MusicMan

I think there are some interesting points in the article, but it does make some assumptions that aren't always true. A subscription model doesn't guarantee any updates, or developments from what I've seen. A higher initial purchase price doesn't necessarily have a real bearing on future development from my observations. There is a lot of assumptions that they must charge for compatibility updates and yet some developers release free products and update them too. Of course businesses need to be profitable, but often compatibility updates are very minor (excluding Apple and architecture changes). Many successful businesses provide these and even major updates for free. If we look at a close comparison being hardware effects and instruments, then these will often last almost indefinitely pending hardware component failure, so given there are no components to fail and the fixes are develop once, deliver to many, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect free compatibility updates personally. I would agree that in most cases subscription is a great model for businesses and developers though. As a consumer I avoid it, but there are definitely people who do like it, so having options is ok.

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Sure thing. Great sound for one (but I do like the sound quality of the 9000 too), but the Amek has a really nice clipper and limiter built in which sounds nice for subtle breaking up of the sound, or getting really crunchy. It's just a very versatile strip that has more features and sounds great. If I had to pick one only, definitely Amek, but I'll still use the 9000J at times anyway because I have it and like it ?

I have both and Amek is the favourite for sure ?

Well.. I like the idea of buying less plugins (not buying any isn't realistic!).. so I'm even going to leave Trackspacer, even though I was waiting for it to go sale and just use what I've already got for now. I'm already still planning on buying Diva from u-he though... I think that's an acceptable compromise for such an awesome synth ?

That's pretty ridiculous of them.. I can understand them placing some weighting on more expensive plugins and not just the number alone, but I'd be very surprised if your regular account wasn't higher in both of those.. If it was something you wanted to pursue, then it might be worth an email to them and they may be able to get it down to the $299 which seems to be the lowest I've heard (and what my loyalty price was). If not just tell them how many of their deals you've posted and they really should then.. you should probably get it for free!! ?

Can also try the code that @Jan Schmitz shared above too. That shouldn't be tied to his account, so if it hasn't already been used, then that would get you the $224 price with the $75 off voucher as well.

"MEGA Sampler Included with MEGA and ALL 2022 Bundles."

Plugin Alliance: PA ALL BUNDLE - Pay 1x (MEGA-75-OFF works.. for now!) (From as cheap as $224) Get every plugin from Plugin Alliance in 2022 for $224. This is a single payment and not subscription. https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/all-bundle-2022.html It's on sale for $799 but many people will have a personal offer for much less. Then use the code MEGA-75-OFF to reduce it by $75 further. This was possible once before, but they removed it pretty quickly when they realized (or intentionally let it slip through for a bit ?) Note: MEGA-75-OFF is generic so anyone can use it.

I've steered clear of them in case they do a Loopcloud and chop the functionality out of them if there's no active subscription. The plugins themselves aren't bad though. I just don't want to be caught in a situation where I can't use/open them.

Happy birthday Lars!! Have a great one ?

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That's one reason why I hadn't jumped on the Trackspacer sale too. I'd been waiting for it to come on sale, but during that time I've picked up the iZotope bundle and also smart:comp2 so I thought I should get familiar with those too. I tried out the iZotope option the other day and it was OK, but I have a feeling Trackspacer will be better. When I get some free time I think it would be worth it for me to give it a demo even if I don't grab it.

That's right and that was my point. I have a feeling they change them manually and if they change the Trackspacer deal first (i.e. end the sale price), then they might miss out. So there could be a small window of opportunity, to no opportunity to get the new freebies.

I should really demo Trackspacer. I grabbed Sonible smart:comp2 the other day as it's more commonly said to be better than Trackspacer, but I have heard good things about both. I do wonder if Trackspacer is lighter on CPU.

I almost thought this was a subscription deal at first. I'd rather new editions, but still not bad for back issues ?

Keep in mind that PiB is often very tardy in changing over to the new freebies, it could be cutting it fine if it ends on the 3rd.

Yeah I got the email and was instantly disappointed until I realised it was just a reminder before it ends ?

This thing is insanely good and you can get pretty deep with the settings and modulation as well. Quite possibly my most favourite filter in a while and for free is even better! ?

Not sure Zo. I held off on buying any of the individual ones in case I buy their next volume which will include them. (Which is taking ages to be released I might add!) If they did a normal upgrade price where they take into account everything you own that would be fine, but they don't so it would be like buying them twice...

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Definitely great advice, but that's often mainly when completing tracks. Sometimes I'm just sketching some ideas out, or saving a cool baseline, or lead riff with the intent of getting back to it down the track. Some good concepts in that article and I've started trying to bounce, render in place, or export stems. It has been getting easier with some of the updates with many of the DAWs now.

Pretty hard to argue for their effectiveness. Almost all the major copy protection schemes have been cracked... And yes, us that pay wear the brunt and jump through hoops while the ones that use pirated copies have it easy and don't have to worry about any of those concerns and challenges.

That is definitely one of the challenges with quite a few licensing and software protections they use these days and why so many people opt for only using serial/keyfile/offline or unlimited licenses. I'd love to be able to do that personally and support as many developers as possible that offer them, but there's just so many plugins and instruments I'd miss out on that I really like. But for iZotope to not support reactivation when they were still selling them up until very recently, I definitely wouldn't accept that. Even more so how expensive those Exponential Reverbs "RRP" price were. It's probably one of those times where their overinflated RRP prices would work against them, as there would be more obligation to support them for longer in that way under some countries consumer laws. If these companies want more elaborate protection from piracy that's fine, but the genuine consumer who paid for the software should never be impacted by it locking them out. Systems will be updated, hardware components will fail and need to be replaced. Developers need to accommodate that in my opinion. Hope you get it all sorted out and it's not too painful in the end Reid ?