Developer Studiologic has released Numa Player 2, a free virtual instrument for macOS, iOS, and Windows, which is a free update to the original Numa Player (2022).
As I’ve said in the past, I’m a big fan of Studiologic; I think they release some incredibly underrated products.
For those unfamiliar with the original Numa Player, it’s a fairly impressive collection of sounds (mainly keyboard instruments) and effects wrapped in a tidy player that functions as a plugin in your DAW or as a standalone player.
With Numa Player 2, Studiologic has made improvements in several areas, primarily focusing on CPU performance and user workflow.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for an instrument with no improvements whatsoever, check out Broken Mini from Full Bucket Music; it’s broken as a, well, it’s broke.
The package remains essentially the same with four sound categories: Acoustic Pianos, Electric Pianos, Keys, and Strings & Pads.
In the acoustic piano section, you’ve got vintage and modern concert grand pianos, an upright, and a CP70-like electric grand.
Beyond the acoustic pianos, you’ve got lovely Rhodes sounds, Wurly tones, Clavinets, string ensembles, cellos, pads, and more.
The new advanced sound engine is perhaps the most significant upgrade in Numa Player 2. Studiologic optimized the new engine to take full advantage of your device’s multi-core processors for exceptional performance and ultra-low latency.
With multi-core mode enabled, you can use the new performance monitor in settings to check your system’s performance.
On the creative side, the more powerful Numa Player 2 allows you to create infinite zones for layering and splitting sounds. Managing zones is easy with independent sound parameters, keyboard ranges, MIDI settings per zone, and simple drag/drop/arrange/add/duplicate functionality.
You can add up to nine insert effects per part to create and save unique performance patches.
Insert effects include EQ, Stereo Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Wha Wha, Tremolo, Ping Pong Delay, Compressor/Limiter, and Distortion.
There’s also a Master FX section with Delay, Reverb, EQ, and Compression.
With so many zones, sounds, and effects, Studiologic’s new advanced MIDI learning system enhances your workflow by allowing you to easily map any parameter to any control.
I use a Numa X Piano GT (I highly recommend it; the TP/400 Wood Fatar keyboard is excellent), and the color-coded interface makes life so much easier.
Numa Player 2 has a similar color-coded interface that lets you assign a different color to each zone, which doesn’t sound like much, but with a complex arrangement, it’s very handy.
Numa Player 2 is available for macOS, iOS, and Windows.
Download: Numa Player 2 (FREE)
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