Blue Cat's PatchWork 2.75 Plug-In & Host Released

Dear Gear Addicts,

We are happy to announce the release of yet another free update for Blue Cat's PatchWork, our "virtual patchbay for plug-ins", a versatile multi-effects processor and plug-ins host.

Don't be fooled by the small version number increment, this free update comes with many new features and improvements, covering a wide range of facets: macro controls, MIDI control, performance, plug-ins hosting, chains presets, plug-in oversampling... You name it!

An overview of the main features is available on the Blue Cat Audio blog, and the full change list is detailed below.

The free PatchWork update can be easily downloaded from the same location as the original full version, accessible through the link provided via email upon purchase.

If you do not own the software yet, it is available at a special price until the end of the month. Demo versions in various plug-in formats and as standalone applications for both Mac and Windows PC can be freely downloaded on www.bluecataudio.com.

NEW IN PATCHWORK 2.75:

Macro Parameters

- Select Macro params control style: knob or switch.

- Set macro params default/neutral value (the value set upon right click or alt-click).

Plug-ins Hosting

- Improved synchronization of hosted plug-ins to host transport when using plug-ins with latency.

- Built-in plug-ins can now follow host zoom.

- Future updates of Blue Cat Audio VST, VST3 and Audio Unit plug-ins will be able to follow PatchWork's zoom like built-in plug-ins (previews available).

- Plug-in format is now displayed in the title bar of the plug-in window.

- Recording status is now reported to Audio Units that support it.

- It is now possible to use different oversampling options for realtime and offline rendering (experimental).

- Added recording status support for Audio Unit format.

- Improved undo management with built-in and VST3 plug-ins, now detecting non-parameter changes.

- Hosted VST3 plug-ins can now use up to 16 channels per bus (instead of 8 before).

- Fixed two memory leaks in VST3 plug-ins host (causing potential crashes upon VST3 plug-in unload too).

- Fixed plug-in latency not always fully compensated when using plug-ins with latencies of more than 1024 samples.

- Fixed built-in multitap delay high DSP usage upon first load when syncing delay to host BPM.

- Fixed offline rendering mode not always reported to hosted plug-ins.

- Fixed some VST3 plug-ins taking several minutes to load (HALion and several other plug-ins with multiple audio busses).

- Fixed built-in harmonizer crashing when manually forcing more audio outputs than inputs.

- Fixed Audio Unit bypass control odd behavior with some plug-ins.

Audio Recording/Playback

- Application can now record PatchWork's output to wav files (up to 16 audio channels).

- Recorded audio files contain current transport position to help synchronizing recordings when imported into a DAW (BWF format).

- Fixed mp3 files loaded in audio player not always in sync with transport.

MIDI Control

- Individual plug-ins bypass can now be controlled via automation, MIDI or Macro parameters.

- Show/Hide plug-ins user interfaces can now be controlled via automation, MIDI or Macro parameters.

- All plug-in parameters can now be controlled with MIDI notes, pitch bend, NRPN, 14-bit CCs, aftertouch or channel pressure, in addition to existing MIDI CC.

- MIDI settings window can now be resized to display more parameters.

- Optimized MIDI settings window display on Windows (load time and scroll).

- MIDI Settings window now splits parameters into multiple pages for faster access.

- MIDI Settings window now shows custom display names if any.

- Optimized preset load upon MIDI messages when using several hundreds of user presets.

- Fixed plug-in sending Bank number 0 when loading a preset that is not located in a bank.

- Fixed audio dropouts when navigating presets via next/previous and plug-in set to send MIDI Program Change messages.

User Interface

- Chain presets: Save/Load and Copy/Paste full plug-in chains (PRE/POST or parallel). Fully compatible with Axiom, Late Replies, MB-7 Mixer or Fader Hub FX strips.

- Minor graphics optimizations for Hi resolution displays.

- Fixed window opacity changes not shown in plug-in when host application modifies it.

- Fixed selected text in text edit box sometimes not easy to read on Mac depending on the color scheme.

- Fixed text edit boxes sometimes loosing focus when hovering mouse over other controls.

- Improved skin loading time on slow hard drives.

- Optimized size of image resources for PatchWork and built-in plug-ins user interfaces.

- Misc graphics rendering optimizations.

- Fixed Mac installers not showing brand image in dark mode.

System requirements:

- Intel or Apple Silicon Mac running Mac OS 10.9 or newer.

- Windows PC running Windows Vista or newer.

Pricing:

Blue Cat's PatchWork: 89 EUR or $89 (instead of 99), until Nov 30th.

Enjoy!:thumbsup: