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That's...a pretty douchey move. If go into partnership with PA, you *know* that your product is going to get massively discounted. I don't own it, but I'd be pissed if I did!

Clearly a company to avoid.

Numark Electronics, Alesis, ION Audio, Akai Professional, MixMeister, Alto Professional, Sonivox, Air Audio, M-Audio, Denon Professional, Denon DJ, Marantz Professional, Marq Lighting, Rane, HeadRush, SoundSwitch, ArKaos, BFD, engine DJ, Stanton, and now Moog. Almost sounds like the owner of inMusic has as much GAS as we do (or is it CAS in this case?).

Late to the party here, 32 pages late to be precise! I just wanted to pass on a massive thanks to Noel and the team for their focus on bug fixes and stability over the last few years. CbB has been rock solid. Your commitment to this piece of software and the community has been huge! 👏 Looking forward to the next chapter, I can't wait to see what's up next (no pun intended!)

+1, my feelings as well. What business is it of Deskew if an official reseller gave a discount - this is like saying screw PA and you and demanding the FULL retail price after "legitimately" purchasing it. I purchased GP3 listed at $69 for $44.99 after completing a survey for $25 off. Below is how I purchased GP4. Guess which crossgrade price they'll offer me - $199; $99; $70!? Again, depending on the Deskew/PA agreement, Deskew got the same money from PA whether PA used their own provided Loyalty/Survey Vouchers or not. Of course, I'm assuming and it may have been calculated proportionally, but it still stinks. The only caveat I see is that Deskew wisely distinguished the two versions from the start, i.e. PA version vs. direct purchase version even though they basically were the same. MAGIX used a similar technique recently with their "buy Samplitude ProX 7 for $299 and get ProX8 free." IF you purchased directly from MAGIX. I purchased X7 Suite for $159 through Safe Harbor in May. When X8 was released, MAGIX told me that it didn't apply to me since I didn't purchase it through them. SH told me to send them the invoice anyway and request the upgrade. I was pleasantly surprised to find my X8 serial in my inbox the next morning. It would be nice if Deskew would concede but I'm not holding my breath. At least they're consistent? I really like the program which allowed me to setup a live system using a Dell Micro PC, interface, and Behringer Motor 61 which I used to play VSTi's as well as mix FOH (3 layers of 8 motorized faders) and IEMs with VST FX (controlled by 3 layers of 8 knobs) and control playback of backing tracks (from the 3 layers of 8 pads and transport controls). Really pretty remarkable. But still.....this sucks.

i need a pallette cleanser after all this... black sabbath, paranoid, will set me right.

I can add: Acon Digital plugins, offline key Audio Assault, offline key Black Rooster Audio, offline key CableGuys, key file Dymai Sound, offline key E-Phonic, offline key eaReckon, key file Fuse Audio Labs, offline key GForce, offline key Joey Sturgis, nothing required Klanghelm, nothing required Kuassa, key file Martinic, key file PlugAndMix, offline key TBProAudio, key file Tokyo Dawn Labs, key file Toneboosters, offline key

BTW - Bapu, eat this...... Installed!

Having a license key doesn't always mean that the product doesn't also phone home during the registration process.

Blasphemy!

Harrison - DAW: nice workflow for mixing, license is file on disk - awesome, editing tools are being actively developed... I stuck on an early version but historically they used to offer a very good upgrade price so I probably will be looking for upgrading at a point, plugins: there is a problem as their plugins crash my Cakewalk to desktop, but hey, who said I can't use other tools: Audiority - no nonsense license file, updated, some good vintage stuff there AudioThing - license file, updated, nice selection of plugins and instruments Boz Digital Labs - serial, updated, anyone need recommendation? we're missing the Pro Channel versions, Mr. Boz! Final Mix Software - I think these come without any authorization, just install - like Hornet and Sknote Hornet - no authorization, great selection to choose from, updated Klevgrand - serial, updated, nice stuff there both, the instruments and effects Melda Production - license file, updated, versatile suite of plugins Overloud - great plugins, I think you can authorize directly from the plugin online but you've given an option for offline method and to authorize to an USB stick United Plugins - license file, updated, well worth looking into plugin selection and great prices on intro sales

Is the new version of Amp Room compatible with my old projects? Yes, the new version of Amp Room is fully backwards compatible which means that all your old projects will load up exactly as before. What happened to the old presets? For the release of the Amp Room Suites, we’ve completely revamped the preset collection with a set of great-sounding presets that will get you up and playing in no time. Want to access the presets from the previous Amp Room version? We’ve conveniently made them available to download here. https://www.softube.com/support/amp-room/amp-room-faq

So that means we can sell all our stuff and leave this forum?

The Sugarcubes - Birthday

So i paid good money for a product I need to pay for again to get updates now? I use gp4 live every week. Stuff like this is why i’m frozen on osx mojave. Wonder if Deskew’s decision is related to dealing with soundwide/Francisco partners instead of dirk, or something like that? Regardless, I shouldn’t be punished for someone’s finicky business decisions. Mainstage is $30 & performs many of the functions I need, I have no problem trying to make that work how i need it to (Yes this is my official breakup text, Deskew) Hope you & Waves enjoy a good life together.✌️

Think I said this already, but just to reiterate - many thanks to Jesse, Noel, Mark and all the Staff for staying engaged and providing as much input/details as they can. Don't think you'll find that much direct / hands on involvement from many software companies.

New from Toontrack is the SOUL ROADS EKX - A GO-TO SOUL STAPLE. Two instruments, MIDI and mix-ready presets. The entire scope of soul, embodied in one EKX for EZkeys 2. https://www.toontrack.com/product/soul-roads-ekx/ And for those who have previous EZkeys 1 sound expansion serial numbers squirrelled away, your old serial codes work for the new expansions!!!! I had an old code I bought for $35 over a year ago. The Toontrack project manager accepted it just fine. You might want to use your old serial codes before they correct/change this policy.

Yup.

I feel so litte.... Installed!

Not with a Player Library! If it goes below $40 I'll be surprised. The problem is that they've already spoiled us with "$3 Libraries" and that's going to hurt them IMO.

Spotted this on TWITTER .. Not a deal, well actually sort of because its all FREE This isn't just any old freeware round-up. We’re ditching the classics, going for quality over quantity and looking at some of the newest and most exciting free plugins around https://www.musicradar.com/news/build-music-studio-free-plugins Its a pretty extensive article, might show up some FREE plugins you dont have already that could be of interest

Plugin Alliance comes first to mind, especially great when on sale! I always thought Slate plugins are the direct competitor to T-Racks but they were always dongle'd so I avoided them until today, not sure it's still the case but for me too late. So I can't say if they are lighter or not since I don't have any.

$39 https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/53-Multi-Effect-/7052-Wires

The Cure - Lovecats

Another Tyson gem and my personal favorite: "Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it." The stage was set, but I have the feeling that since covid this holds an insane amount of truth.

Bingo. My guess is that the product isn't very profitable, PA discounts we're killing their margins, and they're now using this cross grade to make money back from existing users who became user via heavily discounted PA purchases. That's awful business practice. What they should do is offer free crossgrade, and then charge those customers when the product is updated to version 5. Ain't no way I'm paying MORE money for a product (specifically the product version) I already own, and paying a price reflective of the sales price I got it at. Lol. I doubt that's even legal. Not the consumers fault they signed a contract with PA.

Is there a major release version coming? Right now, there's no reason to upgrade since the latest PA version of 4.5.8 matches the latest Deskew version 4.5.8. I purchased GP4 for less than $99, so I don't qualify for a cross-grade--I don't think I'll rebuy a new version for full price. What I have works well enough for my purposes, which is mainly testing out plugins (since it has incremental scanning, it has the fastest scanning of new plugins), but I haven't delved into more complex setups. For keys, I think pretty linearly, in terms of inserts, and FX busses. So, for what I want, for just a simple VI preset selector within the context of a song set, Studio One Pro Show Mode or Steinberg Live Pro are much easier to set up, though those are not as mature as GP. I like GP, but not for $199. I also think the graphics could use a bit of polish.

I get the feeling they are out of touch with the value they provide to the vast majority of the customer base. The post also makes no sense suggesting on one hand the product is already rock solid and doesn't need updates while simultaneously telling us we need to pay full retail to get much needed updates and new features. So far, at my not eligible for crossgrade pricing I purchased it at, I'm still waiting for it to deliver even that much value to me personally let alone paying some crazy fee.

Agreed that these should be native functions. At some point we also intend to replace CAL with a modern scripting language. We're a small team and as you might imaging juggling two full DAW's has been a challenge the last few years

This thread is here to collect solutions that have ... 1. ... uncomplicated and future-proof offline authorization, ... 2. ... are well supported and maintained ... 3. ... and get active support and updates. One may be interested in having solutions like this to build a future proof environment. Overall quality and design / user experience may be important considerations, too. Please feel free to add products that you think fit this description.

Ok, so who in Europe used their VPN to pay as an American and screwed up PayPal for the US? I'll have you know that we Americans can screw things up on our own quite nicely. We don't need assistance. So next time let us handle it. What? Oh... Hmm, maybe that didn't come off as I intended.

@iNate - most clip automation operations can be done with the mouse, without having to revert to context menus. It's a matter of knowing when to use SHIFT or CTRL, and the hit-spots within the clip - i.e. bottom half, top half, and header. For example: Additionally, I tend to bind the "\" key to "Toggle Track/Clip Gain in the Edit Filter" so I can switch back and forward between clips and clip automation easily: As far as clip stretching - CTRL + SHIFT when dragging the ends of a clip will stretch the clip. Most clip operations (including stretching) can also be done in the clip inspector, and if more than one clip is selected, it'll change the properties of all clips in the selection.

InMusic has a sad record for diminishing value in brands like SONiVOX and AIR Music Technology. There was a period of six months or so back in 2016-17 when XPand!2 was given away for free at various places. Then it was sold for $1. It's a really good synth/rompler, but it sure devalued people's opinions of it. The SONiVOX strings were available at Plugin Boutique for $1 at that time. A whole string library. Okay, no legato... but a buck? Maybe InMusic makes a lot of money doing this, but people put their heart and soul into these instruments and they were thrown in the bargain bin. And look at SONiVOX's Big Bang Cinematic Percussion. There's a huge bug--they've known about it for almost a decade and won't fix it. So the workaround used to be easy to find online, but I just tried and I can't. Meanwhile they sell it for as much as $79.99. Still a good deal the next time it's $9.99 or less, though, if the bug doesn't bother you.

@PavlovsCat same here. I have the Rigid Audio Everything Bundle but don't really have a use for most of the sounds. I think their main focus are ambient sounds, drones, soundscapes and some experimental things. There are certainly people who are looking for exactly that but the majority of people who make music will want more ordinary instruments, I believe.

Let's put it this way. I'll never say never. If I see something I want and it's affordable for me I'll consider buying it. If the following year offers something I want I'll probably upgrade but a monthly sub is out of the question entirely for me. 😀 Oh, answering you first question: No, I never got anything past x3. When the CbB freebie came out I didn't want to upgrade because I thought there would eventually be a catch to it so I used the extra things that came with it very cautiously. Now I'm glad I did.

Anyone who bought into Gibson’s eternal updates - did you really believe they would support SONAR until judgement day? I figured that out in HS when other guys from the football team were selling gym memberships for life. It is an important lesson to learn “that which is too good to be true” usually isn’t. Even in HS it didn’t take too much thinking to figure out lifetime couldn’t work. Hopefully any user who believed Gibson learned a lesson that could save them a lot more in the future. yes, it still sucks but don’t burn your Gibson guitars in protest. as far as CbB, it is pretty funny users are upset that they might have to pay for a world-class DAW after 5 free years. Yea, I know that sucks too. Everybody loves free but that doesn’t provide much upkeeping. If you want your DAW to keep current you are going to have to pay something at some point. I don’t think BandLab owes any of us anything but I will be disappointed if they don’t make a generous deal for old users and the free users that they’ve built their product with. But not free. Since Cakewalk (jeez, what is the proper name for the EASY and Sonar company?) is still formulating pricing, I can just ask for them to be gentle but ignore all the threats of users leaving. If users can’t support Sonar or EASY let them find a better DAW cheaper (and let us know). as a P5 lover I have a hope EASY is similar to it, but Mac abled too. And provide the missing link between Mac world and the PC Sonar. That would be worth paying for.

The only thing that is keeping me from jumping on it versus using old amp rooms witch i love is the cpu hit , same setting is like 3 x the cpu hit And some sounds aren't even the same ....but the fact that they're dropping suppport for old one making me rethink .....last think i needed , droping 50 to an amp

Yeah their upgrade mentality sucks.. you could have every single plugin from the bundle and your upgrade price would still only be the price minus the most expensive plugin. I had been waiting to see this one and it's an easy pass. There's not enough unique stuff in there that couldn't be cherry picked in a sale for the most part. I now see why they retired some of their products right before releasing it as well..

I put the off topic stuff here: So we can get back to IKM in this thread.

One thing I'm trying, since the prices are much more accessible over last couple years, is to build an alternative plugin collection to the online only ones, that I can install and authorize any time with a simple license file on disk, so that I can even go back to the idea of building a completely offline workstation one day should I get fed up with subs and the like. There is quite a broad variety of choices there: United Plugins is giving best prices when on intro sale AudioThing have some intriguing plugins to look for Audiority good for some vintage flava Boz... can't be sure if it's challenge/response? Melda Productions maybe not exactly into vintage but very versatile Final Mix Software for quick effect Hornet Harrison, but some of them are buggy on my system Kazrog Klevgrand Overloud Sknote (didn't use them in long time though, but sound great once they work) ...and then there's a bunch of challenge/response type of plugins that need internet at least for authorizing, like Baby Audio or denise, Cherry Audio being probably worst of them because I can't see how I can install it offline - it's impossible!

Good idea... I have to check my PA account and see what I have, give the plugins a spin and investigate. Sometimes I am blind to what I already own... Weird.

go on have another, ylt - sugarcube

There's no crossgrade path from Gig Performer PA-locked to Deskew full Gig Performer - they are charging for crossgrading from PA Gig Performer UNLOCKED, which is pretty much the same software than Deskew Gig Performer, except with a different authorization method (PA login). I access their forums too, they seem to be nice people, and I can still see a lot of reasons to complain.

Also Steve Jansen's playing on his brother David Sylvian's Brilliant Trees:

Some of my favorite playing is from Alan White on Oasis' What's the Story Morning Glory? His version of the lazy Manchester beat is stellar. And often played with rutes instead of sticks. This is a different Alan White from the Yes drummer. Speaking of which, Bruford has played some pretty tasty stuff. Nigel Olsson with Elton John, Bonham, Moon (his stage presence very much influenced by Krupa), Ringo of course, Hal Blaine. I like Peart, it's tough to be that complex and still serve the music, which I think his playing did. Whoever played drums on American Analog Set's Promise of Love. I have listened to this song many times on headphones, playing along on my Slingerlands: Tony Allen's playing on this track from AIR's Pocket Symphony (this version cuts off the intro somewhat, but it doesn't hurt it much). Allen had a history that included playing with one of music's most evil assholes, someone I won't even mention, but he tears it up here:

I completely agree with you. Buddy is not one of my favorite jazz drummers. I prefer Gene Krupa, Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Joe Morello. But my mother was a musician and took me to see Buddy Rich for my birthday, and he was technically amazing to watch. But yes, I thought his playing was all about technique and not much about feel and playing from the heart. Joe Morello was the opposite (don't get me wrong, he had great technique, he just wasn't a show off; Buddy was an egotistical drummer; Joe's playing reflected humility and put the song first) stylistically, and I greatly prefer his playing.

But Gene Krupa was better😎

Oh noes, Wikipedia contradicts itself: "The song, "One Bad Apple", written by George Jackson, was composed in the style of The Jackson 5 (it was not originally offered to The Jackson 5, though the Osmonds would later state that The Jackson 5 considered recording it)." My faith in the infallibility of Wikipedia is hereby shaken. When the song came out, I was in elementary school, and came up with the alternate lyric "One road apple...."

Mike Tyson said it better "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." At least this resonates with me more (I wonder who really came up w/ it).