Sound reloads: The full versions of the OP series plugins come with a huge collection of additional soundbanks in fxb format that can be loaded by almoust every vst host as well as Receptor. Additional to this there are released new banks for free download on a regular base directly on this site. Here are the links to the dedicated download sites: OP-X and OP-X PLAYER OP-X PRO OP-X PRO-II

Manuals: Download the comprehensive bookmarked pdf manuals that contain a linked index. The free Acrobat reader is needed to open the manuals. OP-X manual OP-X RRO manual OP-X FREE manual OP-X PLAYER manual Stringer 2.0 manual Stringer 3.0 manual Stringer 3.1 manual OP-X PRO-II 1.1 manual OP-X PRO-II 1.2 manual OP-X PRO-II 1.2 Rack Edition manual OP-X PRO-II 1.3.0 manual Synth Interface OP-X PRO-II 1.3.0 manual Rack Interface OP-X PRO-3 manual OP-X PRO-3 start basics guide

OP-X Reaktor Automation: In mac based au and rtas sequencers the automation parameters only show up as cryptic numbers. Check this pic to see how those are allocated to the parameters: OP-X Reaktor Automation Numbers (pic) OP-X Reaktor Automation Numbers (text)

OP-X PRO-II Preset List: Our customer Rob Mitchell has shared a list of all OP-X PRO-II factory presets sorted by banks in an excel format file. Thanks a lot Rob! You can download it here: OP-X PRO-II Presets (excel format, zipped)

Updates and latest versions:  These are the latest version numbers of all available plugins: OP-X VST:  2.1 OP-X Reaktor:  2.3 OP-X PRO:  1.2 OP-X FREE:  1.0 OP-X PLAYER:  1.0 Stringer:  2.0 (Win 32bit) Stringer:  3.1 (Win 64bit and Mac) OP-X PRO-II:  1.1 (Win 32bit) OP-X PRO-II:  1.3.0 (Win 64bit and Mac) OP-X PRO-3:  1.0.3 An an owner of one of these plugins you will receive an email when there's an update available. If you didn't receive a one this might be caused by the spam filter of your mailserver, so also check your spam box. But you now (except for OP-X Reaktor users) also can use the new login option on top of this page to find the newest updates for your license. OP-X for Reaktor users: Contact us by email for a re-delivery if you lost your files.

Product comparison: Because of the many requests for a detailed feature comparison between OP-X and OP-X PRO we've set up a handy comparison table that gives a detailed overview: Comparison table It's however not necessary to decide on one of the two because you can get them both for the price of OP-X PRO by buying OP-X first and get the OP-X PRO later just for the remaining price difference. Use the "Upgrade from OP-X" for this on the purchase site.

Compatibility: The plugins are available for the windows VST interface (invented by Steinberg) and support the vst 2.0 standard. The patches format is standard fxb/fxp. The plugins need a 32bit environment to run. Supported operating systems: Win98, WinME, WinXP and Vista. The plugins can't be run stand alone, they need a VST host to run. Windows Vista is still not recommended because it takes too much ressources on its own and has some protection mechanisms that can cause problems. Recommended is Windows XP. If you nevertheless want to use Vista it's highly recommended to run your vst host application in administrator mode. Otherwise Vista can block important write functions. To set the default running mode to "administrator" right click on the application shortcut, choose "Properties->Compatibility", check "Run as administrator" and save your settings. Furthermore you should run the installer in administrator mode too. So instead of doubleclicking simply rightclick on it and choose "run as administrator". The same for uninstalling: Rightclick on the "Uninstaller" shortcut listed in the start menu (Start->SonicProjects) and choose "Run as administrator. If you want to use the plugins in a 64bit environment (64bit capable vst host within XP or Vista 64bit) then you need to wrap the plugins with a 32bit vst host like Xlutop Chainer. Another solution is to use a so called 64bit bridge. A recommended and tested one is jBridge from J's stuff, which works well and is cheap. You can get it here: jBridge. You don't have a vst host? Here's a list of tested free vst hosts: Free vst hosts Because we simply can't test all possible combinations of operating systems and vst hosts we ask you to test the plugins in your current configuration with the demo versions before you buy. Mac users: OP-X is available in cross platform Reaktor 5 format. Demo available here. Native instruiments Reaktor5 is needed to run it. NEW: Our flaghip product OP-X PRO-II now is available as native 32/64bit Mac plugin (AU, VST3) and too in native 64bit for Windows (VST2, VST3)! You can check the demo versions here. Receptor users: All plugins exept the mini line ones are also available for Receptor. If you are an owner of the pc plugins you can get free crossgrade on plugorama. More about the Receptor versions in the following dedicated section.

Windows Vista: The plugins are tested with Windows Vista 32bit and work without a problem. There are however a few things you should pay attention to while installing or updating. As you probably know, Windows Vista has quite strong protection mechanisms that can affect processes. Before you install or update go sure you do this as administrator, which means you should log in as administrator. Otherwise Vista can partly block the access to the registry or to other important write functions on the disk. If you start your sequencer and there's a message complaining about missing modules, then you've probably not installed or updated with administrator rights. But there's an easy fix for it without a new installation: Go to your vst instruments folder where you should find the SonicProjects plugins folder. Apart from the plugin dlls you'll find a folder for each plugin containing a set of dat files in it. Delete all these dat files in these folders, so that you'll have an empty folder in the end, then restart the sequencer. The correct modules will be extracted now. Concerning Stringer it's not necessary because this one is not affected. If so, then it's important to leave the big sample data file. You also should run your VST host with administrator rights, otherwise Vista can block important write functions and mess up the registry. Right click on the application shortcut, goto "Properties" and then to "Compatibility". Here you should see a checkbox named "Run as administrator". Check this one and save your settings. This is especially important for Ableton Live, which can produce a number of strange issues (wrong registry entries, no extracted modules, crackling) when it's not run with administrator rights. It's also recommended to run the installers and uninstallers as administrator too (again by rightclicking and choosing "Run as administrator"). If you follow these hints there won't be any issues in Windows Vista.

Receptor versions: All plugins, exept the mini line, are too available for Receptor, which is a state of the art hardware vst player. You can purchase here and get free crossgrade to the receptorized installers on plugorama: Click for free crossgrade on plugorama Plugarama offers specialized installers that are tested and fully supported by Muse Research, including all additional banks. The standard pc versions and the receptor versions are fully compatible, so you can profitate from the bank reloads published on the user area sites (see article "Sound Reloads" on top).

NI Kore: The plugins have been reported to work in NI Kore. However Kore itself can't import standard fxb banks by itself which is the format of all the additional banks delivered with a full OP-X and OP-X PRO license. However there's a workaround for this: You can use the free WVM from Wusik to import the banks. Here's the download site: Download Wusik WVM If you have a plugin with a whole library of FXB's, as it is the case with OP-X and OP-X PRO, you can use Wusik VM inside of Kore to load an FXB, them import them as Kore Sounds. Only thing is, the plugin will forever load inside Wusik VM in Kore, but there is really not a down-side to this. It has been reported to work flawlessly with OP-X PRO.

V-Machine / V-Rack: The standard versions of our plugins can be gotten to work with the help of wizard files, but they don't offer sufficient performance and consume too much cpu power. That's why we've built a custom made bundle with highly adapted versions of OP-X and Stringer that went through a lot of optimization steps and offer a guaranteed and stable performance in the V-Machine. The CPU consumtion has been reduced by about 40% to fit the limited power of the V-Machine, e.g. by completely deactivating the GUI. So if you plan to use OP-X and Stringer with the V-Machine it's highly recommended to get this bundle. It will save you a lot of strenghts and sorrows, and offers a rock solid performance and easy installation without wizard files. As a customer of our plugins you can get the bundle for a cheap crossgrade price, starting at $10. VM Bundle product site Crossgrade deals for customers Apart from adapted versions of OP-X and Stringer the bundle also includes two effect plugins, prepared ready-to-play banks in VFX format and a BCR2000 toolkit that offers a custom sysex preset that fits the also included premapped versions of the banks. All presets (including effects) can be played glitch free at a buffer size of 256 samples with no noticeable latency and a guaranteed stable performance for critical live application.

A word about converters: Digital systems only can sound as good as the digital-to-analog converters used to get the sound out of the box. They can vary drastically in their quality, not superficially, but when it comes to details, transparency, smoothness and clarity, all aspects from which analog synthesis lives. That's why the quality of the converters have a big impact on the sound of OP-X. Only a good set of converters will let all the important details and depth come through. The most important part of a converter is its sample clock. The more stable it is the better is the sound. The more jitter there is, the more the signal is destroyed. The actual converter chip is the cheapest part, today's budget soundcards often have the same converter chips built in as the expensive high end devices. But they have a worse sample clock and an inferior analog wiring. However, there's a trick to make even a cheap converter sound much better: simply synchronize it with a quality external clock. You don't need a word clock in, you can do it also over the standard inputs (sp/dif). The most cost effective trick is buying an outdated upper class converter and use it as clock. While the converter chips have become outdated compared to the specs of modern chips the clock itself is still "high end". Of course there are also inexpensive single clocks available, and also good value conveters or soundcards with a quality clock built in. And if you beleive it or not: it makes a huge difference. Virtual analog can only sound real analog if the signal is not being destroyed on its way from the digital to the analog side of the system.

I'm new in the world of virtual instruments. What do I need to run those plugins? The virtual instruments we offer are in fact computer programs that use the cpu of the computer to emulate a specific sound which is converted back to an analog signal by a soundcard. What you need to use the plugins: 1. A windows computer with Win98, WinME, WinXP or Vista installed (XP recommended). CPU speed should not be slower than 1Ghz, the faster the better. 2. A so called "VST Host" which is a program that can load and play vst plugins. There are a lot of free ones available, here's a list: recommended free vst hosts 3. An ASIO soundcard that allows for low latency performance (no delay while playing) and midi connection. It also works with your built in audio device, but there will be a delay then between striking a note and the audio output. More infos here. 4. A midi keyboard. This can be a normal synth with midi output or a midi controller keyboard. The midi output of this one will be connected to the midi input of your soundcard which allows to play the plugin then like a real synth. Of course you can also do without it and play the plugin using the mouse on the virtual keyboard.