Ardour for Mac6.6.0

This is primarily a maintenance release, although it does include several new features, including auto-show of touched parameters, tuning possibilities and keeping track of x-runs during recording. This release also sees the first official builds for Apple M1 systems. These are still experimental and are not part of the regular download system.

New features:

• Option to automatically show automation-lane when touching a control. (Edit > Show Automation Lane on Touch)
• Auto-shown automation parameters automatically put into touch mode upon graphically adding a new control point (this and the previous change makes editing automation much simpler/faster than it has been).
• Verbose cursor audio region peak display - press Alt or use internal edit mode ('e' shortcut) to see audio peak levels in an audio region.
• Keep track of xruns (overruns/underruns) per file when recording
• Option to how x-run markers in regions.
• Show x-run count in source-list by default.
• By default, don't create timeline x-run markers.
• Show per-region x-run markers by default.
• ACE Fluidsynth plugin can now process MIDI sysex messages, in particular MIDI Tuning Standard (MTS) messages.
• New Lua script to send tuning defined in a Scala file as MTS messages.
• New Lua script to send arbitrary 12TET tuning (A = XXX Hz) as MTS messages.
• The density (pixels-between-lines) for the editor grid is now user-configurable.
• Ruler can now show 1/64th and 1/128th note positions when appropriate.
• MIDNAM file for the Moog Grandmother.

Improvements:

• Issues with snapping to grid fixed (or at least, dramatically improved).
• Improve MIDI note selection behavior to be more consistent with selection rules in general.
• Now possible to close & save even if the audio/MIDI engine is stopped.
• Eliminate/reduce fuzzy font rendering on many buttons (for HiDPI displays)
• Improving sizing of certain GUI elements containing variable text.
• Improved appearance for the BBT ruler.
• Prevent additional mouse button presses while dragging from interfering with the drag.
• Add new user option to control whether or not the default transport speed is reset when stopping (true by default).
• Clicking an automation track when in object/grab mode now adds a new automation point, making line drawing easier.
• OSC: commands targeting "strip" or "select" now use the same code for better consistency.
• OSC: Allow to specify marker name
• Creating monitor-sends from templates now functional.
• Bail out if export cannot be started.
• Do not bother to render waveforms in tracks displayed with extremely small heights.
• video-export dialog: only show abort/progress when exporting.
• Safely handle removal of sidechain input.
• Ignore inline-display unless plugin-meta data explicitly mentions it.
• Do not allow feedback override on foldback sends.
• Add input port signal meters, scopes and monitors.
• Add option to skip MIDI track input auto-connect.
• Indicate that plugin-window MIDI keyboard is not recorded.
• Sort input port signal meters by port name.
• More use of port "pretty names" (user-assignable names for all ports)
• VKeybd: include port-name in dropdown.
• VKeybd: show pretty-name in port-connector.
• Implement dynamic input port meters.
• Micro-optimization: pre-calculate pan-law.
• Hide "Midi Through" ports on Linux only.
• Hide hidden ports in port-matrix.
• Report failed connections when reconnecting ports.
• Retain "Virtual Keyboard" pretty name across engine restarts.
• Update Ctrl-surface MIDI port list when ports change.
• Disable vertical autoscroll for UI (editor) elements where it doesn't make sense.
• macOS: fix setting app icon file on recent versions of macOS.
• macOS: explicitly ask for mic/input permissions.
• Expose resampler quality (read-only)
• Consistent naming of mixer strip processors used for disk reading/writing.
• Updated MIDNAM file for Waldorf Blofeld.
• Various fixes for the MSVC project files.

Bug fixes:

• Problems with playhead movement while rewinding fixed.
• Stop after locate-while-rolling now works (again).
• Prevent silentfile over-read
• Fix mix-buffers-with-gain FMA (SIMD) implementation to avoid crackling in some situations
• Fix implicit Vkeybd MIDI meta-data.
• Fix Faderport1 port-connection.
• Fix typo in vst3-scanner --help text.
• Fix Aux-send copy/paste.
• Fix mp3 and video-export (ffmpeg/ffprobe detection)
• Fix send panner when copying sends.
• Fix fader font-size.
• Fix bugs where multiple threads tried to read from the same AudioSource (file)
• Fix invisible multicahannel waveform at rec-stop.
• Fix default track name patterns, remove additional space.
• Fix crash when requesting disk/in monitoring of busses.
• Fix tracking-text offset.
• Fix typo in OSC gain feedback message.
• Fix deadlock during export.
• Fix latency compensation for newly created tracks when using the JACK audio/MIDI backend.
• Fix automation context-menu state when reordering plugins.
• Fix crash when detaching Editor or Mixer w/o session.
• Fix mixer initial group-tab display.
• Fix race condition when deleting tracks.
• Fix round-corner backround of insensitive ArdourWidgets.
• Fix renaming export timespans.

Improvements in the ALSA audio/MIDI backend:

• Set pretty port names for audio I/O
• Fix slave device lookup.
• Fall back to nearest available buffer-size, rather than report an error
• Explicitly list millisecond buffer-sizes (helps with some newer laptop builtin audio interface that only support millisecond-sized buffers).
• Allow selection of clock-source when using multiple devices
• Retain port-connections of slave devices.

Plugin-related changes & improvements:

• VST3
• Improve verbose scanner output.
• Allow multiple identical timer-handlers
• Allow multiple file descriptors per plugin UI
• Announce IPlugFrame interface support.
• Always pass buffers for all audio busses.
• Set I/O correctly.
• Pre-allocate AudioBusBuffers.
• Fix VST3 path customization.
• Fix plugin bus configuration.
• Use a proxy for connecting and passing messages
• Allow filename mismatch inside the bundle.
• Backport VST3/musl support
• LV2
• LV2 "uri-map" extension no longer supported.
• Fix LV2 boolean Atom values size
• Fix ACE.lv2 inline-display meta-data.
• Tweak fluidsynth performance on ARM CPUs.
• ACE Fluidsynth: consistent port-names.
• AudioUnits: Fix variable I/O instruments.
• VST2: relax MIDI port detection.

Lua scripting changes & improvements:

• LuaDSP use vectorized peak-finding.
• Add Lua bindings to modify plugin pin bypass/thru-map.
• Add Lua binding to get a file's basename.
• Luasession: load default session snapshot.
• Fix macOS Lua wrapper script env.
• Allow cast of ControlList to AL (for undo)
• Extend plugin parameter Lua bindings.
• Add Playlist::set_name() Lua binding & unique name check.
• Allow Lua bindings up to 11 args.

ProTools session import:

• Race condition (random crashes/issues) fixed while creating audio tracks.
• Track naming scheme improved.
• Progress bar now covers entire import process.
• Import -> Cancel -> Import workflow now possible.
• Fixed crash while bringing in audio material from PT session.

Translation updates:

• German.
• Chinese.
• Russian.