Whoa! Metro!, Another hat in the ring... Options

[Levon River]

Metro 6.0 is on the way, with 64 tracks of audio for OS X. Here's the lowdown:

http://www.sagantech.biz/metro/products.htm

For those with no acquaintance, Metro started as the MIDI-only companion program to Deck when they were both developed and owned by the same company before it sold out (literally--take it figuratively if you like). I got them both back then, and actually liked Metro's handling of MIDI editing, better, really, than in any other program I've used (which is most of them).

Both Metro and Deck have gone through several different hands (I think; couldn't keep track), and somewhere along the way Metro got audio added to it. Conversely, Deck never got MIDI added to it. (Are you marking your scorecard?) But Metro with its audio capability has never even been in the running with the Big Four.

But now comes Metro 6, all decked out (pun intended) for OS X, with VST and Audio Unit support--and with a built in video editor. Say what?!

It appears Metro has changed hands again, too, to a company called Sagan Technology, while version 5 is still in the hands of Cakewalk. (Dickens should only be alive to write the story of Metro, which would no doubt be made into a musical.)

And I'm just beginning to wonder if Audio Units aren't going to level the playing field like a steam roller. No telling what Metro's price point is going to be, and there's no information I can find on when it's predicted to ship, but there's a pre-release demo available for download on the web site above. And if the price is right, and it's stable, this could be a very attractive program for many home and project studios.

Most of this post is speculative, but consider the price you're paying for it. Why, it would be a bargain at twice that.

I don't have the time at the moment to play with the demo, but if Metro's earlier MIDI-editing features have been preserved throughout its various orphanings, I find this all getting much more interesting...

[xingu]

Just to add a little to the story, Jeremy Sagan was Metro's developer. Cakewalk hired him back in 1997 when they bought the software. Version 6 will be called Beyond, which is apparently what the original program was called before it became Metro. And yes, it does seem that Sagan Technology has split off from Cakewalk...

Jeremy informed me that Beyond 6 should be available by the end of the year, although pricing hasn't been established yet. Hopefully (for us non-pro types) it will be in line with Metro 5, which is currently selling for (based on a quick scan) anywhere between $170 to $250. Then again, I haven't had time to actually check out the demo yet. Anybody else?

[kaboombahchuck]

I'm really glad to hear that there will be a metro for OS X. I am using metro 5 in OS 9, and have been happy with all of it's offering so far. With the 64 tracks audio and 99 tracks offered in 5, the midi goodies and the vst plugs, sounds like they won't be making many changes in 6, but we'll see.