Stylus RMX is a completely new groove-based virtual instrument plug-in
for Macintosh and Windows. Stylus RMX is the first product to offer
the combined power of Groove Control™ with Spectrasonics Advanced
Groove Engine (S.A.G.E.™) technology giving users dramatic new
control over groove production and performance.
Spectrasonics’ in-house development team created the new
instrument from the ground up, with dozens of new features including
the ground-breaking Chaos Designer™, a completely redesigned
multi-page user interface, a new core library of sounds, all with
a focus on realtime groove creation and performance.
New Core library
The massive new 7.4 gigabyte core-library in Stylus RMX has thousands
of cutting-edge grooves and sounds that were created by Spectrasonics’
international sound design team, and produced by Eric Persing. The
new core library contains nearly triple the amount of sounds originally
offered in the original Stylus, and contains all the original material
as well. The new sounds and grooves in Stylus RMX offer a much wider
range of modern musical genres than the original Stylus. Mixes of
grooves are broken down into individual tracks called Elements for
flexibility and infinite combinations.
Also new in Stylus RMX are thousands of new Kit modules, 250 Kit patches,
as well as user Kit construction....Users can create their own customized
multitrack remix grooves and kits, save them into the plug-in, and even
share them with other Stylus RMX users on different platforms and hosts.
RMX 1.5 even comes with 500 new Multi grooves!
“Xpandable”
Stylus RMX marks Spectrasonics’ first expandable virtual instrument,
with a series of five new “S.A.G.E. Xpanders” for Stylus
RMX at $99US retail each. Stylus RMX also can be expanded with existing
Groove Control CD-ROM libraries and even REX files – which
opens the door for musicians to utilize their own audio loops within
the powerful S.A.G.E. Environment.
Chaos Designer™
Of the many new capabilities in Stylus RMX, possibly the most innovative
feature is the Chaos Designer™. With simple controls, the
user can introduce musical Chaos into the groove, which allows it
to have constantly evolving variations— giving the impression
that the audio grooves are improvising. The results can be subtle
or extreme by setting the simple to use controls. A Capture feature
allows the spontaneous audio chaos patterns to be made into a MIDI
file, dragged and dropped into the host sequencer, and played back
again for further editing by the user.
Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is Stylus RMX™?
It's a Virtual Groove Module plug-in, which combines a massive 7.4 gigabyte core library with a powerful, yet easy to use interface for manipulating the sounds in unique and innovative ways.
So is Stylus RMX basically a "preset" loop machine?
Not at all. The whole idea is to combine powerful flexibility, with an easy to use interface. You can easily think of RMX as the ultimate Groove creation machine! Because of the power of Groove Control™, you can easily create and manipulate your own grooves using the core library as a starting point for your own explorations. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are millions of possibilities. Stylus RMX is designed to be inspiring for many years to come.
Which libraries are included with Stylus RMX?
The entire core library in Stylus RMX is specially created for this virtual instrument. Nothing is from our previous sample libraries.
Is Stylus RMX only useful for Electronic styles?
RMX stands for “Remix”, so of course the focus of the core library is definitely on sound design and modern sonic elements. However, there is also a nice "hi-fi" selection of percussion loops and many single hit menus for use in many more traditional styles. Because of the flexibility of Groove Control and the wide variety of single hits, Stylus RMX has been successfully used in many traditional pop and rock settings too. There have been numerous hit records and filmscores that have featured the Stylus RMX core library in a vast array of genres. We’d recommend checking out the uses of Stylus RMX on the
audio demos page to hear it in a wide variety of styles.
Also, RMX can be expanded into more acoustic genres with the
SAGE Xpander series!
Does Stylus have Kits and Playable sounds?
Yes! Stylus RMX includes an extensive collection of over 250 hundred Kits, over 3,000 kit modules and over 10,000 single hits in “Sound Menus” - all of which are great for creating your own completely custom rhythm tracks. The focus of the sounds are decidedly in the “modern remix” category. Although you won’t find many “traditional” acoustic sounds with extensive multisampling, there is a nice section of acoustic percussion and some hi-fi cymbals too.
Is the Bonus material on the Xpanders unique to each title?
Each of the Spectrasonics SAGE Xpanders (
Metamorphosis,
Backbeat,
Retro Funk,
Liquid Grooves and
Burning Grooves) has a “Bonus Spectrasonics” library - which includes all of the
Vocal Planet and
Bizarre Guitar Groove Control material, a large selection of loops from the
Distorted Reality libraries and more previously unreleased material.
The
ILIO SAGE Xpanders (Big Bad Beats, Noizbox, Ethno Techno and Stark Raving Beats) all come with a different “Bonus ILIO” library - which features material from their Memphis Horns, Phat Fingers, World Winds, Transfusion libraries and more.
Do the SAGE Xpanders include new Kits or only Grooves?
All of the SAGE Xpanders include groove elements only.
What is the difference between the original “classic” Stylus and Stylus RMX?
Stylus RMX is a brand new instrument that has a new sound library, a new interface, many new features and is the first instrument to feature our newly developed S.A.G.E. technology. It’s completely new and includes all the original sounds of the original Stylus plug-in, which is now discontinued.
Is there an upgrade from Stylus to Stylus RMX?
Yes. You can find out the details our
Techshop.
If I upgrade my Stylus Classic to Stylus RMX can I later resell and transfer the license of either instrument used to someone else?
No. Customers who participate in a special upgrade program for any Spectrasonics virtual instruments are not eligible for license transfers either for the original instrument or its subsequent upgrade.
For example, if an original owner of Stylus Classic takes advantage of our special upgrade program to Stylus RMX, the owner is not permitted to resell either instrument and no license transfer will be granted.
What formats does Stylus RMX import?
Stylus RMX can import all the Groove Control® sample libraries and Propellerheads REX files as well... which vastly expands the capabilities of this instrument, since this opens up the potential of using your own audio loops and third party REX libraries.
Can Stylus RMX load Groove Control™ sample libraries?
Yes! They work great and work via a very simple one-time conversion. There’s no difference in quality between the conversion and the native SAGE Xpander versions of these titles.
The only missing material between the original Groove Control libraries and the new SAGE Xpander versions is the Bonus libraries and special multi patches that are included with the Xpanders.
Do I need a MIDI keyboard to use Stylus RMX?
No, you can use it completely with a mouse if you want. However, it is faster to use and more inspiring if you also use it with a MIDI keyboard, since Stylus RMX can be "performed" in real-time.
How much content is on each SAGE Xpander?
Each SAGE Xpander includes about 1GB of new grooves, except Burning Grooves, which has about 2GB of new grooves.
Does Stylus RMX use Copy Protection?
Yes, please see the
Licensing FAQs area of the Knowledgebase for more information on our system.
Does Spectrasonics allow for used sales/license transfers of Stylus RMX?
Please see the
Licensing FAQs area of the Knowledgebase for more info on our License Transfer Policy.
