LABS by Spitfire Audio Has a New UI
I don't know when did I miss that, but today when I tried to open up my LABS from Spitfire Audio, it didn't find any sounds and gave me an error "Error #1 Something went wrong"
It turns out, that the company has a fresh new green look and a re-designed app/VST. The old VST will not work properly or more likely at all when you try to use it.
Troubleshooting
I deleted all the folders with the presets, sounds etc which was located under the C:/Users/*myusername*/Spitfire/Spitfire Audio - LABS
The directory might be similar to yours, so just pasting it over here so it might help you find yours.
Basically, I deleted all its contents.
I downloaded the new VST installer from their website https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/, using my existing login details. I installed it where I install my VSTs and plugins. The above directory is for where the VST will download the contents (sounds). You can change that in the settings once you log in into the VST.
The Plans
They now offer a LABS+ plans together with the now “legacy” free plan.
I think LABS has amazing instruments even on the free version, especially that Soft Piano. You can also play demos of the sounds which come with the paid plan before you decide to upgrade.
There are some incredible sounds that can be found there, I have to say. Some sound very professional.
Now back to the installation.
After I installed the VST, I restarted Ableton, waited for it to scan the plugins so that it detects the new LABS. I then opened labs, and was greeted with a login screen. I put my credentials and voalla, the new UI is there.
From there I had to re-download every sound that I liked using the simple browser. They even had a tick to view my downloaded-only sounds. Which was great. This is much better experience than what we had before. I could listen through the demos, sort out by instruments, filter by free vs labs+ and so on. Plus, the new images are kinda fun.
When you chose and instrument, the UI is very close to what we had before, except that the UI is more green now :)
Overall I recommend this free VST with optional upgrade plan.