[Editor's. Note: This issue is resolved, as the posted links were not pointing to the full crooner bigband demos.
Correct links for full bigband crooner demos are:
Crooner Ballad BigBand http://nn.pgmusic.com/pgfiles/audio/realtracksdemos/2792band.m4a _BLIZARD.sty or _WINTER.sty style
Crooner Bossa BigBand http://nn.pgmusic.com/pgfiles/audio/realtracksdemos/2781band.m4a _GOLDEN.sty
]

First,

Let me say that I gravitate towards the jazz offerings. So the Hawaiian, house, rap, country, celtic, rock, etc. are not my focus. Also, I do understand the interface has improved/advanced - but my perspective is what comes out of the speakers is king and the buttons or screens to get to that point can be sub-optimal as long as what I hear as an end-result is pleasing. Yes, there may be some improvements here (more time doubling options, etc) - but I am mainly focused on the "core" sound of the real tracks (new content). Even the gypsy jazz is a bit limited.

To that end, I was listening to the new horns - 10-part bossa is starting to sound "MIDI". Mainly the sax section is sounding more like a single instrument than individual instruments (synth-like). The crooner ballad style sounds fine from the samples (well, one sample at least - see below).

Mittens Jazz w/3 saxes - sounds "off" (https://youtu.be/d6Ru_aWsVIM?t=265).

Flute/tenor bossa - Tenor sounds like a strange phasing at end of long-tone. Overall blending of the horns is "off". This is judging by the demo - which should strive to pick a "best of" clip. (https://youtu.be/d6Ru_aWsVIM?t=485).

Anyone else sensing like the latest jazz-oriented ("straight ahead") styles are sounding more robotic than the past real tracks?

It has me on the fence a bit as I saw 2016 as a great set. My main beef with 2016 was the real-track solos and how the phrases would sometimes repeat, like David Letterman, what I felt were the "stinker"/trite phrases instead of using those more sparingly. But the backgrounds I thought were great.

2017, even with all the other improvements - I'm more focused on the new realtracks would would potentially fit into my use.



3/2/2017 - Win 10 BIAB 2017 Build 460 (1), RealBand 2017 (4)
Prior - Sig can't fit a running list - so just showing current version