John1984

That was an easy decision! The only thing I think would have made the bundle better would have been including Pyst.

59 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

I like their eco system and loyalty.  For me Arturia are no brainers (not using common sense) and I buy their stuff.   I'll give them $29 any day over  Waves

Agree. I already own Rev LX-24 and Filter MS-20. So my upgrade from FX Collection 3 to FX Collection 4 is $49. I never hesitate with Arturia -- great people and great products.

Well, I wasn't going to grab Symphonic Shadows but the magic of autobundle makes it only $4 so why not.

The way I read this, you can purchase RX 10 Elements and use that as the basis of an upgrade to RX 10 Standard. I'd suggest you call Sweetwater and speak to someone there. (I usually speak with Cristian and he's been very helpful over the years.)

With two other Ostinato offerings in the line, I would expect them to have those at $25 each by weekend. That fires off a 20% discount on all four together.

8 minutes ago, Ftoompsh said:

I can't remember the last time i paid for an incremental update from Soundtoys.  New plugin or not. 

They basically want $59, no matter how long or how you've supported them.  Not their best move.

I understand your position, though I think differently for this case. To my way of thinking, I've been enjoying nice updates over the last couple of years at no charge. In this case, I don't view it as an update as much as an actual upgrade -- they are adding a pretty stellar plate reverb plugin that I'm sure got the same level of attention in development as the other members of the Soundtoys family.

I know others will feel differently, but I'm very happy to pay $59 to add it to my bundle.

On 4/15/2023 at 10:49 AM, Leizer said:

I don't understand. I have soundtoys 5.2, do I have to pay 499 bucks to upgrade to 5.4? 😅

What am I missing in 5.2 vs 5.3?

I have little plate, do I have to pay 59+59 to get it integrated with the effect rack?

If you are on 5.2 you can already move to 5.3.9 (the latest upgrade for all Soundtoys v5 owners):

https://www.soundtoys.com/soundtoys-5-3-9-update/

From what I read, Soundtoys v5.4 will add Super Plate (currently 21 plugins, in 5.4 it's 22 plugins.) So, $59 to add it.

23 minutes ago, Barrie said:

Price is $30 on the site.

You are correct. Thank you. Fixed. 

The aleatoric instrument flash sales continue. I'd not heard Symphonic Shadows until this morning.

https://8dio.com/products/symphonic-shadows

We are offering up to 50% off all software and sound libraries sold through the KORG Shop during our Spring Sale.

https://www.korg.com/us/news/2023/0413/

(Good through April 27, 2023 and includes Korg Collection 4 at 25% off)

14 minutes ago, chris.r said:

Forcing a payment for downloading updates of products already purchased is a kind of disregard to the customer.

As I learned early last year, the products (and updates) are not affected by the 180-day download window.

But when I wanted to set up a new computer with my IK bundle, the download window for the sound libraries had expired. $9.99 - Jam points got me sorted. And this time, I made a backup copy. (And that was the first thing I did when I upgraded to 3.5 and began downloading that package.)

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/faq/index.php?id=867

1 hour ago, User 905133 said:

Between yesterday and today I did some comparisons of a couple of the new pricing options.  My calculations overwhelmingly support @Bruno de Souza Lino 's assertion  over @John1984's assertion. 

Understood. For me, it may have been a couple of cases of "good timing" when it comes to what I paid. Poster child for YMMV.

2 hours ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

IK is famous for being very attractive price wise when it comes to new customers. Once you're already in, you're constantly shafted by new customers getting better deals than you. User retention doesn't seem to be a priority for them as it stands out.

My personal experience is completely opposite your description. My upgrade from TS MAX 2 to TS MAX 3.5 last November was so low one would have thought it was a glitch. My interaction with support has been nothing but positive. The app leaves me frustrated sometimes, but it's reliable. Overall, my experience with IK has been better than NI.

43 minutes ago, Greg said:

I resisted getting anything after buying TS Max 3.5. Couple of new things here. Most interested in Modo Bass 2 and Joe Ciccareli  Vocal Chain.  

Same here. And when I look at the additions to 4 MAX, a $299 upgrade from 3.5 MAX is a non-starter for me. In November I upgraded from 2.0 MAX to 3.5 MAX for $99 -- that's the number for me unless they add quite a bit more.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/ts4/index.php?p=compare

3 hours ago, Promidi said:

What one has to ask oneself, at the end of the day, does one really need another reverb?

If someone asks you how many reverbs you have and you can actually answer that question, you don't have enough reverbs.

3 hours ago, dumbquestions said:

Waves back on at 3rd parties?

https://everyplugin.com/plugins/shopby/manufacturer/waves.html?p=2

Back up at Sweetwater, too. Interesting to me is that Best Service -- arguably the most prominent part of this saga -- lists no Waves plugins.

6 hours ago, simon said:

it's possible to make WUP work for you if you're careful  (of course it's just my 2p )

This was certainly true before this mess and I hope it remains true. As others have mentioned, oftentimes buying a new plugin (or set of plugins) made more sense than WUP.

In my most recent case, WUP for my Horizons bundle was $187. But in my upgrades offers, I had an opportunity to upgrade to add the Restoration bundle to my primary bundle for only $86. So I essentially got the WUP for a $101 discount and the Restoration bundle for free. 

All of these weird upgrade paths have unintended consequences (a lot like the current Cinesamples frenzy.)

8 hours ago, Grem said:

This reminds me of the free plugins format. Since it's intro, haven't heard much about it. 

So this may make a big splash and then....

The 800-pound gorilla will likely continue (kontinue?) to be Kontakt.  That product goes back 21 years and that's a very long time to incorporate an impressive series of technology improvements and a list of features under the covers. I applaud anyone willing to take on a task like Freetakt because there are too many vectors that lead to any meaningful adoption -- it's a hell of a long road. 

Were I interested in turning any of the recordings I've made over the years into sample libraries, I haven't yet seen anywhere near enough detail that would compel me to invest my time and energy. Too many unknowns. In the mean time, Kontakt does what it says on the tin. Encoding and license fees are the overhead to maintain both the platform and provide a library its copy protections. After studying the fee schedule, I find little to object to.

6 hours ago, kitekrazy said:

 Since most of us stopped getting emails from Waves I wonder if they will do what the Wusik guys does and still find a way to send them.

For some reason I have gotten none of the Waves emails prior to this cluster (other than registration stuff.) Post-cluster I only received pseudo-replies to the Sales and Support tickets I raised. I checked my account and I didn't turn off email notifications and none have landed in my Junk folder. Clearly this is personal.

12 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

He stopped carrying them for  a short period some time ago.  He's also on the slow side maintaining the site.    I use to buy mine from Koby.  He's removed all Waves.   BTW there was also a vendor called Waves Universe.  I could think of many titles to rename that site.

Optics.

And, oddly, JRR still lists 134 Waves plugins for sale.

The question I have yet to find an answer to is who, exactly, is behind this effort.

Just a suggestion for anyone who may have picked up Samplitude Pro from the recent Humble Bundle deal: you can upgrade to Samplitude Pro X7 Suite for $189.24. That's a bit of savings off of Magix's own upgrade price.

Suite brings in a ton of extras, including full versions of Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 9 (list $299) and Convology XT Complete (list $469). The full Samplitude Pro X7 comparison chart is here:

https://www.magix.com/us/sem/samplitude-pro-x/new-features/version-comparison/#c1424278

I have the Soundpaint version of this and like it -- most certainly a unique instrument. I got the Soundpaint version for $20 because the Kontakt version was list price. But at $20? Not even a question about it. The only thing I need to do is wait between now and Sunday afternoon to see if there are any additional flash sales I'll want to add to the cart to potentially lower the overall cost.

https://www.waves.com/news/perpetual-waves-licenses-are-back

Update – March 30, 2023: Updates for Perpetual Plugins & Bundles Are Available

We would like to update you that effective immediately, you can once again renew your Waves Update Plan in order to update perpetual plugin and bundle licenses. This option will remain in place going forward.

In addition, we are working to bring back the option to purchase new perpetual licenses for plugins and bundles. This option will exist side-by-side with the new Waves Creative Access subscriptions. We are devoting all efforts to making the perpetual option available to you again as quickly as possible, and will let you know as soon as it is ready. Please check back for updates on this page.