Steinberg SpectraLayers 10 pro (plugin and stand alone)
I just found the Stenberg SpectraLayers plugin for extracting stems directly in the DAW (I am testing it in StudioOne)
Very handy to have it directly in the DAW and to be able to drag and drop the stems into the tracks as needed. But quite expensive. I currently playing along with the 30 days trail full pro version. It seems that one need the pro version to extract all stems (vocal, drums, guitar, piano, bass, other) the elements version seems to be limited to vocals only.
First impression is that the quality is higher than the other stem extractors I have tried.
Very fun to play around with, but it have to wait for now, a bit too expensive at the moment.
Yes, that might be so. I really like SongMaster pro. I use it a lot, it is my favourite so far (very simple).
I only did a very quick test and comparision between the stems produced by SongMaster pro and SpectraLayers pro. They are very similar, maybe SpectraLayers is a tiny bit clearer when listening to both and comparing them, but it is very hard to tell. The audio forms of the stems are also almost identical but they differ a bit in places. I only compared stems for drums and bass. Anyway when I dropped the 2 versions of the bass stems into EZBass Audiotracker they produced the same midi (even though the audio files have minor differences). The thing I found attractive with SpectraLayers is that one can have it as plugin in to the DAW just to drag over the stems into the tracks. But it is not a big issue it is very easy to export the stems to files and drag them into the DAW as well.
SongMaster pro has such a clean interface and is so easy to use.
BIAB 2026, Studio Pro 8, Song Master Pro, Win11 Home. i7-9700K CPU, 32GB, ESI MAYA44eX, ZOOM UAC-2, Guitar Pro 8, Transcribe, (EZKeys2, EZD3, SD3, EZBass, EZMix3) Amateur: fiddle, guitar, vocal, beginner on bass.
While I do like and have used SongMaster Pro, can't beat the price of Moises (Free) which does essentially the same thing, though with fewer whistles and bells as seen in either SongMasterPro ($100) or SpectraLyaers 10 ($300). I actually spoke with the developer of SongMaster Pro but he assured me there would be no sale price. So I will keep my eyes on SongMaster Pro but for now also keep my money in my pocket. Moises does the job sweet and easy.
I wonder if these tree "stem splitters" are using the same AI engine or if they have developed their own AI engines. If they are using the same engine the quality ought to be the same. But if they have developed their own engines the quality may differ. I don't know the technology used but if they using some level of AI analysis and deep learning I would have thought it to be quite a major work to collect all the data needed. But I don't have a clue how these engines work and how much work is involved to get one working.
BIAB 2026, Studio Pro 8, Song Master Pro, Win11 Home. i7-9700K CPU, 32GB, ESI MAYA44eX, ZOOM UAC-2, Guitar Pro 8, Transcribe, (EZKeys2, EZD3, SD3, EZBass, EZMix3) Amateur: fiddle, guitar, vocal, beginner on bass.
If you are not using the spectral editing features of SpectraLayers, then you for sure don't need to spend the money. There are a couple of good alternatives already listed. I use Song Master Pro, myself. If you are using its spectral editing features, I highly recommend that you check out Acoustica Premium Edition by Acon Digital before spending the money on SpectraLayers. I switched from SpectraLayers v6 to Acoustica v7 years ago. Acoustica v7 has added several major new features since then, but is still in v7. All of those updates were free. SpectraLayers is now in v10. Everyone of those upgrades cost money. Once Steinberg gets their dirty mitts on your wallet, they keep on taking. Oh, and Acoustica Premium includes a boatload of very useful restoration, mastering plugins and ARA2 support, if you have a DAW like Studio One that supports it. One more thing. Acoustica's UI is, IMO, far superior to SpectraLayers, and it loads lightning fast.
Thanks, I was not aware of Acoustica. I will check it out. I am not using any spectral editing features at all I am only interesting in extracting the stems with high quality.
I also use SongMaster Pro it is my fravourite so far.
The reason I got interested in Steinberg SpectraLayers is that I found it attractive to have it as a plugin to StudioOne. But it is not a big issue. I am very happy with SongMaster pro as it is. No big deal to save the stems to file and drag them into the DAW. Also for a while I thought the quality may differ between these solutions, but I am not so sure anymore. It would be interesting to know if anyone else have compared the quality of the extracted stems between these products.
BIAB 2026, Studio Pro 8, Song Master Pro, Win11 Home. i7-9700K CPU, 32GB, ESI MAYA44eX, ZOOM UAC-2, Guitar Pro 8, Transcribe, (EZKeys2, EZD3, SD3, EZBass, EZMix3) Amateur: fiddle, guitar, vocal, beginner on bass.
OK, I know this is a recent post and I really appreciate the tread, but can I ask for an update? Reason is I have an immediate high priority need. I first turned to Isotope RX11 since I have many other Isotope products and they are my go to, but I don't have this. Never needed it till now! But the price @$400 is a bit beyound my budget. So I have looked at acondigital Acoustica and ~$140 currently on sale the price is right.
But can I get one more push in the right direction?? I ahve a voice over project. I need de-breath, de-noice, de-hum, de-reverb and what ever other de- the track will need for post processing of the vocal narrative.
Well the 30 day demo (limited) was enough to convince me it could remove breaths and hum. So I bought the premium package since it includes tools primarily focused on dialog (which is my current project). It did a great job. However, the ARA integration with Reaper was a bust. I will have to see if I can send the developer this finding.
However, the ARA integration with Reaper was a bust. I will have to see if I can send the developer this finding.
Quick response back, "...ya we know, we are working on it". Otherwise, they did send me a free version of https://acondigital.com/products/remix This is a very different and interesting take on stem extraction. Seems like everyone is on the stem extraction bang wagon these days. This workflow would have been a good addition to BIAB instead of the way they implemented it. All the stems remain on the same track, you just mix what you want to here. No trouble aligning things up with this workflow.
If you’re going to do it in the box, be prepared for long wait times. The more powerful your computer, the better. I have SpectralLayers 10 Pro, RX11 Advanced and a few other AI tools.
I’m finding that AI rendering and exporting requires more horsepower than AV rendering and consider my M2 Mac Studio Ultra barely adequate for my current needs. I’ll probably hold off on upgrading till the next Mac Pro comes out.
By way of comparison, my 2012 MacBook Pro is more than fine for running BIAB.
BIAB 2026 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia/Tahoe, M1 & M5 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, Logic, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScore/Notion/Overture
Incredible if it can undertake stem extraction in real time
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Kinda sounds like it would be impossible! I will get around to testing it soon and let you know how it stacks up.
It surely needs some incredible horsepower under the hood...
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
I tried it in Reaper and sure enough it is in Real Time. Wow! Fastest splitting I have ever heard. The real question will be, how good is the splitting. Like all these splitters there is differing quality. I could mute or solo the vocal likely as good as any of the rest. But Bass and Drums and Piano would need more testing. And of course nothing does guitar. Too bad BIAB will not load this VST3.
I wonder also about the 'separation quality' of the input music. Theoretically, some musical arrangements might be able to be separated a whole lot easier than others?
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
I know one of the reasons that Acon Digital Remix is so fast. It renders stems but does not export the audio like every other AI app I own.
It works differently in that you can either a) balance the stems in the stereo track or b) route each stem to an AUX that you send to your master. Pretty clever.
Although Digital Performer 11.1 (and later) is a compatible ARA2 host, it can do it with the AU on the Mac instead of the VST3. Most impressive as most such AUs only work this way in LogicPro x.
Add to that 5 band splitting that includes Piano instead of lumping it into Other... Here's my $33.90 NOW!
Is it as good as SpectraLayers 11? Oh heavens no but for a down'n'dirty rebalancing yesterday's choral anthem for the composer (recorded only to YouTube), it's well worth the money to me. Yeah, I'll use the VST3 next time but the AU let me get the audio done and reattached to the video in 15 minutes. I'm good.
BIAB 2026 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia/Tahoe, M1 & M5 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, Logic, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScore/Notion/Overture
Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026® for Mac Special!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
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Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
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With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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