Zolton

For anyone interested, I just gave this another try and the stock has evidently returned. Fire (up your browsers) at will.

Since we're in a gaming thread... If you have Amazon Prime, don't sleep on the games available for free on Prime Gaming. While there's some chaff to sort through (from my perspective, including games on the Legacy Games platform and those only free for the month on Luna), the freebies available to download and play forever (DRM-free for the most part) are a solid mix of genres, indies and AAAs, etc. Nothing brand new, but generally solid. The set for November just dropped and includes: Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition (redeems on GOG) Last Day of June WRC9 Etherborn Whispering Willows Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Hi Brian -- Thank you for pinging me; I meant to update my post over the weekend, in case the info is helpful for others: I did hear back from support later on Wednesday, and over the course of the next couple of days, the support team sorted things out. (I'm not sure what state my account was in, but the solution was to wipe out the existing v2 licenses and register new ones from scratch. But that worked!) I was very pleased with the help from support, and happy to be able to use the v2 instruments now. I imagine for some of us the situation with licenses and versions may be a little jumbled during the transition to Mndala v2, but support was diligent in my case in sorting things out. Thanks very much!

I've given in to plugin collecting as a separate hobby (thanks, mild OCD), so I happen to have a mortifyingly embarrassing spreadsheet with just these numbers. I'm a new producer, with 45 pieces "completed" (based on whatever skill I had at the time) in the past two years or so. In those, I've used: 70 VSTis of 162 "active" 100 effects VSTs of 458 "active" I'm pretty okay with that ratio. (The Kontakt libs used vs. owned looks a lot worse, but what do you do?) I say "active" plugins, because I keep anything I've used, paid for or "other" (like wanting it available in Unify) in Cakewalk's scanned VST folders. I make one or two custom subsets to actually use day to day, based on what I like and want to like, etc. I keep at least one "working" instrument and effects plugin set small by just adding "containers" -- Snap Heap but not the individual plugs, etc. -- which keeps things pretty clean. But I also shamefully keep shadow "inactive" VST directories with freebies and oddballs and ancient 32-bit monsters scoured from various corners of the internet. I've at least pulled each one up and tried it out, but that's as far as it's gone for most. Between effects and instruments / synths, there are 4479 of those. So much for that ratio, I guess.

I think both the LE and CE versions are new, and meant to work in Mndala 2. The original UDW, with no extension, was for v1, and seems to be fully separate. I'm still having issues with v2 personally -- different than the ones I described in the linked thread above, now that I've updated to Mndala 2.05, but still blocking in terms of installation / functionality. I opened a ticket with support to get advice about Rasa and UDW (LE) working in v2, but haven't heard back yet since the auto-response saying they usually respond within 24 hours and with a link to their ticket system online. It'll be 48 hours since that email soon, at which point I may reply to let them know my Mntra login info doesn't work to access their ticket system and trying to register there as a new user just reloads a blank reg page with no error message or instructions. It's a journey.

Just as an aside -- I decided my Melda strategy would be to buy MXXX Core for fifty bucks on sale, and gradually add bits on deep discount to the core functionality. The upside is, I get to use and learn it for certain functions in the meantime, even though half the exciting fancy options are greyed (or redded, to be precise) out. In the end, you still sell your kidney for it. But instead of yanking it out all at once, every couple of weeks you slice a little bit off with a cheese grater. I'll leave it to the reader whether that sounds more or less enjoyable as a customer experience.

Hi Brian -- Thanks very much for letting me/us know! It's quite possible I don't have the latest point release of Mndala installed, so I'll grab that, uninstall and start from scratch. It sounds like things may go much more smoothly now. As I mentioned in a later post, I'm a big fan of the engine and the sound, so best of luck with getting all of the pieces in place. It's a little tricky for both users and developers when the roadmap is somewhat unpredictable, so I really appreciate the info and communication here and elsewhere. I've put a couple of recent v1 library purchases "on hold" for the moment, but it'll be fantastic to try everything out together in v2 when available. Cheers.

Well, that's encouraging (Rasa and UDW-LE working in v2 for abacab and others), in that it suggests my issues are likely account- and/or installation-related. When I have a chance, I'll uninstall v2, reinstall both versions, try my luck at installations and ping support about any persistent issues. It's a bit of a chore, but I do like the engine and the libs, so it feels worth another shot to get things sorted. I wish it wasn't quite such a tangle, though.

I've gone down the road of trying to be patient and wait for the v2 kinks to sort out, though it's been a little while. The link that abacab mentioned above went up in late August / early September, with no library conversions yet that I'm aware of, so the progress to date has been fairly slow. (The page apparently hasn't been updated lately, either, as it indicates only Huracan is v2, but Caprakan is their latest lib and specifically for v2, according to the main site.) I got a little burned in upgrading to 1.8 a while back, which turned out to be unstable and was eventually mothballed. Maybe I'll sort out with support how to get Rasa working in v2, or bite the bullet and fiddle around with v1.7 and the v1 libs for a while.

I happened to stumble on this while browsing APD, but haven't seen the freebie listed anywhere that I recall: https://audioplugin.deals/ultrasonic-death-whistle-by-mntra-instruments/ On the one hand, a nice pickup if you're collecting Mndala instruments, like the Huracan free-with-purchase from PB last month. On the other hand, the Mntra ecosystem seems to still be a tangled mess right now. I've gone through the password reset that lets owners of Mndala v1 libs log into the site (and eventually get the libs ported over to v2, I'm told). But loading Mndala v2 in Cakewalk, I can install Huracan but not the free Rasa library that comes with it (error connecting to server, even in the same session where Huracan installed). In the plugin, Huracan perpetually says an update is available, even if just updated, and the UDW above comes from APD with instructions for installing in v2 which say: Trying to enter the license key in-app gives a "server might be down" message and no other progress, though three seemingly-failed attempts have created three records in the "Orders" section of my Mntra account on the website -- each with a license key containing the string "UDW", but no product listed in the record. Basically, it's all higgledy-piggledy, so far as I can see. Still, I'd had my eye on UDW, and perhaps at some point everything will be sorted and usable in Mndala v2. Maybe UDW is currently only compatible with v1, which means it's APD's install info that's wonky in this instance. At any rate, if interested, I'd advise to pick this up and stash it until the dust settles. Hopefully soon-ish.

It is, though it's technically a MIDI generator as opposed to a traditional synth. There was a short blurb about it (the original Reaktor ensemble) on NI's site a while back: https://blog.native-instruments.com/create-unconventional-melodies-and-harmonies-with-hexcel-for-reaktor/

Looks like the original Reaktor ensemble is still available, for five bucks: https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/software/hexcel/ Interesting that the URL in Brian's post above specifies just "hexcel", but the equivalent URL for the VST/AU version under software/ is hexcel-2: https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/software/hexcel-2/ The new one's definitely prettier, though they don't otherwise seem to be calling it "version 2", so I wonder if there are any functional differences.

For anyone considering, several (though not all) of the 4-5 plugin bundles are also $29 during the sale - including the Percussion Bundle, which includes Skaka. EDIT: Apologies -- see below, as this may not be the case. Notes on some of the bundle pages suggest that the bundles are also $29, but that's not showing up in cart. Sorry for the false alarm. EDIT to the EDIT: Not sure whether the text on the site was clarified or if I originally misinterpreted, but it seems the bundle prices have been adjusted during the sale so that each individual plugin "counts" as $29. Makes sense now. Ah well.

Yeah, absolutely. I'd just prefer that the roadmap was a little clearer by now.

That would be fantastic, if it's now the case. I bought Gypsy last October after cancelling a CC subscription and lost access to Opus in the process; the lib only runs in Play for me. (As a refresher for me on what the behavior here is, I just found that I could download and install the latest Opus version from the EW Installation Center, where I see my Gypsy license. Trying to open Opus got me a message to update my iLok Manager and after doing that, trying to open/activate Opus led to an iLok message that "You don't have any licenses in your account, or none of the licenses there have activations available." ) At least for me, and for a purchase nearly a year ago, the lib license doesn't also appear to come with an Opus license or confer Opus access. I'm not sure whether the verbiage is in the product docs because they work with Opus in the context of Composer Cloud (which they do) or if something's changed more recently and Opus access now comes along for the ride. I'm pretty sure I saw that EW planned to charge for Opus access for "legacy" lib purchases someday, though, so I suspect my situation is still the status quo.

Out of curiosity, am I correct that this is the only EW product outside of the full orchestra (and Composer Cloud) that qualifies a user for the Opus engine? I have one older library and am considering a couple of others, but I'm stuck on Play and (from previous CC experience) prefer Opus and got better performance with it on my machine. EastWest mentioned a while back that there would eventually be a (paid) option to upgrade to Opus with "legacy" products, but if they've peeped further about it since, I've missed it. I'm not really in the market for the full-blown HOOPUS, so this could be a cheaper way to get Opus access and presumably open up access for other libs of interest. Not a "cheap" way -- or probably "cheap enough" way at this point -- but I'm trying to keep the viable options in mind, if EW's non-CC Opus availability is further years in the offing.

If you're in Europe (at least), the deal could be potentially quite a bit sweeter. With the "E-paper" annual subscription at 72 euro, there's a choice of reward including: UVI PX V8 (as above) Kilohearts Phase Plant Heavyocity Novo Essentials Acoustic Samples AS Piano Collection Ample Sound Ample Guitar Vintage Cherry Rob Papen SubBoomBass 2 Impact Soundworks Shreddage 3 Hydra MusicLab RealEight 5 There's a thread over at VI-Control discussing whether it's possible to purchase the virtual subscription in the US (the country doesn't show up in the available list when entering billing info, but at least one intrepid explorer in the thread has given it a go, nevertheless). So far, it's unclear and fairly dubious. But in the supported countries, this would be the lowest effective price for Phase Plant I've seen (plus access to a year's worth of Beat, which is awfully handy), and perhaps true for some of the other options.

Ah, that makes sense. Unless PB was the middle man on the previous sale, they don't acknowledge ownership for crossgrades and such. I think I ran into that during a Glitchmachines upgrade promo.

Nice. Can you see the specific PB deal on Novum for Abyss owners? I'm curious how much more than the 30% they're prepared to lop off.

From what I understand, Abyss is a favorite of quite a few folks around the usual circles, with a unique approach to synthyness. Plugin Boutique has it for $49 until October 2: https://www.pluginboutique.com/deals/show?sale_id=11379 So far as I (and also the wayback pricing history gnomes at Music Software Deals) can remember, that's the best price to date. Edited to add: There's also a 30% deal on Novum, plus some sort of crossgrade deal to Novum if you have Abyss, but I don't (yet?) have Abyss, so I can't see the latter.

Ooh, thanks - I was mistaken and not sure why I had the idea Engine was involved. That changes the calculus (for me, at least).

I'm sorely tempted, as I love using traditional instruments of various kinds in all sorts of ways, but I'm not sure either World Suite 2 (with a fair bit of older data) or Ethno World 6 (which I hear the BS Engine does no favors) will nudge me away from hoarding instruments I can use all in Kontakt. If the difference in sale price Reid mentioned is a factor for anyone, though, there's a $20 off code active at UVI until the 30th: ANANAS. I checked, against my wallet's better judgement, and it indeed lowers the WS2 sale price in cart to $159. Hrmmmmmm.

I think the concurrent 70% off everything (or most everything) sale must have ended last night or this morning, based on various posts I've seen. So the code reduces the prices of the two listed VSTs by 70%, but there's no glitchy discount goodness on top of that. Evidently, we have to be quicker!

It's a worthy repost -- especially if it wasn't free for a while, and because it's been 2 1/2 months anyway -- but man, Minimal isn't bothering to change up their ad copy at *all*:

Based on the image for the instrument, the sound, the possible options (and the helpful and descriptive preset names!), my first guess would be Cinematic Percussion: Compared to the video, the routing under the hood looks fairly different, though, so I'm not sure. Either some of the modules have been swapped out, maybe to make it more flexible, or maybe it's a different beast entirely.