Brian Walton

6 minutes ago, kitekrazy1 said:

why would any developer ever put a new product in after a group buy

meanwhile as an IK fanboy - this just isn't really appealing at all

A number of these products that are included are new to the market this year.  I could see some reasons that would justify the inclusion of a pre-order of software like this.

just one example to drive sales - this isn't like TONEX where IKM can easily gift 50 copies to high profile guitar influencers to get market adoption, as they have done to great effect.  This software will make traction if it gets good word of mouth, and this group buy period is of limited duration.  With a pre-order it would put money in their pocket and they don't have to actually give access to it until after the GB is over, therefore the majority of people that don't participate in the GB would be buying it at a higher point after release after the feedback starts to roll in.

I'm not suggesting they will do it, but it wouldn't be completely irrational if they did given this product is "new" to the market as just like yourself stating it isn't appealing to you - the market might need some convincing that this is of value to them.   I've done enough video and instructional creation as a volunteer - I see value in it if it works as I don't always want my voice on the deliverable.   The kinds of content creators this tool could be useful for are VERY broad - so my point is handing it out to say 50 guitar channels isn't going to have the mass viewership appeal.  It will take a broad push to get in front of all the different kinds of target audiences this can have.  

2 hours ago, MrFigg said:

Would be great if this landed in the Group Buy. 

Agree, but they seem to be setting expectations out of the gate for now.

3 hours ago, IK Multimedia said:

If you registered it during the group buy period I believe it should have triggered the Group Buy.  IK Support can look directly at your account and see what is going on though.

Great, I responded to the previous ticket I opened.

Should apply then, but did not auto add the group buy to my promotions section of my account

Edit:  customer support is aware of the issue and sent it to the IT team to correct.

9 minutes ago, Craig Fowler said:

Is there a grace period? I ordered a TonexOne on Sept 12th and just registered it two days ago!

Lets see how they handle it.  I'm in the same boat.  The website clearly states the device registration period is within the constraints.   However, this did not automatically apply (as I checked my account after the hardware inclusion was announced)

9 hours ago, jayeyehaich64 said:

My final thoughts, opinion for the time being would be to stay away and see if, like a fine wine it matures over time, personally I think the chances are slim. As far as sound/tone and feel are concerned, unfortunately it just doesn't have it, certainly not when compared to TONEX, and that's all that concerns me for the time being really. I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm not very confident, perhaps someone like Choptones will come along with some expansion packs to pull it up by the boots. For me I can't waist any more time on it, I gave PG another chance, the fat lady hasn't sung quite yet, but there is a lot of work to do imo to even get close to TONEX. 👎

So...did you ask for a refund since they don't have a trial?

34 minutes ago, jayeyehaich64 said:

It loads extremely fast, the UI is extremely fast. It's leaps and bounds above any of the BIAS Amp or FX in a lot of ways, they seem to have learnt lessons from the past 😉. I'll keep my thoughts on sound/tone until I've had more time with it. My initial thought was that TONEX was going to be safe as my go to (and only) amp sim, but then I hit the Friedman and JCM800 and Plexi and my opinion changed somewhat, and a smile came across my dial. I still don't think it will roll TONEX, but you never know, I only installed it yesterday afternoon. After checking out all the standard fair, which will take some time on it's own, I can then go into the AI part of things, I came across part of it, but didn't go into it, seems interesting perhaps, different, somewhat unique, but whether it turns out to be something useful and something I personally would use only time will tell. 

You could do that in BAIS Amp (1) and ReValver 4 if we are talking about the same thing. I tried it out years ago with couple of Black Sabbath tunes that had Tony Iommi's guitar well isolated at the beginning of the tracks. It worked remarkably well back then, you couldn't tell the difference, I imagine it's only gotten better over time.

Anyway, I'll keep diving into it as time permits, oh, and if anyone does try it out, remember to put that collection of 3rd party cab IR's to good use, not that the cab's included are bad, they aren't, but you know 😉

Yes, they had a "tone match" feature but in my experience it wasn't even remotely close to both the sound and feel of what the amp sounded like.  It is more of an EQ curve plus using the gain structure of a built in tone model.  It might work ok with a Plexi which everyone has, but try matching a unique boutique amp and it fell apart very quickly.  

I also think everyone has different experiences and expectations of this stuff.  How an amp responds to your playing is very important to me and is not accurately captured by that previous technology.  

I'm not seeing a trial.

Can't imagine dropping $100 on software that doesn't have a trial where the entire crux of the value is does it do what it says it does as well as you expect it to.

Tone based off a recording is interesting, but I'm betting it doesn't live up to my expectations.  

3 hours ago, kitekrazy1 said:

Does anyone stop and think how far we go for something that is labeled free?  

Yes, and I frequently won't go after something just becuase it is free.

That said, I think most of us have a PB account already so there isn't the signup problem.  The tool itself seems like it could be useful (depending on the individual) and yes, I had the same "why is it downloading the MAC version" automatically nonsense that took me a few minutes to find it in my "free" section of the account.

*Edit I'm not sure this thing provides much value

19 minutes ago, MusicMan said:

I believe no free with hardware purchase unlocks the Group Buy as the software component is considered free. Software only counts.

Well, I know in previous group buys some hardware (with a software unlock) was eligible.  Such as the cheaper IRIG stuff.  Now if it was only specific to that group buy - that is one thing, but this type of thing has worked before and for less expensive items.

Hmmm...I registered a ToneX pedal today (to add to my collection of them).  

Since the pedal unlocks ToneX SE (though I already had multiple copies of SE and MAX), I don't understand why I wasn't added to the Group Buy

15 minutes ago, JonD said:

Is this true?   Or has anyone logged in with an existing account and have it work?  

(I mean, I'll create a new account if I have to, but it would be nice - and less tiresome to keep track of yet another "trial" account - if I could just use my old/existing account).

Worked on my existing account but also unsure if it was actually used before or if I'd just signed up previously.

1 hour ago, Roger Paredes said:

Llegué tarde., alguien me puede pasar el plugin por Google drive

You need an ilok license, which if you didn't get one while they gave it away you would need to buy a seat for it.  

The installer is available on the website.

On 8/30/2025 at 7:34 PM, kitekrazy1 said:

there will eventually be 5 more out there that will top it. It's like when you thought you worked for the worst boss you will probably come across 5 more in your lifetime

OP does have the qualifier of "this week" in the post. 

I was also going to post something along the lines of then you need to watch more movies if GF3 is the "worst."  It is a complete masterpiece compared to the majority of films that have been made (and that doesn't mean it is good) 

Delete

No fancy UI but Airwindows also has some console emulation options for free.

https://www.airwindows.com/category/consoles/

FrontDAW by United Plugins was given away for free at launch and has seen some updates since (basically a saturation plugin with different flavors)

Sonimus had a stripped down version of Statson with CM music magazine for over a decade.  

Quite a few options on the market - and hard to beat some of the PA ones if you get them at a steep discount, especially the 9099 Neve style or 9000J SSL one.   

1 hour ago, Peter Berenford said:

I have it on my account but when try to run on fl studio it get me information about activation via product portal.

I had the same problem and did a Google search on it.  They seem to say there is a known issue they are working to fix and to just run trial mode.

Instead I uninstalled it.  Not seeing any material differences from v11 out of the gate.

7 hours ago, aidan o driscoll said:

Any way I think TONEX is a great innovation.

Do not have the pedal yet BUT will wait for black friday and see if any deals on that

They are on sale now, if you have JamPoints I do not expect you would be able to do better on BF at any other retailer than what you could get direct now.

YMMV but I've bought 2 big ones and 2 small ones since they came out and have seen the price over history to base this assumption 

The base price on both units went up.

9 hours ago, MusicMan said:

Install yes.. activate no.. they took the activation server offline

Haha, yeah that was the core of the question.  

I remember I used glitch on the main theme of one single song I did.  I've switched computers since then so that project might have issues being replicated as that isn't like and eq or compressor.

2 hours ago, Esteban Villanova said:

Never seen those plugins. They have a "Soundspot vibe" lol

Pretty sure some of them are  soundspot under the hood with some facial surgery.

Which of course impacts ones perception on the price.  

I wonder if I can even install the old soundspot stuff if I wanted to.  

1 hour ago, PhonoBrainer said:

Spread is great for making the bass more mono, and making the shimmery top things wider. Very easy to use, its a great gui design.

Yeah, but now with a 3 computer limit - there are quite a few options that do the same sort of thing.

United Plugins gave away Wide Fire and it is pretty good (no computer limits for personally owned machines)

Melda has options

Boz Mongoose

Izotope Imager is free (depending on which feature you need at a given time might work)

JST Sidewider was a free with CM offering

Even other plugins alliance plugins have built in stereo expanders (with a bass cross over)  Mono maker and stereo width knobs.  Lots of their plugins have this built in.

Also agree that spread is pretty good, just noting there are many options, many of which people might have already.

3 hours ago, Carl Ewing said:

"Version 12" for a plugin shouldn't even be a thing. The milkening of customers continues.

 

 

And yet...WAVES is on V15, with most of the plugins being exactly the same as v5.

100% agree.  Given the cost of these plugins, updates should be included for quite a while as material changes are few and far between.  

38 minutes ago, chris.r said:

If you have any of their (paid I guess) products in your audiority account then click on 'My Offers' tab, there you should get it for $29 along with some other nice finds. I like to support this developer for their nifty creations and hassle-free authorization (downloadable license file 👍).

One of my favorite devs for these reasons.  That said, not sure I'd personally get $30 worth out of this kind of plugin but because of the other plugins I have from them that I do love, will consider the demo to give them a fair shot at convincing me.  

Honestly I wish they would put that Echoes plugin in a physical pedal. (Don't need all the controls just the core ones).  I don't need any more pedals but that would seriously tempt me.  

Anyone with experience know what his periodic checks are set at?  And does the plugin disable if it isn't connected?

**Internet Access**: Internet access is mandatory for plugin activation and periodic checks.

4 hours ago, Craig Fowler said:

It's tough to offer stuff at a premium price when you've built a reputation of making fantastic tools and selling them at less than they're worth!

I would have said the same 6 years ago, but the market has shifted.  Most of us realize that the majority of effect based plugins do not give us more than a few dollars worth of actual value in real life.  

There are exceptions of course but most TD stuff is the I already have alternatives in the collection types and thus an expensive purchase for more of the same is off the table now.

2 hours ago, user905133 said:

Thanks for clarifying that. To me it was unclear from your post that you had seen the post saying they had rectified the error.

 

They also had to release an update right after an update release on the same day after people had been beta testing this for a bit already.  

For perspective, between the announcement release, the 2nd release and then the actual fixed release.  I downloaded over 18 GIGs from them to get my computers operational with the new update.  Imagine someone doing this on a poor connection or even  a metered one.  Not to mention a couple hours of my time doing the installs and waiting on the fairly slow downloads due to the limited bandwidth servers (not the connection getting to said servers).  

I'm not complaining because the product itself is so good, but I understand the critique.