Thanks, but I’m good with Slate’s FG-Stress. Amazing little plug-in covers my Distressor needs

Yeah, this is no good. Even $9.95 or $7 (with JamPoints) is no good. Paying for the same (or even lesser) product one already owns to use it in MixBox is simply not cricket. Next they’ll launch MasterBox and let us pay yet again for plugins we already have.
It makes a Group Buy feel like Giant Bait.

I’m pretty sure both were free in the group buy. I just went to the site to try it But it kept saying my zip code was missing (it wasnt). I’ll try another time. It’s only $7 but I don’t think I need it because I already have the full one (I love room 2).

They had a wheelie bin speaker at Occupy Sydney. I was going to do a DJ set with it, but the battery was flat so I had to use another little speaker. It was the quietest set I've ever played, but one of the best vibes. At 6am the riot squad came and attacked everyone while they were sleeping and arrested them all. That was the last night of the occupation. A better world scares the crap out of the powers that be.

Someone posted the following response from customer support:

"Unfortunately we have no control over which special offers are sent to which customer.
The process is automatic and depends on a number of factors"

I did get an email last month with the 40% off voucher, which I used, but nothing since (apart from a thank you coupon). It seems that the recently announced 2-bundle doesn’t qualify anyway…

If I could get it for $7 that would be under my impulse buy threshold, I mean that is less than a burrito costs and I have got some good use from Mix Box as an effects rack. But at $50 I'd need it to be more than just a cut down version of what I have already when I can run what I have serially afterward and that's like 99.9% of the time how I'd want to use these realistic reverbs, at the end of other processing, rather than more effecty ones that I might put earlier. The value proposition isn't there for me and I am not going to lose my mind not having every possible permutation of Mix Box options solely for the sake of that, it is just Mix Box after all.

I don't feel baited, but I will keep in mind that Group Buy licenses are viewed as, like, second class for the purposes of cross/upgrade in the future. I don't think it will influence my behavior that much as I didn't buy the stuff thinking "ah, I shall upgrade from these!," I bought them thinking "that's damn near everything they make for the price of one." And, like I said, I'm actually grateful to them for the support they have given to some items, including Sampletron 2 that I use pretty regularly. Several added sound sets since I got it, and I didn't have to pay for them. They are still a business, gotta make money to stay in business - I don't begrudge Plugin Alliance for charging $20 for a modest upgrade to Master Desk even though I paid like $60 for it last year (look, it was a weird time, one of my first PA buys back before I grasped the voucher system ok ), I understand they're a going concern and if the value isn't there for me on a purchase I skip it.

Don't get me wrong I still wish they'd extend the upgrade offer, since it just doesn't make sense for me to buy it at the nominal pricing.

Indeed, it’s the post-GB second class citizen treatment that doesn’t sit right.

Truth

A great color EQ can be quite nice on the mix bus. Not for trying to correct any weaknesses in a mix (because there shouldn't be any) but to provide some enhancement in a way that bus or individual track level processing won't do.

That bot absolutely sucked at the one job it had then!

Some people still haven't received their voucher.

If they did this with Sunset, my guess is that they will probably make a version of Fame reverb for MixBox as well and charge something for it. Rinse and repeat.

That's unfortunate...

Any sample library that takes up hundreds of gigs is going to take a long time.

I have my own business to run and a wife and three kids at home. I don’t have 2 straight days to spend installing software even if wanted to.

I managed to install pretty much the entire catalogue of IKM stuff without losing 2 days. I didn’t do it all in one go.

Also I didn’t bother with the syntronik 2 group buy as syntronik is by far my least favourite ikm product that I have. It’s not worth the space it takes up.

You can find that out by installing one of the synths. After that you can work out whether you think it’s worth your time and SSD space installing more of them. You know what you’re in for after the first 30 mins.

If anybody spent 2 business days at $80/hr installing Syntronik instead of billing customers more fool them. If you don’t know how to manage time you shouldn’t be running a business as you’re going to fail.

Great info.

Ah... Our paths probably wouldn't have crossed then as I moved away to uni in 94, not returning until a decade later, when the area was beginning to change as the Shoreditch effect spread through the borough.

Yes, the trolley stop! Small place with the funny shaped billiards table in the corner and a late licence before many London bars had such a thing. Just up the street from the legendary mole man's house!

Had no idea Rochford played at Sam's either, though I've seen several of his bands over the years. Another good drummer.

Yep. But there's a difference. I installed the whole UVI collection recently, and some libraries from EWQL, and that was just selection a few things I wanted, setting the paths and 1 click. Then I could go to sleep an everything was done the next morning. Installing 550Gb of ToonTrack SuperiorDrummer with expansions, same experience. 1 click to download everything, 1 to install.

I Ido not know if it changed or improved, but for IKM I had to click to install every single item and run through the installer, and no 2 installers could run at the same time without problems (quite normal).

Last year when I upgraded to TS3.5 I had to even manually copy some files, as the installers didn't work on MacOS. Finally figured out that I needed to right-click the app, go inside the package, browse to the installer file, drag it into the terminal an run it from there to work. So a ton of manual labor to get it done.

Recent updates I did, were just clicking 1 button and it would install. But it failed as soon as I clicked all updatable items to queue them. So again you would have to keep a close eye on it. Wait for something to finish and then click the next one.

But I released myself form that burden. Removing is just selecting the folders and hit Cmd-Backspace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNoCTw3rcRg

Depends - everything is relative. If you are running a studio - not good. If you are a Producer and/or Songwriter and you manage to create some good money spinners from using it then it could be very lucrative.

Everyone is different and that's a strength not a weakness in the Industry.

Tbf at least they were rather upfront about that before and during the group buy.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending IKs product manager. It sucks. It is lazily coded. I’ve said that in this thread before.

I think I’ve derailed what my main point in this thread was. It’s how IK Multimedia can’t help but create situations for themselves that annoys their customers. Whatever they do there’s a sting in the tail.

I meant you can manage your time better. You don’t have to install every syntronik pack in one go. Install some, rest them, come up with some song ideas etc then when you’ve got a spare lunch hour, install some more.

The install process is not good. If you’re going to sit there for two days doing nothing but install IK stuff, that’s down to you!

But yes. Whatever way you slice it, the installation procedure is user hostile.

Yes the Mole Man LOL
The Trolley didn't actually have a late licence, as such, and I loved the round pool table.

Not so much a lock-in, as a walk-in then. Iirc we usually only went there after closing elsewhere and there was no attempt at subtlety, so I always assumed legal! 🙂

This is turning out (so far) to be a disappointing July 4th for purchases for me. Don't seem to find anything that I need or want that's on discount. NoiseAsh - some neat stuff but do I really need another Neve emulation? Eventide - got the Anthology XI and a couple of extras that aren't in that. PA - I don't buy anything from them anymore (ditto for Waves). Nembrini is having a sale that starts on the 4th but I have everything I want from them. There's a few more developers that are the same way for me. There are a couple of developers who I won't buy from because of their minimum OSX requirements that are beyond what my hardware support (UVI and SSL).

What I really want to see is FabFilter have a sale. Looking at their gate and Volcano. Question: is it possible to change the gui color on the SIR StandardGate? That bluish one makes my eyes hurt after a while.

The group buy is a cash grab con….

Over on Vi Control I warned them all….they didn’t listen…some bought into the group buy multiple times…

Then a couple of weeks after the Group Buy ended Total Studio Max 3.5 got released and people were pi$$ed that buying or cross grading to that would have been cheaper than the Group Buy and got them more FX and instruments.

They were all giddy at the time thinking they were getting a good deal….when in fact they were getting fleeced…

Perfect Marketing on IK multimedia’s part but , even though the GB deemed to be customer centric, it was in fact just a cash grab manipulation event.

Same will happen again with this group buy…take the Joe Chiccarelli Vocal Strip - $/€159.99 Get up to 53x1…..

Many will buy this plug as entry point to GB in order to get the Sunset And Fame and hit the 149.99 Tier….they will also get the rest of the T Racks plugins…

When IK have sucked all the people dry…they will then release Total Studio Max 4 in the autumn with upgrade and cross grade pricing of 199

This will include T Racks 6 Max…Rendering the GB redundant.

It will be realised in the autumn to coincide with the UAD spark release for windows users….(A Big Deal) I’m waiting to try native UAD on windows so UAD have my attention and I’m not even buying plugs right now…

All the people that bought into the group buy will be kicking themselves they didn’t wait for TSM4 and feel done by IK…..Pete will then defend IK on the forums stating getting 53 T racks processors for the price of one was a good deal….and rinse and reapeat.

What is also interesting as the algos in Mixbox are now M1 compatible…but no mention of T racks being M1 compatible yet even though they share the same algos….

M1 compatibility with T Racks will come in V6 forcing you to upgrade if your a Mac user rendering the GB redundant once again….but they have already taken your money and they want you to buy the same stuff again….just like what they are doing with Sunset for Mixbox when in fact when Mixbox was released IK said that new modules would be released and these would be added to Mixbox.

But no you have to buy Sunset for 49 instead….and this will happen to Fame and other plugins….

So Mixbox as a standalone product you thought you got a good deal for starts to become expensive….especially when now IK have released Mixbox CS, Mixbox SE and Mixbox….

Yes you guessed it, Mixbox Max is coming that includes Sunset and Fame

Mixbox Max will be included in TS4 Max….and so it goes on and on…

And there is my analysis of the IK business model…a masterclass of manipulation, disdain for their customers, crappy upgrade paths, and Sh1t installation processes.

I feel so tired and dizzy even after more than 12 hours of sleep. Can't even make music . Covid self test is negative.

I agree with you. Yes, only $7 for SSS in Mixbox. But I prefer the full version anyway to have all the options / features with its GUI which is the enjoyable and useful part of SSS for me (also like Studio 2 the best). The downsized version in Mixbox just has no alure for me to use it over the full imo. And, just on principle, if they said future Mixbox additions would be included, then no sale for me no matter how low.

Must have missed that, as I wouldn’t have jumped had I known. Really liked IK before. Now, not so much.

Me too. The only thing I recall them saying is that the free stuff was NFR, which is fair.

I don’t feel cheated by the GB though. Yet. I think I got a good deal. I had a lot of fun treating the GB like an adventure game and got a lot of cool stuff that so far I’ve not lost out on and much of it has been updated to M1 native for free so I don’t have to pay to get that which is good.

I can see how some people that bought in multiple times could have got a better deal with one of the MAX promotions though.

Like with any developer, you need to know how the game is played to get the best from it. A lot of this thread is based on PA poker after all…

I bought IKM at some unbelievably low upgrade prices (TS2 Max, TS3.5 Max, Syn2 GB). Got some nice stuff, too (AT5, TR5, B3-X, Leslie, MODO Bass, SSSR, Fame, etc). So, some time and minor install issues seemed fair trade offs.

Although like others said, the installer needs attention for restarts / fixes, even though I broke it up over days, especially with the huge libraries. Probably less time needed if I had a better understanding how IKM installs from the start. Along the way, I learned how to avoid many pitfalls (some arguably that shouldn’t exist imo). Also, don’t like the 180 days limit to download sound content.

I find @ easyrider rants ( just kidding) are starting to make more and more sense about IKM marketing practices. I also agree there tends to be quantity vs quality. After trying and going though stuff now, I find I am loaded down with a lot of stuff I would never buy otherwise, and tired of the install time /space needed for all of it. I plan to keep the good stuff and offload the rest (regain storage, better organized).

Total Studio deals do save if one maintains the patience to wait and can swing the price. However, IKM does come out right after with the next best thing, so be prepared for that.

It's all perspective. I still feel like the anniversary GB was a good deal for me. I wanted to upgrade my ARC version to 3 anyway with the new mic and the new software, and out of that, I was able to get Sunset which has been on every mix since I got it, Tape 24, which I have used a couple times and Mic Room, which was actually a big surprise to me and it works really well with the ARC 3 MEMS microphone. Along with these, I got a lot of other plugins of course, but none of these others were needed or get used.

I have almost no desire for any other IK plugs. Just FAME, but it's not something I need so I can do without it.

On top of that, it is good to have an attitude where if you think it is a good deal at the time, it doesn't matter that better deals come along afterwards because you were happy with the deal when you made it, so own it and dig it.