, if you want, you can manually right click on one of these instruments and select "Convert FM to Wavetable" to explicitly convert it into a wavetable instrument.
  • The Awave Software synthesizer will do the FM to wavetable conversion "on the fly" while playing, which makes auditioning these instruments much easier. When using other auditioning synths, there will be a delay between clicking on the instrument and before you can audition it, while a "temporary" conversion is being done (this creates an invisible temporary converted copy, leaving the original instrument in FM-synthesis format).
• Added support for GigaStudio v3 format files (.GIG) including support for 24-bit compressed samples.
  NB, the GIG files produced by Awave Studio are not be directly loadable in GigaStudio v3 because we do not have the correct algorithm for 'signing' them, but you load them in the GigaStudio editor, then hit the "Save" icon (not Save As) then they will be reseved with a correct signature and voila, you'll be able to use them.
• Very much improved support for reading the audio data tracks from Apple QuickTime movies (.MOV).
  
  The following audio data formats can now be read from these files:
  • PCM 8/16/24/32-bit ('NONE', 'raw', 'twos', 'sowt', 'lpcm', 'in24' and 'in32' format tags).
  • Float 32/64-bit ('fl32' and 'fl64' format tags).
  • mu-Law/A-law ('ulaw' and 'alaw' format tags).
  • Apple MACE3 and MACE6 compression ('mac3' and 'mac6' format tags).
  • IMA 4-bit ADPCM compression ('ima4' and 'ms\17' format tags).
  • MS 4-bit ADPCM compression ('ms\2' format tag).
  • MPEG audio layer III compression ('.mp3' and 'ms\85' format tags).
  • GSM 06.10 compression ('agsm' format tag).
  • MPEG-4 AAC compression ('mp4a' format tag) - NB; requires AAC add-on.
  • AMR compression ('samr' format tag) - NB; requires AMR add-on.
  Both reading and writing of the following related file formats is now supported:
  • Apple QuickTime movie format (.MOV).
  • MPEG-4 base media file format (.MP4).
  • iTunes MPEG-4 audio file format (.M4A).
  • 3GPP file format (.3GP).
  • 3GPP 'project 2' file format (.3G2).
  Reading files using 'zlib compression' (of 'movie-boxes') are now also supported.
  
  Several types of text meta data is now supported:
  
  • The original QuickTime-format (usually found in .MOV files)
  • The 'iTunes'-format (usually found in .M4A files).
  • The 3GPP-format (sometimes found in .3GP files).
  • The ID3v2 format (found in some .MP4 and .3GP files).
  Reading all the audio data pieces from so called 'fragmented' files is now supported (sometimes found in .3GP/.3G2/.MP4 files).
  Sample description 'version 2' is now supported (i.e. support for > 2 chs and > 64000Hz).
  
• Improved support for reading the audio data tracks from Microsoft Audio Video Interleave files (.AVI).
  
  The following audio data formats can now be read from these files:
  • PCM 8/16/24/32-bit.
  • mu-Law/A-law.
  • Microsoft 4-bit ADPCM compression.
  • DVI/IMA 4-bit ADPCM compression.
  • MPEG audio layer III compression.
  • MPEG AAC compression - NB; requires AAC add-on.
  • Plus any format that has an installed "Windows ACM codec".
  New is also support for the OpenDML extension for > 2 GB file size (a.k.a. "AVI 2.0").
  
• Added support for reading A-Law, G.726, GSM, MACE3 and MACE6 compression formats from .AIFC/.AFC files.
• Added support for parsing AAC data from .WAV files.
• Increased the number of decimal digits of accuracy for many instrument parameters.
• Added new "Filter type" and "Filter slope" instrument parameters (Off, Low-Pass, High-Pass, Band-Pass or Band-Reject filter, and 6, 12, or 24 dB / octave slope). Formats that either fully or partially support these parameters are: .404, .gig, .krz, .mt2, .pbf, .pcg, .sdk, .sfz, .sts, .sxt, .vsb, .wxv.
• Added a "Key number to Volume" parameter for formats that supports it (.ARL, .KRZ, .PCG, .SDK, .SF2, .SFZ, .W2V, .W7V).
• The program manual is now in 'HTML help' format (it now both looks better and is easier to use than when it was using the older 'WinHelp' format).
• When loading a mobile phone ring signal made for an older monophonic phone, a "beeper" instrument is now automatically added for a more correct retro sound.
• Double-clicking on an item-icon in the collection pane now brings up the item properties (instead of expanding/collapsing the tree-view).
• It is now possible to re-arrange the order of layers using drag'n'drop. There's also new 'Move up layer' and 'Move down layer' commands on the context menu.
• Added a loop length display to the loop editor.
• MIDI channels are now numbered 1..16 rather than 0..15.
• When saving DLS level 2 files, the tuning parameter is no longer saved separately. Instead it is combined with the root key and fine-tune parameters. This is because the most commonly available DLS synthesizer, i.e. the Microsoft Software synthesizer, ignores the DLS level 2 tuning parameter, which could result in incorrect pitch when it played certain notes. This also affects the sound from the MIDI Player dialog.
• Added '.SD2 file' options to the 'Format options' tab in the preferences that allows you change the default data format for 'data fork only' Sound Designer II files.
• Added a new "Fix compatibility issues" function to the 'MIDI processing wizard'. It provides several options for improving the portability of MIDI songs:
  • "Ensure that there are a 'Bank LSB' (CC 32) message to complement every 'Bank MSB' (CC 0) message".
  • "Ensure that there are a 'Program change' message before the first note of each MIDI channel".
  • "Remove all MIDI System Exclusive messages".
  • "Replace Note-On messages with velocity 0 with Note-Off messages".
• Added a very simple "MIDI recording wizard" that allows you to capture MIDI note data.
• Added small play buttons to the MIDI song & track property dialogs.
• Minor corrections to the writing of 'Mobile DLS' files (drum flag is not supported & region level articulation is also supported for the 'minimal' type).

Version 9.5

• Added the capability to convert phase-modulation (a.k.a. FM) synthesis instruments into wavetable (a.k.a. sampling) synthesis instruments. The conversion is of course only approximate and it is still to be considered as experimental - but it usually works surprisingly well. Loop points sometimes need a bit of manual tweaking though. Anyway, this cool new synthesis conversion function is available when reading any of the following file formats:
• Yamaha DX7 voice SysEx dumps (.SYX, .DX7, .MID).
• Yamaha DX7s / DX7II / DX200 voice SysEx dumps (.SYX, .MID).
• Yamaha DX21 / DX27 / DX100 voice SysEx dumps (.SYX, .BN4, .BNK, .MID).
• Yamaha DX11 / TX81z voice SysEx dumps (.SYX, .BNK, .MID).
• AdLib instruments (.INS) and instrument banks (.BNK).
• Creative Labs FM instruments (.SBI), Creative Labs FM instrument banks (.IBK), Creative Labs Music Files (.CMF - including songs!).
• SMAF mobile phone ring-signals (.MMF). (Song data, PCM-synth and Stream-PCM data already supported from earlier versions, but now also FM synth instruments).
• A new 'FM to WT' tab in the program options contains parameters to controls the synthesis conversion.
• Added support for reading & writing 'MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 Advanced Audio Coding' format (.AAC files) by using an external 3rd party encoder called FAAC (using 'libfaac.dll') and decoder called FAAD 2 (using 'libfaad2.dll'). These are open source software projects and should be generally available on the net. However, please note that they are not available from us. ADTS, ADIF and 'raw' container formats are supported for reading, but ADTS only for writing - see the help file under file formats for more information.
• Added support for reading & writing AMR compressed data (4.75, 5.15, 5.9, 6.7, 7.4, 7.95, 10.2, or 12.2 kbit/s), both the MIME specified 'AMR File Storage format' (.AMR files) and the 3GPP specified 'AMR Interface Format 2' (.COD files) are supported. NB, no AMR codec is built in, you need the free 3rd party AMR.dll codec add-on to use this.
• Added support for '.u255law' files. This is an 8-bit 'exponential' data format used by a few old drum computers. There are no standard file extension for these files, and no way to auto-detect them, so you need to use .u255law to get the program to recognize them. Also, there's no way of knowing the sample rate - so the program will assume 24000 Hz when reading these files.
• Added support for reading and writing Windows Media Audio 9 ABR (Average Bit-Rate) and Professional (24-bit data).
• Many file formats that can save compressed audio in different bit-rates are no longer listed in the save dialog with separate entries for each bit-rate. Instead the bit-rate selection is now available in the data-format list. A greater number of different bit-rates are now also available to choose from.
• Added a 'Format options' tab to the program preferences dialog; there you can now set various file format specific options (e.g. what types of meta-info tags to write).
• Added 'PCM 12-bit', 'PCM 20-bit', 'Interleaved stereo' and 'Sequential stereo' options to the waveform properties 'Source' tab (these parameters can be used when you which to manually specify the data format in order to import data from a file type that is not recognized by the program).
• Improved support for Fast Tracker II (.XI and .XM) files (fixed pitch problem + added conversion of volume and volume envelope parameters).
• Added an 'Invert sign' function to the 'Audio processing wizard'.
• Added an 'Album' text meta-info field for waveforms.
• Added a 'Logarithmic' display option for the waveform graph on the waveform edit page.

Version 9.4

• Added full support for up to 32-bit floating point wavesample precision. This means that both reading and writing of e.g. 24-bit PCM files are now fully supported with no loss of information!
• Added read and write support for the rgc:audio SFZ instrument format (.SFZ files).
• Added read and write support for the Orion Sampler program file format (.OSP files).
• Added support for SoundFont v2.04 (.SF2 files). This is basically the same as SoundFont v2.01 but adds support for 24-bit samples. This is achieved in such a manner that older apps can still read the files (though they don't get the 8 lowest bits). NB, support for these 24-bit SoundFonts will be available in the upcoming SoundBlaster X-Fi cards.
• Added support for reading AKAI S900 and S950 programs (.P files).
• Improved precision FIR resampling algorithms - with selections for greater than 16, 20 and 24-bit signal to noise ration.
• Many output formats now have an 'Auto' data format selection in the save file dialog. This instructs the program to select an appropriate data format when you save a file. In the case of some 'collection' file formats, this also provides a mechanism for creating files with 'mixed' data types (because the program will select the data format individually for each waveform in the collection). So how does it do the 'auto selection' and how can you influence it? The previous waveform property 'In file save as' has now been renamed 'Preferred data format for saving'. This property consists of a selection of a format from a list of 'common' data formats. When reading a file, the program will try to set it to match the data format of the input file. When saving using the 'Auto' option, it will try to find a matching data format among those that the particular output file format will support. If no exact match can be found, then it will try an equivalent or higher precision format. If that is not available either, then a reasonable default will be used instead.
• The mono and stereo check-boxes in the save dialog have been replaced by a drop-down list with 'Auto', 'Mono' and 'Stereo' selections.
• A couple of parameter changes: 'After-touch to Volume' has been added. 'Ch Pressure' has been renamed 'After-touch'. 'Default RPN0' has been renamed 'Pitch-bend to Pitch'. 'RPN1 to Pitch' and 'RPN2 to Key' have been scrapped. The displayed value of 'Key Velocity to Volume' has changed sign (positive now means that the volume scales with the key velocity) and can now take on both positive and negative values. And finally, a number of parameters have had their value ranges extended.
• When writing .SF2 files, in the special case where all regions in a layer all have the same articulation data (or when there is only layer or instrument lever articulation), the program will now write 'global zones', which makes the output files a little bit smaller and, more importantly, conserves 'parameter values' (which can become a limiting resource when creating really big & complicated SF2 files).
• Added a new 'File load' option called 'Auto-move articulation to higher levels if all equal on lower levels' plus an equivalent 'Instrument processing wizard' function.
• Added 'Auto-create regions from waveform root keys' and 'First parse root keys from names' options to the 'Create instrument wizard'.
• Added 'Resample' and 'Normalize' buttons to the waveform properties 'General' tab - for quick access to the 'Audio processing wizard's resampling and volume normalization functions.
• Updated the APE codec to v3.99. This should solve an issued with some newer .APE files not opening.
• Fixed a handful of bugs.

Version 9.3

• Add a 'Read from Audio CD' command to I/O menu, i.e. there's now built in CD-ripper functionality. You can alternatively open a .CDA file (i.e. the Windows 'place-holders' for audio CD tracks) in the normal file open dialog. The 'FreeDB' database can optionally be used to retrieve track names. However, please note that CD ripping may not work or be 100% reliable on some CD-ROM drives (especially old ones can be troublesome). Also, it needs to talk directly to the CD-ROM/DVD driver to do this, and that is only possible if either you are using Windows NT/2000/XP, or you have working 'ASPI32' drivers installed.
• Added a 'Read from AKAI CD' command to I/O menu. I.e. the much requested feature of being able to read AKAI S1000 and AKAI S3000 format CD-ROMs is at least here! These can't normally be accessed by Windows so again it needs to talk directly to the CD-ROM driver and to use it you need to be using either Windows NT/2000/XP, or have working ASPI32 drivers installed.
• Added a 'Read from Kurzweil CD' command to the I/O menu. This reads so called 'Native' Kurzweil CDs - formatted in a way that Windows does not understand. Later Kurzweil models can also read standard ISO-9660 formatted CDs (which you can access either using the new command, or using the normal file open dialog). The comments for AKAI CDs apply here too, but also note that if you have a Windows version earlier than Windows XP then inserting a native format Kurzweil CD might crash Windows. If this happens for you, then turn off 'Auto-Insert Notification' for the CD-ROM drive and do not try to access the CD in any other way than using the new command in Awave Studio.
• Added a 'Read from Roland CD' command to I/O menu. This reads Roland S-7xx series CD-ROMs. Once again, to use this, you need to be using either Windows NT/2000/XP, or have working ASPI32 drivers installed.
• Added support for reading Roland S-5xx and S-7xx series floppy disks. These use a file system that is not compatible with Windows. You can now use the new 'I/O → Read from Roland floppy' to read them! NB, this only works under Windows NT/2000/XP.
• Added support for reading Roland S-7xx multi-disk spanning floppy disk images. NB, for this to work, the image files need to be named with a running number as before the file extension, e.g. L701_1.OUT + L701_2.OUT.
• Much improved translation of Roland S-5xx and S-7xx series instruments.
• Added application of a de-emphasis filter when reading Roland S-5xx and S-7xx-series waveforms. This is gives a more correct sound when they are played back on other synths.
• Added support for reading Roland W-30 floppy disk images.
• Added support for reading AKAI S-series floppy disk images. Note that these can't be auto-detected so you need to use a .AKAI file extension.
• Add support for editing of MIDI events in the MIDI track property dialog (edit, insert, and delete buttons).
• Added an option to 'Auto-sort instruments by bank & program number' in the 'file loading' preferences (on by default), plus another new option to 'Auto-sort waveforms by name' (off by default).
• Added the new 'MIDI processing wizard' function 'Replace Note-On with velocity 0 with Note-Off'.
• Improved decoding of SMAF (.MMF) files, this includes new support for PCM synthesis instruments as well as streamed PCM and ADPCM sounds. Note though that any song parts that were written to use custom FM synthesis voices will of course still not be played back with the correct instruments.
• Improved decoding & handling of ADPCM waves from i-Melody (.MLD) files. A more correct ADPCM decoding algorithm is now used - and it now also creates an instrument with those waves plus a special MIDI track to trigger their playback at the correct time in the song.
• Added decoding of Yamaha 4-bit ADPCM data type from .WAV files as well as both reading and writing it in 'raw format' as .YADPCM files.
• Added support for saving WMA 9 Lossless format (44KHz stereo only).
• Added read support for Panasonic .VM1 voice files.
• Added detection of special LAME and Xing 'tags' inside MP3 files. From these tags encoder delay and padding information is extracted. This means that the short 'silent delay' that is usually present at the start of a decoded MP3 file is now removed for those files.
• Added a function 'Split waveform at silent sections' to the 'Audio processing wizard'. This is useful if you recorded multiple sounds in 'one take'.
• Added an option to adjust 'Fine tune only' in the auto-tune dialog.
• Pressing the 'Cancel' button in the waveform properties will now cancel also any changed made to the actual waveform data (and not just cancel 'parameter edits' as previous versions did).
• Added a 'Process' button to the MIDI track properties page - this launches the 'MIDI processing wizard' with the track.
• Added a 'Channel group' informational property to MIDI tracks.
• The 'This may take a long time' warning dialog of the 'Auto loop finder' now has a 'Don't ask again' option.
• When overwriting an existing file, the older file is now backed up during the save and then restored in case the save should fail for one reason or another.

Version 9.2

• Added support for reading and writing Yamaha Motif 'waveforms' files (.W2W + .W3W) and 'voices' files (.W2V + .W3V) and for reading 'all' files (.W2A+.W3A).
• Added support for reading and writing Yamaha Motif ES 'waveforms' files (.W7W + .W8W) and 'voices' files (.W7V + .W8V) and for reading 'all' files (.W7A+.W8A).
• Added support for reading and writing Soundscape Audio-Take files (.ATAK1A through .ATAK4D file extensions).
• Added support for reading and writing Wuzikstation multisampled sound files (.WusikSND).
• Added support for reading and writing Akai MPC1000 program files (.PGM).
• Added support for reading and writing 'Mobile DLS' format files (.DLS). You can save as either 'Mobile DLS - minimal', which is much like DLS level 1 plus a restriction of max 7KB of waveform data, or as 'Mobile DLS - full' which is like DLS level 2+ (i.e. DLS level 2 plus support for additional data format) plus a restriction of max 15KB of waveform data.
• Rearranged the articulation parameters into 'Articulation', 'LFOs', 'EG1', 'EG2', 'Pitch', 'Volume', and 'Filter' tabs.
• Added support for 'mod-wheel to filter cut-off' and 'channel pressure (a.k.a. after touch) to filter cut-off' parameters. This is currently supported for Akai S3000, S5000, S6000, SoundFont 2.1, DLS "level 2++", Kurzweil, Reason 2.x, Yamaha Motif, and Yamaha Motif ES formats.
• Added support for 'sample start offset' and 'sample end offset' override parameters on the region level. Formats supporting at least the first of these parameters are: .404, .ARL, .EFE (Ensoniq), .FZX, .GIG (GigaStudio), .PBF, .PRG, .P+.S (Akai S-series), .SBK, .SC2/.INS (SampleCell II), .SDK (Roland S-series), .SF2 (SoundFont2), .SXT (Reason 2), .VSB (Virtual Sampler), .WFS.
• Updating of the collection pane when editing instruments is now smarter & faster (it now only updates the portions of the 'tree' that has actually changed - good when handling large collections!).
• Added option-menu and tool-bar toggles for the features 'Auto-select waveforms' (when selecting something in the collection pane) and 'Auto-select collection items' (when selecting something in the waveforms pane). Previously, these were always 'on', but now you have to choice to turn off one or both as you desire.
• The setting 'Display middle C as' has been renamed 'Display notes & keys as' and there's a new choice to have them displayed as 'MIDI key numbers'.
• Added a new 'File load' tab to the Preferences dialog. It contains the following options:
  • Confirm before losing loaded data
  • Auto-split stereo waveforms into dual mono pairs
  • Auto-merge dual mono waveform pairs into interleaved stereo (new!)
  • Auto-append 32 wavesamples after loop-end point (if it's shorter) (new!)
  • Auto-convert bi-directional loops into equivalent forward loops (new!)
  • Auto-convert reverse loops into equivalent forward loops (new!)
• The envelope editor graph now automatically initializes the time-zoom slider so that the whole envelope is shown when. Also both the time-zoom and the 'value' sliders are now 'exponential' for easier adjustments.
• Added a 'Lock length' check-box to the loop editor tab. If you check it, changing the loop start or the loop end point will automatically change the other point so that the loop length remains intact.
• Added an 'Adjust common parameters' command to the 'Instrument processing wizard'. This makes it easier to modify certain parameters for all selected items.
• Improved the way that instruments are mapped to Korg Triton and Korg Trinity banks and program locations.
• The 'text description' (.TXT) output format has been improved in order to be more friendly for importing the text into spread-sheets, and to provide more detailed information about all instruments when saving a collection.
• Now writes 'minimal' .WAV files when writing to Akai MPC1000 and MPC2000XL .PGM format (these synths can be picky if any extra information is stored in the WAV files).
• Added approximate conversion of the 'EG1 Hold Decay' flag in .GIG files.
• Added support for reading author, comments and typist 'info strings' from newer .DSS files.
• Moved the MIDI SDS and SMDI commands to a new I/O menu.
• Moved the 'Delete unused/duplicate waveforms' commands to the Tools menu.
• Added the option 'Merge all mono waveforms ... with names that terminates in L and R' to the 'Merge mono waveform pairs to stereo' function in the 'Instrument processing wizard' (this function previously only looked at the pan-settings of items in order to determine what to merge).
• Added the two commands 'Interleaved stereo → Dual mono' and 'Dual mono → Interleaved stereo' on the Tools menu (same as the functions in the 'Instrument processing wizard').
• Added an option to also check region loop point overrides in the 'Trim data after loop end point' function in the 'Audio processing wizard'.
• Fixed a subtle issue with reading & writing DLS files where setting an articulation value back to its 'default value' on the region level might not work correctly if it had also been set to 'non-default value' on the instrument level.

Version 9.1

• Improved the graphical look of the program menus.
• Added a 'Convert Bank MSB to Bank MSB + LSB 0 messages' function to the 'MIDI processing wizard'. This allows you to convert songs authored with only LSB bank select messages into the MSB + LSB select (some synths require both to be present!).
• Added a 'Trim from start until first note-on event' option to the 'Trim start and/or length' function in the 'MIDI processing wizard'.
• Added an 'Auto extend region key ranges' function both to the "Instrument processing wizard' and as a single-button click in the "Drum kit" editor. This extends existing regions to fill any gaps between regions.
• Added a 'Set waveform names from the file names' function to the 'Audio processing wizard'.
• Added a 'Set 'In file save as' parameter' function to the 'Audio processing wizard' allowing you to select multiple waves, then set this parameter for all of them (used when saving mixed format DLS files).
• The 'Convert to mono' function in the 'Audio processing wizard' now has a new option 'Only convert if left & right chs are identical'. This allows you to quickly detect and convert to mono those stereo recordings that were really recorded from mono sources.
• You can now also create MP3 files with 8000, 11025 or 12000 Hz sample rate (previous versions used 16000 Hz as a minimum sample rate). This requires v3.94 or later of LAME_Enc.dll.
• Added an 'Engineer' text info type for waveforms (currently only used by WAV and DLS file formats).
• Added a 'Slow device' option to the MIDI SDS transmit dialog. Checking this might help with problematic synths...
• When you select something in the waveforms editor, it now displays not only the length in time, but also the length in samples as well as the starting and end sample locations of the selection.
• There's now a 'Find!' button on loop edit page - for launching the 'Auto loop finder'.
• When enabling articulation on layer or region level, and articulation is already enabled on a higher level, then it is now initialized with the values from the higher level (rather than with default values).
• There's now two play buttons in the waveform editor page - one plays the whole waveform, the other plays the current selection, or if nothing selected, it plays the loop, or if no loop set, the whole waveform.
• The last zoom-level in the loop editor is now remembered.
• Added .FLAC format read and write support. This format provides good loss-less audio compression. For more info (including player plug-ins), see http://flac.sourceforge.net/. To use this you need to download the free libFLAC.dll add-on from our web site and copy it to the directory where you installed the program.
• Added support for melodies reading newer 'type 2' SMAF files (used by mobile phones based on Yamaha MA-3 and MA-5 chip sets).
• Added support for writing Akai MPC-2000XL style programs with attached .WAV files.
• Added support for Olympus DSS Player Pro and DSS Player Pro in addition to the older 'v3.x' for DSS decoding.
• Added support for reading G.726 sub-format .WAV files.
• It can now decode the same sub-formats from .AVI files as from .WAV files.
• Added support for a newer type of MPEG system layer program streams.
• Fixed bug with incorrect note lengths when reading Nokia RTTTL format ring tones.
• A number of bug-fixes.

Version 9.0

Multiple selection & drag'n'drop improvements:

• You can now select multiple regions, layers, and/or instruments and do operations on all of them at once. This much requested feature took some tweaking to accomplish as the standard Windows 'tree-view control' do not support it. Perhaps the single most useful operation that you can use this with is the 'Process...' command, which launches the 'Instrument processing wizard' (now also enhanced to work on the multiple selected items). Other useful multi-selection enhanced operations include copy and paste, drag and drop, delete, et c.
• Drag and drop now works like in the Windows Explorer - hold down shift or control while dragging with the left mouse button to do a 'copy' operation on an item (this was the only possible 'action' in earlier versions), else (normal left mouse button drag, no shift) it now does a 'move' operation. Drag with the right mouse button to get a pop-up menu with choices when you release the button. New is also that you can drag and drop 'copy' waveforms to the waveforms list (hold down shift while doing this), which works just like the 'clone' context menu command.
• You can also drag multiple waveforms from the waveforms list to a layer in order to create multiple new regions, or to an instrument in order to create new layers, or to the collection, to create new instruments.
• When dropping one or more regions on a layer it is now a little bit smarter in assigning the initial region boundaries (previously it set them to the entire keyboard range, now it sets it to the first free range above the top-most previous region, or if no such exists, to the upper half of the top-most previous region).
• When the waveforms pane has the focus, all the instruments/layers/et c that are using it are now automatically selected in the collection pane. Thus we now have complete 'cross-wise' auto selection (since as before, when the collection pane has focus, all waveforms used by the items selected in it will automatically be selected in the waveforms pane).
• When selecting 'properties' for a multi-selection (in the waveforms pane or in the collections pane), the property dialogs are now better lined up.

Batch conversion wizard' improvements:

• Added an option called 'Multiple output formats'. Checking it will give you an extra page (after the 'Select output options' page), where you can select up to 5 different output formats to be produced in the same batch-run.
• There's now progress report dialog as the wizards 'last step'.

Audio processing wizard improvements:

• Most of the various 'Audio processing wizard' functions now sports a small preview waveform graph in the dialogs, together with 'Calculate', 'Restore' and 'Play' buttons. The 'Calculate' button calculates and displays the waveform with the effect applied (with the current settings). After that, you can use the 'Play' button to listen to it. If you change any value and want to hear the effect of that, you need to hit 'Calculate' again before you play it. The 'Restore' button restores the original sound to the preview graph.
• Added a 'Normalize volume' option. This will use a heuristic algorithm to equalize the volume of waveforms (you enter a 'target peak volume'). This feature includes optional inverse F-weight filtering in order to correct for the ears varying sensitivity to different frequencies.
• Added a 'Phase vocoder' time-stretching algorithm (in addition to the previously available 'sliding window' algorithm).
• Added a 'Pitch scale' option (also using the 'Phase vocoder' algorithm).

Additional improvements:

• In the layer key-map editor, the cursor will now change shape to a sizing arrow when moving over a region border. When it looks like that, you can now drag (size) the region border using the mouse. Also, when the cursor moves over a key, it will now change shape to include the note name for that key.
• The waveform display in the background of the volume envelope graph is now scaled by the volume envelope. I.e. when you change a value for the envelope; you will now directly see how the wavesample volumes are being 'ramped' by volume envelope (attack, decay, et c...).
• This same waveform background is now also shown for instrument and layer level articulation (before it was only shown for region level articulation). The waveform being displayed in those cases will be the waveform referred to by the 'middlemost region' in the 'middlemost layer'.
• Added an option 'Display Middle-C As'. It can now be called C3, C4, or C5 depending on your preference. There's no standard for this really... Note that this is a display value only, and whichever you choose, it does not affect the actual playback pitch.
• Added a button named 'Auto range' next to the key-range in the region properties. Pressing this, the program will try to find a good key-range for you based on the waveform root key, and on the other regions in the layer (if any).
• In the articulation properties page there is now buttons for loading and saving articulation presets. This can be useful if you are going to use the same articulation settings over and over again.
• Added a save file format called 'DownLoadable Sounds level 2++'. The 'level 2+' that was introduced in the last revision of this program, added support for compressed waveform formats compatible with Microsoft DirectX v9 or later. This new 'level 2++' now adds support for stereo waveforms, fractional loop points, reverse and bidirectional loops, layer level articulation, default RPN0, LFO ramp time, and LFO shapes. You might ask, why do this if Awave Studio is the only program that will be able to read these files? The main reason is that people have been asking us for a format that can store all of the parameters supported by Awave Studio - this is it! It could e.g. be used for storing intermediate development copies before the 'parameter set' is narrowed down to what is supported by particular file formats. The extensions have been made in such a manner that other DLS level 2 compatible programs should still be able to read the files - they just ignore the extra information.
• Added 'Save current state' and 'Restore last saved state' functions to the Edit menu. This can be much like an 'undo' function. Also, if you enable the new option 'Remember state between sessions' (under 'Options → Preferences → Miscellaneous'), the program state from when you last exited the program will be remembered the next time you start it. NB, the maximum number of saved states is 16.
• Property dialogs are now a bit larger - making waveform and key-map editors easier to use.
• Several improvements have been made to the waveform graph handling code (i.e. the graph in the waveform properties 'edit' code). E.g. it now redraws much faster and needs to do it less often. And you can now right click on it to get a context menu of editing commands. This context menu also includes new commands to increase or decrease the vertical magnification.
• If you try to open a property dialog that is already open, it will now switch the focus to the already open dialog, instead of giving an error message (as earlier versions did). Also, when trying to open a property dialog for a waveform that is already open in an audio player window, the audio player is first closed (again instead of giving an error message).
• When turning off the 'Auto property' option, the dialog is now automatically closed.
• The 'Crop' function in the 'MIDI processing wizard' has been renamed 'Trim' and can now both trim the duration (as before) and/or cut away a bit at the beginning (new feature).
• The 'Filter MIDI messages' function in the 'MIDI processing wizard' has been extended with an option to filter out by 'MIDI channel range'.
• Added an 'Artist' text info field to the waveform properties.
• When you open a .G721, .G723, .G726 or .VAP file, you will now a question if you want to be asked about the data format again (after first being asked about the data format and bits per sample of the input file). Thus if you have lots of files in the same format, you now don't have to answer the same questions again and again.
• Added support for reading and writing stereo impulse files (.ITI, .ITS).
• Added experimental support for reading ADPCM compressed samples from MFi v2 files (.MLD).
• Numerous minor improvements, plus a few small bug-fixes.

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