Craig Fowler

I love Klevgrand too. Borsta has quickly become one of my absolute favourite VIs and Shaka isn't far behind. Borsta does what I bought Superior Drummer 3 + the Decades SDX to do! The creativity of these folks is amazing. One Shot is kinda in a different pricing tier, though, and I'm not sure what it gives me that I don't already have between their own products and the obscene amount of ToonTrack stuff I have. Gotta love the Swedes and their percussion! Kudos again to Klevgrand for their brilliant way of handling demos!

Yup, just registered my update!

Do you have the VSL free orchestra, Lionel? Worth picking up if you don't. All the VSL freebies are!

Isn't this one of those libraries that people immediately regret installing? Or am I thinking of another string library that's often available at APD?

But no new UADx ports?

If they bring back the Super Goldtones from the 90s/00s, that would be sweet!

Does anyone know if you update whether this 'breaks' old projects that use earlier versions of Tonex? I'd assume not, but those assumptions have been wrong before! I like the sound of the updates but don't want to bork projects I'm working on!

Folks! This Bapu is an imposter!!

Sound City is excellent! I've not used it a tone as I've been away, but something I hadn't expected was that there are some great presets that bypass the room/reverb entirely. There's a snare preset I routed a SDX kit to on a bus that turned an already great sounding kit into a 'phew' sounding kit. I thought I had enough Rhodes libraries as well, but the Electra very quickly beat out all my others (except for SonicCouture's). I don't regret buying the Hammers & Waves electrics because I really like the Wurli in it, but I think their Rhodes will now only be one I use when I want the synthesis/shaping options that come with it. Not to be an enabler, but there's a good chance (albeit not guaranteed) you'll get a $25 thank you coupon if you buy the custom 2-pack...

Can't talk you down, PC, CC is a thing of beauty. But if you're getting that (and have UAD DSP) you also need the BX-20 Reverb. But what you *really* need is the Electra88 ?

me too!

Was able to stack both the Christmas $25 coupon and a $25 thank you coupon, which makes this a sweet deal. Finally got the Neve EQ and the C-Vox suite.

If you get it, please post a review ?

If you buy the Modern U, it's the be all-end all of uprights (with possible exception of VSL Bosie 130)

Thanks Brian - I saw (after I posted) that there is now some explanation on at least some of the expansion packs. I agree with you on price - it adds up fast if you need all varieties for an amp!

Thanks for letting me know! I wish Amalgam's website/product info was better. I hate having to have multiple tabs open or to make notes so I can work out differences between what's included in 'essential' 'core' and 'expansion' versions

Is it cheeky to ask if you have shared your captures on ToneNet? ?

I like the BadCat and Vox ones, but the Mars Astra is the one that really surprised me (in a good way!)

I find the reviews in TapeOp to be better balanced than most others - I love SoundonSound, but they're almost unfailingly positive (at least in the stuff I've read).

Me too! But then I did the 2 for $99 deal...which I feel a little silly about, but am glad I did! SCS was one of the two I got in my bundle, and I really like it too. Strangely, one of the presets that's great doesn't even use the room (I think it's dead snare reviver or something). I've used Ocean Way for ages, but SCS takes it to the next level. Are you getting much use out of the Distressor? That was one of the plugins that nearly made me get the bundle, but I have IK's Comprexxor and don't use that, so maybe I don't need it! The Electra 88 and Waterfall are both amazing as well. I have oodles of EPs and B3s, but these quickly became my top picks.

...What are you loving or not loving from the package? Torment or comfort those of us who didn't pull the trigger!

If it's dynamics you want, Modern U is pretty much unbeatable ?

I'll give it a go. I bought the bundle. On the whole, I'm very impressed. These pianos are *not* going to replace my top-tier piano libraries (e.g., VSL; VI Labs), but they fill a niche, particularly the 1926 - and I suspect it'll be right up your alley, Pavlov, because it plays in similar territory to the Piano in Blue library in that we're dealing with a big, old, and distinctly non-pristine Steinway here. It's got plenty of warmth and character to it. Personally, I like it much more than the Embertone Walker, but then I've never got along with the Walker D. Playability of both instruments is very good. Again, not up to some of the fancier libraries, but at roughly 5% of the price, that's fair enough. The controls are generally well thought out, though sometimes the menus are more hidden than I'd like. E.g., it took a little while to work out where to find the controls for selecting different microphones. I get a lot more crackles and pops with the Boz labs instruments than I do with other piano libraries at similar buffer sizes, but I suspect there is some optimizing I could do within Boz's player that I haven't yet discovered. Personally, I have no problem with this not being a Kontakt library; although there are some very good piano VIs available for Kontakt (Piano in Blue; Noire; Hammers & Waves), none of what I consider the absolute best piano VIs are Kontakt based - VSL's Synchron Piano Player is the best of the best, but I also prefer UVI (for Modern U) and Aria (for Garritan CFX). Even XLN's player works beautifully and (to me) is preferable to Kontakt. Price-wise, these are in similar territory to the Sampletekk libraries, but they're obviously much more modern. They aren't perfect, but it's hard to quibble with $13 per piano (if you buy the bundle).

This is kind of how I feel. This part of the forum has a lot of familiar faces with shared interests - there's nothing too weird about gravitating towards that. I visit multiple times a day, but rarely because I'm actually looking out for a deal. I'm sure I've spent a good chunk of money because of the deals forum that I wouldn't have otherwise, but as music is my only real 'vice', I'm okay with that. I am trying to rein in my spending though and have made a note to self that at this point buying another compressor or eq or reverb (SoundCity Studios excepted!) is basically just hoarding. As part of my plan I've made a little spreadsheet that lists what I'm actually looking out for and/or need...which at this stage only has two or three items: The new archtop library from Straightaheadsamples, and possibly the Fields of Rock SDX...though calling that last one a 'need' is a bit of a stretch!

Depends on if you like the others ? I have it and use it/like it, but I couldn't tell you whether it differs in any meaningful way from the Softube/IK/UAD FET compressors that I also use and like!