Brian Walton

Yep...after you subscribe to the forever $29 plan. Which ironiccaly they also say available from $129.99 so even people with $75 vouchers don't get a better deal which is crazy.

Exactly my thoughts. If they offer NI Komplete and RX Advanced in the new bundle along with some more PA plugins for right at $125, I might take advantage of it. Realistically though. I'm expecting a bunch of the Izotope Elements stuff that we have gotten free or dirt cheap dozens of times and perhpas a few NI Instruments. Hard to imagine a scenario where this works out better than the offers they just had for the top tier PA plugins for $31 with a $25 voucher (i.e. $37 for two of the best of what PA offers)

$125 min for the most loyal $75 tier.

Generic And the higher tier loyalty vouchers have an even higher min spend.

A little relieved I don't have to buy some junk again to get the freebie this month. Let's see what Plugin Boutique comes up with.

While I don't think there is some big conspiracy. The refresh requirement in practice is not necessary at all for those items the dev mentioned. Does the refresh report back usage stats for the period, I was under the impression it didn't. The refresh also doesn't force upgrade like a Win 10 install. Even an offline version could prompt a one time reminder to see if updates are available. And we all know the usage concept can phone home without a refresh since we get push notifications when a new update is available if we are connected to the internet. The devs are bright enough to know all of this. They simply choose to no longer offer a perpetual offline copy. As a lifetime updates buyer of a product that never needed this and didn't even an a connection to install and authorize it. It might be the only real step back I've see. Even though I update with each release, I also install on multiple machines and have backup drives as a computer reinstall would literally take 40hrs or so with all the installs and authorizations, etc. Those extra computers and backups become inoperable in 6 months...and out of over a thousand installs on these machines Cakewalk is the ONlY app that does that to me. Crazy when you put it in that context. Given it is a core app, all the more trouble some.

Yeah I impulse purchased a bunch of impulses.

Home tests are close to worthless unless they test positive then there is a pretty good chance it is right. Neg tests are not reliable. If you are exposed to someone currently with COVID it seems the general guidance is you also quarantine for 10 days. Even if you don't think you have it, the point is you can give it to others. (as you note you can't get a real test between now and then so you really don't know). If you care about spreading it how you feel in terms of sickness/wellness really isn't the deciding factor.

I tried learning reaper as a backup daw but couldn't bond with the interface. Think I need to try it again with this one.. While my default theme in cakewalk isn't one like this. The look and layout seem familiar.

But even if it did, you would probably be getting a bigger and better TV for about $300 or less (brand new). It isn't like the investment cost it was 15 years ago where you were looking at $1500+ for something large enough to look at. Not that anyone ever wants to spend money for something you already have, but realistically you would be looking at an upgrade and at not a significant cost. Honestly on NextDoor I got something way better than that for $50. Now an actual computer monitor of that size...that is different those are still expensive.

Was it new when you won it? The life expencentency of a TV these days (outside of off brands) should be way over 5 years unless you are running it for 10+ hours a day all day long.

It is a worthy upgrade in terms of features and what it can do....the price point is going to be a personal thing. That is about what I got it for and think it is a core plugin in my workflow.

We should be honest....that is an insane deal given the quality of the Amek 9099 (and the other options on the list). But who had the willpower to resit spending the $25 voucher already? 😁

A lot of it has to do with the fact the Meldway has multiple mic pairs that you can blend between. Basically each pair is around 4 gig. The Masterygrand obviously isn't a Steinway but is around that 4 gig mark. The Meldway is quite a step up.

Yeah, I put it on a non "OS" drive. Normally I'm in the same boat, but this one is crazy good.

VST3

Yes. Did you try the Meldway Grand?

I did but will likely need to uninstall and roll back. MSoundfactory LE has crashed Cakewalk 4 times in a row and it was the only thing I added to a project. Normally these Betas seem pretty safe from Melda but this one isn't working as expected on my particular setup. AND the Windows uninstaller isn't working for it! (had to delete plugins by using the v15 installer)

Picked it up when it was a PA pop up store deal for 48 hours. I only have RX elements, but use this ACON noise reduction frequently depending on the source. Great tool to have and one of those essentials that there are not many solid options on the market at a reasonable price point.

Hmmm...wonder if it will get a PA release. I like Stage.

Affinity can do HDR also. You might try that before HDR projects to see what you think. The workflow is pretty simple there. Some of the "projects" work as an affinity photo plugin. They sell different tiers of each version. I'm guessing these would have that functionality too but not 100% sure on each.

Yes I've had them for a few years. I'll occasionally use them as a plugin or preset effect with Affinity photo things like Analog Effects or Color. I train and educate other photographers as well as beginners and like to have and try out tools. This suite of tools is only something I'd get as an add on to more traditional photography programs. I could easily do without them but nice to have options that can give creative results with a few clicks to mess around. As for the HDR, I'd rather use Aurora HDR, which pops up for cheap or free from time to time and is much better.

Of course this is dependent on similar things you might have but the ones that are a bit more expensive most of the time that I use in just about every project (that are not in the excluded list - as many of those are actually core to what I use) Amek EQ200. (a bit heavy on the CPU but love the layout and features) SPL Iron (but for buss/mastering compressors there are lots of great options on the market and some do hit cheaper price points) V76U73 (again a bit CPU hungry though) VSM-3 Bx Refinement (while this kind of thing can be done with other plugins, there is something nice about how quickly you can get rid of problems with this on, though I wish the range it looks for and reduces was adjustable). This one recently did hit a lower tier but before that usually was in the $40 range Bx True Peak - I like the interface, but there are arguably better sounding True Peak limiters on the market Train II if you are a guitar player.

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2019/06/23/friday-free-plug-in-royal-compressor-2nd-hand-edition-from-united-plugins

The post seems to suggest you will get one amp and one cab. Not sure which one.