Icarus Changelog

What's new in Icarus 2.5

Jun 20, 2022
  • New features:
  • 161 additional patches created by professional designers.
  • Reworked patch browser with 6 different sizes (small/normal/big + with/without keys).
  • Native M1 Silicon support on the Mac.
  • A spectrum analyser displays the frequency-response in the patch browser.
  • Tooltips with descriptions and hints are shown when you hover over a control.
  • Help->'Show version info' displays the mode in which the plugin is running (ARM/Intel).
  • When samples are played back a red sample preview window is shown.
  • A vertical line shows the current sample playback position.
  • A double-click resets a knob to default.
  • Free Soundset demos.
  • Extended skin support for 3 sizes.
  • The shape of AHDSR envelopes can now be edited by drawing in the display.
  • Timing info is shown in the AHDSR windows.
  • AHDSR envelopes are animated when Midi CCs are routed to them.
  • Tradtitional sample import with Tools->Load/Save->'Load Sample'.
  • Added feature desciptions to many menus of the wavetable editor.
  • You can load traditional samples in .wav format with drag&drop to the oscillator's waveform display.
  • Samples can be tuned automatically on import.
  • The mousewheel can be used to switch through wavetables.
  • Tooltips can be hidden or shown in the Config section.
  • It is possible to record automation with the effect sliders.
  • The mouse arrow changes over controls that can be edited by drawing in the display.
  • Enhanced sound:
  • Higher sound-quality in 44 kHz, 48 kHz and 88 kHz sample-rate.
  • More precise timing.
  • New microtuning algorithm that detects and enhances a wide range of chords.
  • Enhanced sound of Reverb. It has a more smooth rolloff and less detuning.
  • Enhanced sound and default settings of the Vocoder.
  • Enhanced sound of Ensemble effect. It has a more subtle modulation and is in-tune.
  • Enhanced sound of Hypersaw 10x Stereo.
  • Enhanced sound of Delay, Delay Wide, Delay Diffuse, Delay Band and Delay Dual.
  • Enhanced sound of Multitap and PingPong. They have a more subtle modulation.
  • Enhanced sound of Reverb Dark. It is calculated with higher precision.
  • Fine-tuned the default values for some effects.
  • Enhancements:
  • More smart detection of the VST2 path.
  • The native M1 support results in 20% lower CPU use compared to Rosetta2 Mode.
  • More responsive GUI on M1 Macs.
  • The ideal GUI size is detected automatically.
  • Better workflow and more intuitive use of the interface.
  • Enhanced many graphics.
  • Higher performance.
  • The slider in the wavetable editor is more easy to handle.
  • The interface has more contrast.
  • Random Button with extended feature set (3 oscillators, creates new wavetables, etc).
  • Many small enhancements for the wavetable editor.
  • Much faster loading and saving.
  • Further optimisation to prevent denormalisation.
  • Importing .wav files with drag&drop to the oscillator displays gives much better results.
  • Fine-tuned the coordinates of some GUI elements.
  • The resynthesis with single oscillators gives much better results.
  • More efficient compression for image resources.
  • The resynthesis menus have been cleaned up and are more straightforward to use.
  • The OSC Tool menu has been cleaned up. Redundant items have been removed.
  • Graphics performance in wavetable editor is faster.
  • The envelopes in the drum sequencer have a blue color.
  • The Vocoder has higher default volume and is more easy to play.
  • Added descriptions to the Resynthesis menu.
  • Added descriptions to the Vocoder menu.
  • Many small enhancements.
  • The scrollbar in the patch-browser has more contrast.
  • Fixes:
  • Tooltips did not work with Dark Mode with Big Sur.
  • Workaround for the 'unusual' designed audio architecture of FL Studio. It is not longer necessary to enable 'Use fixed size buffers' to avoid crackles.
  • Workaround for a bug of Big Sur where new AudioUnits are only detected after a reboot.
  • Several small compatibility fixes for MacOS 11 and MacOS 12.
  • The coordiantes of the context-menu for knobs were not always correct.
  • Fixed a rarely appearing crash in the wavetable editor.
  • A drag&drop line is not longer shown when the wavetable editor is open.
  • The coordinates of the scrollbar-handle in the patch-browser could have an wrong offset.
  • A double-click to a knob of an envelope now correctly redraws the display.
  • Tooltips were not properly readable in some DAWs under BugSur with Dark Mode.
  • Changes:
  • AudioUnit is now an AUv2 plugin.
  • AudioUnit and VSTi are now a Universal Binary for 64bit Intel and M1.
  • Apple's development tools are unable to build 32bit Intel binaries when you support M1. Sadly we had to drop support for it.
  • Apple's Notarisation and the M1 support requires a MacOS version higher or equal than 10.11. If you still use an older version you must stick with Icarus 2.0.
  • The name of 'Reverb Trance' is now 'Revereb Swirl'.

New in Icarus 2.0.7 (Feb 3, 2022)

  • Fixes:
  • The VST3 plugin did not properly sync the BPM-rate.
  • Minor enhancements for the VST3 plugin.

New in Icarus 2.0 (Feb 3, 2022)

  • Multistage-envelope-generators:
  • Two MSEGs are available as additional modulation-sources. The MSEGs can be operated as LFO or envelope and allow you to create any shape you can imagine. The MSEGs offer highest precision, support frequencies up into the audio-range and have been designed with the aspect of musical usefulness.
  • Literally anything is possible: The MSEGs can be synced to BPM, sync with the arpeggiator or run freely. Triads or dotted rhythms are also supported. You can define loop-points and start points. You can delay or fade the MSEGs. You can move, add or delete points with your mouse. You can bend lines upwards or downwards to change their shape or even create precise rectangular curves. The MSEGs can be edited completely freely or you can snap points to a grid of a select-able size. It is also possible to draw triangles, bars or ramps.
  • Drum-sequencer:
  • Icarus2 has been extended with a drum-sequencer. It is an easy-to-use, but powerful X0X-style sequencer-module. It comes with a wide variety of drum-sounds, noises and waveforms. You can also import your own samples and save your own templates. A large collection of 100 drum-patterns created by professional designers is included. The drum-sequencer supports swing, shuffle, loop-length, effect send, key-split, roll, mono samples, stereo samples, looped samples and looped waveforms. Your sounds can be passed through punchy, BPM-synced envelopes, which allow you to create impressive 'gated-drum-sounds' easily. You can stretch wav-files with drum-loops or any other rhythmic content so that they automatically sync to BPM. Furthermore, the drum-sequencer is not only limited to playing drum sounds. It is also a small multi-timbral synthesizer that is able to play looped samples or waveforms with or without pitch-tracking. It does also come with a smart auto-accompaniment which automatically resolves the chord that you are currently playing and plays a bass-line that 'fits'.
  • Glitch-sequencer:
  • Icarus2 has been extended with a grid-based glitch-sequencer. You can chop your sounds to get modern glitchy, stuttering effects. 'The Glitch' works similar to a multi-effect sequencer. The incoming audio is passed through 10 different effect-modules. Each effect is controlled by up to 16 segments to adjust the parameter of the effect. Furthermore, it is possible to adjust the speed, groove, routing, mix, smoothness and loop-length. Random-buttons allow you to create new sounds quicky. It is also possible to load and save your own templates.
  • New features:
  • The interface has been re-designed completely. It is now more intuitive and efficient to use.
  • Icarus2 contains 566 new sounds. I does now come with 1600 hand-picked patches created by professionals
  • The GUI can be displayed with 12 different sizes
  • You can select from 3 different scales for the interface: Small, normal or huge
  • Added a random-button that generates new patches
  • MPE-support (Midi Polyphonic Expression)
  • Many additional realtime-animations for the interface
  • Arrows indicate modulation-sources which support drag-and-drop
  • Additional knobs for filter-panning
  • Hi-dpi support for sharper text, graphs and knob-handles
  • Added an optional keyboard which allows playing sounds without midi-input
  • The current value of the LFO and Step-LFO is displayed with a small circle
  • A classic wavetable-view has been added, which can be shown by clicking on the display
  • A vertical line visualizes the current phase of the LFOs
  • The effect-section has been reworked and is more easy-to-use
  • Included a new LFO-type called 'White Noise' that outputs real random values
  • Included a new LFO-type called 'Band-limited Noise' that outputs tuned noise
  • Included a new LFO-type called 'S&H Noise' that outputs BPM-synced noise
  • Included a new LFO-type called 'S&H Noise Ramped' that outputs BPM-synced ramps
  • Included a new LFO-type called 'S&H Noise Digital' that outputs BPM-synced digital-noise
  • Added a new patch-browser
  • 50 new shapes for the MSEGs
  • A massive number of additional waveforms
  • 256 new drum-samples
  • 100 new drum-patterns
  • 21 new effect-templates
  • Support for 'polyphonic key pressure / aftertouch'
  • Additional buttons to bypass FX1, FX2, FX3 and the feedback
  • Additional knobs for filter-volume 1 and 2
  • 'FX3 Duck' changes the dry/wet mix of effect3 dynamically, resulting in a more transparent mix
  • Small triangles indicate hypersaw-spread and the stereo-spread in the osc-section
  • A triangle indicates the wavetable-index in the oscillator-scetion
  • A triangle indicates the morph-value in the oscillator-scetion
  • An additional dry-wet knob allows to change the effect-mix in the main interface
  • You can draw shapes by clicking with the right mouse-button onto the step-lfo display
  • A midi-diode indicates incoming signals
  • Added a realtime-display for the frequency-response of the equalizer
  • Many menus have been extended with check-marks, which show the last selected item
  • Additional on/off buttons for bypassing single effects
  • Midi-out support for the keyboard and the arpeggiator
  • Additional button to reset the patch-settings
  • Global mode for the LFOs when the arpeggiator is used
  • Pitch-wheel and mod-wheel are displayed on the lower left and can be used as drag&drop modulation-source
  • Note number and velocity can now also be also assigned with drag&drop
  • Additional 'Tools-menu' for the arpeggiator
  • Matrix send values are shown when the mouse is mover over a slider
  • It is now possible to bypass oscillators from the filter section in parallel mode
  • The names of the sound-designers are displayed in the patch-browser
  • The GUI can be resized but does not use OpenGL, which results in sharper graphics. OpenGL is deprecated and will be not longer be supported by Apple
  • Enhancements:
  • All oscs, filters, the volume-envelope and the step-lfo are displayed on the main interface and accessible without switching through tabs
  • Icarus_effects, Icarus_arps, Icarus_mseg, IcarColor.cfg, IcarMidi.cfg and the manuals are now stored in Icarus_data
  • The color schemes can be changed without restarting the plug-in
  • The arpeggiator is much larger and more intuitive to use
  • Many additional tooltips which explain features
  • Reduced latency
  • Key-follow for the oscs can be toggled without entering the setup-menu
  • All matrix parameters are accessible within a single tab
  • All effects, the feedback, the ducking and the limiter are acessible within a single tab
  • Unused effect-parameters are hidden automatically
  • The cutoff-knob is located left from the reso-knob
  • Polyphonic, legato, mono and glide-mode can be selected from the main screen
  • After loading a new patch the synth automatically shows the most relevant tab-section
  • The patch-browser shows more detailed info about the patches
  • The patch-browser displays the names of the sound-designers in the lower right section
  • The number of semitones are shown within the arpeggiator
  • The arpeggiator-presets-menu is now more structured
  • The installer's automatic detection of the vstplugins directory has been enhanced
  • The 'Low-CPU morph-mode' does now always play on the entire keyboard-range
  • Enhanced performance for drag&drop
  • Higher precision limiter displays
  • Many small enhancements for the interface
  • Many small performance-optimisations
  • Better description of many features and more detailed tooltips
  • Much higher accuracy for Midi-pitchbend messages (if the hardware supports it)
  • Sound-enhancements:
  • Enhanced sound and more linear frequency-response for 'Delay Dual'
  • The default-parameters for many effects have been fine-tuned for a better sound
  • The sound of many reverb-types has been enhanced and offers a more linear frequency-response
  • Higher precision rendering
  • More accurate timing for the shuffle
  • Changes:
  • The 'random-lfo' types have been renamed to 'pseudo-random'
  • The 'Trancegate' is now a 'Gate'
  • The 'Low-CPU morph-mode' is now called 'Downsampling'
  • Icarus_waveforms, Icarus_arps and Icarus_effects are now stored within Icarus_data
  • 'Slit Low/High' in the arp-section has been renamed to 'Bypass High Keys'
  • Fixes:
  • Fixed some typos
  • Workarounds for several host-bugs (FL-Studio, Orion, Ableton, Reaper, Cubase)
  • Several smaller fixes