ALC

If you’re going to do that, wait until Waves has the spend $90 and get two free plugins promotion.

I’m in the same boat. I have everything else in Amp Room: Marshall Edition but the 2203. The upgrade price came out to $141 for me. Will wait as well.

Wait until Waves has the “Spend $90 get two free plugins” promotion comes around again, then buy a $99 Nx bundle (and get two free plugins). Not all the bundles are discounted at the same time, though, so you’ll have to be patient to get the Nx plug-in you want. Also, the free plugins selections change, so make sure the ones you want are available as freebies.

According to https://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/?id=BlackFridayMAX2022: The upgrade/crossgrade/new prices are all $199.99. Only the MAXgrade is $99.99.

Standalone, I've always seen it at $99. https://www.waves.com/hardware/nx-head-tracker My recollection is that the best price was for $99 in a bundle with Nx. Right now, it's $99 with Nx Ocean Way. https://www.waves.com/hardware/nx-ocean-way-nashville-head-tracker

Here's some reading material: https://gearspace.com/board/music-computers/1350275-comparison-vsx-mixingroom-realphones-sienna-sonarworks.html VSX is the gold standard. Look at Realphones if you want to use your own headphones.

Just FYI ... all except Abbey Road Studio 3. I remember when this collection came out that it was a notable omission.

Updated AmplTube and TONEX from IK Product Manager on macOS without incident. Thanks.

Exactly. It’s a plugin host optimized for live use without the overhead of a DAW.

They sound good but they do use significantly more CPU than most other emulations.

Here’s a VST Live review: https://yamahamusicians.com/steinberg-vst-live-pro-review/ It may be worth it to get these VIs for $50 without paying for Cubase Pro. I only have the HALion Sonic SE Basic sound set—I don’t know if the Artist or Pro sound sets are any good. Any thoughts? How do they compare to the full HALion Sonic? I’m pretty much a preset user.

I think you’re thinking of VST Connect: https://www.steinberg.net/vst-connect/ It’s not on sale right now. Here’s the VST Live description: https://www.steinberg.net/vst-live/ VST Live is a VST host along the lines of Cantibile, Gig Performer, and Camelot. It’s pretty new—still a 1.X product—not as mature as the competition, but I’m intrigued by the syncing features.

I’m intrigued by VST Live Pro for $50. Any thoughts?

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/sampletekk-pianos-recommendations-during-sale.102786/ Post #13 has a nice rundown of the libraries.

So, same base samples but more. The MkII is the most advanced version.

This is the time to purchase from SampleTekk. For those who don't have Kontakt (yet), if you can use the EXS format, buy the non-Mk II libraries. Logic/Mainstage/GarageBand use EXS instruments. Studio One's Presence and Ableton's Sampler can import EXS instruments. And if you eventually get full Kontakt, you can buy the upgrade to the Mk II version here. I actually purchase the non-Mk II versions and the upgrade to get both (for maximum flexibility). Update: Looks like there are sfz versions for a lot of the libraries now so that's an option for those without the full Kontakt.

I've had TH-U Beat Edition and TH-U installed with with Gig Performer (from Deskew, not the PA version), and it seems that TH-U Essentials is equivalent to those. Thanks for sharing your favorites. Each ecosystem has strengths. For Marshall, I like Softube. For Fender, AmpliTube. Nembrini/BX I prefer when working with individual amp and stomp plugins (mixing and matching the best of each category). I actually dislike Nembrini's Live Rig environment. I currently run the plugins in Gig Performer. Having played with Kuassa Amplifikation 360, it seems to be a clean and quick workflow, but I have yet to buy into the ecosystem. I've been impressed with the low CPU usage of TONEX. I like to get stuff to fill in holes in my collection, that is, amp sims that haven't been covered by what I already have. What do you feel each product does well?

Purchased for $13 from PA. Thanks.

How would you compare TH-U rigs with TONEX?

Hard to imagine why a product released this year isn't Apple Silicon Native. I've been waiting for all of UJAM's products to get updated.

The definitive list is in the following file linked from the above page: https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/include/at5/gear_list_pdf/AmpliTube_5_comparison.pdf It doesn't include X-GEAR and MB2.

Nice deal.

This. I picked it up as a group buy freebie. It requires more CPU than other organ VIs, but it's worth it.

I picked this up two years ago, before SSS2 was released. Has this been updated since or is it actually the same as before?

I'm pretty much covered with guitar stompbox effects, with AmpliTube, Softube ecosystems, and lots of BX and Nembrini plugins (and MixBox). What does Kuassa bring to the table? Are any of these (chorus, compressor, phaser, tremolo) recommended?