When sound is involved, your ears know what is good. And your ears will love the new studio tools in Bitwig Studio 5.2, a professional compressor and three hardware-inspired EQs. Compressor+ brings a unique approach to dynamics, and Focus, Sculpt, and Tilt unite classic sounds with new levels of control. Workflow got enhanced too: more precise editing, dynamic beat detection that matches any audio to your project, and hardware acceleration for our graphic interface. Because the sooner you've got sound, the sooner you can trust your ears.
A Compressor That Thinks Differently
Compressor+ is an all-in-one compressor for any use case. Coupling familiar controls with unusual ones and a superior approach to analyzing audio make it ready for any task, from adding color and tone to mastering.
A Character menu provides a range of compression styles in one device. Six total options include the gentle Smooth, a mix buss-friendly Glue, and a harmonic-producing Smash. And an Auto Timing parameter tunes your chosen Character to best match the incoming signal.
Compressor+ analyzes incoming audio across four frequency bands, which are shown on the device's colorful display and in the expanded view. Fold it out to access each band's Intensity and Timing offsets in order to fine-tune which parts of the signal cause compression. So if you want the bass to trigger less, just decrease its band's Intensity. Or if your settings are a little tight on the vocals, try increasing the Timing offset for the hi-mids.
All of this works with the Standard compressor mode, one of three choices that determines the compressor’s behavior. Go Beyond to find under- and over-compression ratios, or choose the special Dual mode for upwards compression that lifts quieter signals too. Even the output section is stocked with different VCA Colors, including analog options that are stable (transistor-style) or moving (like tape saturation), as well as a more digital flavor that mixes in true multiband at the output. Good for familiar directions and finding new ones.
Focus, Sculpt, and Tilt Sound
A new trio of EQs inspired by classic hardware – Focus, Sculpt, and Tilt — bring a natural musicality to the task of shaping sound.
Sculpt inherited the controls and components of the renowned Pultec EQP-1, a vintage broadband hardware box known for its low-end sweetening. But the choice of saturation is left to you, from the matching Tube style, to Transistor for odd harmonics and mid-range punch, or even a clinically Clean model.
Focus took the same approach to recreating the choices and components of the mid-range-oriented MEQ-5. After tuning those sonic “power” regions, similar saturation choices are a click away.
Tilt's simple interface lets you rebalance any sound to be brighter or darker, with additional choices for the center Frequency and how steep the Slope is.
All three bring modern niceties as well. A Stereo-ize control transforms any device into a pair so that you can emphasize the left versus right (or, yes, mid versus side). And Bitwig's visual displays show you exactly what you're doing, both on the device panels and in the mixer. When reliable blueprints meet contemporary amenities, making good sound design choices is easy.
Be Precise
Mouseless navigation is a breeze in Bitwig Studio 5.2. With Bitwig’s default key commands, your arrow keys can now send you between relevant points of interest in clips or on the Arranger Timeline, or even between different tracks in your project. Cruise the Arranger Timeline via small increments like beat divisions, automation points, clip starts and ends and more. Jump from the beginning to the end of notes within their clips, or from transient to transient in audio clips. Make a selection — of notes, clips, events, etc. — across one or more tracks. All without leaving the keyboard.
But there are subtle and significant quality-of-life improvements when using a mouse, too. Your cursor will snap to fade points and other convenient locations. And a simple right-click can Set Clip Start wherever it lands.
For Changing Times
Speaking of quality-of-life improvements, 5.0's better onset detection bears fruit this update in ways that streamline working with different tempos. You can trust Bitwig Studio to accurately warp long audio files for you — even those with variable tempos will stay on track.
Alternatively, your project can adapt to the clip's time, bringing new conveniences to the process of making DJ mixes, podcasts, or adding production to long recordings. Your project can adopt an audio clip's tempo as a static value with Set Current Tempo, or apply its timing changes as an automation curve on the global tempo with the Apply Tempo Curve To Arranger command.
Best GUI Got Better
We also rewrote our graphics engine to be more responsive and efficient. Painting our interface on your computer's GPU gives us native hardware acceleration, and more CPU is now available for your audio. Also, knobs pop more and scopes have a fresh look.
Drawing in general has been highly optimized as well, running fewer commands and giving springier results. So whether you just have high track counts and thousands of events or you are fond of quick zooming and editing, you will be covered. On all three platforms.
Undo For Plug-ins Too
Undo is a modern marvel, helping you audition changes to your audio and patches with equal ease. Plug-ins are covered as well in Bitwig Studio 5.2. So no matter what you change, Bitwig can always bring you that critical one step back.
Get Your Learn On
While making all the compressions, a few new ideas appeared. Over is a boutique clipper that harnesses multiband, oversampling, and a slot for wet-only effects. So add a nice crispy crust to any sound, or just burn it down.
Our classic Chain device also got its own Learn Wet Gain option, giving you a perfectly configured Mix knob for blending any audio effect chain, including plug-ins. And if you think multiband sometimes, you'll be pleased that The Grid now has Crossover-2 and Crossover-3 modules in the Mix category.
Additionally, Multi-Note got its own Chord Learn function for immediate programming and playback. The FX Selector device earned crossfade timings so you can fine-tune your transitions. And for programming synth structures, the variable Shift Register module and simple All-pass might help you out.
Availability
Bitwig Studio 5.2 is out now, and it's a free upgrade for all Bitwig Studio license holders with an active Upgrade Plan as of announcement (April 25, 2024).
Please note that 5.2 has updated system requirements. Starting with this version, you'll need at least Windows 10 and macOS 10.15 or later. And for graphics, on Windows you'll need a GPU capable of DirectX 12, Vulkan or OpenGL, and on Linux a GPU capable of Vulkan or OpenGL.
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