Craig Fowler

We're royally spoiled, that's for sure. I remember 20-25 years ago when I felt like my ability was limited by the resources I had on tap. Now I have absolutely no excuse, and have to actually use the amazing tools I've got. If you'd have told me in the late 90s/early 00s that I'd have access to things like Capitol Chambers/Relab/Superior Drummer etc, I'd never have believed it. In other words, time to make peace with my mediocrity.

That makes the Unison Tech sound even more appealing; it often seems like a real fight to get gain staging right for amp sims. Interesting to hear you say such positive things about the '55 Deluxe. From what I've read, people seem pretty divided about it. Hopefully an Apollo is in my future, but that's going to be a loooong way down the track! @Zo Until last month, I was trying to run UAD plugs from an old UAD2 solo card and only upgraded because running Ocean Way or Capitol meant I couldn't really run anything else. But you're right, Sunset scratches a similar itch (albeit less flexibly than OWS). And its plates are so good, I think I'll probably be reaching for them ahead of the UAD EMT140. I really like the electrosonic one.

If you can scrounge up that much dough at a time! I have to say, I like the promos they've been doing in terms of giving some of the fancier plugins free with hardware. I got a Satellite Octo last month and it came with the Lex480, 175/176 compressors, Avalon pre and Helios mkII (subbed for Capitol Chambers which I already had). The new deal on the Apollo Twins doesn't look quite as juicy, but it's still not bad.

I've got lots! I use AT4 more than any of the others (I especially like the Fender 2 collection, but the free Fender styles amps they include can sound really good). There are lots of other good options, though. As someone else mentioned, the Nembrini Marshall is a great buy when it's on sale. The Kuassa sims are much reduced right now, and are also pretty good though so far I haven't reached for them instead of AT4.

OK, I just put the jampoints gift towards gear credits so I could get SSSR (ended up costing $96 in real money after putting $39 in jampoints towards the $150 credit pack that sells for $135). I tried SSSR last night and loved it. What I'd expected was that I might use it where I'd otherwise use Ocean Way or Capitol Chambers. I'm not sure I'll be replacing those with the Sunset rooms or chambers, but what surprised me was how great the plates sounded. With a longer pre-delay, they added a beautiful sheen to my thoroughly mediocre vocal track. I've always liked the UAD EMT140 and I got the Arturia for free, but in this context the IK sounded far sweeter than the UAD.

That's well worth picking up!

That EMT is brilliant. I don't use it nearly as much as I should! I'm also hoping for the FETpresser and perhaps one of the spring reverbs, too!

The price is high, and I flinched even more at the non-intro price. Still, if it's in the same league as the Eden sim they make, it will be worth it if that's the sound you're going for.

I have the fuzz pedal but not the rack. It's pretty good, I think, though I haven't played with it a lot. Hobbyist with kids = not much time for music, alas. I do really like the Marshall and Soldano sims - I probably prefer them without the pedal in the chain, but that's how I feel about pedals in front of real amps as well!

Unless you need the unison technology (which looks really appealing, admittedly), I think there's something to be said for keeping the interface/processing DSP separately. Perhaps I just don't like having all my eggs in one basket.

For a "reverb" it might be priced on the high side. It doesn't look as if it has anywhere near the flexibility of something like UAD's Ocean Way (e.g., no mic positioning from what I can tell), but if it can get somewhere in the ballpark, the intro price maybe ain't crazy. I'm curious enough to do a bit of digging on this.

The Yamaha grands are the only ones I never liked from ST. I think it was 7C that I found disappointing.

The white grand and black grand are nice instruments. Tubed Keys is fun. @synthmeisterI get the sense that the folks at PW just don't like Sampletekk much. Sure, these are old libraries, but they're samples of decades (sometimes century)-old instruments, so I don't really get their point. I guess if you're a classically trained pianist who's used to perfectly-maintained instruments, modern scripting can make a big difference. But, for most piano players, these old libraries should hold up nicely. The Old Lady is still one of my all time favourites, and I have no shortage of much newer options!

I don't have it, and I'm tapped out, but that may just be may favorite GUI of all time.

Simon! You got me all excited, and for WHAT?! ?

The simple route works! I've been really pleased with my Behmor and like how much control it gives you, but $399USD is a crazy price; I think I paid about $300 New Zealand Dollars for mine. At nearly $100 less, I'd get the Technivorm.

I also am a big fan of the aeropress, though I usually use a Hario dripper because my wife prefers it. The machine I've got in my office is the Behmor Brazen+, which is very good. It's designed to be an automated pourer-overer if memory serves, and has certification for things like brewing at the correct temperatures, etc. I'm not sure how easily available they are at the moment, but I'd buy one again. https://www.wholelattelove.com/products/behmor-brazen-plus-coffeemaker

My BF list had one item on it: "nice algorithmic reverb'. https://www.bestservice.com/lx480_complete.html

Any thoughts on the RC24/48 reverbs? I'd been toying with the UAD Lex224 which is $139 at the moment, but $99 for the pair of NI 'verbs doesn't sound bad...if they sound good!

That's exactly what I did. The clean demos of the Soldano have that gorgeous 'hairy' sound.

You're thinking of geese ?

I could never find a use for this, but I'm glad it exists!

It could/should be!

Good to hear someone else finally give the trace some love! It sounds really close to my hardware TEs

Thanks for the tip on the outside IRs - really haven't had time to play with it much yet! Seriously, how spoiled are we with so many great sounding ITB solutions for guitar/bass amps? The one thing I feel I still don't have is a great Vox-style sound, but there are some cracking ampsims out there!