Magic Russ

I believe their plan was that Synth Master 3 would combine SM2 with Synth Master One.

Although I was reading that the new CEO for the combined NI/iZotope company Mark Cattini, is described as having "a knack for focusing and accelerating SaaS businesses in ways that other executives often overlook". https://www.kvraudio.com/focus/native-instruments-and-izotope-unify-leadership-teams-53193

There's a fine line between 'no brainer' and 'heavily discounted crap', though.

My strategy is pretty much the same as previous years Pick up a few SynthMaster presets in the November sale Get whatever EZ Keys module is going for $29 this year. Same for the EZKeys Midi packs that have been on sale for $10. Look to see if there is a good deal on the AAS Modular synth. Get all the freebies which sound useful, in particular the ones from Arturia, NI, and the annual free soundpack from AAS. Skip the freebies which duplicate stuff I already have. Remind myself I already have more than I need, in fact more than I could have dreamed of having when I was starting out. And I am not going to buy another delay, compressor, or eq. Look at my PayPal account and reassure myself I didn't go that much farther over budget than I expected. As for wishlists: I really would have liked EZ Bass to have come down a bit more.

bumpworthy. Plus here's the link (edited to go to page 1): https://vi-control.net/community/threads/tiger-the-frogs-categorized-alphabetized-list-of-november-2021-sales.116454/

Echoes is great, and totally worth EUR 17. "Normally €112" seems like a bit of a stretch though. Right now most vendors have it at $99.

I hope this doesn't take the place of their regular holiday freebie.

It looks like I will have 7 slots left, and all to choose from will be Sampletank titles. I picked up Spaceport 77 and the Cinikinetik series. I also have all the stuff that came in SampleTank 3. Any recommendations for the remainders?

The vast majority of the effects in the Drive and Vibe pedals are very much emulations of old gear with a few bells and whistles added. Names like Cat, Muff Fuzz, Phasor 9, and Fox Phaser kind of give that away. The delays model tape and analog delays and the reverb pedals model springs and plates, These are definitely models of old gear, although not always based on a specific piece of gear. They want to get into the hardware pedal market, and realized that it's a selling point that you can have the same sounds on your pedalboard as on your computer, thus Amplitube integration. People may complain about the price points, but compare the delay pedal to Line 6's DL-4, both of which are priced at $300.

Not me, but I might consider trading the other IK tapes for these.

Regarding the Joe Satriani, it gives you an updated version of the 5150 amp, a Rockman, and the Satch VM. The VM is actually fairly versatile. There's a freaky octave fuzz in there, the Boss overdrive which isn't part of A5, and the Chandler tube driver. A few decent drives if you don't want to go full metal. Many people who like JC-120s will tell you that the one in CFH is really good. I haven't played the Randall much, but if I remember right, it's good for really clean or heavy grind and the points in between are best skipped over. I think the standout in that package is the MXR Flanger/Doubler, and the noise gate is pretty decent. As far as the X-Drives go, they aren't just a repackaging of Amplitube effects. In some cases, the models are improved. For example, the Cat in X-Gear is much better sounding and more versatile than the Pro Drive from Amplitube. I'd say the same thing for the Big Muff model. Of course there are some X-Gear models that they don't have in Amplitube, especially in the reverbs and delays. The X-Vibe is probably the least essential as many of its effects are covered with Amplitube.

Are you sure you shouldn't just be leaving it on at this point?

It's tempting to dismiss these as just repackage goods. "OH, look, another Rat model". It turns out that model has 4 pages of hidden parameters.

I was all set to pass up the GB, but adding the software pedals pulled me in. Too bad the girls are having a sleepover in the basement and I won't have a chance to try them out for a while.

I haven't had a chance to really check them out, but definitely X-Gear. The tape machines can be a bit subtle for many.

Yesterday Pete confirmed that the X-Gear (software only) pedals will be available as freebies. It looks like they will be at the $149 tier.

I just got an email which seemed to imply that the XGear software pedals were now available as a free option for the Group Buy, but I did not see anything like that on the website. Is that correct?

I bought a second CD of Wilco's Sky Blue Sky once. Also I've had copies of Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD, and this obscure tape cartridge format I can't even google.

but is it good enough to be posted twice?

I think I have both bases reasonably covered. Maybe I should forgo the lagniappe and buy the upgrade for $40 less for BF.

This is the Cakewalk forum after all. Anyone who's been here more than 3 years knows that story fairly well.

So Hive or Repro?

Not to mention that a lot of their products are 70% off.

I picked it up when Cakewalk was going through bankruptcy. I enjoy it because it reminds me of Project 5. It's mostly straightforward but the things that aren't can be maddening until you figure out. And by figure out I mean google the answer and commit to habit. I never upgraded past version 2, though, because they seemed more interested in making it into a modular environment than adding features which would improve workflow.

They have been porting many of their plug-ins to VST3. Guitar Rig is not yet one of them.