locrian

Harmonics Analog Saturation Processor is now $45 (orig $149). Does anyone here use this one?

Will do ... thanks for the advice. The fact that they didn't do this makes me think that I'm not eligible (or that Toontrack doesn't really want to give anything away for free).

I submitted a support request directly to Toontrack via their webpage and recieved confirmation from them that they received my request.

Okay, that's encouraging. I'm just waiting to hear back from Toontrack. Thanks for all the help!

I did register, and have been using it, but there's nothing anywhere on their site that indicates where I can select/claim my EZX.

Per your advice, I contacted them. Maybe I'll get lucky...

Hmm, I must have read past that part; thanks for pointing it out. I guess I'm not eligible. Oh well.

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Just curious, if I purchased EZdrummer 2 from T&S in mid-November, does that entitle me to a free EZX? According to the Terms & Conditions (below) it seems like it might. If so, does anyone know how to actually get the EZX?

I'm quite pleased with Thorn because the sounds it produces are fairly different from all the other synths I have. And, as such, it inspires me to write different music. It's definitely not a general purpose synth (which is fine b/c I have many of those). I would describe it as an ear-candy synth. I also really like the GUI; it's very intuitive to use and provides a ton of control (and is quite large!). Bottom line, I'm very glad I bought it. And everything I wrote above about Thorn applies to LION which I also own, is also unique, and is another ear-candy synth that I would not use on every mix but is nonetheless very inspiring. In contrast, I do not own (nor do I plan to ever buy) bx_oberhausen b/c, to my ears, it's a generic synth and would be redundant in my collection.

On my system (HP laptop i7-8750H/64 GB RAM | Win 10 Pro v1909) Thorn's CPU usage is quite modest. I've used it on multiple tracks (along with other VIs) without any problems. YMMV.

Until recently I seldom used AT5 for the same reason. But this year I decided to seriously limit new purchases and instead learn what I already own which, it turns out, is amazing. And so that's why I tried AT5 first. Thanks for the info. I've tried what you've described but still was not happy with the sound. I have enough other amp sims -- and now know them well enough -- that I can find the sound I'm looking for w/o needing to engage in EQ surgery. Given that I do everything from initial writing to final mastering I've adopted strategies such as relying heavily on presets to finish work in a reasonable amout of time. And this is particularly useful given that I write everything from scratch; i.e., I don't use loops. The only exception is drums, and for those I use them as starting points and heavily edit them such that the end result is something novel.

I used Amplitube 5 and Bias FX 2 and got usable results. To my ears all the PA amp sims I have are deplorably harsh-sounding (even on my [real] strat). I'm glad they were all freebies.

And in case anyone else is looking for the samples folder on Windows, you can find it here: C:\Program Files\WedgeForce\matcha\DATA

Without any FX, it produces a toy guitar sound. But the amp sims I've tried turn it into something useful; esp in a busy mix where I don't want a full-sounding voice. I use EZKeys in the same way; to my ears they sound awful, but in a busy mix they often fit right in.

I picked up Wedge Force Matcha for $9.99 and would like to move the samples folder off my system drive. Does anyone know how to do this? I've tried renaming the folder hoping it would force a pop-up dialog box asking me to locate the folder, but no luck.

In a situation like this I'll actually use a low-CPU VI like Vacuum, Hybrid, or Halion Sonic and then swap these out for the high CPU VI before I start mixing. Also not ideal, but ...

Zo, I suspect that you already know this but, another option -- and this works for all VIs -- is to load a low-CPU usuage patch close to what you want timbre-wise and use that during the writing process. Then once your track is done, apply the finished MIDI data to the (higher CPU) patch you want, render that track to audio, and then disable the VI track with the high CPU patch (in case you want to go back and make changes later). Is this an ideal/optimum workflow? Hell no! But it does work. More and more I'm finding that the latest plugins (both VIs and FXs) are CPU hogs. And it's not even just one company (which in the past for me was Acustica). I'm now experiencing this with the latest plugins from IKM, NI, AAS, Waves, even FabFilter. I'm not sure what's going on, but this seems to be the general trend (and one that I hope plugin designers are aware of and address). It's really taking the joy out of making music.

Arturia fixed the 30-day issue; Mello Fi is now registered in perpetuity.

My copy is registered for only 30 days (though it does not say it's a demo). Yes. I successfully activated it in Cubase and was able to use it. Despite this, it still shows up as being registered for only 30 days. Probably just a glitch.

I was able to get a S/N and Unlock Code instantly from Pluginboutique: https://www.pluginboutique.com/products/8520-Tape-MELLO-FI . After registering/activating these on Arturia's website the plugin immediately showed up in My Products and the Arturia Software Center and I was able to load it in my DAW and use it. The only drawback with this approach is that the registration is only for 30 days. I'm not sure if this is intentional (maybe a demo?) or just an error.

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Arturia's freebies sound better than some company's paybies.

Despite being able to apply 3 different coupon codes to one order, and a price tag of just $16.99, I'm not going to buy anything. I have everything I need/want from Waves. My god, I think my GAS is gone -- it's a miracle!

I had the same experience: this Sound Pack was a big disappointment. However, I really like the other 10 Sound Packs I own (all of which were freebies), so I'm still quite pleased with AAS overall.