Yesterday, Apple announced Logic Pro 8 and Native Instruments announced Kontakt 3.

WTF OMG! I literally fell off my chair. Both my main production tools has received major updates, it's like christmas and my birthday simultaneously! Or it will be, when I get my hands on them. Logic is my number eins studio tool and Kontakt my number eins sampler.

In both cases my initial response was considerably full of three-letter-acronyms. And then a more sombre; "but did they improve on....". So I skimmed the manuals and feature sheets, and then my response goes more in the tune of "meeh I dunno...". The improved sample editor in Kontakt looks awesome and will make me benefit indeed. There are many smart new details in both apps that look nice. On the other side, the lack of elastic audio in BOTH OF THEM is a huge letdown*. After all this time I had expected them to futurize the audio engine, not just the GUI.

In both cases I have a feeling this is more of a facelift operation than proper engine improvements. They DO look awesome, and being that I spend maybe 12-14 hours in those apps daily, I don't mind some beauty.

Potentially much more to rant about these updates but perhaps I'll wait until I have actually got to use them. Expect surgical review upon delivery.

 (* Yes I know both apps can do variations of timestretch and pitchshift but it sucks dead bollocks and is not usable for anything but to screw up the sound.)