Ciao Francesco,

the good news is that a Thunderbolt 4 port will first look to see what kind of serial data protocol you've plugged into it, and will then select one of its built-in protocols that matches. It's all automatic and very convenient!

So for example, if you plug a USB 3.0 device into one of the Thunderbolt ports of your new MacBook Pro, the MBP will switch that TB port to USB 3.0 and will then operate happily as if your USB 3.0 device was plugged into a dedicated USB 3.0 port on any other computer. No adaptor needed, so long as you have a cable with the appropriate connector for each end.

Then if, say, you plug into another TB Port a very fast portable SSD that requires the Thunderbolt protocol to run at its best possible speed, then your MBP port will switch to Thunderbolt and talk with the SSD in the appropriate protocol and and at the appropriate speed. And so forth.

You can always find out which protocol (and max available speed) each MBP TB port has selected and is using, by looking at the hardware report for those ports, in the About This Mac/System Report menu under the Apple in the top menu bar. 

The less good news is, there are only 3 of these super-flexible Thunderbolt ports on the new MBP M2 16"; with no additional old-fashioned USB 3.0 (type A connector) ports at all. That means you might have to use an external USB 3.0 hub in order to connect multiple USB 3.0 and/or USB 2 MIDI controller devices into your MBP. (Apple is a great hardware design corporation, but sometimes I wish they wouldn't assume their customers should be able to afford expensive 3rd party gizmos in order to get around certain limitations of various Apple products - such as having only 3 TB 4 ports on the new 16" MBP M2. A "Pro" product is supposed to be ready for Pro usage, right?)

There are some very good powered USB hubs available but also many horrible ones. I can recommend the USB 3.0 hub I've been using with my iMac for over a year now without any trouble:- it's made by Sabrent (designed in USA) and has 7 data ports and 3 (high current) recharge-only ports. I have a couple of library SSDs, a backup hard drive for TimeMachine, and various MIDI controllers connected to this hub. The two SSDs typically won't be streaming at the same time; I've chosen their content so as to avoid that happening, as much as possible.

Alternatively, there are some Thunderbolt hubs that offer a variety of USB, Thunderbolt, and a few other connections for your devices, all connected into one of your MBP's Thunderbolt ports. However, these hubs tend to be very expensive.

Your Scarlett 2i2 audio interface uses relatively slow USB speed and I think should be happy enough sharing a hub with faster USB 3.0 devices. I have a Clarett 2Pre USB and don't get any trouble using it on my Sabrent hub.

Lastly, Thunderbolt 4 is backwards-compatible with Thunderbolt 3, but not with Thunderbolt 2. There is an expensive Apple adapter for using TB 2 with TB 3 (I don't know if this adaptor also covers the TB 4/2 combination).

Horribly nerdy stuff, I know; but I hope this may help you a bit. And that MBP is a beautiful machine!

Hermann

And now I have yet another intricate body of understanding and skill to acquire: how to apply compression to my VSL Steinway whilst respecting and preserving as much as possible of the effects of realistic - and, hopefully, artistic - pedalling.

Producing synthetic but authentic-sounding live acoustic concert audio is not my thing. It's arguably the easiest and most straightforward approach but the market is minuscule - possibly because it's too much hard work for the listener's ear and we're too well accustomed to plenty of cosmetic beautification via ingenious electronic effects.

Reproduced music for media, on the other hand, is rarely without compression, often shedloads of it.

The concert grand piano is a very special and demanding case when applying compression. Massenburg's DRC-2 to the rescue!

Having just bought VSL's totally fabulous and spellbinding Steinway D Full library (I think Paul was right - for me this is "The One!"), I realised I understood next to nothing about the craft and art of pedalling a concert grand.

Fortunately, to serve as an unofficial addendum to VSL's concise manuals for the Synchron Piano Player and the full Steinway-D, I found this YT video in which no less than 29 concert pianists shed light on the notoriously foggy topic of concert grand piano pedalling (apart from spelling the word wrongly in 'Murica *sigh*):-

           29 Pianists Teach Pedaling

It's been said that when it comes to mixing with compression involved, piano can be one of the most difficult instruments.

Not a pianist myself nor much of a piano fan, I decided it was high time I got my hands dirty with some mixing exercises and experiments in which piano is featured. One of these experiments involved George Massenburg's new and extraordinary Dynamic Range Controller 2 plugin, which I used to squash a solo piano concert piece to within an inch of its life - with about 50dB of compression! It's a special effect of course - one I find interesting.

Having recently been thinking a lot about 1940s film soundtrack mixing and the virtuous discipline it can still bring to composing, orchestration and mixing for media today, I added voice over my squashed piano. The result is attached below (mp3 file). I'd welcome constructive criticisms.

Credits:

Poem: "Going, Going" by Philip Larkin, 1972, read by Ralph Fiennes @ 5x15, Royal Institution, 2018.

Piano: "Danseuses de Delphes" by Debussy (Préludes 1-1), performed by A. B. Michelangeli, 1978.

[In English:- "Utter beauty from the soul of a great master."]

The grande maestro here is of course Italian. Giorgio Armani. Now perhaps the No.1 fashion designer in the world.

I've posted this because the beautiful grace and simplicity of the musical accompaniment impressed and inspired me. Hope it does something good for you too.

And oh my God ... the ladies and what they're wearing!

Giorgio Armani Privé SS 23 - Rondò Armaniano

Errikos, it appears your inbox is full.

Jeff, thanks for the response. I hope you don't think my caution at the end of my post above was aimed at blaming you - it certainly wasn't (I've now added a small edit to rectify). We currently have a problem here with one particular member who's also busy spreading his bluff and nonsense in other forums too; no names, no pack drill. My comment was hoping to help you see the benefit of a bit of caution and skepticism (well, quite a lot of caution and skepticism these days) in casting around to find help with your horrible (and no doubt costly) current problems with your pro composer's rig. Of course I can understand your frustration.

Odd that I can't reproduce your missing MIDI clock problem on my iMac; a key difference might be that I'm not piping it out to a slave system, only to a local host VEP server. Maybe a detailed report to VSL's Support might bear more fruit than a bug report to Apple. And whilst Logic 10.6.3 may be ok for some, when I get absolutely sick and tired of the unreliability and weirdnesses of today's Logic, I still have Logic 10.4.8 which, relatively, is a haven of peace and order. Hell's teeth, I remember when I could depend on Emagic's Logic almost as if it was a scientific instrument!

Anyway, best of luck getting through this current sh**storm of techie stuff.

Jeff. You've not made it clear if you're reporting problems you've had while using your own ARM computer(s), or just commenting on reports and comments posted in various forums. Would you kindly clarify.

Re your main complaint about MIDI Clock not working when using Logic and VEP (AU3) on an Intel processor: it works for me (on macOS 12.6, latest Logic and VEP). Just now I've tested it using various VI Pro (latest) instruments with factory preset internal sequences, and also using some of (latest) Kontakt's sequenced drum loops in the Factory Library. In both cases Logic can start and stop sequence playback in these instruments in VEP, either triggered live from a MIDI keyboard or from a programmed MIDI region. Also these sequences change playback speed in real time in response to tempo changes I make in logic. Perhaps there are other built-in sequencers in other instruments that won't sync with Logic's timing  via VEP - would you specify actual examples you've encountered?

You haven't said which particular AU2 VEP multi-port workaround gave rise to the many hanging notes you speak of. Of the two workaround designs I know about, one from VSL and one from a third party, neither is a faultless solution, as proved by some stress-testing reported by a member of this forum. Nor can there be a perfect solution constructed for VEP AU2 in Logic's Environment (I can back up this assertion with digital realtime comms theory if you're interested). Those stress tests showed that the 3rd party workaround (provided by Dewdman42) is far MORE prone to the hanging notes problem than the factory workaround. Actually I don't believe there can be a less error-prone workaround than VSL's ultimately simple one. In the past I've used VSL's AU2 workaround without encountering the "stuck notes galore" problem you've reported; which might be because I kept the port count per VEP instance low, as recommened by VSL.

I certainly agree that setting up a large and complex template for VEP (AU3) with Logic is a lot of work, but I'm currently getting good results with mine - in between Logic crashes!

I'll have a bet with anyone who'll stake $1000, that we have NOT come to the end of life of the VEP server for Logic and VEP running on ARM processors.

I'll just add this: it's worth being VERY cautious, Jeff, about claims made in various forums about this or that problem or about tricks for solving or getting around them. Unfortunately for the majority of us, there are a few individuals out there whose craving for attention, adulation and validation on social media far outweighs their abilities to provide useful and reliable information, and who have little or no conscience about that. In my experience this particular forum is generally one of the very best, in that the vast majority of members who post here clearly value truth, honesty and integrity very highly and are able to communicate perfectly well, no matter how short on technical knowledge or expertise they may be in some particular topic.

*sigh*

Give Dietz a break ...

RTFM

I'm calling your bluff. Get the word from Plugin Alliance and show it here. Then we'll all know if your "trick" is a "steal" or not.

And if you can't bring yourself to approach PA to get to the truth of the matter, I'll do it. And if I have to do it, be assured, I won't spare your blushes when I report the facts you don't want to know.

I say again, you need to look at the Terms of Service.

I don't care what you can or can't convince yourself of. I do care about the risk of members of this forum being led up the garden path ..... again. Thanks anyway for your "confession. by projection".

Ask them directly in plain language. And tell us what they say. I think you're in for a disappointment.

The FAQs aren't the legal stuff. You need to look at the Terms of Service.

So Plugin Alliance run a "Father Christmas" business model now? Do please tell us more about your "trick" for picking up a DearVR Monitor so cheaply, Dewdman. Specifically, tell us how you get around clause 12 in PA's Terms of Service, i.e.:-

"... Upon cancellation of your Subscription, you will no longer be charged for additional Subscription Terms, and you may continue to use the Plugin for the remaining Subscription Term for which you were charged."

Seems to me that when your final month expires, so will DearVR Monitor's licence. Not such a "steal" after all, uh?

Plugin Alliance have been around a long time and I regard them as shrewd operators. You think they can be "gamed" that easily?

Bamboo, my limited understanding of MIR is that Dietz has done a really great job in providing VI users with excellent ready-made yet flexible reverb solutions. And I don't doubt that the VS verbs are fine and versatile plugins. But those intrepid and curious users who wish to venture beyond the fine, safe and versatile domain of MIR & VS would do well at the outset, I believe, to give themselves plenty of time to experiment extensively for themselves with various types of makes of reverbs.

It can be a huge adventure and there's masses to learn. Dietz of course always gives good advice - he's a well experienced pro - but try not to be misled or daunted by others here who may make it seem just a matter of knowing a few simple rules. It's not. It's a matter of developing an ear for the various types and makes of reverb plugins, and there's no quick way around that. It can take years - which is probably why many VSL customers are obviously so happy to stick with MIR and VS verbs.

Yes some theory of natural acoustic reverb and the various approaches for modelling it digitally can come in handy. But for that stuff I'd strongly recommend you go to textbooks or widely approved and respected technical articles in specialist technical magazines and journals.

Said this forum's worst troll. Lolol. Lovin' your projection, champ.

You've clearly never worked in a high pressure, high-end pro technical environment. Believe it or not, words matter in technical matters. No one ever told you that?

If you want to be "specific" about this stuff, it's best if you direct your technical questions to

Oh and there are other threads far more relevant than this one for iLok and E-Licenser issues. Thanks so much for dragging this one off topic.

So Dewdman once again you claim you're being "specific" in a technical matter? Well just for now, let's try to pretend all those previous unfortunate occasions never happened, and deal with this one.

• Macker said "operated together", but you appear to think it significant just being able to "have" E-Licensed and iLok-licensed products together in one machine? As far as I'm aware it's not been identified as an issue by VSL, given that they're different products. So what's its significance for you? And in what circumstances would it be useful to have both versions of the same VSL product installed on one machine?

• Do explain precisely in full detail how you think users such as Viktor and others should proceed so they can have various E-Licensed and iLok-licensed VSL products operating together in one machine. Then I hope you'll request that VSL post a technical note on the topic, just to verify your advice.

• What technical difficulties, limitations and risks, if any, might possibly attend following your advice?

• What steps have you taken to ensure that you're not leading innocent users up the garden path again? Oh wait - strike that "again" - we're supposed be be temporarily forgetting about those previous instances and pretending to be keen to hear advice given by someone who speaks as if he takes the veracity and validity of his technical advice earnestly, seriously and responsibly.

Anyone from time to time might make a fool of themself by asserting stuff they really don't know about or have misunderstood. That's generally accepted as part of being human. And if called out on such an occasion, most people are willing to see their mistake or misunderstanding, and perhaps laugh about it, or make an apology, or even blush and fart and rush off in tears. A few might try to dig themselves in deeper, which doesn't usually end well for them. And even fewer might have a marked tendency to double down, and use various kinds of trolling, lying, projecting, gaslighting, ghosting, smearing, pity plays, triangulation, and other nefarious techniques to try to negate the calling out and to defame whoever did the calling out. Only in this last case is there likely to be damage done to the general integrity and wellbeing of social intercourse, and so sometimes it calls for handling of the sterner kind.

I'm speaking hypothetically. It's just a story. What could possibly go wrong in connection with "kind, benevolent and light" discussion of technical matters in a forum that is accustomed to dealing with technical matters? Because after all, we have centuries of modern empirical science and technology to call upon in order to find the truth, and to sort fact from fiction, don't we?

And there I will leave it for others to judge. I'm simply a guest in this revered forum.

And no dewdman, I've learnt the hard way. I'm not trusting you by giving you info up front. You ask to borrow my watch then turn round and tell me the time. It's an old management consultancy trick from the days when being a management consultant was for some a license to print money and win fame and fortune. And these 101s do come at a big price, dewdman. as you will discover.

ER content. You haven't explained how this "places the instruments on stage". Let's hear your understanding of this first.

Right oh, some more engineering 101, to counter the harm of dewdman's fake news.

Proximity effect. You really should have googled that one, dewdman. It refers to a property of most microphones whereby very close sources tend to elicit an enhanced response at lower frequencies, compared to the mic's frequency response to the same source at much greater distances. It could perhaps be more properly called the "close proximity" effect, since it becomes noticeable within about a metre or so between source and mic.

I'm willing to be wrong but I very much doubt if any of VSL's sample recordings have ever deliberately invoked the proximity effect. Otherwise mixing with VSL sample libraries would include the ever-present chore of EQing out the proximity effect on instruments that are to be placed farther back than right in your face!

The "Proximity" plugin that I assume you found in your random googling (as if Paolo can't google for himself) has a facility for EQing in or out the actual proximity effect of a typical microphone, but this of course has nothing to do with making a distinction between 10 metres and 15 metres, for example.

And you say this is the same as the other EQ-distance effect that I carefully questioned; i.e. the HF absorption of air (now you can google ISO 9631-1), which plays very little if any significant part in distinguishing differences between player positions on stage.

Tut tut. A big bit of noob confusion there by you, methinks. And yet you still make it sound as if you know what you're talking about, and that can cause untold mischief and confusion amongst non-technical music makers who all too often just accept what they're told to do about the technical stuff. They need to be protected from fake news merchants out just to make a name for themselves by any means, fair or foul.

dewdman, oh hey I was beginning to miss your speciality. But now we have a lovely bit of projection here from the one whose posts change with the wind - oh yes I've seen you do it to cover your backside time and time again. Give me one example of me editing one of my posts that constitutes downright dishonesty and cheating, and I will apologise. That's your trick, sunshine, not mine.

No worries Macker. I've got this - but of course do chime in if something takes your fancy. I slipped up once, and we have a googled answer as a result. But as it turns out, it helps with the job at hand, Lol.

dewdman your answer means the advice you gave to Paolo no longer stands. Good. Now perhaps this thread might proceed without you sidetraacking it any further.

dewdman, I notice you still haven't elucidated on any of your advice which appears to have been aimed at helping Paolo with his specific objectives as stated in his thread here. So do you stand by your advice or withdraw it? If the former, that would leave a bit of a mess to be cleared up, sorting the wheat from the chaff as well as the outright nonsense; but someone else will have to take care of that, right?

I notice also you've gone way off topic.

I do hope, for Paolo's sake and for others who might be interested in what Paolo is trying to achieve here, that this thread can now proceed without being sidetracked any further.