You must not have tested much. Transparent it ain't. You want transparent then try FabFilter Pro L - you'll get more clean gain out of that (if you need it) than most any affordable limiter out there. And the cpu hit is minimal. It lives on my 2-bus.

It's a process called "NTKDaemon" and is most likely used for NI's sounds.com subscription / storefront, which I have no plans to ever use. It might also be connected to either Native Access or Komplete Kontrol, but that's not clear.

I deleted it and have no issues with Native Access. I don't use Komplete Kontrol, so YMMV.

The 1 ping per second rate was going on after I blocked the process from reaching the net. It might not be that bad if it successfully connects (e.g., might be ever 15 seconds, 1 minute, 10 minutes, etc.), but I had blocked it as soon as Little Snitch reported a new silent connection that I couldn't identify.

This thread on NI's forums has a little more info: EDIT - the URL I posted goes to the Native Instruments forum thread titled "NTKDaemon" but something weird was going and it was being prefaced with a tracking link through something called sharesale. To be on the safe side, I've removed the link. The thread shows up in the first few links on duckduckgo if you search "ntkdaemon"

I wasn't overly concerned about what it was doing, but after getting more and more into IoT and home automation stuff, it is a bit alarming how much data is going out of my house every minute of the day. I run a PiHole server as well as an Unbound DNS server internally, and that's helped me see and block a lot of stuff.

As my former Infosec guy used to tell me all the time, "when people start calling you paranoid and a conspiracy theorist, you've almost got it right."

I found out about this pesky little bugger because it would crash when i was working in ableton... and yes, just delete it, problem solved.

Sorry, my mistake, I misread the 50% offer for Flowtones synth as being for all products. I'll amend my post.

The next YouTube "subscribe, comment below and win" BS fake campaign by PA is up. Last time they didn't even respect their own rules ("reply to this post").

Yup... took one look and said nope.

Got some weird plugins:

https://bluelab-plugs.com/plugins/ these are all free for an undisclosed amount of time, while the website is still up. There are some interesting ones in there! I haven't tested them yet. Some RX type stuff, a thing that looks like you can make your own IR files, etc.

And I got the $12 Plug and Mix VIP bundle from that gaming website. This one I almost regret, but I can't because it's so little money. A lot of these are bad. I guess the ring mod, the granulator, octave down, and a couple of the nice chorus / vibrato / pitch / leslie things are enough to make it seem worthwhile.

But I deleted all the distortion and guitar amp plugins. Want to know what aliasing sounds like? Try any of these distortions, you will hear it immediately, no need for a test rig. The envelope filter plugins don't have a sensitivity control!! So I deleted those too. But I'm left with a decent generic FX suite, like a guitar multi-pedal or something. Like a Yamaha SPX90 sort of idea.

In my ignorant, I’ll buy any plug on sale phase... I got that bundle last year for $50... used it for a good two or three months, then nothing... haven’t touched it since and none of them ever made it into a mix... but... the noise gate does work pretty good for guitar.

I often think about getting rid of the majority of my plug collection, but the resale value for most of it is so little, it would be more trouble than it’s worth... so there it all sits, patiently waiting... like a neglected harem of semi hot to not so hot babes, looking at me with those little “what about me” eyes...

Yes, I have a problem.

I have a weird reaction to bad plugins/gear. I get obsessed with them. I am really puzzled about what makes something bad. And then there's the acquired taste thing. Will I like this in a few days from now, suddenly? It's happened to me before.

So I've been making terrible guitar sounds fighting these Plug and Mix things today, not getting anything done. I just destroyed some drums. I had a ring mod guitar riff that was pretty cool, but I let it go.

Yeah, I really do wonder if any of these will ever make a mix.

I was talking to someone close today, and the best strategy seems to often be, "Use the best sounding thing, do your best work, all the time, every time."

But I'm always trying to find that bleeding edge of how cheap and undesirable something can be and still sound great. And those weird things that happen to be "crappy cool," but then... well they're just cool then aren't they? Right now I can't tell if these Plug and Mix things are making the cut, they seem a bit below the threshold. Almost uninspiring. But I'm currently obsessed with them.

I recall some of the modulation fx to be pretty good... and I did get a few months of fun out of that bundle, which I deem to be worth the $50 right there... and as much as I want to use the best sounding plugs in my collection, sometimes I’ll get caught up in the fun factor as well... and often times that comes down to the UI... I really like old vintage looking UI’s with big knobs and messed up faceplates.

I think the UI's fooled me... cool knobs... pedal style graphics...

.... ... pretty generic sounds, really. But I am sure I got my $12 worth.

Started screwing with Blue Labs too, there are some "once in a while" gems in there, for sure. The music rebalance thing, I don't think is as good as iZotope RX. But the Saturation knob is fine, the transient thing sounds cool, the stereo widener is nice, and so on. Oh and it has a pitch shifter. I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of a pitch shifter with one knob. Now I have two, with this one and Waves Sound Shifter.... and of course the punchline, they have yet to make a mix

I have often thought about this and I came to the conclusion that here on the GS forum there should be a dedicated space whereby experienced users who have too many plugins can curate and plugin bundle package that they sell to someone starting out as a starter package. That way both could get a good deal.

Also they could list their curated starter bundles and other experienced users could give advice to newcomers as to how they all rate the bundle to give them confidence as to whether it'll be a good bundle.

Just a thought. But it does seem pointless lots of us having shed loads of plugins and newcomers struggling to put together a decent collection.

I hope if you’re getting distortion plugins that you’ve already downloaded the free LePou ones (that have oversampling).

I still think that LePou Hy Brit marshall head is as good as any VST marshall head any company has ever done. It sounds correct.

I have so many marshalls in the box... I could use almost any of them. Kind of like how Angus Young has a dozen 100W heads at AC/DC gigs except.... plugins... at low volume

I'll have to look that one up. Never even heard of LePou before but love my Marshalls.

I have that showing in my Activity Monitor in OSX 10.13.6 but it isn't phoning home. BTW your link doesn't go to the NI forum but something called sharesale.

That’s a great idea... maybe some sort of general plug exchange, no money involved, just trading and gifting plugs... if we build it, not only will they show up, but plug companies might be willing to be accommodating to such a venture regarding transfers.

Edit: kinda got off track to what you were saying... but, personally I’d rather just give my beginner and unwanted plugs away... maybe to musicians who can’t really afford it otherwise.

Would also be cool to get some of the plug companies to waive their transfer fees for such a cause.

I’ve found a way to trim down my plugins. If they’re not Apple Silicon native, they’re out. Works wonders.

...So called Apple Silicon Trimmer

Yeah definitely.

I would not use it on a mix, I prefer it on single tracks and I kind of agree, you can add a whole lot of dirt, that´s what I want sometimes depending on the song

Strange that as Pure Mix used to give 1 VIP plugin ( you could choose which one you wanted) about 5 years or so ago when you subscribed. They also used to do a video demo using a couple of these plugs.
I don’t think I ever installed mine....

Updating the libraries to Komplete 13 during the ongoing sale was smooth like never before for me. No errors like in the past. Not a single one.
Guess NTKDaemon is responsible to make that possible.

I did, actually. It sounds very transparent when used properly.

Good to know that it's not phoning home for you. Maybe it calms down after it's sent your social security number and blood type in.

It was definitely making an attempt every second for me until I removed the process from my startup items. I haven't noticed any problem behavior since, but if it's not causing problems, there's probably no need to worry about it.

And Yikes! on that URL. I have no idea what's going on. When I go to edit the post, it's exactly the URL displayed. I took the URL tags out, but GS put them back in when I saved. And when I hover, I get the weird share sale link you mentioned. I wonder if that's a GS bot capturing traffic or injecting an affiliate link? Which, given the topic, is pretty ironic.

I'll remove the link entirely and describe my search.

How did you get them? Adding to cart but there's nothing in the cart? Edited: Got the trial version. seems to be a fully working version i guess?

Where did you get that? OK, found the site. 1st time i hear about it. Safe?

https://www.gamivo.com/product/plug-...xoCV-4QAvD_BwE

The P&M plugins I've liked so far are Dimension 3D, the Digital Reverb (but not the plate) and the Liquid Air Q.

I think seeing the bundle as a cheap, low-grade hardware unit is spot on - that's what I wanted them for. The $16 I paid is pittance.

I tried the guitar sims and didn't find them quite as bad as you, but I suspect they are only good for getting ideas down. I have Amplitube 5 and also an Axe FX 2, so I can't see me using the P&M in mixes. I'm still looking forward to exploring the rest of the plugins though. I'm a sucker for quantity over quality ;-)

I should add that I mostly mix 90s-style indie and alt rock, so a lot of these effects are great for it.

Reverb Foundry - TAI CHI is out!

50% off intro offer

Tai Chi - $99
Tai Chi Lite - $49

Don't forget you can use loyalty discount coupons from LiquidSonics and ReverbFoundry if you own their other products.

https://www.reverbfoundry.com/tai-ch...-3d01c912-68a9

Tested it, bought it in a minute. Absolutely phenomenal on synths. I managed to get it as low $23 with loyalty vouchers.