Craig Fowler

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!

Yeah, Bapu must be looking over his shoulder... ?

Smarty pants ?

A bit disappointed to see that it's US only...Not that I woulda jumped, but I like to be included!

Coupon ExtraBlack (or something similar) takes it down to $69 on the Softube website. Yet still I hold strong...

The Mars Astra is really nice, and I like some of the MatchChief sounds!

I've bought a few small things, but nothing huge (thank goodness). Boz Labs NY Steinway L Bundle ($22 after BestService coins) Melda Soundfactory ($14 after coupon for signing up for newsletter) Melodyne upgrade from essential to assistant ($49) Klevgrand Borsta + Black Friday bundle ($89) ToneX Max ($54-ish after Jampoint glitch) Several ToneJunkie capture packs for ToneX at $3-4 each. The Mars Astra is an unexpected gem, and the BadCat/Matchless packs have some absolutely killer sounds in them. Still a little more than I'd intended to spend because the NZ dollar is weak, but I feel very virtuous for not springing for the UAD upgrade to the Signature bundle when that was available for $150. Fortunately, their 2 for $99 offer runs until Dec 1st, which means I can get SoundCity studios and something else (maybe the Neve 1073 preamp/eq) with my Dec allowance ? (a sad thing to say for a guy closer to 50 than 40, I know!).

https://www.toontrack.com/black-friday/ 3 SDXs at $54 (Progressive Foundry, Custom & Vintage, and Indiependent). 4 Drum midi packs @ $10 each.

This post has the spreadsheet https://vi-control.net/community/threads/liquidsonics-2022-bf-sale-recommendations.132828/post-5233534

Showed as $44 for me directly at Softube when I used the extrablack code! But I still didn't buy it because I'm being a good boy.

So far, I've been very cautious with my spending - no really big buys planned or completed. I've got some deals I'm really happy with, though: I had a 10Euro credit at Melda for signing up for their newsletter, so I was able to get SoundFactoryLE for $14 - having heard so much said about Meldaway Grand, I'm looking forward to trying it out. I've got several ToneX capture packs with ToneJunkie's flash sales. Usually $30, but have been able to jump in time to get some of the limited number 94% off codes. Klevgrand! I'd been waiting on Borsta, and then also got the Black Friday bundle. I think Borsta was half price, and the bundle had about 2/3 off. I feel like I haven't spent a great deal but have got a lot for my money! The only other thing I'd really like is the Fields of Rock SDX, but I can't see that getting discounted - at least not to the point where I can justify springing for it.

This is a good point, esp. if you're running ToneX in standalone. I'm very much a 'guitar straight into amp' kind of player, and for me ToneX feels like a big step up from other 'sims' (though Kuassa will never lose its place in my heart!). I bought Max a couple of weeks ago and have been really impressed, but SE would have been better for me because I'm not using many of the IK models. I have lucked out and bought half a dozen of the tonejunkie capture packs at 94% off, as well as one from Amalgam. I'll probably also pick up one or two of Matt Figg's packs at some point. The big downside of ToneX is that --in true IK fashion-- you have a product that's pretty amazing paired with a GUI that seems to have been designed by a blind man having a slushie freeze. There's nothing intuitive about it, no batch import of captures from 3rd party vendors, and all kinds of pop-up menus for things that should be front and centre.

I liked the demo tracks; sounds like my playing style...but better. Have bought with the hope that I can retire myself.

Now they're just making things worse!

So, folks with the new Sound City Studios...how's it compare to Ocean Way?!

It was posted several days ago but was confirmed by a UA rep to be a hoax.