Yellow Tools $49 for Culture with IndePro VSTi

[GreyLion]

I'm not sure whether this should better be in MarketPlace, but whatever... I'm not so much interested in whether it's a good deal monetarily speaking, as in whether it might be more grief as an instrument than it's worth.

Ever since this summer's deal on the full Independence Pro, I find myself vibrating back and forth about buying in.

All the reviews talk about how amazing the YT samples sound. And then there's all the chaff on their semi-dead forum about how the support sucks, and people having problems with stability and long-term unfixed bugs in IndePro itself.

At least they've gotten rid of the damn dongle. And the YT forum mods are claiming that they're on the verge of a fairly wonderful update -- but they have a history of doing that and then being half a year late.

I'm in the US, so, from what I can tell, I won't pay VAT, so it's even a better deal.

Here's the page on the Culture deal:

http://www.yellowtools.us/cp21/cms/index.php?id=326

I think that, if you're buying into YT for the first time, the deal on Inde Basic turns out better, with lots more and more varied content:

http://www.yellowtools.us/cp21/cms/index.php?id=791

And both qualify you for the 99 Euro crossgrade to the full 70 GB IndePro, so that would be cool, too: http://www.yellowtools.us/cp21/cms/index.php?id=838

Anyhow, does anybody here have history with YT and IndePro that might help clarify things? Or stir them up, or whatever...

Paranoically yours,

GreyLion

[don1thedon]

Interesting post GL, I also received the email offer.
I had initially taken an interest in the "Pro-Tools firesale" but due to YTs inability to provide a demo I could DL and activate a forum account for me, I ended up passing it by. Similarly I hear good words about their percussion (and other samples) which is why this offer interested me ... but my experience of their support has not been great (even if it was only limited anyway), it just doesn't fill you with confidence.
Would be good to hear some user experiences on which to potentially make a more informed decision.
Don

[Timfonie]

Paranoically yours,
GreyLion

Speaking of (a little) paranoia: e-licence (C/R), so whenever Yellowtools may be out of business, there's no way to activate their software on a new machine. Or is there?

[andrewlsummer]

I love the sound of the Yellow Tools instruments. However, my conclusion is to not rely on them as your core instruments because sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't.

It's just their activation system. Sometimes the software thinks that my instruments are activated, and then the next time I run up my DAW, Inde doesn't think my instruments are activated.

I started with Inde Free and have purchased download instruments over time. So far I have purchased 8 instruments all of which I am extremely happy with except for Orchestral Brass which isn't as rich and responsive as I would expect an instrument of that name to be.

So my advice would be to grab the specials to fill the instruments you need, but hold out for a better version! Save your money for those better instruments on the market you've always wanted. =)

[GreyLion]

Thanks, guys.

A year ago, this would have been pretty much a no-brainer, even with the potential glitches. But, with the continuing price crash across our little world, it's hard to not compare it to other stuff like Kontakt, which has avoided the rep for being unreliable and having poor support.

I keep getting the impression that YT must be so understaffed that they just can't respond quickly when something goes wrong. And that'll kill you when you're competing at today's internet speed.

That said, it's still a hard deal to walk away from, because the demo tracks of the sample sets sound so great...

andrew -- Yeah, the thing is that's what I'm trying to figure out -- whether it's worth the effort to buy in piece-meal. I surmise that you've spent more on the 8 sample sets than you would have in buying the full 70 GB package...

[kelldammit]

i've never had issues with authorization (my yt root folder is on a different drive, and even after format/restore of the system drive, everything stays authorized), and i love the sounds. apparently, i'm just lucky to have not needed support.
i blew $100 or so, got 3 instrument sets (elec basses, orchestra, and orch percussion 1-2), and the pro suite. i don't feel cheated at all. it works for me, and i can cherry pick stuff i'll actually use, rather than having to add to a humongous library that's mostly stuff i don't need.
i can't say i really need this, but if i was in the market for those instruments, i'd go for it.

k

[don1thedon]

Any other thoughts from YT users? I have since installed IndeProFree and have to say I am quite impressed! Any other user feedback wold be welcome ...
Don

[ZombyWoof]

I bought IndyPro and the dongle back in December and have yet to get it working due to authorization issues. I have contacted them multiple times and only got an unhelpful response once with no answers to my followup questions. I have nearly given up on the over 200EUR investment. The product seems to be good, but their unsupported and buggy authorization system may keep you from using it. I don't like airing dirty laundry but I have given Yellow Tools ample opportunity to respond, and you asked a direct question about their support.

In short, buyer beware. You may end up with a useless set of discs like I did.

[Krakatau]

absolutely none of these probs by my side...

[D N A]

Do I need Independence Pro to run Culture ??

[Krakatau]

Do I need Independence Pro to run Culture ??

no , it's sold as an instrument not as a sample library,the independence player is included AFAIK

[darsho]

I used to have a lot of problems with the old version of Independance Free.

But since their update to 2.5 , it worked without any problem (Win XP).

I got me the "fire sale" Independance pro (which includes CUltue) and I like it a lot.
Haven't had any issues with it so far.
The instrument itself is really. Great it doesn't look as fancy as Kontakt, but it's easy to use IMo and has great features.

If they ever go out of business and their c/r doesn't work anymore....well they are located in Karlsruhe and the head guy's name is mentioned on the website
One should be able to find him and discuss what to do.

[ZombyWoof]

I suspect my problem could be solved by sending me a valid serial number/activation code for the sound library. I can load the VST but not the sounds. The problem could be easily solved, but no one at YT seems to want to respond to my emails. They also rejected my request to join their forum in order to solve the problem. I only want to join their forum because no one responds when I fill out their customer support form (which is onerous and asks for a lot of information). That's why I'm pissed off.

I still haven't resorted to finding a crack (and I won't) but I'm sorely tempted. If you can get the damn thing authorized, I hear it's a fine piece of software. For me, it's been 8 months and I'm still waiting.

EDIT: I just saw that my Yellow Tools forum account has been approved. This is progress, and if I have good news to report, I will do so here.

[Kyran]

Can anybody tell me what the big difference is between the origami reverb included with the independence software suite and the standalone version?