Digital Home Thoughts: Sony's Acid Pro 5

New Features Abound
Thankfully, this new version of Acid Pro isn't just a tiny subset of upgrades and bug fixes wrapped up in a newly designed box. There are a lot of important upgrades in version 5 (the full list can be found here (pdf)). Of course, as with almost any software upgrade, things can run a bit funny. And I did experience a noticeable difference in speed (slower) from 4 to 5. Disabling some of these new features did bring up the speed a bit, but it still doesn't react as quickly as, say, version 3 originally did. Let's take a closer look at some of those new features.

Shortcuts, Plugins, and Colors, Oh My!
One of the first new features that caught my eye (because it was a Con in our last review of Acid Pro 4), was the inclusion of new customizable keyboard shortcuts (Figure 1). While a great start, it still doesn't allow for the ability to assign a specific key to a specific track for muting, playback, or control.


Figure 1: The new customizable keyboard shortcut list.

VST Plugins (Figure 2) are another newly available feature in Acid Pro 5. This means you can take advantage of any of the numerous VST instruments and effects and begin using them within your AP creations. Personally, I ran a couple of effect plugins that were included in my Cubase install, and they worked wonderfully (and even gave me some new ideas).


Figure 2: VST Plugins can help maximize your potential.

I've always wondered why you couldn't customize the color scheme a little more in Acid Pro. Version 5 now brings that functionality into play (Figure 3). You can tweak the color, saturation, and tint of the tracks, icons, and envelopes.


Figure 3: The new customizable color options.