Brian Walton

My experience is, I never read them and find the content worthless (is these electronic music or "producer" type of content isn't of interest to me). I'm only interested in the giveaway stuff, but frankly if I'm paying for it, the interest typically is minimal at this point. I bought a number of issues of the now defunct Computer Music under this same thinking when they had something I thought was worth it (though most issues I'd go the free via library route if the give away wasn't really worth the cost) and they had more interesting giveaways than Beat from what I recall over the years. Hate to say it, but if I'm putting enough down for a subscription, I'd rather spend that money on something discounted that I'd actually use. Of course I'm not at the beginning of my VST journey, most releases don't move the needle for me at this point.

Also a waste because the digital version is free though many local libraries in the USA. 🤣

Nope: License Management: License uses online verification, but can be used for 30 days offline before needing to reconnect to the internet. License can be assigned to two different locations.

While it doesn't have the full MTurboReverb (which is insane) inside, it does have more - and better - options than the average Piano VST available within the plugin itself. Combined with the 7 pic "pair" options lots of room for creating a sense of space. Plus there is additional control under the Resonances:

Yeah, I always wondered why plugin alliance never signed up for that series and the IR loader they have given how good everything they make is.

Beat magazine is also free digitally through many local library programs in the US. https://help.pressreader.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040581231-How-to-sign-into-PressReader-through-a-library You need a local library card and a pin code for that card to access it virtually.

This is what I was afraid of. I still remember their Neural EQ thing they gave away for free being the most resource intensive for a small task thing I'd ever encountered and uninstalled it about as fast as I installed it in the first place.

Product launched today but the free tier is missing PREVIOUS MARKETING WRITEUP:

Yep, until the pianoverse deal I had basically uninstalled a number of other pianos because it not only sounds great there is a ton of variation you can get due to the (7 different) Mic pattern options which can be combined and manipulated into more combinations. That is one of the real reasons the collection takes up the space, but it is worth it. I feel bad for "laptop creators" though, as giving up a port for an external drive is annoying.

Agreed but the other option to get it is MSoundfactoryLE for $40, which give someone that plus quite a few other instruments. But that piano is certainly the standout, and at $10 is a steal for anyone with the storage space it takes.

I remember that fairly short lived product, but never tried it. I need to go back and try again but I did make some of my own IRs years ago with the free tool. Results were not at the level I hoped for. I also have some purchased packs, some free ones l, etc. my best results are mixing some IRs and then exporting that single IR to use I think ML has to give us a better way than just a static IR though. Using an IR never seems to match the actual recording. That said, I'm a big fan as IRs can sound better than some of the best options on the market that try to tweak a piezo source. Dramatic improvement, but I want next level. If it can be done with better IR than what I love gotten that would be wonderful since I already have multiple pieces of hardware to use them.

The foam wearing out also depends on the model. Sure they all wear out eventually, but my 595s are now 20 years old and holding up great on the original pads. The 598 and 599 seems like they are made out of the same basic stuff. And while replacing pads on some models is a pain, most Senns of any decent tier has the full replacement pad that sort of snaps on and off.

When you have been playing for 30+ years and only know 2 or 3 riffs, my options are limited. I'm wondering if they can do better than a single IR generation as that seems a little limiting with acoustics from my experience. If it is as simple as creating the IR then even a desktop app would be enough as we could load the IR in Tonex already. I find my enjoyment of headphones highly dependent on the particular pair. I'm a fan of Sennheiser 59x open back cans. Have multiple pairs 595, 598, 599, etc. comfortable, open and natural sounding. The 600 series sound good but different signature.

My favorite application of this is going to a guitar store to try out a guitar or gear. I've got a case that holds a power bank, tonex one, cable, turbo tuner which is good enough to check intonation, and closed back studio headphones. Don't have to listen to others attempting to play around me, and they don't have to hear me playing through some amp on .5 Also use it when the power goes out, want to plug and play in a different room in the house, small gigs straight into the PA, etc

I'm speaking only about the Melda and United plugin installers which are very efficient, way more so than updating a few individual ones. But you can select which to update within the system. It would be nice to set more individual paths though if you need to break up space. As for the extra random installs, I get the feeling that also happens with individual installs as well depending on the manufacture. I haven't done a deep dive on meldas method as unlike (waves) it has never given me an issue. Speaking holistically across brands extra installers are terrible