Is Crusher-X worth getting?
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 35276 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
I already have several granular synths such as Reaktor and Granite, does Crusher-X offer anything unique?
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- KVRAF
- 3321 posts since 2 Jul, 2007
I posted an earlier question about the same thing.
I used an earlier version of Crusher-X when it was still mainly standalone. It's VST plug-in form was rudimentary. Stopped using it about 5 years ago.
And I had problems with the developer (upgrade stuff).
My opinion was that it was an interesting synth, but not necessarily a controllable synth. My impression was that it was mainly design for live, MIDI-controlled avant-garde work and that it was so specific to the ideas of the designer that it was not suitable for my work.
But all of this could have changed.
There are REALLY neat bits in it, but they are hard to get a good sound out of. And it is very expensive.
Just my two cents.
P.S. My favorite granulation synth is none of the above.
I used an earlier version of Crusher-X when it was still mainly standalone. It's VST plug-in form was rudimentary. Stopped using it about 5 years ago.
And I had problems with the developer (upgrade stuff).
My opinion was that it was an interesting synth, but not necessarily a controllable synth. My impression was that it was mainly design for live, MIDI-controlled avant-garde work and that it was so specific to the ideas of the designer that it was not suitable for my work.
But all of this could have changed.
There are REALLY neat bits in it, but they are hard to get a good sound out of. And it is very expensive.
Just my two cents.
P.S. My favorite granulation synth is none of the above.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 35276 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
Well the price has come down a lot which is why I might be interested - previously I felt it was priced far too high. I like avant garde stuff so that's not a barrier, but there's not much point unless it has some unique features, which from the look of it might be the case.
So what is your granular of choice? I have others too.
So what is your granular of choice? I have others too.
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- KVRAF
- 3321 posts since 2 Jul, 2007
Honestly - none. I like some of the granulators in Reaktor like SpaceDrone and GrainStates, but to my ears those are one-sound wonders - good for doing one thing once, but not anything that really invites a lot of programming and tweaking. Maybe some day I should open up SpaceDrone and see how I can muck it up, but I have other projects in Reaktor.aMUSEd wrote: So what is your granular of choice? I have others too.
I like the Bubble Blowers in AudioMulch quite a bit, but those aren't available as a VST plug-in.
Rasmus Ekman's standalone Granulab is awful good - but out of control doesn't begin to describe it.
SmartElectronix's SupaTrigga is a real neat FX plug-in and incorporates one variable other granulators would adapt - silence.
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- KVRAF
- 3321 posts since 2 Jul, 2007
Whoa! The price did come down a whole bunch. It was $279 (U.S.) just a couple weeks ago. Now it's 79 Euros. About a $102 U.S.
Now if the guy would hold to standard industry practices on upgrades...
Now if the guy would hold to standard industry practices on upgrades...
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- KVRAF
- 4218 posts since 15 Sep, 2010
With Granite and Reaktor, you're are quite well armed already regarding your granular needs imo, but I know it's always nice and fun to have many granular manglers.aMUSEd wrote:I already have several granular synths such as Reaktor and Granite, does Crusher-X offer anything unique?
Crusher X (I own it since a while) is pretty good and nice, but I must admit that mine is collecting dust more & more now that I have Granite & in the same vein the amazing Melda MMultiBandGranular, which is in my opinion a step forward in term of general workflow, GUI and parameters automation. And to my ears (at least) I find that Melda's granular algorithms sound smoother and more rich. Why I compare it to MMultiBandGranular is because I've always considered Crusher VST as an effect more than an instrument, it needs audio in to feed. I suggest you to give Melda's granular a try you might be surprised
The new price for Crusher X is definitely a clever move from the developer though, especially with all the other granular tools around nowadays, $279 became definitely way too high. I didn't update the last version, I don't feel the need to pay $69 for an upgrade on a plugin I've paid $279, that makes $348, too much for me. Not complaining here, just a fact that I don't really need it. Still a nice and unique granular, try the demo and see...
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 35276 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
I have the Melda one but tbh hardly use it as I hate the interface.
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- KVRer
- 8 posts since 18 Feb, 2010
A bit OT perhaps, but you might want to check out http://xenakios.wordpress.com/
I think it's a lot of fun.
I think it's a lot of fun.
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- KVRAF
- 3477 posts since 27 Dec, 2002 from North East England
Seconded. More people need to know about this. The most inspiring tool I've used in years. You may be put off by it being a standalone program, but I personally prefer doing granulation offline as you tend to have more control over the timeline. Give it a whirl!webno wrote:A bit OT perhaps, but you might want to check out http://xenakios.wordpress.com/
I think it's a lot of fun.
With regard to Crusher X, I used the demo something like a decade ago and went back to the website for another look recently. I found the differences between versions a little confusing and couldn't really understand why (assuming it's a straight port) the VST version needed to be a seperate paid product.
edit: Just gone back and spotted the tiny 'next' button on the "which Crusher is right for me" page which takes you to a more detailed feature comparison. That clears things up a bit.
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- KVRAF
- 14939 posts since 13 Nov, 2012
I tried it at the old price.
Its nice to see the price come down.
May have to try it again.
Its nice to see the price come down.
May have to try it again.
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- addled muppet weed
- 105800 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
at the price, damn straight its worth buying.
my weapon of choice for many years now
i love the hands on audio mangling "live" approach. have done full hour long live sets using nothing else
my weapon of choice for many years now
i love the hands on audio mangling "live" approach. have done full hour long live sets using nothing else
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 35276 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
OK that's a good vote in favour - I will at least try the demo if its not too limited
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- KVRian
- 771 posts since 9 Jan, 2012
OSX user here.
It's not without it's problems, I find it CPU spikes quite a bit, I think the CPU/Performance bang-for-buck ratio is pretty poor compared to other granular tools. The GUI is/was sluggish {I haven't used the latest update}. The manual is a html file. Which also means the plugin likes to launch your browser if you click on one of the 'help' icons. The plugin can fade from one preset to another, but this behaviour can't be rendered - must be recorded live {unless this has changed recently} - and that can be problematic because of point 1.
For those reasons, definitely demo relatively extensively. I liked the results despite the foibles so still bought it.
Some copy protection stuff;;
When you pay for Crusher X, you get an automated email that starts off with an introduction from the dev himself... so you get the impression that the information contained in the email is pretty much set in stone. First of all, you get a personalised file (presumably watermarked in some fashion) to download. This comes with an explicit warning that you can only download this file {you can't 'unlock' the demo, you need this file otherwise your license is useless} a finite amount of times and to be extra careful that you keep it safely backed up somewhere.
Second of all, it uses a challenge/response system.
Third, you are told explicitly you can only authorise on ONE machine, and that you only have one other good authorisation which is to be saved for backup purposes {not installing, as is pretty normal, on a second [though not simultaneously used] machine}.
Pretty steep, right ? But you'd be forgiven for thinking it's just tough words but the guy himself might actually be a cuddly teddy bear and be more flexible on these issues than you are being explicitly told. Although I think it's fair to take those terms as gospel given his recent display of casual contempt for his userbase, OSX users specifically, in which he slashed the price from 223 euro down to 79 and expects a 69 upgrade fee from his OSX users {49 for windows} for the latest update - which seems pretty arbitrary to me in the first place to be honest, but that's neither here nor there.
My point is, in my experience & opinion, this dev isn't a particularly end-user considerate guy. I wish I knew that before spending 223 with him - something that really stretched me to the limits of what I'm willing to spend on a plugin, especially considering it's notable and annoying foibles. There's a lot more granular bang-for-buck to be had out there for that kind of cash. Even at 79 euro - I'm not into dealing with devs this cavalier. They have you by the proverbial balls. Not upgrading at this laughable price, even when he jacks the price back up {after netting considerable sales at this price no doubt} to make 69 euro look like a reasonable upgrade fee. And I'm really not looking forward to requesting extra auths/downloads down the road.
Demo extensively {especially if you plan to use it live, or are an OSX user} & re: the dev himself, after sales service, and potential needs for extra auths & downloads down the road;; Caveat Emptor.
It's not without it's problems, I find it CPU spikes quite a bit, I think the CPU/Performance bang-for-buck ratio is pretty poor compared to other granular tools. The GUI is/was sluggish {I haven't used the latest update}. The manual is a html file. Which also means the plugin likes to launch your browser if you click on one of the 'help' icons. The plugin can fade from one preset to another, but this behaviour can't be rendered - must be recorded live {unless this has changed recently} - and that can be problematic because of point 1.
For those reasons, definitely demo relatively extensively. I liked the results despite the foibles so still bought it.
Some copy protection stuff;;
When you pay for Crusher X, you get an automated email that starts off with an introduction from the dev himself... so you get the impression that the information contained in the email is pretty much set in stone. First of all, you get a personalised file (presumably watermarked in some fashion) to download. This comes with an explicit warning that you can only download this file {you can't 'unlock' the demo, you need this file otherwise your license is useless} a finite amount of times and to be extra careful that you keep it safely backed up somewhere.
Second of all, it uses a challenge/response system.
Third, you are told explicitly you can only authorise on ONE machine, and that you only have one other good authorisation which is to be saved for backup purposes {not installing, as is pretty normal, on a second [though not simultaneously used] machine}.
Pretty steep, right ? But you'd be forgiven for thinking it's just tough words but the guy himself might actually be a cuddly teddy bear and be more flexible on these issues than you are being explicitly told. Although I think it's fair to take those terms as gospel given his recent display of casual contempt for his userbase, OSX users specifically, in which he slashed the price from 223 euro down to 79 and expects a 69 upgrade fee from his OSX users {49 for windows} for the latest update - which seems pretty arbitrary to me in the first place to be honest, but that's neither here nor there.
My point is, in my experience & opinion, this dev isn't a particularly end-user considerate guy. I wish I knew that before spending 223 with him - something that really stretched me to the limits of what I'm willing to spend on a plugin, especially considering it's notable and annoying foibles. There's a lot more granular bang-for-buck to be had out there for that kind of cash. Even at 79 euro - I'm not into dealing with devs this cavalier. They have you by the proverbial balls. Not upgrading at this laughable price, even when he jacks the price back up {after netting considerable sales at this price no doubt} to make 69 euro look like a reasonable upgrade fee. And I'm really not looking forward to requesting extra auths/downloads down the road.
Demo extensively {especially if you plan to use it live, or are an OSX user} & re: the dev himself, after sales service, and potential needs for extra auths & downloads down the road;; Caveat Emptor.
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- KVRAF
- 3021 posts since 6 Nov, 2006
i have that one too. it's the reason i got the creative bundle and i'm pleasantly surprised by it all the time. it's my fav granulator for real time FX.aMUSEd wrote:I have the Melda one but tbh hardly use it as I hate the interface.
bit for bit.. as far as sound quality/results go.. the melda one is better than most. it's easy to use in a minimal way and do things like crunch up some drums a bit or if you want to get out of hand you can easily do that.. but it's suprisingly awesome.
i love the audiomulch granulator and bubbleblower as well. i move a lot of things into the mulch world just to process then move back to whatever host i'm using. the granular stuff is great in audiomulch.
i never considered the crusherX. the price was too high. i wish he'd simplify the names too.. CrusherXwindows.. crusherXfor mac.
i downloaded the demo to have a look at it. i think i checked out the demo a few years ago but can't recall. i'll check it out again and see if i "gotta have it" or if i have that covered. the stuff in reaktor is good. i use granular as more of an effect here or there so don't need every granular app under the sun but sometimes there is one or two things that an app or plug in can do that make it worth the price all by themselves.
but what's the hang up w/his upgrade policies? and per the license info is it not possible to install this on more than one system? laptop and desktop? if so that's a deal breaker for me.
