antler

Welcome back, Larry!

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I understand the purpose of limited-time flash offers (i.e. to trigger FOMO). But to do one for less than half a day - i.e. leave out potential customers who've gone to sleep for the night - seems a little bit too short. But what do I know? In any case, I don't have the products required to use these anyway.

If you watch the AMA (at least from around 18:00 mins), they say they won't be doing the lifetime licence again. They used the funds to build up their product to where it is today; their gift to these 'founders' is that they never have to pay for any of Musio's updates again. All customers from that point will have to pay for Musio 1, Musio 2, etc... and/or subscribe for new instruments.

Are they still using that strategy? I got the impression they're pretty much fully committed to Musio now. Also, some have no Kontakt equivalent, e.g. CineStrings Pro, Women of the North (the female counterpart to the Men of the North library). As you've mentioned, they are targeting the non-established composer end of the market; they have podcasts on subjects pro composers would already have knowledge on, e.g. the business end of getting into composing.

Much of it's already there - at least the cinesymphony series. There are a few Musio exclusives too.

I'll try... EZXs are typically processed and cut down 'ready-to-use' versions of SDXs. If that's so with this one, you can make the corresponding SDX sound pretty much like the EZX. If it's not, you should find you can get some way there depending on which SDXs you have. By using the SDX versions, you force yourself to learn to process drums, as well as being able to be more flexible with the outcome; in both cases, you become a better audio engineer. (not sure if it worked, but I tried...)

Where did you find this information from? Is there a thread on the Presonus forum?

Does that include iZotope and PA, which now fall under NI too?

You're right about Lead Architect. It's more about the add-ons you can no longer buy (not everyone can say installed to every plugin 😁); see this post:

If you renew every year, you pay ~200 per year. Perpetual is ~300-400 for the first purchase. Then ~150 for an upgrade, which typically doesn't come out every year. (This assumes they'll continue with upgrade pricing. When CorelDRAW went sub, upgrades were discontinued; you can still buy a perpetual for full-price though. But, it's important to note these are different markets.) It's arguable you don't need to renew every year as you'll get a perpetual for the core product. But if you use any sub-only features, my assumption is you also won't be able to open your projects.

Hmm... Seems I didn't read the fine-print. Yes, that does sounds a bit rubbish, and also very much like why I don't like the all-or-nothing subscription model. It's possible to mitigate by using the core plugin suite and/or third-party plugins only, but losing access to the extras without an option to buy separately sounds like a dark pattern to me. It seems so on the face of it, but it depends: I don't think they release a major version every year, which possibly makes a standalone Pro licence cheaper in the long run as you don't have to pay the subscription fee every year. Also, they might review feedback from this move to determine whether or not sub-only is a feasible route. ... and/or WUP-lite. They promise bugfix patches (e.g. 1.1 -> 1.1.1), but why would they release such patches for past releases (e.g. 1.1.2, when 1.2 is live)? I like S1, but I'm not sure about this direction they're moving in.

Generally, I love SL libraries. But I've already got a quite few brass libraries.

Too bad - I had Retro Mix Legends on my wishlist. Ah well, I've got console strips, etc. from PA, United Plugins, AudioThing, and probably some others I've forgotten about.

Cool. I've always been tempted by those and wondered why they didn't do a bundle. But all sounds in one instrument is better, because it gives more possibilities. Sadly though, it'll have to go on my wish-list for now; I'm a bit overspent at the moment.

Thanks. I wasn't sure why they'd be collecting emails to download the now discontinued plugins if they're (sadly) shutting down shop.

They've also included a new subscription offering: Studio One+ Hybrid. Looks like if you stop paying, you get to keep the current version of S1 you had. Not sure if you get minor-version updates, but this is a nice idea.

Possibly because by now, the start-up VST scan takes over a day 😁

Thanks for the insight. I'm coming at this from both the perspectives of someone new to Cubase, and a hobbyist who hasn't done that many orchestration projects. What you're saying does make sense with the parallel of hardware ports in mind, and can see how this could be a useful indicator, especially in larger projects and/or with shorter timescales. And this is an example of why I ask for opinions of those more experienced than I; thanks to all who've contributed.

Sound advice (no pun intended). I've decided to give it a go. I realise I probably won't touch every feature though, simply because I might not know about them to use them, and so would appreciate hearing about any unique/'must-have' features if anyone has any insights. There are a few posts saying the MIDI capabilities are really advanced, but I'm not sure which ones specifically they are - from what I've read, I've so far seen the logic editor it one of the most powerful features. Edit: also, there's a lot to go through if I want to take advantage of the Best Service Easter codes which are available up until 1 April. Very true. So far, I'm finding the UX and concepts to be a mix of S1 and Sonar, which is understandable from its heritage. But coming from S1, it feels there's a need to be very explicit - e.g. deleting a send doesn't move the sends below it up; it leaves a blank space. Not saying it's 'bad': I expect the concept works well for the user base; it's just seems a bit strange to me at first. I found that really confusing at first - I click the X, but the dialogue pops up again.

Give Acon Digital Acoustica a go - there's a 30 day trial if you're interested https://acondigital.com/products/acoustica

There's nothing to stop them (or any software version) going to 7.10.0 - the middle number (usually denoting minor version) typically isn't restricted to being a single digit.

Please let us know if there's anything you find truly unique.

Glad to see they're trying to address some of the fears around subscriptions. #3's a smart move too.

Could someone explain why I might like Cubase if I have Studio One Pro? (Please bear in mind I've enough third-party plugins to make 'better stock plugins' not an overly compelling argument for me.) Also, I heard they got rid of the dongle. What's the copy-protection system now?