Air Music Tech AIR Instrument Expansion Pack 3 Complete Upgrade

[cclarry]

$59 - no extra discount

https://www.jrrshop.com/air-music-tech-air-instrument-expansion-pack-complete-upgrade

[tansetter]

love Air music stuff - years (decades at this point, but still great) of enjoyment!

[Fleer]

Still a pretty interesting collection, and you only need one AIR instrument to get the complete upgrade. At least three of four are pretty pretty good. 

[filo]

I see  "No iLok key required" in Notes.

Really?  I remember XPand2 required iLok

 

[ralfrobert]

1 minute ago, filo said:

I see  "No iLok key required" in Notes.

Really?  I remember XPand2 required iLok

 

They mean no dongle. 

[filo]

2 minutes ago, ralfrobert said:

They mean no dongle. 

Thanks, it should be specified more precisely even on their pages:

https://www.airmusictech.com/virtual-instruments/xpand!2.html "iLok is not required for use"

[ralfrobert]

Hmm, this is all very confusing. You can find different notes on iLok on several product pages. But I think soft iLok is still necessary. 

I am too lazy to try though. 

[Fleer]

Still have an Xpand!2 serial lying around if anyone wants to get in on this upgrade to the collection. 

[Lee D]

I own this but didn't bother reinstalling after I formatted my computer.  I do have fond memories of Hybrid 3 and Vacuum Pro, but with it needing iLok and having individual installers it's kinda not worth the hassle.  Is anyone still using these to make music?

[ralfrobert]

11 minutes ago, Lee D said:

I own this but didn't bother reinstalling after I formatted my computer.  I do have fond memories of Hybrid 3 and Vacuum Pro, but with it needing iLok and having individual installers it's kinda not worth the hassle.  Is anyone still using these to make music?

I retired them, too. For people who don't have a problem with iLok and the company, there is good stuff in the bundle. 

[Fleer]

I actually have a number of unregistered serials (doubles) left going for pretty little:

VIP3 serial, Hybrid3 serial, Xpand!2 serial, Vacuum Pro serial, Strike serial, Structure serial , Velvet2 serial 
AIEP3 Select bundle serial 
(DB-33, Mini Grand, Hybrid 3 , Loom, Strike 2, Structure 2, Transfuser 2, Velvet 2, Vacuum Pro & Fresh AIR Pack, theRiser & Flux Transitions)

[Lee D]

3 hours ago, Fleer said:

I actually have a number of unregistered serials (doubles) left going for pretty little:

VIP3 serial, Hybrid3 serial, Xpand!2 serial, Vacuum Pro serial, Strike serial, Structure serial , Velvet2 serial 
AIEP3 Select bundle serial 
(DB-33, Mini Grand, Hybrid 3 , Loom, Strike 2, Structure 2, Transfuser 2, Velvet 2, Vacuum Pro & Fresh AIR Pack, theRiser & Flux Transitions)

Basically the whole package lol

[Fleer]

26 minutes ago, Lee D said:

Basically the whole package lol

Yeah

Don’t know why I got them twice back then. 
Still love some of them though. 
And I don’t mind iLok. 

[PavlovsCat]

These titles are really, really, really old (decades in some cases), and IMO, don't sound great compared to more recent plugins. I have most of them, but rarely use any of them except Loom II, which I use occasionally. In the past decade, a bunch of them have been free, part of retailer and magazine giveaways, or for sale for under $10 USD -- and even $1 USD in a couple of cases. After all the problems with, at least, some of them, after InMusic bought AIR, I don't know if they're even worth installing.  I don't think the organ plugin, DB-33 sounds very good in comparison to modern organ plugins; it's the same for Velvet. It's like comparing Soundfonts from 20+ years ago to modern KONTAKT  libraries. Even if you're going after retro sounds, the old stuff just doesn't hold up very well by comparison. To those who aren't familiar with the history of these titles, I'd strongly recommend hitting the pause button instead of jumping on this sale, and doing some serious research. There are many, many better alternatives. 

Edited May 18, 2023 by PavlovsCat

[Fleer]

Yeah, still fond of the layered pads in Xpand!2 and the electric keys of Velvet 2. Plus a few others, but sadly not all compatible with Apple Silicon. 

[Starship Krupa]

12 hours ago, Lee D said:

Is anyone still using these to make music?

I am. My last single was based largely on a Hybrid 3 patch that makes great use of Hybrid 3's arpeggiator. I've yet to meet an arpeggiator I like better. It's still pretty much my favorite synth, despite having acquired Massive, MPowerSynth, MSoundFactory, and Chromaphone 2. XPand!2 remains a great way to sketch out musical ideas, and often enough, it's sounds are quite usable in a finished production (the basses and pads are especially good). Vacuum Pro is really good for basses.

Yeah, they're relatively old, but then plenty of other musical instruments that I love were originally designed in the 1950's or earlier.

What soft synths are currently chic? Omnisphere? Diva? Is Serum still a thing?

3 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

These titles are really, really, really old (decades in some cases), and IMO, don't sound great compared to more recent plugins. I have most of them, but rarely use any of them except Loom II, which I use occasionally.

Well, that's it. I would agree as far as the ones that are trying to emulate specific vintage instruments, like DB-33, but the ones that do synthesis hold up better. Which makes sense, as the technology for creating emulations is probably moving at a faster pace.

A number of instruments that AIR have released in the past 6 months are using repackaged pieces of Hybrid 3 (Hype) and Vacuum Pro (Tube Synth, Bassline).

[Topcheese]

I'd still like to pick up Structure 2, because at some point I wanted to get it.  I like their stuff, but I haven't had a chance to do any production stuff lately.

[Niky Serrano]

17 hours ago, Fleer said:

I actually have a number of unregistered serials (doubles) left going for pretty little:

VIP3 serial, Hybrid3 serial, Xpand!2 serial, Vacuum Pro serial, Strike serial, Structure serial , Velvet2 serial 
AIEP3 Select bundle serial 
(DB-33, Mini Grand, Hybrid 3 , Loom, Strike 2, Structure 2, Transfuser 2, Velvet 2, Vacuum Pro & Fresh AIR Pack, theRiser & Flux Transitions)

Thank you for share
I had the opportunity to get Hybrid3 at JRRShop very cheap the last year, but when I tried to purchase it,... they changed the price

I could be interested if has a good price

[Fleer]

17 minutes ago, Niky Serrano said:

Thank you for share
I had the opportunity to get Hybrid3 at JRRShop very cheap the last year, but when I tried to purchase it,... they changed the price

I could be interested if has a good price

Sure, minimal expense, I’ll send you a PM. 

[PavlovsCat]

14 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

I am. My last single was based largely on a Hybrid 3 patch that makes great use of Hybrid 3's arpeggiator. I've yet to meet an arpeggiator I like better. It's still pretty much my favorite synth, despite having acquired Massive, MPowerSynth, MSoundFactory, and Chromaphone 2. XPand!2 remains a great way to sketch out musical ideas, and often enough, it's sounds are quite usable in a finished production (the basses and pads are especially good). Vacuum Pro is really good for basses.

Yeah, they're relatively old, but then plenty of other musical instruments that I love were originally designed in the 1950's or earlier.

What soft synths are currently chic? Omnisphere? Diva? Is Serum still a thing?

Well, that's it. I would agree as far as the ones that are trying to emulate specific vintage instruments, like DB-33, but the ones that do synthesis hold up better. Which makes sense, as the technology for creating emulations is probably moving at a faster pace.

A number of instruments that AIR have released in the past 6 months are using repackaged pieces of Hybrid 3 (Hype) and Vacuum Pro (Tube Synth, Bassline).

I think you've made some excellent points. I was primarily thinking about the organ, piano,  electric piano and Structure sampler AIR plugins  -- and AIR / InMusic's  history of technical issues with these plugins that went unresolved for a very long period of time which, IMO, can make them more of a hassle than what they're worth.

I agree that while Hybrid 3 and Vacuum Pro don't sound very current, they might appeal to people looking for certain vintage sounds. However, I was considering how the included AIR synths are often available as free giveaways from magazines like Computer Music and online retailers or sold at prices as low as $1 USD - $5 USD.  I'd suggest that anyone who's starting out their plugin instrument collection is far better off waiting for one of those deals and instead picking up better sounding free plugins in the meantime than spending $59 USD on this bundle.  For example, instead of Structure and the sampled instruments in the AIR bundle, KOMPLETE Start, HALion Sonic SE (and free libraries for it), SoundPaint (and included free libraries), Labs and Sforzando (and free libraries for it), Sampletank 4 CS, Steven Slate Drums Free and add the free organ plugin Collab 3 and various freebies for more organ sounds (and I have a thread with tons of great quality piano and other sample libraries). For free synths, Vital, Surge, Helm, Dexed, DiscoDSP OB-X, Zebralette and Zampler.  I think if someone picked up all of those freebies, they'd have far superior alternatives to what's included in this AIR bundle without spending any money and they could then pick up any of the AIR synths they liked when they're available as free giveaways or super cheap. Just my opinion, of course. 

Edited May 18, 2023 by PavlovsCat