MIDI controller-maker Nektar has recently upgraded their DAW support, and extended the range of directly controllable Plug-ins and Rack Extensions.

New VST Plug-in Maps for Cubase / Nuendo. Nektar has added 54 insert and instrument maps to their VST plug-in collection, each “carefully handmapped at Nektar HQ:”

These maps not only give you tactile control but also in many cases improve the user experience over the software GUI. Take, for example, Xhun Audio’s LittleOne where you now can select the effect you want right from Panorama’s Instrument home page, plus you don’t have to click on a parameter to adjust it. Or the Sound Tower editors that already give great control over Dave Smith synths. You can now control the parameters right from your Panorama keyboard or control surface including arpeggiation and sequencing!

Reason Rack Extensions Support. New Rack Extensions have been launched recently for Reason and Nektar has an update ready. It includes the Korg Mono/Poly, and the updated version of Propellerheads’ own PX7.

Presonus Studio One Template. Nektar Panorama’s Internal mode can be used to set up MIDI presets to control any MIDI-compatible device:

An Internal mode Studio One template for Panorama has been available for quite some time but we realized recently that we could improve it to provide a workflow much more similar to how Reason and Cubase operate with Panorama. It’s of course not the same deep integration, since there is no parameter feedback however we consider it a substantial improvement over the previous template and are delighted to share it with our Studio One users.

A complete list of plug-ins, rack extensions, templates and more are available at the Nektar website.[Synthtopia]