First of all, a big thank you for your support! We did record sales since the release of PlayerPRO 5.0 in January, PlayerPRO is even in the top 20 of Kagi Online Order Site for February (it represents only European and Japan sales!) See it at : http://www.kagi.com/stats/stat1999-02.nclk
I also receive a lot of emails telling me that this version is now really bug free and much more stable than the previous 4.5.9 version. The sound engine is now very good, PlayerPRO is really the best soundtracker for playing and editing soundtracker files for Mac! My goal is really to be the BEST sound engine AND the best music editor available. Sound quality is now simply P-E-R-F-E-C-T !
This release corrects minor bugs and add few features and ideas of users (special thanks to Samuel Lindeman <samu@mail3.tripnet.se> for his help!)
I hope to finish the Quicktime CODEC for direct PlayerPRO music files support soon....
I'm also working on the MacOS X version.
PlayerPRO is now really back! And I hope to release updates each 2 months!
I have now upgraded my PowerMac9500/200 to a G3/333, I hope to work faster for you....
PlayerPRO is a complete music editing program (SoundTracker). You can use it with any Mac without any additional hardware. PlayerPRO can load and play the following music (and sound) formats:
MOD, S3M, MIDI, MTM, MADH, MADG, MADI, OKTA, MINS, XI, PP, Clip File, MED, 669, IT, ULT, XM System 7 sound, WAV, AIFF, AIFC, SoundDesignerII, MuLaw, ALaw, AVI, DVC, Quicktime Movies, MAC3, MAC6, IMA4, MPEG, PAT (GUS), QDesign, RAW Data and WAV files.
NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 5.1 (differences from 5.0):
• PAT (Gravis UltraSound) Instruments support, see ftp.cdrom.com/pub/gus/sound/patches/files
• Support direct import from Audio CD Tracks (Needs QK 3.0)
• RAW Data Import function
• Support Sound track import from Quicktime Movies
• Support muLaw & aLaw files import
• Support SoundDesignerII files import
• Support DVC files import
• Support AVI files import
• Many GUI changes
• Better MOD engine
• Multiple Windows settings option
• Documentation has been reviewed by Glen Warner
• Supports all new sound compressors available in SoundManager 3.3 and Quicktime 3.0
• Supports QDesign Music Compressor (which can reduce one minute of CD-quality audio from an 11MB file to a 150K file that delivers full-bandwidth, 16-bit, 44.1kHz stereo) (Needs QK 3.0)
• All sound transformation are now using SoundManager 3.2 APIs
• PlayerPRO needs now at least SoundManager 3.2
• Multiple tracks recording
• New MIDI Hardware preferences (next version will support SYNC & MIDI Clock)
• New Invert plug (Instrument/Sample Plug)
• Support Compressed IT samples
• Support all Volume effects
NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 5.0 (differences from 4.5.9):
• Support for 255 instruments
• Supports 64 samples per instruments
• Supports 254 channels (tracks) (actually limited to 99 for GUI reasons)
• Supports stereo samples
• Supports instrument panning envelopes
• Quicktime 3.0 support
• New MADI format with panning and channels information
• New sound driver, simpler and with better sound quality
Still uncommon on Macintosh, these music utilities originated on the Amiga platform and were eventually developed on the Atari ST, IBM PC, and finally on Macintosh. These soundtrackers are based on a single file format -- the MOD format and its derivatives. The MOD format was intended to be a compact way of storing music inside games and demos, especially background music. The files consist of "patterns" of musical notes inside "partitions" (pattern lists) which can be played in different order, and more than once. The number of tracks simulates the number of musicians a conductor would have in his orchestra; in the case of a 4 track file, the conductor has only the possibility of having 4 instruments playing simultaneously, even when the players can change their instruments.
PlayerPRO offers you a whole range of functions to exploit these music files:
• Sample editing: several methods of editing are offered.
• Displays: Fourier's analysis, oscilloscope, tubes, piano, digital partition, classic partition, simplified partition, animations, etc.
Music editing: music editing can be accomplished by writing in the Classic Editor, Digital Editor, by piano recording or by other MIDI instruments.
PlayerPRO is now distributed in two different formats:
- A Freeware version for internet, BBS, magazines, CD-Rom archives and free use. This version is similar to the previous unregistered version, but can't ever match the features of a registered version. You can freely upload this one anrywhere you want...
- A commercial version, distributed ONLY on PlayerPRO CD-Rom. See 'Order Form' file for more information.
Why the change?
PlayerPRO is actually quite popular and there were far too many illegal copies. We invested a lot of time in this product and we cannot simply give it away. We reduced the price to US $69 to allow everyone to buy the commercial version of PlayerPRO.
Why buy the commercial version for US $69?
- All functions available: Save; export your songs in AIFF format; import and export songs from MIDI, XM, IT, MED, 669, MTM, OKTA, S3M formats; export your songs as a self-running application; preview your song with the “Wave Preview” feature; edit them with the “Box Editor”, the "Classic Editor", or the "Digital Editor".
- 4000 songs for inspiration (learn from the pros!), with all instruments and samples available for creating your
own songs
- Instruments and samples to include in your songs
- Free upgrades for 1 year, available at http://www.quadmation.com
- Programmers: C/C++ libraries (including full C source code) to allow you to use music made by PlayerPRO in your own programs
1) Why the lengthy wait before this new release? Because I was completing medical school and I had to pass exams. I'm now FREE again, and I will continue PlayerPRO for Mac!!
2) Don't use my old email address (rosset@dial.eunet.ch). Use the new one: rossetantoine@bluewin.ch!
I DONT read emails on the old one.
3) Please email bug reports to me! Include your System configuration.
4) PlayerPRO now requires MacOS 8.0 or higher. If you haven't, you really should upgrade to 8.5; it's great!
5) Quicktime PlayerPRO CODEC will be available in January (for both MacOS & Wintel)
5) Apple is back! And me too! Apple forever!
6) I'm receiving a lot of email requests for a Win98/NT version of PlayerPRO.There will be no Win98/NT version of PlayerPRO; I support only the driver in C/C++. If you have a Win98/NT computer, simply go to <http://store.apple.com/> and buy a nice Apple computer! You will not be disappointed!
