Amplitube Metal...download version?

[calex]

Good, that saves me some money this month. One would have to figure they'll do another promo like this, as there stuff is WAY overpriced. Consider that most of the competition would bundle Metal/Jimi Hendrix/Ampeg SRX/and AT 2 as one package and those packages are selling for anywhere from $150 to $300.

[bnmoore]

Good, that saves me some money this month. One would have to figure they'll do another promo like this, as there stuff is WAY overpriced. Consider that most of the competition would bundle Metal/Jimi Hendrix/Ampeg SRX/and AT 2 as one package and those packages are selling for anywhere from $150 to $300.

IK seem to do the buy one get one free at least once a year. It worked out well for me that way. After that I still qualified for the cross-grade price for the ones I didn't have already. I had everything but "Metal" and still bought a StompIO (I like it) so I got that one with it as a download and still got in on the plugin madness promotion. So I finally picked CSR as the freebie.

I've never felt that they were over-priced. They've been work their value to me every time.

[Squids]

Sometimes I don't know WHAT some of you are talking about... all of those features from "the competition" for $150? What? I don't think so. Also, it wouldn't be apples and apples if you compare it with products that only sell direct because IK product have to go through distributors and retail stores to reach you. That's the business model of companies like IK, NI, Waves, Steinberg etc. When they do sell direct they sell at full MSRP like most companies do so the dealers have a lower price (otherwise why would you buy from the dealer?).

Anyway, direct or not direct there is no other product that has the same models of all of that gear for any less. Just Ampeg SVX alone! It was done WITH Ampeg. Anyone else have all of that Ampeg gear modeled as closely? Also, Hendrix... the ORIGINAL GEAR was all collected for accurate A/B testing... who else has modeled his rig like that? I haven't seen it. As far as Metal? More gear models as far as I am concerned and I hope it keeps going and going and going... I've got a long list of gear I'd like to see modeled and I don't expect it to come for free! To create more software gear it costs money, especially if it is also supposed to work in RTAS, VST and AU, Stand Alone and in a proprietary expandable SYSTEM (which is unique and a ton of extra work to create) called X-Gear AND work seamlessly with a hardware unit, Stomp IO, that can control EVERY parameter of its performance AND editing...

Show me a system that has the same features with accurate models of everything listed for less money. Seriously.

Now, I can understand if someone said it was expensive for THEM. In fact, I'd understand if they said Guitar GEAR itself is QUITE expensive for most musicians' budget!!!!!!! How much is a Vox AC30 in hardware? Or an Ampeg B15? A Les Paul????? But... but they do manage to still buy it though. How someone can say that a $200 guitar product is expensive is really surprising to me... especially considering that it replicates gear that costs tens of thousands of dollars.

[buscemi]

I know I'm notoriously cheap, and wouldn't have bought AT2, JHE, and Ampeg SVX at full price but that's because of the aforementioned "frugality" and getting the opportunity to get them all without waiting led me to be able to have all of them now (also an instant-gratification junkie). That said, Metal is probably slightly overpriced to ME because I wouldn't get as much use out of it and I'm not a metal-based amp connoisseur so I can't really see the value that some more knowledgeable folks might be able to see due to their higher level of knowledge of these types of amps/effects. I guess it is basically, as usual, a YMMV situation.

[Antonis]

Being the one that started this threat i think it got a bit out of hand...
it was about having it as a download or not from esoundz..Squids fully explained why they cant right now..and this is cool...NO BIG DEAL...
Now..about the price..i dont thing its overpriced at all..especially if u take the crossgrade plus esoundz discount(according to ur status as a customer there)option ...
so..lets drop this before it gets even more silly that it already got...

[Squids]

I know I'm notoriously cheap, and wouldn't have bought AT2, JHE, and Ampeg SVX at full price but that's because of the aforementioned "frugality" and getting the opportunity to get them all without waiting led me to be able to have all of them now (also an instant-gratification junkie). That said, Metal is probably slightly overpriced to ME because I wouldn't get as much use out of it and I'm not a metal-based amp connoisseur so I can't really see the value that some more knowledgeable folks might be able to see due to their higher level of knowledge of these types of amps/effects. I guess it is basically, as usual, a YMMV situation.

Exactly. Each person has their own perspective and context so of course "expensive" can be a matter of opinion. But it's all relative. Really this stuff is unbelievably cheap!!!! I mean... I have spent BUCKS just to have these authentic pedals alone myself. It's a producer's tool kit to have them and most rock producers I've worked with have a killer collection of their own... Jack Joselph Puig for example, T-Bone Burnette... all those guys. That's usually my perspective but pro guitarist friends of mine have great collections... it's what you need in your tool kit and this is a less expensive way to go.

[funkychickendance]

No, esoundz is just an online store.

Well, not just another online store...

We're in the same building as IK US distribution though. But actually the paperwork is the same as any other store... you send a PO and you get a product. We just save the time of having it shipped to us because we can walk instead. Although, that said, IK's main HQ is in Italy so products still sometimes take a little while to arrive in all of its pieces (manuals, discs etc.) to the US...

As for an estimated shipping date... I don't know. It all depends on when the materials arrive. I imagine it should be soon. But with holidays, international shipping... you just never know.

But maybe within the next couple of weeks, one hopes?

//fnx

[Squids]

As soon as it is possible for sure.

[bnmoore]

Metal is probably slightly overpriced to ME because I wouldn't get as much use out of it and I'm not a metal-based amp connoisseur so I can't really see the value that some more knowledgeable folks might be able to see due to their higher level of knowledge of these types of amps/effects. I guess it is basically, as usual, a YMMV situation.

I'm not a metal-based connoisseur either but I think it's effing awesome. The clean patches surprised me. And with X-Gear being able to mix and match heads and cabinets you might not have considered is definitely a bonus.

And I could probably have proof-read my prior reply better. Change "work" to "worth". I don't seem to notice wrong words when they're not mis-spelled.

[zerocrossing]

After the Amplitube Vintage group buy I attempted to buy SVX from them as a download but I was told my Alan that they couldn't do that and IK was just letting them do the group buy download as a special deal. Silly really. Why have all the petroleum used to deliver a box that must have felled a tree or so to get something that has no real physical size? Anyway, I assume it'll probably be the same with Metal. They did tell me it's on back order.


Mark

Well maybe they DID see it but they didnt like it!
i always buy the IK stuff from esoundz and i dont think i will ever buy from elsewhere or straight from IK...
At esoundz u get a bit of discount and best of all u could use epointz..but not any more
its only for downloaded stuff..loops and the like but what if (like in my case)u dont use any of that downloadable stuff and most probably never will..
Since Amplitube Metal IS offered as a download only purchase at IK it would be cool if esoundz followed suit and offered its customers that option as well and the chance for many people to use their epointz where they normaly never would...

[zerocrossing]

Hey Squids,

As a retailer can you put a little pressure on them to have a download option? I, for one, don't need a dead tree and plastic disc shipped to me for no real reason.

Mark

We do sell AmpliTube Metal on www.esoundz.com but it is only the shipped boxed version. We'd love to be able to sell the downloadable version but that is currently only available from IK at full price. Anyway, that's why we tell you guys that we're lucky whenever we ARE able to offer other company's products as downloads such as recent group buys. When/if people complain then it hurts our chances of being able to carry more in the future and when people rave/applaud then it increases our chances or helps our case to ask for it and hopefully get it. This isn't something automatic and definitely not something WE take for granted. But you know how it gets in those threads sometimes... I TRY to explain how delicate it is especially if we're working with another company on it but some people listen and some people don't.

Anyway, maybe some day we'll be able to offer it as download. Not at the moment. But it can be shipped, not a big deal.

[Antonis]

oh boy..what have i started here?!...i created a monster!

That said, you may want to try audiomidi.com. They seem to give you the choice to do a download on a lot of their software.

Well,yeah there might be other stores/sites but i would rather buy from esoundz again...from them i got stuff i would never even dream of having(mostly through GB's)...
i guess i would rather show some loyalty since the price IS tempting as well...

[funkychickendance]

Metal is probably slightly overpriced to ME because I wouldn't get as much use out of it and I'm not a metal-based amp connoisseur so I can't really see the value that some more knowledgeable folks might be able to see due to their higher level of knowledge of these types of amps/effects. I guess it is basically, as usual, a YMMV situation.

I'm not a metal-based connoisseur either but I think it's effing awesome. The clean patches surprised me. And with X-Gear being able to mix and match heads and cabinets you might not have considered is definitely a bonus.

Several times I've missed on buying a Mesa Boogie, which is way mo' than a metallists' amp. Well, in this deal, you get one. About $1000 off.

//fnx

[Squids]

No other retailer can do it. Just IK direct at full MSRP for now. Maybe that will change in the future but there's nothing immediate that I know about... apart from special occasions like those promo deals. But you never know.

[Klemperer]

Good, that saves me some money this month. One would have to figure they'll do another promo like this, as there stuff is WAY overpriced. Consider that most of the competition would bundle Metal/Jimi Hendrix/Ampeg SRX/and AT 2 as one package and those packages are selling for anywhere from $150 to $300.

You already got some answers to this, calex. I own GR2-3 and RevalverMKII, and now own AmpegSVX, Amplitube JimiHendrix, and got AT2 for FREE just because I bought Amplitube Hendrix for a *crossgrade* price. (Yes, I got RevalverMKII back in the day for a crossgrade price too, but it is not anything we can take up for granted, in now way, is it? So I was really happy about this deal).
Before I decided for the Amplitube-plugins I read all I could find at KVR about StompIO, the different versions of Amplitube and so on. So without going into details like "that is emulated in this" or "Johny has 16 amps in his package, but I got 34" , my impression is that the Amplitube plugins are the best I ever heard.
I really like my other ampsims due to advantages they offer (GR3 is a great effect-plugin, but the ampsims are not even near AT for my taste; Revalver is really tweakable and often sounds great but lacks some things and I always had the impression of using a pre-release-demo). But I am blown away with what I get from Amplitube, and wouldn't I be on a tight budget, I'd immediately buy Amplitube metal. Those clean sounds in the demo - just HAUNTING...

So I don't think any of the products, if you take into account what you get FOR FREE!!! are overpriced in any way here.

Okay I'm of the opinion it would be better that people who could afford it (in our western world) would pay a lot more for those outstanding beauties, whereas people in really poor countries with the ambition for music would get them for what THEY can afford, but this is an entire different question .

cheers all, I'm off to play with Amplitube Hendrix and 2 now. (Now could please someone come over and remove this wooden splinter out of my forefinger