Paul_in_wales

melda, image-line, spectrasonics and fabfilter also get my vote.

I'd add rob papen to the mix -  had some excellent deals based on being an existing customer.

Not sure what your gripe is - graphics are part and parcel of the music biz.

The other thing to mention with GP is the ability to build control panels for the plugins being used - and can control external midi hardware via CCs, or using the scripting language to generate sysex.  The whole thing feels like something built from solving real-world problems - very handy stuff.

I dismissed it last time it was on offer as merely being a plugin-chainer, but I demo'd it and found it to be so much more. I have been waiting for it to go on sale so I'm a very happy bunny today.

It will pretty much replace plogue bidule for me as a quick and easy way to route my hardware synth midi and audio, and to be able to more easily bring plugins into that mix.

The midi routing is really nice as can very easily map midi channels, filter event types, setup splits/layers and transpose notes.

21 hours ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

.A big portion, if not the vast majority, of musicians use Macbooks. How many USB ports they have now? Zero. How are you gonna use your dongle with them?

not sure why you think they have zero usb ports - the ports aren't USB A, but an adapter or hub than costs  a few dollars solves that.

40 minutes ago, David Jameson said:

So instead of carrying around effects pedals and amplifiers, you would use Gig Performer to create your sound, possibly changing it on the fly as you switch from one set of plugins to another as you play, possibly using MIDI expression controllers to adjust sounds as you play and ultimately just record what you played into your DAW. That approach doesn't really fit the "plugin in a DAW" model.

Am I missing something  -  isn't this still ultimately the same "instrument>effects>recorder" chain,  just split as "[instrument>effects]>recorder" vs  a DAW's "instrument>[effects>recorder]"?    How is a plugin effects chain in something like metaplugin/bidule/patchwork/axiom any less portable?

@teclark7 - I know it's more money, but you owe it to yourself to at least look at bluecat axiom.  Not only does that contain some really good guitar effects of its own - and a full version of the excellent late replies delay, it can host other plugins within it too.

Note it talks about taking payments - this shouldn't affect buying from non-EU resellers who've never  bothered with jumping through the EU VAT hoops.  That'd be pretty much all the resellers I tend to buy from...

18 minutes ago, abacab said:

And don't forget to check if you have any tokens accumulated at Plugin Boutique!

They covert to Virtual Cash at £1.25 each! I just found 6 of them in my account! ?

always a good idea to leave at least 1 token in the account imo, as sometimes they have really good deals in the rewards sections that need a token to unlock (and you can't go the other way, from virtual cash to tokens).  I'm speaking from my experience in repeatedly not having done that...

Just looking at the melda 14.16 beta and saw this:

Quote

 

14.16 changes

MXXXCore and MSuperLooper now also unlock MTurboReverb with only MTurboReverbLE licence and Equalizer with MFilter licence.

 

In the current 50% sale,

mxxxcore is $61 - as is msuperlooper

mturboreverb LE is $91

so $152 to get full mturboreverb full as a module inside mxxxcore or superlooper (plus there's the additional benefit of having mxxxcore/superlooper).

vs mturboreverb which is $183 in the sale.

Obviously more attractive still If you already have mxxx core/superlooper/mturboreverb LE

(Double checked with melda to make sure I've read this right - see https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=558283 )

Don't forget with Melda there's also a 20% new customer discount using a referral code, and a 10€ newsletter signup credit. 

11 hours ago, cclarry said:

Hardware has several psychological advantages:

1.  It's "tangible" - it's something you see, feel, and USE
2.  It has RESALE value - software has become GARBAGE for resale
3.  Much hardware now has "Flash Upgrades" which makes it updateable, and increases it's life


Much of our software is NOT tangible, we forget that we have a LOT of it, and it's resale value has
PLUMMETED due to "too many dirt cheap sales"!  Add to that the fact that more and more Software
CANNOT be resold  (that should NEVER happen!  It's an INVESTMENT, and should be "recoverable" (at least PARTIALLY!!!))

So, all things considered, ACTUAL HARDWARE is STILL the better investment

I really don't think it's as clear cut as that.

With a decent master keyboard and controller it's entirely possible to have  a tangible relationship with software too.  (I highly recommend the faderfox ec4 for that - it's my favourite bit of non-synth hardware).

Software resale pain is lessened thanks to forums like this one - research sales patterns and buy cheap with no expectation of reselling, or at least know the resale policies for what you're buying to see if there is built in "resale hurt".  

Hardware can go faulty, and most manufacturers don't allow the transfer of warranties.  Repairs can be expensive to the point of being uneconomic.  The depreciation seen on hardware can buy a lot of software.

Software can deliver crazy bang for the buck compared to hardware - especially in sales. 

There is a reliance on manufacturers to get improvements on hardware over time, and many have been guilty of quick abandonment.  This can be a real pain if important aspects of the hardware are tied to software (eg access virus total integration breaking with recent macos releases and no sign of an update). 

Software can "improve" if the hardware it's being run on is improved - obviously it can also stop working entirely with new OS's and server disconnections etc.

Boils down to the individual hardware/software - the utility we get from it, the potential for it breaking, the resale value vs the price paid etc

In terms of bang for the buck it was a recent lump of rob papen purchases with cascaded discounts by way of loyalty cash at time&space.

Only had punch2 from RP, but bought Go2 for £15 then added Blade 2 and blue 2 (by way of sound design-x upgrade bundle) for £30.   So £45 for the 3 and I still have some loyalty cash to play with.

They all bring something interesting to the table.

One other thing that makes my scam-o-meter bounce off the ceiling is the review by "E. McHenry Brown" on that site - the picture is a clearly a photoshopped image from this video with the polyend logo removed:  https://youtu.be/IbuRtnd_N8w

On 12/18/2020 at 2:40 AM, Luke Syrylo said:

I saw this too and was considering pulling the pin in the hope that this is just a cheap version of the polyend. All behringer. The technology is quite old and polyend could just be price hiking. 
 

what y’all think. 

I think even if the core concept is old, there is a still cost to develop/manufacture the hardware and to create this specific instance of the  tracker/sound-engine software, which doesn't seem an adaptation of existing software.   Applying the same logic, cirklon and squarp pyramid aren't high tech either being just step sequencers at heart, which has been done cheaply in software too, but they command higher prices than the polyend tracker.

Polyend are unlikely to sell them by the boatload so they have to recoup their investment and make a profit - setting a price that the market will bear that generates sufficient profit to make the project worthwhile isn't price hiking.

The software is what makes the polyend useful - god knows what you'd get on this rip-off.

timespace.com give £5 loyalty points for creating an account there, which can equate to a pretty substantial discount against cheapies - especially when other resellers aren't discounting a specific plugin beyond the sale price.

they also offer loyalty points if you leave a review - equivalent to £2.50 each, so £5 if you review product and t &s (but discounts seem to need to be used in £5 chunks).   

I used the £5 signup to get go2 for £15 as above, reviewed it and t&s and used the £5 plus another £5 from some other promo they did, and used that against the "sound design x bundle" upgrade from punch-2, giving blade 2 and blue 2 for £30 (vs the still super-cheap £41 normal upgrade price).

the rob papen bundle upgrades are well worth a look if you already have RP plugins. 

Computer Music magazine's December freebie is Kilohearts Slice EQ (normally $79) - works as standalone plugin, or as a snapin for multipass/phase plant etc.  The great thing is that as a snapin this has a modulatable curve offset/transpose - opens up custom filter curves within phase plant.

The mag also hints that carve eq will be a freebie in 6 month: "Carve EQ is Kilohearts other EQ...We'll (hint.hint!) hopefully be taking a very close look at this sibling to Slice in six months time so check back then for some Carve action!"

8 hours ago, mibby said:

Does Blue Cat ever have any real sales?  It seems like it is only ever a token 10%.  I mean, their FREE bundle is excellent, but...

This was $79  in June and with Audio Deluxe's additional discount I paid $67 for it - so a pretty healthy 33% off.  Right now,  it's $84 at AD and $85 at dontcrack.com without any specific promo from bluecat ($99 list).

45 minutes ago, filo said:

Can you successfully log in?

yes, I'm logged in but my order history only goes to 2018

I imagine if you can't log in it's because your details aren't right for 2018.

It's back up for me today

you can also buy their everything bundle (49gb ) for $69 - and the code "snacks" take 10% extra off, making it $59:

https://samplesfrommars.com/products/all-products-from-mars

$88 at dontcrack.com in the PDZ with code PDZ_Zynaptiq

if buying from audiodeluxe the prices are the same but you get 10% in their loyalty currency for future orders.

Bought it on a whim thinking "this'll come in handy for something" - on reflection, I strongly recommend any potential buyers to take the time to watch the demo video and ask themselves if they actually have a use for something that sounds like that.

quick note that jrrshop is now carrying this offer, discount codes don't work but it might be of interest to those who have to pay VAT at gforce.

https://www.jrrshop.com/gforce

Imposcar2 really holds up for me even in the face of the latest and greatest.

for anyone that wants to buy just this years stuff for $9, here's my code:

H88FLTS8   -  (the email with the code actively encourages sharing unused codes)

https://samplesfrommars.com/products/2019-from-mars

Contents: OB From Mars, MPC1 From Mars, Jupiter Drums From Mars, SP 909 From Mars, Lindrum From Mars