Are we seeing the decline of the plug-in industry?

[tapper mike]

You didn't miss much based on other rants by the same user. I missed it too but I'm just as happy not to have read it. I'm sure someone like-minded will come around and start the cycle all over again.

[hibidy]

People should get a temporary ban first. Or did I really miss something? Dude was provocative to be sure.

[Crackbaby]

When you corner a narcissist they always explode..

[hibidy]

Yeah, but like passive-agressive, it's a word used by "some" to describe others they "don't like"

Still, in this case, it prolly has some application. Anyways, in the words of "loverboy" "it's over"

[SadPuppyBlues]

I hope this thread never dies.

[Numanoid]

Current deep discounts on Lexicon. Current deep discounts on Waves software.

Waves and Lexicon still around and open for business, so what does that teach us?

[hibidy]

All of my plugins are still around. In fact, there are new companies with new plugins tempting me

[Cri]

Luckily for us there will always be sales, black fridays, xmas and easter sales, whatever sale. The fact that we see more and more sales doesn't necessary means that piracy and an oversaturated marked is imposing lower prices. IMO company are not releasing enough new stuff to cover costs and new income, so they are just trying to squeeze old stuff more and more with group buys (IK?) and weekly sales (Waves?). Pretty normal, and I'm glad is like that. This means that I will be able to afford expensive stuff sooner or later.

[HaganeSteel]

I think it's all just starting.

Music software largely sucks, but it's always sucked. It's been getting a lot better recently.

Want proof that music software - and even hardware - is improving?

I give you this thread:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/printview ... 95&start=0

The Hyper Canvas was $170.

Now the TTS-1 comes with every Cakewalk DAW.

And we also have the SD-50, which is a direct revival of the Sound Canvas line.

Korg M1 and Luxonix Purity are both $50 dollars. Can get the Emu Proteus sounds for around $20.

Other synths that used to be paid are now free.

Back then, none of this was possible.

So many good sounds are available for dirt cheap now.

[VitaminD]

I think you are correct, Hagane. It isn't ending.. it is just changing chapters... software is becoming more intricate.. more refined.

That said, perhaps there is a point where the software becomes just 'good enough' and the musician doesn't care about the minutiae.

On the other hand, look at the video game industry.. how long have developers been creating 2d platformers and 3d first person shooters.. there are bazillions and the differences relatively small in comparison. Yet the market for them is still quite large! There are a bajillion mario clones too.. and item/symbol matching games as well.. yet the market makes room for new ones.

I'm not sure there are many incredibly unique differences between them at the core, yet the same concept is reintroduced in a different view and it sells.

Same with sawtooth, square, sine waveform based synthesizers or the limited types of audio effects. All the same at the core (delay delays, reverb reverberates, etc) yet they reintroduce these processes in a different view and it sells.. and will continue to sell.

People like fresh.. even if the differences are relatively minor..

[HaganeSteel]

Oh, the video game industry. Don't even get me started on that.

After having to reinstall Chivalry for the umpteenth time because the server browser bugged again, and after getting killed because people teleport all over the map because my ping is too low and their ping is too high, I've long since drawn the conclusion that the games industry is on the decline.

The games industry and the music software industry differ thus:

We need more music software. We need more romplers, we need more samplers, we need more samples, we need more of damn near everything. It's a smaller and relatively newer market.

The video games industry is oversaturated right now with low quality games, and this is leading to rapid burnout. Everyone and their mother is releasing a game, but only a small handful of people actually know how to make them.

The entry bar into making video games has been significantly lowered thanks to things like Unity, Source and UDK.

The entry bar into making high quality samples, samplers, romplers, and synths in general, is still pretty high.

But we saw with Synthedit, and everyone going, "oh god, not another Synthedit synth" that the same thing can happen with this market.

We're a long ways off for that, though. Edit: Well, maybe not for VAs. Edit #2: But there's still a lot of room for high quality VAs.

To compare this industry with the games industry, we can say:

We're in the SNES/Genesis era. Side-scrollers (VAs) are becoming tired and overdone. But damn... that Nintendo Ultra 64 with those 3D graphics is looking nice...

In other words... there's still a lot of territory left to explore, and a lot of room for improvement.

Edit #3:

We still don't have the music software equivalent of Symphony of the Night. So that magical VA that really raises the bar may still be out there.

If you get my drift.

[VitaminD]

The games industry and the music software industry differ thus:

We need more music software. We need more romplers, we need more samplers, we need more samples, we need more of damn near everything. It's a smaller and relatively newer market.

The video games industry is oversaturated right now with low quality games, and this is leading to rapid burnout. Everyone and their mother is releasing a game, but only a small handful of people actually know how to make them.

The entry bar into making video games has been significantly lowered thanks to things like Unity, Source and UDK.

The entry bar into making high quality samples, samplers, romplers, and synths in general, is still pretty high.

But we saw with Synthedit, and everyone going, "oh god, not another Synthedit synth" that the same thing can happen with this market.

We're a long ways off for that, though. Edit: Well, maybe not for VAs. Edit #2: But there's still a lot of room for high quality VAs.

To compare this industry with the games industry, we can say:

We're in the SNES/Genesis era. Side-scrollers (VAs) are becoming tired and overdone. But damn... that Nintendo Ultra 64 with those 3D graphics is looking nice...

In other words... there's still a lot of territory left to explore, and a lot of room for improvement.

Edit #3:

We still don't have the music software equivalent of Symphony of the Night. So that magical VA that really raises the bar may still be out there.

If you get my drift.

I think with Synthedit and Synthmaker we ARE in a similar place as the games market... right now we are re-exploring the same territory in the audio world.. the same techniques just reheated.

There isn't a whole lot different from QUAKE than from a zillion FPS today.. they all follow the same rehashed model. Sure, the graphics and sound are much improved and there might be some new features.. however, at the core, the game plays the same.

One might say each synth has their own character.. I'd consider perhaps that character isn't as distinct as it has been in the past.. there are a handful of 'classics' and a ton of rehashed emulations or re-imaginations based on them. But perhaps this is just a short trend.. even so where else do we go? Physics only allow so many forms in audio (that we want to hear)... have we touched them all?

[Arglebargle]

The plugin industry is fine. It's reached a mature point, tons of competition, so people need to stop whining and start, yanno, making music.

[macmurphy]

making music.

[The_Hidden_Goose]

Making music? What's that? A new VSTi?

And I don't believe it'll sound like a real analog. And I hope it isn't iLok.