Zolton

Two additional perspectives on the question of "need" (or general usefulness) w/r/t MModernCompressor: From what I can find (e.g., this description on Gearspace), it's less directly comparable to MTurboComp (LE) than to MDynamics. It seems like a stripped-down version of MDynamics built in the same framework -- so if you happen to have MDynamics, you probably definitely don't "need" MModernCompressor. (Though I've seen some folks say the "lite" version is nice and easy to use.) More broadly, if you're firmly planning at some point in the future to buy one of the Melda bundles, these cheapie one-off sales come in handy to whittle the prices down to more budget-friendly levels. It definitely helps to know which doodads are in which bundle (Melda's comparison chart is handy for that), and whether a particular plugin thus gets you nearer your goal. Melda's policy is to lop 70% of your purchase price off the relevant bundle(s), and they assume anything bought from a reseller was purchased at half price. So the reduction to your eventual bundle price is ~35% of the full price of the plugin. In this case, MModernCompressor sells on the Melda site for $53 and is included in both the MixingFX and MasteringFX bundle (as well as the TotalFX and MComplete bundles), so it would reduce the price of any of those bundles by around $18. If (and only if) you're dead-set on someday getting one of those bundles, buying one for less than the discount applied to the bundle cost is essentially saving a couple of bucks by starting a payment plan. (Ideally, the plugin is also useful in some way.) Another way to consider "relative value" for Melda reseller sales, in the context of a future bundle buy, is what the plugin effectively costs in the context of each bundle (which are heavily discounted from the individual plugin prices). Just for instance, the MixingFX bundle has 33 plugs for ~$700; dividing the one-off prices of each plugin into that total proportionally (so the more expensive ones stay more expensive), MModernCompressor -- in the context of the MixingFX bundle -- is "worth" around $11.85 of the total price. The MasteringFX bundle has fewer plugins for the same price, so MModernCompressor is "worth" more to the value of that bundle -- a little less than $15. Also, for anyone who is thinking of Melda bundles and can wait it out, there's at least one end-of-year sale (and maybe others) where all the bundles are half-price. That takes the biggest chunk out of the equation, but a strategic low-price grab here and there can add up, too.

Yeah, I waffled on whether to include that one, and a couple of other free libs from Cinematique that can be found on their site here: https://cinematique-instruments.com/inst_all_sites/inst_all17_free.php Despite Plugin Boutique "assigning" Landscape to Klang on their free Kontakt instrument page, the CI site lists it separately from Klang -- and the Landscape interface doesn't have the "KLANG" branding that the other set does. Still, all the little mini and/or free libs from Cinematique, Klang -- or KLANG -- are made by more or less the same crowd, so far as I'm aware. What qualifies one of them a Klang or not-Klang is a mystery to me -- but it's an excuse to peruse 10 additional freebies on the CI site!

Thanks, Niky -- I hadn't seen that site before. It looks like one of the price trackers that have popped up recently -- it looks like it's tracking Plugin Boutique, but not Loot Audio, as it only has the PB prices on the individual item pages (including the ones that are free on Loot). I should have included handy links to the free Klangs in the original post; here they are: On Cinematique's site, the Klang page is here (click "For Free" to filter for the 6 currently free ones): https://cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr/page_klang.php On PB, the dedicated "Free Klang" page is currently broken, but the 4 freebies are available among the free Kontakt instruments here: https://www.pluginboutique.com/categories/55-Kontakt-Instrument?free=true And on Loot Audio, the Klang page is here (sort by "Lowest" to drive the 7 freebies to the top of the list): https://www.lootaudio.com/category/kontakt-instruments/Klang

Not sure whether anyone else would be interested, but I've been curious about the state and scope of the Cinematique Instruments-spun out Klang series, so I took a little dive into the history and current availability. In short: Cinematique started producing small Klang instruments for Kontakt (and often Ableton) in September 2019. Most are heavily processed, perhaps intended for ambient, background or soundscape design. The first handful were released for free, as was one new instrument per month (or most months, at least) for a couple of years. As the series got more popular, some instruments were released with a small price tag (~5-25 Euro) and some (now quite a few) have been discontinued. I have a bunch, and use a few, and since several Klangs are currently available via Plugin Boutique and Loot Audio for $5-6, they make intriguing stocking stuffers / monthly freebie-getting fodder. I was curious what the collection as a whole looks like. So here it is, as best as I can tell: In total, 80 Klang instruments have been released, not including 6 in the "Sampl" and "Konzept" categories that sold for higher prices (15-25 Euro, with one freebie), and which don't appear to be available via any of the shops now. Forty Klang instruments were released for free; 14 of those are currently still available for free, either on Klang's site directly, Plugin Boutique or Loot Audio. In early 2023, Klang went through a revamp and has changed the interface of their instruments; none of the six new-style freebies on Klang are available through a reseller. But none of the eight old-style freebies from PB (4 free) or Loot (7 free) are currently available from Klang. The offerings available directly from Klang (28 instruments / 6 free, "new-style"), Plugin Boutique (50 / 4) and Loot Audio (41 / 7) are kind of a jumble. Everything available at Loot is also available at PB, and PB has a few extra, though Loot's (US) prices tend to be slightly lower, and some of the freebies at Loot cost money at Plugin Boutique. Altogether, a total of 69 Klang libs are currently available (which is nice), for no more than 5-6 bucks or Euro each, depending on where you might strategically want to throw a couple of bucks to get a freebie or top off a shopping cart. Anyway, if anyone's interested in the gory details, I've dropped a spreadsheet with availability info below. Happy Klanging. State_of_Klang-202305.xlsx

I thought the description and link combo was a bit odd -- 20 loops in a "50-in-1" bundle would be an awfully nimble bit of math! -- and I think there's a slight mix up. VST Alarm does have a "Trap Veterans 50-in-1" bundle deal for $24.95 (96% off), via the link above. The free Toronto Guitars loop pack (also by Trap Veterans, gratis for 28 days) is available here: https://vstalarm.com/product/toronto-guitars-by-trap-veterans-limited-time-free/

Just be aware (if it applies to anyone here) that the first-purchase $10 in points can't be used on products on an "initial discount" sale. So if you wanted to try a trick similar to MrFigg's above, you'd probably want to use your big guns/discounts on Pluralis first, then circle back to grab something else with the first-purchase ten bucks off.

I wondered if it was a mistake, since each individual plug is the same price as the bundle. On the other hand, the Dynamics bundle price is somewhat comparable (~$54) at D-Fused Sounds and Sweetwater ($49), which suggests either the neighborhood of the price is legit, or the mistake was on Sonible's end when they sent out the deals and they'll have to sort out each reseller separately. Looks like Plugin Boutique has the sale, too -- no discount at all right now on the Dynamics bundle, but $99 for the smart bundle, same as Sweetwater and consistent with BS ($91) and DF ($110).

If you happen to own any of the individual libs in either package and log in to buy from Sonuscore directly, the prices dip a bit lower: $39 for Volumes 1-5 $49 for Volumes 6-10 Not so fantastic if you have three or four, maybe. I just have V5, so the first one's fairly tempting.

Ditto, so far as I can tell, for Morph EQ, which I've had my eye on for a while. Thanks for the heads up!

There are many -- many, many, many, many, many -- threads discussing Ethno World, World Suite, EW's Ra/Silk/Gypsy, Tarilonte, Strezov libs and NI Discovery series, among others, in the usual places (including right here) over the past couple of years. My overall impression is that out of the set of: modern, playable, affordable, comprehensive, realistic and flexible, you can get two, or possibly three, with any given choice. Personal preference, familiarity with specific instruments/styles and individual priority for each characteristic above heavily influence the available opinions. Personally, I'm a hobbyist with great interest but not great expertise in various "world music" styles, and have tried to lean on the less expensive, more playable and mostly-Kontakt-based side, perhaps at the expense of precise authenticity, wide scope or other perks. I'd venture to guess the most relevant opinions would be the ones from people with the same general use cases / priorities as you, if you can glean those from the comments here or elsewhere.

Looks like Frozen Fuzz is either accidentally in the "For Free" section on the website when it isn't, or is accidentally listed for 8 Euro when it shouldn't be. Might be worth checking on later, if you're Jonesing for a freebie.

Looks like a preset for MWaveShaper -- the video describing it is referenced in the BPB item linked above, or directly here: Redpillz has a link to the preset in the YT video blurb -- not positive this is the one dubdisciple was referencing, but probably it is, unless there are a number of DIY Melda-flator hacks floating around. Edited to add: When the above video finished in my browser, the Paul Third video dd mentioned loaded up right after. Not sure which came first, or whether the two methods are identical (need to watch later):

This blurb is right under the "Formats" section on the page linked above:

I found this explanation (evidently blessed by Melda) explaining the differences between MAutoDynamicEQ and MDynamicEQ in a KVR thread from a few years ago: Also, a note for anyone considering the BOCS bundle at Loot -- from what I understand, Retcon (also on sale at a steeper discount %, but 10GBP rather than 6 for the bundle) is the BOCS 2.0 version, with all the functions of the three apps in the bundle, and other bells and whistles besides (in an interface that's both unique and may require some digging through the manual, according to the SampleCast review embedded on the product page). Not affiliated in any way, but intrigued enough by Retcon to try to suss out the package differences and fiddle with putting it into the cart a time or two.

Also from Cymatics, and free for a limited time: https://cymatics.fm/products/mystery-sample-pack-vol-4-v1 (They say for 24 hours, but the link where I initially saw it is a couple of days old and the code worked this afternoon, so... ??)