John Maar

See my comments on Acoustica Premium in the JRR Shop post. My comment in the JRR Shop post

Acoustica Premium edition is $139 vs $199 regular price (still full price on Acon Digital's website). This time of year is the only time I've seen it on sale anywhere. Once I upgraded to the Premium version, I happily uninstalled SpectraLayers. Acoustica is FAST. I believe that the Premium edition comes with all of their additional plugins except Deverberate. It's a great audio editor, and the included plugins make it a bargain. You can check out the Premium edition here: Acoustica Audio Editor. For those who own Acoustica (either version), I just noticed that there's an update available from v7.3.10 to v7.3.22.

When was the last time XLN released a new expansion instrument for Addictive Keys? Just after the end of the War of 1812? j/k Almost. AK is truly abandonware.

Thanks for the heads-up. Updating now.

I live by a "cry once" theory. I save until I can buy the best quality, and then cry once. That said, XLN support told me that they use a multi-bit depth approach to their samples, between 16-bit and 24-bit, depending on the complexity of the audio sample, to minimize the library size. Clever. But they p'd me off when they removed the hidden "offline" page where you could download your purchased MIDI packs for use in other drum samplers. Why? I still have AD2 and AK installed, but a) don't use them and b) stopped purchasing expansion kits for AD2. I sometimes use EZKeys to develop keyboard parts, but then play the generated MIDI through whichever VST keyboard instrument I want to use (I have a LOT of really good ones). Same with EZBass, but for bass VSTs like MODO Bass. I'm no longer married (3 ex-wives, but no alimony payments). Never had children. I'm retired and finally able to spend my money on my hobby, so I don't claim that others should spend money the way I do.

I'm now living on the southwest coast of France (renting in Arcachon while my house in Gujan-Mestras is being built; LOVE it here), about 90 minutes north of Spain and 45 minutes southwest of Bordeaux. When I was stationed in Germany in 1971, I was in Augsburg and Berlin (Sicherheitsdienst der Armee). When I was working in Germany from 2000-2003, I was based In Frankfurt and Bonn, but worked all over the country, plus Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Sweden. The wine bottle stopper material (cork) is in the product name. That could be a good alternative to the foam as long as it is made without a binder (glue) that also might cause damage (I don't know). For 2 €, the Harley Benton picks won't be the best; it is just to test the different thicknesses. Once you find the thickness you prefer, buy better picks just in that thickness. I use the yellow Dunlop Tortex 0,73 mm (not 0, 71 mm I mentioned above; oops). Dunlop Tortex Guitar Picks They offer a variety pack for bass (the 0,73 mm pick is the thinnest) for 6,60 € at Thomann You can try those instead of the cheap Harley Benton picks. Dunlop Bass Pick Variety Pack Strap locks are not necessary, but it was always recommended to me to use a strap, even while sitting.

Once I bought Superior Drummer (v2, then upgraded to v3), I stopped using AD2. Never gone back. Never missed it.

The one problem with the lower support is that the foam they use can damage nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, like on the Gibson SG bass. That finish is not used on lower end guitars, but I stay away from them anyway. For the basses you are considering, you can get by with them. I don't have strap locks on any of my basses. I only play at home, I don't gig them, and I certainly don't try to spin my basses over my head. 😆 I don't think they're necessary for home studio use, as long as you avoid stiff leather straps like @RBH mentioned above. An itb tuner is fine. I have issues using the one on my phone due to the audio input being optimized for voice. It should work OK for at-home use. If you ever gig with a bass, a clip tuner can be nice to have (much cheaper than a tuner pedal). The picks set I mentioned is available from Thomann online and can be ordered with any other gear you purchase. That 2 € pack has several different thicknesses. That's what I meant by trying different ones. Just buy the 2 € pack. After I wrote my post, I noticed that we agreed on the cable! Enjoy your new bass, whichever one you decide on. There's a pretty good online bass instruction video course from BassBuzz called Beginner to Badass that I found very helpful after resuming bass playing after I retired. I played in a band in the late 1960s, then the Army and University and work travel got in the way. After so many years, I was a complete noob again. I thought the US$197 price was a fair price for the quality of the course. I don't know if they will have a sale for Black Friday. Worth keeping an eye on it. BassBuzz Beginner to Badass BassBuzz YouTube channel (lots of free lesson videos and a good video testing 5 beginner amps (the Fender Rumble 40 was the surprise winner))

For a gig bag, I recommend Gator. I have three (a hard case came with my Gibson SG bass). This one costs 10 € more than the Fender one, but it is much better for only a little more money. Gator Bass Guitar Gigbag For guitar stands, I prefer ones that hang the bass from the neck. The Fender one is less expensive (16 €), but uses a pivoting support for the bottom. The Gravity one (29 €) is similar to the ones I use. Fender Guitar Stand Gravity Guitar Stand For picks, if you really, really have to use them (like for metal and heavy rock), I suggest getting the cheap (2 €) Harley Benton mixed set. There are several different thicknesses (I like 0,71mm) for you to try and see what works for you. Harley Benton Mixed Pick Set For a guitar strap, try to find one that's about 75mm wide. The 50 mm straps are not as comfortable, and help less with minimizing neck dive (if your base has some neck dive). Example of a 75 mm wide strap (D'Addario) For a clip tuner, I like TC Electronic tuners, but they are more expensive. For a less expensive tuner, the Snark clip tuner (18 €) is very good. Snark Clip-on Tuner For a cable, I really like my Fender tweed cables (17 €). I prefer the angle cable for most situations. Fender Deluxe Cable with angle plug (3 m) The only comment I'll make about your bass selection is that the Fender looks like it is medium scale (32" inches). You will have much less choice when buying strings. The Yamaha is a long scale bass (34"). Tons of string choices for that. I play short scale basses (30 inches). Plenty of string choices for that scale, too. The Hofner bass you listed is short scale, so you listed one long scale, one medium scale and one short scale. Coming from guitars, the short scale is the easiest to adapt to. When you decide to get an amp, go straight to the Fender Rumble. The Studio 40 is outstanding. I had to sell my Rumble 40 and Rumble 200 when I left the U.S. because they were 120V only. My basses that I shipped along with my other goods last March 1st just arrived yesterday! Woo hoo! I'm going to wait to buy my 240V Rumbles until my house in Gujan-Mestras is built. I'm currently renting the lower level of a house in Arcachon owned by a lovely 80-year old lady. I can hear her TV, so I assume she can hear mine. She would definitely hear an amp, so I'll just play through my 1810c with headphones and use Gig Performer to host AmpliTube and Ampeg's new SVT Suite bass guitar sims. Once you buy an amp (the Rumble!), head over to the Fender Rumble Club sub-forum on TalkBass.com. There's a ton of useful info there. It's very active. TalkBass Fender Rumble Club sub-forum Thank you for giving me the chance to spend your money instead of mine. 🤣

Really nice work. I was an engineer by education and trade, but I can't even draw a stickman with a ruler. I hire ALL construction work out.

The Soundpaint price is $40. The 8DIO price for the same 1901 Broadwell upright for Kontakt lists for $198. I own that (didn't pay anywhere near list), and just got an email from Soundpaint that I could crossgrade in the next 48 hours for $20 instead of $40. Purchased and downloading now. It's one sweet upright!

Everything is relative. A "potential" additional reduction of $5 or $10 is chump change compared to my investments in my DAW laptop, DAW software, audio interface, MIDI keyboard controller, 4 basses, 1 guitar and a couple of amplifiers. A software app either does something beneficial for you or it doesn't. If it does, is it worth the asking price? For me, Scaler is worth it at list price, so any sale price is icing on the cake. The last thing I need is to wait for a more deeply discounted sale price, only to have it return to full price and missing out on the savings that were offered. THAT would really toast my buns. I purchased Scaler 1 when it was released. With the possible exception of Studio One Pro, which I first purchased as version 2, Scaler's regular updates have added more value than any other music software app I've ever purchased, and I've purchased a LOT of them.

Another The The fan? Cool! I'm not the only one. Matt Johnson does good work!

Scaler just keeps getting better. Excellent bang for the buck. Check out 41 Fingers YouTube channel for some excellent videos using multiple instances of Scaler and reMIDI together to create his orchestral template. He's now working on RTS, his Real Time Sketching template. Lots to learn from him! 41 Fingers YouTube channel

Same here. Big fan of the first seven albums. Some of the later ones were also quite good.

Key Suite Acoustic has also been updated. - [FIX] Missing G#3-v3 sample in Model D As much as I like my UVI instruments, I think it's f'ing stupid to require a full download (12.x GBs for Key Suite Acoustic) to fix a single sample. UVI need to find a better method.

I own one 250 ohm 880 and two 250 ohm 770 cans. Thanks for finding this video!

Bundle owner here, too, so nothing for me again this year.

Jumped the gun, they did.

"for" sale does not equal "on" sale. Looks interesting, but I'll wait.

Spot on, Craig. I've had nothing but bad experiences with Slate. Years ago, but not forgotten. He's one arrogant mother. That April Fool's Day video IS pretty funny, but it can't hold a candle to this classic!

I think Steve Slate covers this issue the best. 🎸

Yes, it's new. Designed for modeled EPs. They mention that you'll hear a blowing sound if used with sampled EPs.

That worked without needing NanoHost. Sheesh. I'm an engineer by education. I tend to make simple things much more difficult than they need to be. Thanks for sticking with me on this.

I have AD2 and AK installed, but haven't used them in a long time. I HATE the way XLN insists on installing everything (AAX and 32-bit, neither of which I would ever use), and then claims the AD2 and AK installs need to be repaired when I manually delete the AAX and 32-bit files.