MusicMan

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While I get their point about you obtaining it free, you still own 50% of the bundle and were going to spend money with them.. They also had a weird setup where you had to request a password to see your upgrade price to Expose2 of which the full version was regularly on sale. The upgrade price was probably only about $5 cheaper than new customers with none of their plugins would pay to get the full version and was never on sale. (I owned almost all of their plugins) There wasn't really much of a loyalty discount, so I didn't bother. I did explain that sentiment to them, but they didn't really care to do anything about it. So I didn't care to do anything about buying the upgrade ? Which turned out to be good, because I then got Expose2 free via another promo, so they will now never get a sale from it.. it seems a little short sighted and that they shoot themselves in the foot sometimes.. If they just said yes to you anyway, then they would've already made money that you potentially wouldn't have spent if it wasn't on sale. Each to their own I guess and how they choose to do business ?‍♂️

Bassroom is actually quite decent. It really shouldn't be as good as it is and should be easily replaceable with a standard EQ in theory, but it just is often faster and really tailored for fine tuning the lower frequencies and sounds great too. I'd recommend it. Mixroom I don't own, so I can't say there, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's good too.

I REALLY like the MK II version.. it was even sweeter that they gave it to owners of the original one for free, so I didn't have to pay any upgrade cost or anything. Another tick in my book for them. I still preferred the Waves CLA-3A than the BRA version which was a shame, but I ended up buying the Overloud Comp LA which includes the 3A and is way better than the Waves version, so between the two companies, I shouldn't need to use the Waves ones at all ?

I would've thought at least a few that aren't known to mankind as well ?

That glitch sale was epic.. I own a bunch of Nembrini plugins after that! I still just cherry picked the ones I really wanted, but insane pricing for them ?

I replaced the Waves CLA-2A with BRA's VLA-2A and never looked back. They have had that note on their website saying they're upgrading to VST3 for quite a long time, so hopefully it's not far off now...

I should really give this a demo at some stage..

Installed ? These seemed to go up a bit in price from memory, although that may have been intro pricing, but the sale prices never seemed to get that low again generally. Pretty good price for both together. Nice plugins and a good innovative developer.

This was one of the few plugins that I broke my rule of only buying VST3 plugins these days, but I did contact them and they were planning on making them VST3, so it was worth the punt they would deliver at that price and I pulled the trigger. I actually really like this plugin, so I'm glad that I did. Even at $30 or $40 I'd say it's a good buy, so whether it gets to $19 again (in most cases if a plugin hits a sale price, it will again, sooner or later) or it gets anywhere near there, I'd recommend picking it up anyway. It is VST3 now too ?

So many favourites in this bundle ?

Completely agreed. I bought 3 or 4 in fairly quick succession back then and their sales have been a bit of a yawn fest since then and not quite inspiring enough to pull the trigger on anything.

It's actually surprisingly quick to bash Waves.. they provide all the materials so readily ? The number one reason for calling them out is so that new starters don't fall into their trap. Waves is a powerful advertising machine and if it wasn't for forums and Facebook groups etc it would be easy to think they're the best choice when there's so many better companies out there these days. Better to call them out, hold them accountable and try to break the cycle of victims getting suckered into a lifetime of WUP extortion.

I always laugh hearing people say that WUP is fair and needed so they can develop updates and even Dirk at PA saying well of course they're charging for new versions as they "Can't be expected to work for free"(even though technically they've already been paid initially).. and yet there are so many examples like this with free updates for life and new versions, no WUP, no paying for a new version and they still make great plugins. I'm not necessarily opposed to companies charging for updates, especially if they're major updates and not just minor things they could've added to the original versions, but I love seeing and supporting all the great developers that give major updates for free and no WUP crap..

There's a reason why I never used Studio Rack in any actual projects I intended to keep as I always had a gut feel they would sweep the rug out from our feet and make it require WUP, or take it away.. After their recent fiasco, free isn't worth the hassle from Waves on something like that. It's easier to replace a couple of Waves plugins in a project than a whole advanced signal chain that won't open when they paywall it or make it subscription only. My gut says no.. so does my brain.. basically everything says no to Waves for now ?

I tried the limiter a few times now and it's not too bad really. Not a bad freebie and I am looking forward to watching the replay of the sessions too.

Thanks Brian! That's really helpful ? Looking forward to checking some of these out and having another proper go at it!

Do you have the links to specific Wreck ones and any other of your favourites in ToneX Brian? I've approached ToneX a few times, but it's been a bit hit and miss so far, but I'd like to check it out further.

I'd happily support a Waves ban so they get no free advertising here at all ?

This is the correct way ?

I've been thinking about that too.. they obviously shafted all their users in the process, but also all their resellers that have supported them over so many years even when they've become the joke of the industry. They appear to have been able to poorly handle any of their relationships all at once.. I hope they at least look after their developers and any suppliers!

100%... I had been toying with the idea of upgrading to the Abbey Road Collection, but after their move I'm really glad I didn't spend more money with them.. Their next shafting is probably already being discussed and planned in their boardroom. I never have WUPd and would definitely recommend people don't immediately reward their customer hostile moves they've displayed through this whole fiasco. Let them stew and see what happens and encourage them to apologise with more than empty words. In short, don't buy and don't WUP and see what they bring to the table. Definitely check the alternates list as well. There's some better non Waves options in there ?

One could argue Waves has always been faulty.. come to think of it, I can somewhat imagine Basil Fawlty and Manuel and the team running it.. it could explain a lot ? I have wondered about the legal side of things from Waves and this change. They would want to hope they have that rock solid, otherwise it could get very costly.

This is quite possibly the most cynical thing I've read today.. also the most accurate thing for the day too! Haha.. Your overall post was all on the money, but I definitely had a laugh reading this part in particular ? There's a lot of old dinosaurs mentality where they still think they're king and haven't reassessed the current market and competition which is definitely a recipe for running the companies into the ground.

I'm sure we've all been there and missed out on things like that. I know I definitely have!