Ah, fall is upon us. Expect to see lots of products competing for your dollars and time.

(Of course, CDM is all over this. Nice work, guys.)

I have to say I’m a little underwhelmed. Not to say these aren’t hugely worthwhile products, just not where I’m looking to spend my time or money. If my budget weren’t so strained right now I perhaps would be more interested. Maybe the Absynth upgrade, but beyond that? I’m not a Mac studio, I don’t use Battery or Kore. I find the FM8 interface way too plasticy. (Is it just me, or does it look a lot like XPhrase? See picture. When did that become the template for good virtual instruments?) And Massive? I’ll be adult and refrain from judging, but I really wonder what seperates it from any of the other mega-synths that are currently bitch-slapping each other for your dollars.

Moreover, I’m finding this whole Kore integration a little disconcerting. I’m sure it’s a fine patch broswer approach, but it reeks of a proprietary approach that will bite non-Kore users in the ass somewhere down the road.

But there you have it.