antler

Anyone have any opinions about SpringAge?

Could be wrong, but I think the only time I saw it cheaper was when Overloud was doing a special because the future of Sonar was uncertain.

Thanks for taking the time to listen - I generally use Insight to target an Integrated Loudness of -14 LUFS for each song. Yes, you're right: different genres tend to have different targets. I read an article a while ago that generally hinted that classical music was the quietest, at around -22; whereas the latest pop/rock was targeting somewhere between -10 and -12. That said, this was probably when the loudness wars was more prevalent, and streaming services have probably helped to lower the target a little. I'm pretty sure that different services have different levels still though, as products such as Mastering the Mix's Expose wouldn't exist otherwise.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point, but I do sort of agree with the standards protecting your hearing. If we were to say (for sake of argument) that the standard is -14 LUFS, people/systems will at least try to adhere to it. If there was no such thing whatsoever, people would mix to whatever feels good on that day; you might end up with a mixed playlist with a track targeting -22 LUFS (which you really enjoy and turn up), to be surprised by the next song on the playlist that targeted -10 LUFS.

I'm not entirely sure that lowering the price of Kontakt would make a huge difference to that market as a whole. I'm thinking people who make music for a living want a fairly diverse range of high quality instruments. Some Kontakt instruments can be fairly pricy: I've seen choirs between $300 - $500, a high quality suite of orchestral instruments would probably amount to more than $3000.

Purely out of interest, what's wrong with the website? It's a little information-sparse, but gives a general overview of the things on offer. The colours don't clash, and it works with smaller window sizes as well.

You can only add instruments with Player licenses to the Kontakt Library. As these are no longer available for that drumkit, you'll need the full version of Kontakt to use this (you can still open it without, but it will only demo for 15 mins). You'll need to locate the instrument's .nki file from the Files tab on the left panel and load that.

I don't think the recent change in leadership had anything to do with a fee suddenly being charged for a Player license (which in turn caused Sennheiser to stop offering the Player version of their drumkit) - the Player license has been there for a long time (otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many free-but-requires-full-kontakt libraries in the past).

I don't have BBCSO (any edition), but I seem to remember seeing that the full version doesn't run that smoothly on Windows - better so on Mac; things may or may not have changed. If you were to move from The Orchestra to The Orchestra Complete, you'd go for the upgrade which is a bit cheaper than the crossgrade. I don't see why they'd block this, but you could always wait a week/month before doing so.

Are you sure? (I've heard) Player licenses are expensive - maybe they're cutting costs? Or could it be related to the 'legacy' copy protection systems NI are phasing out?

Don't know how they would know how many emails are opened - unless they add tracking bugs into their emails. Anyhoo... I guess email notifications is something that can be added to the graveyard https://killedbygoogle.com/

Does anyone know if The Orchestra Complete ever goes on sale, or is it just as much a bargain to pick this up at this price and then upgrade?

Not sure why someone would want MODO Drum, MODO Bass, and their SE versions. Don't get me wrong, MODO Drum/Bass are great, but their SE versions are just cut down versions; it doesn't make sense to me why someone might want both the 'full' and the 'reduced' versions.

Vernon, are you running in an incognito browser, or have a strict cookie policy? That might interfere with the Captchas. Or is it a rubbish test? I've had some that say something like click all the busses, but then give tiny dots in each square that might be a bus. As for the B3, is there any advantage to having each manual and pedals on a separate MIDI channel? You can still have separate tracks in SO, but feed them all into the same channel. Unless I'm misunderstanding something, the separate MIDI channels in Kontakt/Sample Tank are necessary as each channel usually plays a different instrument, but in this case, each manual and the pedals all play the same instrument (i.e. the single B3) don't they?

Hey @Peter - IK Multimedia, not sure if IK want to rethink their one-line description of AmpliTube SVX on their website - it's probably just me, but when I first read Low-end gear collection for AmpliTube, I initially wondered why it was being described as inferior/entry-level software; then I realised it meant it was suitable for lower frequencies

The acronym for Internet of Things (Internet enabled fridges and stuff like that) is IOT; take away of Things, and it looks like you're left with just I.

I think Dark Prophecy is a one-day special at $68; Hybrid Tools IV looks like a slightly longer-term sale at $98

Is HALion dongle free? I thought Steinberg loved their eLicenser and had all of their flagship software on it - or is only the trial dongle free?

I think Vernon's right - the freebie is if you buy something > $198. If it's like their previous similar promotions, you don't add it to your basket: they just email you the serial after your purchase, in addition to your other serial(s). Also, don't forget to also use their bundle maker promotion code, if your purchase applies.

Any idea how long the NewPassword coupon is available for?

Try GROUP, or maybe FORUM 😜

That limitation is mostly true of all software packages though.

Forgot to mention: Authy also has a Windows desktop app, and a Chrome extension you can use if you want (in addition to your mobile); you aren't limited to only phones

If you end up using 2FA, check out Authy: https://authy.com/ Some 2FA apps are tied to a single phone, meaning if you lose it, you're stuck. Authy lets you create an account, which you can share with multiple devices.

One idea, as Matthew suggested, would be to use a cloud based one. LastPass often comes recommended, though there are others too. https://www.lastpass.com/ Another word of advice is to think before using the one that might come with your antivirus package - it's probably very good and safe, but if you ever change your A/V, migrating passwords is going to be a pain