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steambc Offline OP
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I find that every year, I visit the site in December because I want to be talked into upgrading my 2014 "Everything Pak", but although I see new styles, I never seem to find really compelling reasons to upgrade.

I'm pretty sure that I just don't really pick up on or "get" the value of the new enhancements. Maybe I'm looking for that "Wow, this is a game-changer" moment, which I never seem to see, and may be unreasonable for me to look for.

My only real challenge with BIAB is that for me, it is still extremely difficult to find just the right style for my compositions. I take responsibility for having a low aptitude for figuring that out. I do, however, find the interface to be a little dated and confusing as more and more functionality is bolted on.

So, my question is, are there any truly compelling reasons to upgrade from 2014 to 2020, especially given my own challenge of having a tough time finding appropriate styles for my songs? Is version 2010 a "must-have", or is it just a minor upgrade, practically speaking? Thanks for any input.

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For me, it is a must-have for the new RealTracks. Nothing else in the "49 new features" would cause me to pull out my credit card.

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Good questions. I see the changes since 2014 as evolutionary, not revolutionary. RealTracks were revolutionary. I think in another year we will look back and say the plugin was the next revolutionary feature.

As to the interface, that was revamped in 2018. It is a lot cleaner, but some users still prefer the old. To their credit, PG Music left the old one so you can adapt easier (use CTRL+T to toggle).

Since every year you get more and more new RealTracks and styles, I would think that six years' worth of additions would give you some serious improvement in "finding appropriate styles for my songs".


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And BIAB (although not RealBand yet) is now 64-bit.


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I am with steambc on this one. For me there really wasn't anything to pull the credit card from my wallet this year. They gave us some nice new styles and realtracks, but I already have more than I will ever use. The plugins have no particular interest - in fact I don't even know what they do. I only have BIAB (and an unused Real Band) so as far as I know I have nothing to plug them into. I don't need recording or audio editing

I did upgrade to the 64 bit version, only to be told by PGM that I really didn't need it.

When we get a better print notation I'll be ready to buy, but until then I'll happily use what I have. It's great, but I'll gladly give up a couple of hundred real tracks for a professional looking / performing notation module


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From my perspective, going from 2014 to 2020 is a big jump and you will see lots of changes. Whether these changes are useful for you, though, will depend on your needs.

What I suggest is...

1. Have a look at the below New Features video of BIAB 2020. It's just 6 minutes long.

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=568369#Post568369

And here is a 58 minute, more comprehensive overview of BIAB 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn3fOGM43p8


2. Go to the link below and have a scan through the online manual for BIAB 2020

https://www.pgmusic.com/manuals/

Since you're already a BIAB user, if you investigate the above, I'm pretty sure you will be able to assess whether or not it is worthwhile upgrading.

All the best,
Noel




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Pretty big updates came in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and also in 2020. Things like better auto chord wizard, enhanced abilities to use time based VSTis and several more. As mentioned the GUI upgrade in 2018. Better stretching software was added. Harmony upgrades, and the addition of Real Charts for drums are huge, and there are several more since 2014. The shear amount of RTs and styles make it worth the price, at least to me.

A couple thoughts do you use a DAW? Do you use RTs?

Last edited by Rob Helms; 01/02/20 02:03 PM.

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steambc Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: Rob Helms
Pretty big updates came in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and also in 2020. Things like better auto chord wizard, enhanced abilities to use time based VSTis and several more. As mentioned the GUI upgrade in 2018. Better stretching software was added. Harmony upgrades, and the addition of Real Charts for drums are huge, and there are several more since 2014. The shear amount of RTs and styles make it worth the price, at least to me.

A couple thoughts do you use a DAW? Do you use RTs?

Yes, I use Cakewalk. And yes, I do use Real Tracks.

Thanks for the info. It will help me to decide.

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steambc Offline OP
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Thanks to all for your input. I'll go ahead and watch the longer version of the features overview. All I need is a gently nudge to order. wink

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If you use Cake you will love the plugin in that DAW. The concern that it still needs may be valid, but it still can offer a lot inside a DAW for basic track creation and song bed support.


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steambc Offline OP
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Thanks for all the help guys. I pulled the trigger and am currently downloading and installing everything through the Download Manager from within BIAB 2020.

I've got a bunch of new chord progressions that I've dreamed up in the past few months, and I can't wait to get started fleshing them out.

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post some tracks so we can check them out


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I'm interested in 2020 becasue of the chord wizard update & the tempo fix in that. I'm also interested in any improvements to Multi riff as I find the 2019 clunky at best.
I'm completely uninterested in MIDIand it would appear that the majority of newness is in that area.
Lots of new RealTracks - I like real tracks but use only a few of them, organ mostly, as I add my own performance to my songs. Most of the new RTs seem to be in styles that I have little or no interest in.
Finally - what I want is more tweakable RealDrums as I find the mix & EQ of most of these to be problematic. RealDrum tracks are the reason I started using BIAB but they've not progressed much since 2011. There are more of them, more transcriptions, (really? Drum transcriptions?), but no change to the how. LOTS of people tell me they copy the sample that needs emphasis & paste it into a new parallel track but that is VERY time consuming & prone to minor timing errors that destroy the intended emphasis.
So far I'm unconvinced.


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rayc
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rayc ..I'm completely uninterested in Midi and it would appear that the majority of newness is in that area


Do not agree , Variety is the spice of life. No way can you record the sounds people want opposed to what you have In the sound of that track in real tracks stuck with it !.. but in midi it becomes what you have in a source i.e. software/ hardware or what the .!!. I have a good sound module ..but one cannot live without the other just my penny take care.

Thanks


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https://beatmaster1.bandcamp.com/releases

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Originally Posted By: beatmaster
rayc .."I'm completely uninterested in Midi and it would appear that the majority of newness is in that area..."
Do not agree...

You don't agree that I'm uninterested?
or
You don't agree that the majority of new stuff is MIDI focussed?
I think you mean you have the opposite approach or that you are very interested in MIDI.
Hey, that's fine, the new version caters for you really well.


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rayc
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XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!

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  • Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
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XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.

New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!

Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!

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In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!

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Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.

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