Old soundpools and general questions

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 5:24 PM

Greetings... I'm coming back to Magix Music Maker 2025 Ultimate vol 2 on Windows 11, and I'd like to use it with some sound pools I bought 10 years ago for Magix Music Maker 15. I have the original CD's and I've copied them to my hard drive, but when I import them into Music Maker, the pitch is not detected and the names are all garbled. I've attached a screenshot to illustrate what I mean:

I also have a few other general questions.

First, where is the option for changing the tempo of an individual loop? There used to be a "timestretch" feature, but I can't find it in 2025. I looked through the effects rack and couldn't find it. When I go to the properties for the loop in the arranger I see the option to half or double the tempo, but that's it. I'd like to be able to change a 180 bpm loop to a 120 bpm loop, for example.

Second, is there an option to change the tempo of an entire track and have it be different than everything else? So I could have one track going at 180 bpm and another at 120 bpm?

Third, when I go to "install additional content," the same features (Vita 2, etc) always show up, no matter how many times I install them. How do I know they're fully installed?

Thanks for your time!

Comments

browj2 wrote on 12/19/2024, 6:47 PM

@Brad-Markel

Hi,

Strange. In your image, it looks like you've selected more than 1 Soundpools, even though it says 1. Look at what I have below. For me, the Soundpool titles start with the first letter capitalized, yours are not and there are underscores. I noticed that I have a description.xml file included in the folder that somehow was updated in 2020.

Here is the structure of the files under Soundpools:

Did you put them in the right place? Does the structure look like the above?

Tempo Change is still there. Select the loop, Effects Rack, Select Object, +, Magix, Legacy, Legacy Effects Rack, Open plugin. Tempo pitch/resample.

Second, is there an option to change the tempo of an entire track and have it be different than everything else? So I could have one track going at 180 bpm and another at 120 bpm?

No. If by track you mean a song then you would need Samplitude to have tempo changes.

If you mean by track, like they are shown vertically (left hand side of any DAW), then I think that this would be impossible. You would have the drums playing on track 1 at 180 and the piano playing on track 2 at 120.

Third, when I go to "install additional content," the same features (Vita 2, etc) always show up, no matter how many times I install them.

Go to Program Settings and click on Clean-up Store.

You may also want to Rescan Soundpools.

John CB

SP. wrote on 12/19/2024, 7:02 PM

@Brad-Markel Hmm. Old Soundpools have a BPM.inf text file with the information about their content inside the Soundpool folder. Newer Soundpools have a description.xml text file. I don't know if there was a change in Music Maker 2025 but maybe it now ignores BPM.inf and only recognizes description.xml? That would explain why it ignores the different pitches. In that case you'll need to create a description.xml manually and rescan the Soundpools. I think that should solve your problem.

Second, is there an option to change the tempo of an entire track and have it be different than everything else? So I could have one track going at 180 bpm and another at 120 bpm?

In the same project? No.

As a workaround export a track, change it's tempo via a new project, export it again and load it back into your original project.

Third, when I go to "install additional content," the same features (Vita 2, etc) always show up, no matter how many times I install them. How do I know they're fully installed?

In older versions you could open Windows Apps and try to uninstall a software called Magix Content and Soundpools. This would show you a list of everything installed (Vita Instruments etc.) where you could select which components you wanted to uninstall. If this is the same for version 2025 I would guess that the additional content was installed correctly.

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 8:11 PM

Here is the structure of the files under Soundpools:

Did you put them in the right place? Does the structure look like the above?

I dumped the DVD's onto a network share on my NAS, then copied them from the network into a folder called "C:\MagixSoundPools". The structure looks completely different, lots of underscores, etc, but then again, that's how it was on the DVD originally. MM 2025 didn't change that structure when it imported them. I'm wondering if MM15 had a different system of importing files that involved renaming things according to naming conventions, and the soundpools are so old that they aren't recognized anymore.

Tempo Change is still there. Select the loop, Effects Rack, Select Object, +, Magix, Legacy, Legacy Effects Rack, Open plugin. Tempo pitch/resample.

I see the Legacy Effects Rack, but I'm missing a bunch of options, based on your screenshot. Here's what mine looks like, you'll notice there's no tempo, etc:

Second, is there an option to change the tempo of an entire track and have it be different than everything else? So I could have one track going at 180 bpm and another at 120 bpm?

No. If by track you mean a song then you would need Samplitude to have tempo changes.

If you mean by track, like they are shown vertically (left hand side of any DAW), then I think that this would be impossible. You would have the drums playing on track 1 at 180 and the piano playing on track 2 at 120.

Darn... lots of changing tempo on individual loops then. Yeah, I meant the vertical columns on the left - it would be nice to have the pianos playing at 80 bpm as they were originally recorded, and the rest of the instruments playing at 120 bpm, as they were originally recorded.

Third, when I go to "install additional content," the same features (Vita 2, etc) always show up, no matter how many times I install them.

Go to Program Settings and click on Clean-up Store.

You may also want to Rescan Soundpools.

John CB

That seems to have unchecked/grayed out the boxes for the install, which I think means it worked. I didn't mention this earlier, but I am getting a dialog box when opening an existing project that says "The following VST plugin could not be loaded: Vita LE (64). Unfortunately, cleaning up the store doesn't seem to have fixed that.

I tried rescanning soundpools, and all my soundpools except the defaults that came originally disappeared.

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 8:14 PM

@Brad-Markel Hmm. Old Soundpools have a BPM.inf text file with the information about their content inside the Soundpool folder. Newer Soundpools have a description.xml text file. I don't know if there was a change in Music Maker 2025 but maybe it now ignores BPM.inf and only recognizes description.xml? That would explain why it ignores the different pitches. In that case you'll need to create a description.xml manually and rescan the Soundpools. I think that should solve your problem.

I do see a BPM.inf file in each individual sound pool on each DVD (I have six or seven DVD's of soundpools). I originally had tried to add them all at once by just selecting the C:\MagixSoundPools folder. I wonder if importing all of them one at a time would work... that's a lot of clicking though! I'll try adding one or two and see if that helps before I go through the laborious task of adding all of them.

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 8:20 PM

Update: Adding soundpools individually doesn't work either. I'll try adding a description file for a couple of them... though I hoping someone can show me a more automated way to do this. I last used Magix Music Maker on version 17 over 10 years ago on different hardware, so it doesn't surprise me that there are intermediate update steps that were missed, even if I did install Magix Music Maker 2025 on a clean version of Windows 11.

SP. wrote on 12/19/2024, 8:38 PM

@Brad-Markel

I see the Legacy Effects Rack, but I'm missing a bunch of options, based on your screenshot. Here's what mine looks like, you'll notice there's no tempo, etc:

Looks like you have opened the effect rack for a whole track and not for an audio object on the track.

though I hoping someone can show me a more automated way to do this.

Most Soundpools (I believe everything from 2004/2005 and later) are available on the in-app-store. So, basically you could look up your old Soundpools on Producerplanet.com and find out their new names and get a one month loops unlimited subscription and download the loops again from the in-app-store (not Producerplanet!). This will give you the description.xml for each Soundpool. You'll will also get the json file for the Song Maker.

For example: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Music+Maker+15%22+site%3Aproducerplanet.com

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 8:45 PM

Looks like you have opened the effect rack for a whole track and not for an audio object on the track.

Maybe I'm selecting the track the wrong way? I clicked on the individual object and I see the same thing, if I select the track in the arranger, I see the same thing also. Of course, it's been so long, I could very well be confused.

SP. wrote on 12/19/2024, 8:47 PM

@Brad-Markel Try this:

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 8:52 PM

Aha! I could have solved the effects problem with a single click. Thanks for pointing that out! Now if I could just get those soundpools to install... I agree that I could probably download them all again, but that's about 60 GB worth of data and downloading it from the internet will take forever.

SP. wrote on 12/19/2024, 9:03 PM

@Brad-Markel Loops Unlimited will download an encrypted OGG format. That's only a handful of megabytes for each Soundpool. It will probably take you longer to find the new names.

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 9:30 PM

@Brad-Markel Loops Unlimited will download an encrypted OGG format. That's only a handful of megabytes for each Soundpool. It will probably take you longer to find the new names.

Unfortunately, it seems that some sound pools aren't even on producerplanet.com. For example, if I look for "rock", I don't find the "rock alternative version 1" soundpool that was in Music Maker 15 Basic.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Music+Maker+15%22+rock+site%3Aproducerplanet.com

browj2 wrote on 12/19/2024, 10:34 PM

@Brad-Markel

Hi,

When you look at the folders on the DVD, do the folder names have underscores?

I thought that I had the DVD of the Best of, but I can't find it. I have others and the folder names are normal - no underscores.

As for having loops or audio objects (or songs) on different tracks at different tempos, they can be imported separately and you can set it up to bring them in at their native BPM - ignoring the BPM of the project. Or, you can adjust the tempo.

You just can't set a tempo on one track and set a different tempo on another.

John CB

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/19/2024, 10:36 PM

Yes, the folder names on all of them have underscores. I suspect that was a naming convention and that Music Maker 15 removed those when it copied them off of the CD.

Importing on another project sounds like a good idea.... I'll try that.

johnebaker wrote on 12/20/2024, 4:43 AM

@Brad-Markel

. . . . copied them from the network into a folder called "C:\MagixSoundPools" . . . .

Putting user folders in the root of the C: is not helping your situation. The soundpools in there own folders should be in>

C:\Users\Public\Documents\MAGIX\Common\Soundpools

All the correct access permissions will then applied.

John EB
Forum Moderator

SP. wrote on 12/20/2024, 7:16 AM

@Brad-Markel

Unfortunately, it seems that some sound pools aren't even on producerplanet.com. For example, if I look for "rock", I don't find the "rock alternative version 1" soundpool that was in Music Maker 15 Basic.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Music+Maker+15%22+rock+site%3Aproducerplanet.com

I think you look for the wrong Soundpool. Try 'Best of Soundpool Collection' not Music Maker 15. It's likely that your old version may have come with an additional Soundpool DVD. This is technically not part of Music Maker 15.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Best+of+Soundpool+Collection%22+site%3Aproducerplanet.com

Here you'll find this:

https://producerplanet.com/us/article/best-of-rock-11368/

Djronrella wrote on 12/20/2024, 7:33 AM

Heard That Magix Music Maker now supports Acid Pro Acidized Loops!???

Is Music Maker 100% free for using their loops!? in productions and commercial!? I remember triyng it years ago and Loops were not 100% free? complicated usage??? thanks

SP. wrote on 12/20/2024, 7:43 AM

@Djronrella You need to buy a commercial license for the loops you want to use commercially. You can get these from the in-app-store or Producerplanet.com

Djronrella wrote on 12/20/2024, 8:50 AM

Yep thought so lol

That's why 8 stopped using it and sticking with Acid Pro since it first came out! Lol

Wish Magix would answer anything anyone's asking for updates or it's dead in the water! (Acid Pro)!

Lol

SP. wrote on 12/20/2024, 10:02 AM

@Djronrella There were pretty concrete post by former beta testers from some years ago that their contact at Magix went away and Acid is pretty much dead. Officially there was a comment that development stopped during the beginning of the Covid pandemic and was never resumed.

Djronrella wrote on 12/20/2024, 10:41 AM

Yeah!

Lol I was a beta tester for Acid Pro!

I must of missed that post cause I did ask around back then and never heard anything!

Thanks for info!

They are outta their minds still selling it without any fixes!

I don't have any issues with latest version but poor users are well distraught lol

Brad-Markel wrote on 12/21/2024, 10:45 AM

Sorry for the late reply, folks, spent most of my time off yesterday trying to get those sound pools to work.

@Brad-Markel

Hi

. . . . copied them from the network into a folder called "C:\MagixSoundPools" . . . .

Putting user folders in the root of the C: is not helping your situation. The soundpools in there own folders should be in>

C:\Users\Public\Documents\MAGIX\Common\Soundpools

All the correct access permissions will then applied.

John EB
Forum Moderator

This worked perfectly, if I put the soundpools in there, they are all detected and they stay there.

I think you look for the wrong Soundpool. Try 'Best of Soundpool Collection' not Music Maker 15. It's likely that your old version may have come with an additional Soundpool DVD. This is technically not part of Music Maker 15.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Best+of+Soundpool+Collection%22+site%3Aproducerplanet.com

Here you'll find this:

https://producerplanet.com/us/article/best-of-rock-11368/

Although I agree I could probably find 100 or more soundpools with a lot of research, it's faster to just write a script to make it work.

So, I did. It's a work in progress. It doesn't handle the old "guitar solo" instrument type (those have to be moved to "Guitar", and many of the DVD's follow the old DOS 8.3 format and the subfolder is called "soundpoo" (heh) so it needs some more work, but here is the latest version. You'll need to save this with a .ps1 extension and run it in Powershell. (Note to mods, I can't upload a .txt file? Really?)

RenameSoundpools.ps1 - Pastebin.com

Yeah!

Lol I was a beta tester for Acid Pro!

I must of missed that post cause I did ask around back then and never heard anything!

Thanks for info!

They are outta their minds still selling it without any fixes!

I don't have any issues with latest version but poor users are well distraught lol

Hijack my thread much?