lawajava

Lee - with the zillion low cost preset packs - a wide range of styles are available with Spire, not just Trance.

Sometimes I think of Spire as like having Vengeance Avenger-level amazing sounds - without all the out of control automation.   Of course when I want all that pre-programmed out of control goodness I have Avenger or Dune.

But to have great sounds at the fingertips and not need to turn off a bunch of automation, and at a very economical price, Spire always comes through for me with great sounds (and easily favoriteable presets). So I use it often.

I have it already - but a reminder some had interest in Broken Wurli and were waiting for a sale.

@Fleer - this is a "by the way" - but I just looked and I have 4 of the at least 10 Reveal Sound preset libraries that are all Plucks.  So you can roost in your chicken house with Spire.

For some suggestions for others (I would suggest firstly that you get Spire when it's on sale, and then wait for a Reveal Sound store sale when everything is substantially discounted to grab some presets).  But who I have a bunch of presets from each for Spire:

Howard Smith, Reveal itself, Bellatrix Audio, Freak, Freshly Squeezed Samples, Patchbay

And then I have a bunch of one-offs, and two-offs - like from the usual providers like Luftrum, Plugin Guru, New Loops, AZS

One of the reasons I like Spire so much (in addition to the sounds being so useable) is that there is a universe of add-on preset packs and they are often (in various up to 50% sales through the year) super, super affordable - like in the $10 to 12 range.  I have no idea how many add-on preset packs I have accumulated, but way more than for other synths.  They also are pretty consistently full of great sounds.  One example of the contributors is Howard Smith - he has a a number of very excellent packs.

I've easily used at least one or more Spire tracks on every song I've created for the last couple of years.

But it is!

My favorite synth.

41 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

 It's a phrase player and not a brass library.

Also individual sounds and not phrases can be played.  But agreed it’s not a traditional library with all the different instruments broken out.

The walk through video is both hilarious and convincing.  A winner!  UJAM should win an industry award for best product intro YouTube videos.

I have it the collection and the head tracker.  If for nothing else it’s fun.  I have tried in mixing a few recent songs and I think it helps. I can’t say I’ve done a heavy analysis.  But more than that it’s amusing. It puts a smile on my face when I’m trying it.

Obviously, just by the nature of it, you get more perspectives on different speaker sounds and how the mix translates with those selections.

@Fleer  you’re poking us with a provocative and ridiculous idea.  Glad you feel weightless without installing your treasure trove of incredible Kontakt sounds!

Yeah, I see your point. I visited their site and I see no mention of the 3 for 2 not applying. Seems like an oversight in which case you all have a fair point.

I wouldn’t think the 3 for 2 would apply for items they have on a special discount.

I don’t know how to qualify good for another’s ears with this one.

Usynth does have a generous free trial period. And Drive, this is a free module, is free to keep. So anyone can try it.

I’ve selected a number of presets and not been impressed. Other presets sound great. Interestingly in some cases the not so interesting presets when I turn some of the simple dials can become quite interesting to the ear.

It’s a different approach. Kind of like if someone handed you a guitar with no strings and suggested you play. Maybe they say it’s a better way, and you might be thinking hm something is missing. But maybe in this analogy there’s extra trickery and playing kind of works. 

Admittedly Usynth is a bit strange for me. But it does contain some pretty cool sounds.

11 minutes ago, abacab said:

Certainly appreciate the UJAM freebie! But I am stumped with how to use this thing.

Maybe it's just me, with 100+ synths, but I'm usually able to unravel a synth's use case in a short time. Still scratching my head here though... 🤔

Yep, "It's Easy!" but it's not quite so until you start to see their method.  But it is odd.

What they are trying to offer is a common UI for a range of synth types with just a few knobs - and behind the scenes all kind of knob twisting is happening.

UJAM’s suggestion is that with Usynth you don’t need to learn how to program a synth, you just twist a couple knobs and nice sound options are made available. Easy!  

I’m an early semi-adopter of Usynth. I like many of the sounds and ease of use. On the other hand, typical synths have lots of presets and it can be very fast to have a preset favorite to jump to.

With Usynth there are less presets but convenient options to pleasantly morph a preset into something appealing.  

So I’m somewhat of an adopter but not fully onboard with the concept.

Very appreciative of UJAM overall.

I use these as well.  They need to earn something for developing these three products. Bummed it is money out of my pocket, but they are good products. 

Both the AMEK EQs are winners. At that price, if you don’t already have it, it’s very worth taking a look at.

Already have them all from discounts on individual Fusion items leading up to this.

Glad this is available now for people who would like to catch them while available at this price.

I like them a lot.

12 hours ago, kevin H said:

On a more on topic note, wonder what upgrade prices look like…don’t see anything online yet…

Hope they do offer an upgrade path for those of us that have the previous version as a perpetual license.

6 hours ago, Bad Penguin said:

I get the impression that they are really pushing subscriptions . . . but I also would be interested in a reasonably priced perpetual upgrade . . .

I’ve found occasional deals where I’ve been able to get perpetual licenses for some of their subscription only items.  Never on their site but through a discounter. On one of them I received the full one year subscription but I just installed the perpetual license item. I agree that subscriptions should be avoided.

I think Saturday Night's Alright for Fightin' is a pretty rockin' song.

Even better!  You’re always a big help Larry!

I was waiting for this one. Had seen some YouTube clips which highlighted these.  I saw that once a year they do this so had been anticipating this.

2 hours ago, Nick Blanc said:

I don't think I can name a different product with this kind of ongoing development.

Plug-in Guru’s Unify is neck and neck with this pace.  Both fantastic!