Slate Digital sent their customers an e-mail with a status update on the development of the 64-bit AAX version of Virtual Tape Machine.

The goal was to have the upgrade available on the 20th of January but unfortunately Slate Digital didn’t make that deadline.

In a move to be fully transparent to their customers, Steven explains that all graphical elements of VTM and the functionality of the new 64-bit framework are finished. The last and perhaps most important thing they need to finish is the migration of the extremely complex algorithm.

There’s good news as well. Slate is not just doing a 1:1 conversion. Their goal is to improve the efficiency of the algorithm so that it has a much lower hit on your CPU. This optimisation is going well but they do not want to compromise sonics for CPU. That means a lot of extensive code testing which takes an enormous amount of time.

They now estimate to need another three weeks of testing to ensure that the VTM AAX and 64bit version is ‘rock solid‘. When that moment is there, Slate Digital will release a public beta for all to use.

No news has been given on VCC and FG-X. The last announcement was that VCC (Virtual Console Collection) will probably be released somewhere mid-February.

The FG-X Virtual Mastering Processor is their most complex plugin to port. This needs a total rewrite. Release date is estimated at early March.

To be honest, I don’t mind having to wait a bit longer. It’s always better to have some patience and work with steady software instead of having to work with an early release that is full of bugs. Thanks to Steven and his team for their hard work and the transparency of letting us in on the situation. I can’t wait to get my hands on the new and optimised version of VTM.