Is 2C's Aether REALLY worth it? (the answer is: yes, certainly)

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Title says it all. More specifically: is it worth 250$? Has it replaced all your other reverb plugs? Has it become your go-to reverb, or does it gather dust in your plugin folder?

...inquiring minds want to know. :)

Subject changed on January 12th: question answered, and this topic has moved on to greener pastures and milder climes. 8)
Last edited by ariston on Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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ariston wrote:Has it replaced all your other reverb plugs?

Its too CPU hungry to be the only one. (coming from someone who usually runs around 5 reverbs per project - quad core)

It does sound great, very flexible, coming updates sound exciting.

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Yes. It's already king of all reverb plugins imho. And it's currently being taken up to another level to take on (to squash) the new Lexi plug.

Seems silly expensive next to the excellent EOS. Not so much next to ArtsAcoustic, RP, etc.

But - a say, $189 price point like ArtsAcoustic would make it more of a no-brainer. Definitely.

imho

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Great reverb, and IMHO I do think it's worth the price tag, although admittedly, I got mine in the group buy (which they've said they would never do again).

The CPU consumption does make it the only reason for me why it doesn't replace everything else.

Yes, there are cheaper ones, like EOS, but EOS and others (IMO) do not touch the sound capability or features (but I did like the freeze tail option of EOS).

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Aether and SIR2, you're set

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elxicano wrote:Great reverb, and IMHO I do think it's worth the price tag, although admittedly, I got mine in the group buy (which they've said they would never do again).

The CPU consumption does make it the only reason for me why it doesn't replace everything else.

Yes, there are cheaper ones, like EOS, but EOS and others (IMO) do not touch the sound capability or features (but I did like the freeze tail option of EOS).
+1 100% :tu:
"It dreamed itself along"

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JeffSanders wrote:Yes. It's already king of all reverb plugins imho. And it's currently being taken up to another level to take on (to squash) the new Lexi plug.

Seems silly expensive next to the excellent EOS. Not so much next to ArtsAcoustic, RP, etc.

But - a say, $189 price point like ArtsAcoustic would make it more of a no-brainer. Definitely.

imho
i've always been curious about EOS...anyone compare it to spacemaster ??...i'm not interested in real reverbs....convolution has me sorted for that...i'm after ambient suff...

though i love spacemaster i would rather have something that doesn't always need to have the reaktor shell loaded up...and EOS seems to be a good price

and so as not to be seen to be just derailing this thread, my 2 cents is that from my little experience aether is the most lush beautiful ambient 'verb i've heard...i love the gui also....resource weight and the fact that i recently aquired spacemaster stopped me shelling out the high price for aether otherwise i would have felt i had no choice...if i ever make enough money from my music it will be one of the first things i purchase after the super-computer i need to load it through entire projects

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quantize wrote:Aether and SIR2, you're set
That pretty much covers it. :tu:

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@ebow, to my ears EOS had a very distinctive sound that I did not like. I've only just picked up Reaktor but I did have a play with Spacemaster and not comparing features (as it's been a while since playing EOS and I'm not familiar enough with Spacemaster), the sound of Spacemaster was much more of what you'd expect in a decent reverb.

If you're willing, seriously drop the money on EOS and give it a go. It didn't do it for me, but there are so many here on KVR that LOVE this thing... maybe you'll be one of them? Chris is quick about refunds if you find you don't like it.

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ebow wrote:i've always been curious about EOS...anyone compare it to spacemaster ??...i'm not interested in real reverbs....convolution has me sorted for that...i'm after ambient suff...

though i love spacemaster i would rather have something that doesn't always need to have the reaktor shell loaded up...
I take it you're not aware of the fact that our Redline Reverb is the latest incarnation of the SpaceMaster saga but in a native VST/AU/RTAS form factor?

Take care,

-- dj!
Image
Morgana | Redline Series | Big Blue Series

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I'd say yes - it does most things better than anything else. I still run AAR at times, either for some specific signature sounds (for instance some kind of resonators) or for lighter CPU hit (although I don't think Aether is *that* hungry either). But indeed it's very unique, programmable and flexible, I'm very happy I have it. And some of the coming updates do indeed look sweet...

The pricing issues is interesting, since there doesn't seem to be any consensus on a pricing approach among developers. Some people release free what others would charge 200$ for. EOS is 49$ where other similar products are much more expensive (although, IMO, EOS doesn't really stand any comparison with Aether). Ariesverb jumped from 0€ to 129€. Some clearly aim their products to Pro studio market, while others target bedroom musicians. It's pretty arbitrary really. Some people try to simply calculate the maximum possible revenue while others have an ethical standpoint as well (see: xoxos).And people who use hardware effects in their rig tend to have a little different perspective on value.

So I find it's difficult to say whether 250$ is the most appropriate price or not - depends on the angle you look at it. Interestingly, though, Aether is cheaper than ArtsAcousticReverb for European customers (AAR: 189 €, Aether: ~170€)! I've always found AAR's pricing of 189€/189$ to be a little unfair...

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Is Aether worth it?

It's the first non-convolution native verb I've used that hasn't felt like a compromise.

I do still use other verbs for reasons of CPU efficiency, designing a 'self contained' sound using a synths built in verb (Alchemy being one of the better examples), or Amplitube 2's spring verb for springyness, or speaker sim 'ambience'. I also still like to use convolution verbs for realistic small to medium size rooms.

So it certainly hasn't replaced all my other reverbs. But in itself it is, currently, irreplaceable. I'm sure other manufacturers will catch up in time, but nothing touches it for now.

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dj! (112dB) wrote:
ebow wrote:i've always been curious about EOS...anyone compare it to spacemaster ??...i'm not interested in real reverbs....convolution has me sorted for that...i'm after ambient suff...

though i love spacemaster i would rather have something that doesn't always need to have the reaktor shell loaded up...
I take it you're not aware of the fact that our Redline Reverb is the latest incarnation of the SpaceMaster saga but in a native VST/AU/RTAS form factor?

Take care,

-- dj!
actually , i am aware, but the slight inconvenience of having reaktor open doesn't justify the cost of redline to me...no offence, but the u.i of redline doesn't really compare to that of spacemaster....it's those 4 damper/eq's that make it sooo accessible...guess i've just talked myself out of another 'verb again :)

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Absolutely not. Totally overpriced. A complete shame, imho, considering how well priced other Galbanum products are. I totally own the Architecture pack for Rapture, and I would have easily been a convert for a $99 even $150 reverb; but $300, or $350? Out of your minds. Humans don't have super-hearing, we are not mice, sound quality has become a myth.



Edit = Oh, is this reverb $250 now? I think it was like $349 when it was released. I guess they dropped the price a cool $100. Still a joke, imho. Might as well buy the lexicon plug in pack, at least then you are getting what you pay for, "a name with a million dollar sound, over and over and over again."




2 more edits = sp
Last edited by ckatrun411 on Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:06 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Recently I was in the market for a fairly low CPU convolution reverb and I thought Redline's was going to win... Until I heard VirSyn's Reflect. I was blown away though it is more CPU heavy. Great special right now... I think it comes in at $150 USD. The dongle haters will hate it, but if you've made peace with Syncrosoft, as I have, you'd be remiss to not give it a listen.
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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