Brian Walton

Tested briefly last night. The interface could use a better design as the layout isn't ideal from a human factors perspective. Interesting pushing a gain knob way up and not getting a volume increase....that can be pretty cool once you mentally get your head around it. Can't say I was getting sounds I prefered out of it quickly compared to some of the PA channel strip options though. EQs didn't seem as musical as some of the alternatives on quick adjustments but I'd reserve opinions until I'd actually grasp the interface and do more testing. a nice freebie, but the real question is will it replace something I've paid for? Not convinced yet, but will absolutly install it on computers where I haven't authorized/don't have enough authorizations for a paid product.

They sure are. I know lots of them that I've told to go download and test out the amp sims, etc and it is almost always a "oh that looks cool" then never gets downloaded or used. I'm both a guitarist and a recording engineer and frankly the tone and feel of in the box has come a LONG way but the interface is garbage compared to my boutique pedal board when you want to jam and change tones on the fly. I really do get it from the guitarist perspective.

Depends on how much the product costs and how much it gets used. I bought Session Drummer 2 and not once have i used it on a project. That isn't cheap software, you can buy a used drum set for the cost of it...which can be resold at zero loss. The idea that a purchase of a few hundred bucks that has not material worth is only valid for a few years of use is equaly absurd in my book. I only fail to resell software becuase it seems worthless on the used market. If the plugin was $5, then yeah that is a you bought it either use it or put it in the trash, but when you are talking about software that has no real resale value where you could have gotten close to somekind of hardware counterpart - that is where the resale thing is a sticking point....which also has an additional cost of ownership with upgrade costs, etc.

This was my thought as well. Since the boutique tones are sparse - I figure an expansion is a long time coming. If they are smart honeslty they should be looking at a hardware unique that utalizes some of the tech. Most guitar players don't like a computer as the interface, they want pedals/things to step on to change tones while they play.

I think the IK comps are top shelf, but if you need something that doesn't have analog flavor I could see wanting something to supplement them. For free MCompressor seems like something to try in that case.

If they are going to remove from Aquarius that seems to indicate no authorizations in the future if you switch machines......not sure if it is worth the time if that is the case.

unnecessary...... as anyone can play guitar, there is even a song title that states this well known fact.

I got it for free as well. I never use it, but it is authorized both to a PC and a physical ilok. Not sure if they had different standards during different give aways, but can confirm mine is not strictly tied to the ilok clould version, which I think is a terrible practice.

There is a hack somewhere to make the SoundForge one stop. I know I found out about it in a thread here somewhere. Edit: this the post above is the solution..

Correct but you can buy more than one seat, which is what I did last year with both R4 and Phoenix. Just shows up as a separate 1/1 in the account. If PB doesn't let you get it if you purchased from them previous that would be odd, since many people want more than one seat.

Those two are very different, I own both. Train II has a massive gain range especially if you use the input gain control.

I own both and suggest doing a demo. I'm more on the classic rock spectrum and wasn't interested in the 100, but found it pretty versatile and the feel is good to play. It is noisy though. Lower the input gain to get lower gain tones, and an external Eq can give it warmth in the mid range and top end. The 40 is more muddy in general and it is fantastic in the sweet spot but I think that spot is a pretty narrow scope. Also Demo the Train II and Chandler for classic rock tones.

Should I be surprised at no additinoal cross grade discount for SE owners beyond what joe schome off the street would get here?

I'd demo them. Air band on the Maag EQ4 to me is unique you don't find on other EQs, especially the 40K setting. Millenia NSEQ-2 is quite good, but is clean enough that it can sound pretty generic, like you would get with a digital EQ. the M/S is a nice feature, so have to look at the rest of your collection. It was an analog EQ designed to be clean instead of the typical tube hardware EQ. Agree the TE-100 is basically something you have to actually learn from a UI perspective, then others are pretty obvious how they work.

They have this free version also, which I tried out for a little bit a while ago https://www.resonantdsp.com/swankyamp/ It didn't match up all that well to my reference amp plugins from PA / Brainworx. But do appreciate developers that put free options out there.

They have some pretty tough competition below that price point right now in the market place.

Excellent sound but not resizable which can be a bit small depending on your setup. I'd run the demo.

I actually had purchased a few Melda products through other retailers such as Plugin Boutique, but those don't acount against a new customer. As long as you haven't gone through Melda's website directly, the referal code program should work - even for owners of some melda products. I must have had 3 plugins purchased elsewhere before I used the referal code. The essential bundle is a pretty good one to use it on. Seems like a waste to use it on the FreeFX bundle since that one is already pretty cheap.

I have't used Photoshop as a primary application in a number of years, but honestly I think it depends on the picture. When I tested it out, I found a few scenarios where it could spead up a professional workflow. But the everyday person shooting a non-professional image under controled lighting and background conditions might have less success with it. It will need some refinement, but if you think about the time saved on getting most of it in one click, that adds up over time. I use Affinity Photo daily and think they could still use some refinement in the intelligent selection area.

Melda has free updates for life. You can't blame them if you bought the same plugin from them multiple times becuase your database where you keep track of all 20,000 plugins you own crashed. As for the OP / Article, looked pretty worthless, IMO.

Finally. I was surprised when the brit bundle came out there wasn't something like this as part of it. Good to see they realized the value in the single pane view. Hopefully it lives up to expectations.

Make sure to run the demo first on this one. On older machines it is painfully slow, which I was shocked by given many of the selling points of ditching Luminar 4 model was to make the app run faster and be more streamlined. If your machine isn't up to it, it can be very frustrating. I would recommend it for Landscape photographers as the sky replacement is impressive. Other "AI" tech in the box such as the portrait pieces don't give the user enough control for my taste.

Affinity Photo is better than "good" in the right hands for the pixel editing side (ala photoshop). I'd agree it is only "good" on the RAW side which it isn't really designed for, that is just an added bonus. It is true it lacks some of the newer Photoshop niceties like AI based one click selection, sky replacement, etc. But for basic editing tasks it is quite full featured compared to Elements. The photos provided in the examples don't exactly paint the picture of a professional with enough taste to create professional level images. I'd look elsewhere for reviews on this type of software - and a test drive is certainly worth it. At the current price of $25, honestly Affinity is a no-brainer.

For anyone new to Melda you can also use referal codes on top of the sale to get an additional 20% off, here is mine: MELDA31209027

They sent out this email on June 2nd Today we reset ALL your expired PA plugin trials. Check out and test ALL our plugins for 14 days - FREE! Even if you have already tested some of our plugins in the past, you can now just re-activate them and continue using them for another 14 days.